Judge Strobel entered the courtroom at about 10:10 am. Lancaster continued to ask Dr. Allan Trimpi questions. The thick notebook of documents was still in front of him to refer to as questions were asked. The questioning surrounded meetings of the Vestry and especially the vote that was taken in July of 2012. Lancaster repeatedly asked, "Is that your signature?" "Was Marilyn Bush notified of the meeting?"
At this point I need to clarify that Marilyn Bush, in the company of other individuals, had appeared in the courtyard of St. Mary's on Monday, April 9th, 2012, and declared that she had been "appointed" Senior Warden of St. Mary's by Anthony Morello (of Fountain Valley fame). The fact that Vestry members must be elected and cannot be appointed has never seemed to concern Mrs. Bush. If I continue on this story line I will end up in another country. Back to court.
When Lancaster finished with his questioning, one of our lawyers, Allegra Rineer, asked a couple of brief questions including a clarification that regular Vestry meetings were held on the second Sunday of each month.
Our lawyer, Kathryn Greer called Darren Freedman to the witness stand. Darren is a lawyer at Troy-Gould, the firm that had previously handled our case. He verified that the 52 ballots in the evidence notebook had been opened and counted by him August 6, 2012. He also testified that he had helped to draft and prepare the ballots. Of the ballots distributed (mailed or hand delivered) 40 were received by the August 6th deadline at 12:30. When Mr. Freedman was cross examined by Defendant lawyer, Damon Anastasia, questions were about signatures, why were some notarized and some not?
When Ms. Greer asked Mr. Freedman if ballots needed to be notarized according to the by-laws his answer was no.
When our lawyer, Pal, called Marilyn Bush to the stand, Lancaster objected repeatedly. The judge said that since her name was on the joint witness list the judge would allow her to be questioned. This may have been the richest and most revealing testimony. Pal asked her about being elected to the Vestry February 5, 2012. Did a meeting of the newly elected Vestry occur following the annual meeting? "Yes." Was it announced that regular meetings would be held the 2nd Sunday of each month following mass? "Yes." He then asked if she had attended the April, May, June or July meetings. "No." Many more questions were asked of course, but suffice it to say that Pal knows how to cross examine a witness. The court transcript should be fascinating reading. Lancaster then asked his questions of Mrs. Bush following the lunch break from 12:00-1:30. After Lancaster concluded Pal had some more questions for her. Thanks to John Bruce blog I know that Marilyn Bush was born in 1930. I think the last place she wanted to be at 85 was that witness stand.
After this questioning our attorneys said that the Plaintiff rests. The Defendants however, were far from over. They proceeded to call Jackie Yeager, Armine Jones, Steve Hawkins and Michael Merrill all elected members Sof t. Mary's. Last of all I was called. I was on the witness stand for 45 minutes until court was adjourned until the next day, Friday.
My testimony continued the next day...and this blog will continue another day.
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