ANDREA ROSSI v THOMAS DARDEN 06

214 Pages·2017·1.53 MB·English

1
1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
2 MIAMI DIVISION
CASE NO. 16-cv-21199-CMA
3
4 ANDREA ROSSI, et al., Miami, Florida
5 Plaintiffs, June 30, 2017
6 vs. 10:31 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
7 THOMAS DARDEN, et al., Courtroom 12-2
8 Defendants. (Pages 1 to 214)
9
JURY TRIAL - DAY 3
10 BEFORE THE HONORABLE CECILIA M. ALTONAGA,
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
11
APPEARANCES:
12
FOR THE PLAINTIFFS: BRIAN W. CHAIKEN, ESQ.
13 JOHN ANNESSER
Andrea Rossi, ROBERT ANDREW BERNSTEIN, ESQ.
14 Leonardo Annesser & Chaiken, PLLC
Corporation 2525 Ponce De Leon Boulevard, Suite 625
15 Coral Gables, FL 33134
[email protected]
16 [email protected]
[email protected]
17
JOHN C. LUKACS SR., ESQ.
18 Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP
2525 Ponce de Leon Blvd., 4th Floor
19 Coral Gables, FL 33134
[phone]
20 [email protected]
21
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2
1 APPEARANCES CONTINUED:
2 FOR THE THIRD-PARTY FRANCISCO LEON DE LA BARRA, ESQ.
DEFENDANTS: Aran Correa & Guarch, PA
3 255 University Drive
J.M. Products, Coral Gables, FL 33134
4 Henry Johnson, [phone]
James Bass [email protected]
5
6 FOR THE THIRD-PARTY RUDOLFO NUNEZ, ESQ.
DEFENDANTS: Aran Correa & Guarch, PA
7 255 University Drive
Fulvio Fabiani, Coral Gables, FL 33134
8 United States [phone]
Quantum Leap, LLC [email protected]
9
10 FOR THE DEFENDANTS: CHRISTOPHER R. J. PACE, ESQ.
CHRISTOPHER M. LOMAX, ESQ.
11 Thomas Darden, ERIKA S. HANDELSON, ESQ.
John T. Vaughn, Jones Day
12 Industrial Heat 600 Brickell Avenue, Suite 3300
LLC, IPH Brickell World Plaza
13 International, Miami, FL 33131
Cherokee Investment [phone]
14 Partners LLC [email protected]
[email protected]
15 [email protected]
16 BERNARD P. BELL, ESQ.
Miller Friel, PLLC
17 1200 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W.
Suite 800
18 Washington, DC 20036
[email protected]
19
20 REPORTED BY: STEPHANIE A. McCARN, RPR
Official Court Reporter
21 400 North Miami Avenue
Twelfth Floor
22 Miami, Florida 33128
[phone]
23 [email protected]
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1 I N D E X
2 WITNESSES
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WITNESSES FOR THE PLAINTIFFS: Page
4 ---
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6 WITNESSES FOR THE DEFENDANTS: Page
---
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EXHIBITS IN EVIDENCE PRE MARKED ADMITTED
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Plaintiffs' Exhibit No. --- --- ---
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Defendants' Exhibit No. --- --- ---
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14
MISCELLANEOUS
15
Page
16 Proceedings....................................... 4
Jury Voir Dire.................................... 4
17 Court's Preliminary Jury Instructions............. 108
Opening Statement on Behalf of Plaintiffs......... 114
18 Opening Statement on Behalf of Defendants......... 138
Opening Statement on Behalf of the Third-Party 162
19 Defendants J.M. Products, et al.
Opening Statement on Behalf of the Third-Party 172
20 Defendants Fulvio Fabiani, et al.
Court Reporter's Certificate...................... 183
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Jury Voir Dire
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June 30, 2017
Andrea Rossi, et al. v. Thomas Darden, et al., 16-cv-21199-CMA
1 (The following proceedings were held at 10:31 a.m.)
2 THE COURT: Good morning.
3 ALL PARTIES: Good morning, Your Honor.
4 THE COURT: There is one juror I wanted to know if you
5 all wanted to excuse before we begin, and that is Juror 38.
6 MR. PACE: Yes, Your Honor, for cause for medical.
7 MR. LUKACS: Plaintiffs agree.
8 MR. NUNEZ: Agreed.
9 MR. LEON DE LA BARRA: Agreed.
10 THE COURT: Juror 38 is excused for cause.
11 Bring them in please.
12 THE COURTROOM DEPUTY: 38 is the only one that you
13 don't want?
14 THE COURT: Correct.
15 THE COURTROOM DEPUTY: Okay.
16 (Pause in proceedings.)
17 THE COURT: We're ready.
18 THE COURTROOM DEPUTY: You're ready?
19 THE COURT: Yes.
20 (Prospective jury panel entered the courtroom at 10:35 a.m.)
21 JURY VOIR DIRE
22 THE COURT: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. While
23 we have other members of the jury coming in, let me just
24 double-check and make sure you are seated where we believe you
25 are supposed to be. When I call your name, please just raise
Jury Voir Dire
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June 30, 2017
Andrea Rossi, et al. v. Thomas Darden, et al., 16-cv-21199-CMA
1 your hand.
2 Ms. Jean Baptiste, Ms. Clayton, Mr. Romanik,
3 Mr. Francisque, Mr. Marks and Mr. Ginoris. Mr. Lazier,
4 Mr. Kappelman, Mr. Gonzalez, Ms. Smith, Ms. Shannon,
5 Ms. Cochran and Mr. Morin.
6 Mr. Ruiz, Mr. Palmer, Ms. Essinger, Mr. Mumford,
7 Ms. Aldarondo, Ms. Noche. If you two ladies could switch
8 seats, please. Thank you. Ms. Centeno, Mr. Ulysse,
9 Ms. Phillips, Ms. Choy.
10 In the back of the room, Ms. Fleite, Ms. Auguste,
11 Mr. Diaz, Mr. Mena, Ms. Bolus, Mr. Corti, Ms. Grant,
12 Mr. Franklin, Ms. McFarland, Mr. Perez.
13 PROSPECTIVE JUROR PAEZ: Paez.
14 THE COURT: Where's Ms. McFarland? And where is
15 Mr. Perez? Oh, all right.
16 PROSPECTIVE JUROR PAEZ: Paez. Paez, not Perez.
17 THE COURT: Paez, I'm sorry.
18 Mr. Barrantes. So I think, Ms. McFarland, you and
19 Mr. Paez are seated in the incorrect positions, please. Thank
20 you.
21 Belfort, Gross, Prentice, Zepeda, Reyes, Hill, Solis,
22 Robinson, Olivo, Ramirez, Indorf, Belbusti, Deutsch, Medina,
23 Alvarado, Nunez.
24 Moving on to the other side of the room, Mr. Moreno,
25 Aleman, Karow, O'Neil, King, Moreda, Koliwala, Byrd, Diaz.
Jury Voir Dire
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June 30, 2017
Andrea Rossi, et al. v. Thomas Darden, et al., 16-cv-21199-CMA
1 Very good. Thank you.
2 Everyone, please be seated.
3 Ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome to my
4 courtroom. My name is Cecilia Altonaga. I'm a United States
5 District Court judge. And we have brought you here this
6 morning in order to select the jury for a case that is about to
7 be tried.
8 We began the jury selection process earlier this
9 morning when, in the jury room, you filled out some written
10 questionnaire forms. What has transpired from that time till
11 now is that we have photocopied them, we have distributed them
12 to many parties, as you can see in the courtroom, and we have
13 all reviewed that information and taken note. And now we bring
14 you here in the courtroom to continue with the jury selection
15 process.
16 This process involves sharing information with you and
17 gathering information from you in order to assess whether or
18 not this is an appropriate case for you to serve as a juror on.
19 All of your answers to the questions we ask of you
20 need to be given to us under oath. And I don't believe you
21 were placed under oath in the jury pool section. So now that
22 you are all here and seated, I would ask that you please stand
23 and raise your right hands so that my courtroom deputy may
24 administer your oath as perspective jurors.
25 (Time 10:42 a.m.)
Jury Voir Dire
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June 30, 2017
Andrea Rossi, et al. v. Thomas Darden, et al., 16-cv-21199-CMA
1 (Prospective jury panel was sworn and testified as follows:)
2 THE COURTROOM DEPUTY: Thank you, you may be seated.
3 THE COURT: Ladies and gentlemen, let me just take a
4 few minutes to introduce you to those who are in the courtroom.
5 Patricia Snead is my courtroom deputy. She just placed you
6 under oath and assisted in getting you in the courtroom in your
7 seats. She assists with the cases that comprise my docket.
8 She is also my main point of contact with the jury. So if you
9 have any questions or concerns that need to reach my ears,
10 please let Ms. Snead know, and she, in turn, will let me know.
11 We have with us here this morning two court security
12 officers. We have Officer Jerome Lee in the far back, and we
13 have Officer Alan Latour to my left here in the front. The
14 court security officers are here to see to your welfare and to
15 assist, as well. During the jury selection process, they will
16 be reaching you with handheld microphones when it comes time to
17 asking you individual questions. Please wait for the court
18 security officer to reach you and then take the microphone and
19 use it, please. If you have any concerns, again, that need to
20 reach my ears, you can also let the court security officers
21 know.
22 Seated directly in front of me is the official court
23 reporter Stephanie McCarn, she takes down every word that is
24 spoken in the courtroom. Every word I speak as well as every
25 word that you speak. So to assist her in making for a better
Jury Voir Dire
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June 30, 2017
Andrea Rossi, et al. v. Thomas Darden, et al., 16-cv-21199-CMA
1 record, I ask that you keep a few rules in mind: First, use
2 the handheld microphone when it reaches you; second, please
3 give us your name or juror number so that she can identify the
4 speaker; and last, please give us audible responses, like and
5 no instead of uh-huh and uh-uh and using body language. And if
6 you forget any of these instructions, please, don't be
7 surprised if I interrupt, and it is to get some clarification
8 and to assist again.
9 As you may have gathered from the written
10 questionnaire form, what we begin today is a civil case, not a
11 criminal case. It is a case of Andrea Rossi and
12 Leonardo Corporation as Plaintiffs, who are suing
13 Thomas Darden, John Vaughn, Industrial Heat, LLC,
14 IPH International B.V., and Cherokee Investment Partners, LLC
15 as Defendants.
16 Defendants, Industrial Heat, LLC and
17 IPH International B.V. are, in turn, suing Andrea Rossi and
18 Leonardo Corporation as well as JM Products Incorporated;
19 Henry Johnson; United States Quantum Leap, LLC; Fulvio Fabiani;
20 and James Bass.
21 I'm going to ask the attorneys and the parties to
22 introduce themselves to you at this time. We'll begin with the
23 Plaintiffs, at Plaintiffs' table.
24 MR. LUKACS: Thank you, Your Honor. Good morning. My
25 name is John Lukacs, and together with my colleagues
Jury Voir Dire
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June 30, 2017
Andrea Rossi, et al. v. Thomas Darden, et al., 16-cv-21199-CMA
1 John Annesser, Brian Chaiken, and Robert Bernstein, we
2 represent Dr. Andrea Rossi and Leonardo Corporation.
3 THE COURT: Thank you.
4 Defendants.
5 MR. PACE: Thank you, Your Honor. Good morning,
6 everyone. My name is Chris Pace. I want to introduce to you
7 first my clients Tom Darden, right here, and J.T. Vaughn. And
8 assisting us during this case -- little tricky, we've got a lot
9 of folks in here -- are Harvey Moore, Bernie Bell, Chris Lomax,
10 and Erika Handelson. Thank you.
11 THE COURT: Thank you.
12 Third-party Defendants?
13 MR. LEON DE LA BARRA: Good morning, ladies and
14 gentlemen. My name is Francisco Leon De La Barra. I have the
15 privilege of representing Mr. Henry Johnson, who is the
16 president of my other client, JM Products, and Mr. James Bass.
17 MR. NUNEZ: Good morning. My name is Rudy Nunez, and
18 I'm here representing Fulvio Fabiani, and his company
19 United States Quantum Leap. Mr. Fabiani does not live in this
20 country, he will be traveling here and will be here next week.
21 Thank you.
22 THE COURT: Thank you.
23 Ladies and gentlemen, let me just pause to ask some
24 questions. Going back to the written questionnaire forms that
25 you filled out in the jury pool section, now that you are under
Jury Voir Dire
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June 30, 2017
Andrea Rossi, et al. v. Thomas Darden, et al., 16-cv-21199-CMA
1 oath, is all of the information that you wrote in your form
2 true and correct?
3 THE PROSPECTIVE PANEL: Yes.
4 THE COURT: Yes? You may hear me and/or some of the
5 lawyers touch upon some of those areas in questioning of your
6 fellow jurors. If any of that discussion causes you to recall
7 something that you forgot to write down, please, don't hesitate
8 to raise your hand and supplement what you wrote by telling us
9 here in the courtroom.
10 My next question to you is, do any of you know any of
11 us, who have been introduced to you?
12 THE PROSPECTIVE PANEL: No.
13 THE COURT: No. I know we have two teachers from
14 Ransom Everglades here today; is that right?
15 PROSPECTIVE JUROR: Yes.
16 THE COURT: Do you know each other?
17 PROSPECTIVE JUROR: Yes.
18 THE COURT: All right. Are there any other jurors,
19 who know fellow jurors on this panel?
20 We have a hand in the far back, Officer Lee, please.
21 PROSPECTIVE JUROR OLIVO: Does it count meeting the
22 person here?
23 THE COURT: I'm sorry. I can't hear you. You need to
24 wait for the microphone.
25 PROSPECTIVE JUROR OLIVO: Does it count as an