Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
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V.
Plaintiffs,
)
)
)NO. CV-07-0189-HU
Copy
CHRISTOPHER HUMPHREYS; KYLE NICE; )
CITY OF PORTLAND; CITY OF PORTLAND )
JOHN DOE FIREFIGHTERS/PARAMEDICS; )
PORTLAND POLICE BUREAU and OTHER )
PORTLAND JOHN and JANE DOE )
OFFICIALS; BRET BURTON; MULTNOMAH )
COUNTY; MULTNOMAH COUNTY JOHN and )
JANE DOE DEPUTY SHERIFFS and MEDICAL)
PERSONNEL; MULTNOMAH COUNTY JOHN and)
JANE DOE SHERIFF'S OFFICE and OTHER )
OFFICIALS; TRI-COUNTY METROPOLITAN )
TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT OF OREGON; )
NORTHWEST, INC., 1
Defendants. )
DEPOSITION OF
RANDALL STUART
Taken in behalf of Defendants
4 0 0 Columbia, Su~te140
Vancouver, WA 98660
Schrmtt&Lehmann,Inc. 121 SW Morrison St., Suite 850
Portland, OR 97204
C O U R T R E P O R T E R S
j3601 695-5554 15031 223-4040
Fox (3601 695-1737 www sireporting.com ~linc@~westoff~ce.net
Randall Stuart, 7/14/2008 Chasse v. Humphreys, et al.
APPEARANCES:
For the Plaintiffs: MR. THOMAS M. STEENSON
Attorney at Law
815 S.W. Second, Suite 500
Portland, OR 97204
INDEX
EXAMINATION BY: PAGE NO.
Mr. Rice 3 - 84
Ms. Dunaway 84 - 100
Ms. Back 100 - 116
EXHIBITS
No. 301 Diagram of scene
aware of that?
A. Yes.
Q. Had you met him before the incident where
you -- that you observed?
A. No.
Q. Okay. Have you met with his father or any
relatives of Mr. Chasse?
A. No, not met with them.
Q. Have you given any statements regarding what
you observed the day you saw Mr. Chasse interact with
the police?
A. Yes.
Q. And to whom have you given statements?
A. The police department.
Q. Okay. This is the Portland Police
Department?
A. M-hm.
Q. Anybody else?
A. A single interview on KGW television the
week of the event.
Q. Okay. Any others?
A. A single interview to The Oregonian the - -
two weeks after the event is my guesstimate.
Q. Okay.
A. Would have been within the week of the
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And can you tell us who that person
was?
A. It seems like private information.
Q. Well, we're here in a question-and-answer
format today and I have the opportunity to ask you
about things. What I'm really trying to get is is
your sort of background and experiences because we're
going to get to what you observed at some point. Do
you understand that?
A. Yes.
Q. So what I'm trying to find out is I'm not
necessarily concerned at this point with the name of
the person - -
A. Ah.
Q. - - but the kind of condition you're dealt - -
A. Yes.
Q. And how did you come into contact with
someone who you thought suffered from schizophrenia?
A. By working with a family whose son suffers
from schizophrenia.
Q. Okay. And when you were working with that
person, was that working within the context of
theater?
A. No. That was in context of my reverandship.
Q. Okay. And do you have a degree in divinity
or other experience in that field?
A. Life-long study of divinity and - - and
certified in spiritual humanism.
Q. Okay. Who would give such a certification?
A. Certifications can be on line.
Q. Okay. Have you studied at any sort of
bricks-and-mortar-type institution, if that's a term
you're familiar with?
A. I'm constantly studying divinity. Sometimes
at bricks and mortar.
Q. Are you working toward a degree in that
field?
A. It'd be nice, but not necessary.
Q. Okay. Is it something that you do or have
done for remuneration, in other words, for money
them?
A. It was around the issue of a dying family
member so it was part of the landscape of that several
weeks.
Q. Okay. And was the dying person the
individual that suffered from schizophrenia?
A. No.
Q. Okay. Was - - so there was a family member
who was attending that suffered from that condition?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And was that locally or someplace else?
A. East Coast.
Q. East Coast.
And was that something you were involved
with for weeks?
A. Yeah.
Q. Okay. From what you understood, was that
person on any sort of medication that was prescribed?
A. I was aware that in his past he was on
medication. The question was whether he was at that
point.
Q. Okay. What kind of behavior did you notice
with that person that might lead you to conclude that
that person was in fact afflicted with schizophrenia?
A. Clear emotional ups and downs, some rage
A. M-hm.
Q. Is that correct?
A. Once, yes.
Q. Just once.
Has that ended actually?
A. The communication thus far, yeah.
Q. Okay. How long ago was that?
A. One and a half years ago.
Q. Okay. Any other contact with an individual
who you believe suffered from schizophrenia or was
that it?
A. That's it.
Q. Okay. In - - in divinity training, is there
training you've gone through dealing with people who
suffer from mental illness?
A. My training is specifically in thanatology.
Q. And could you tell us what that means?
A. Yes.
Q. Go ahead.
A. The - - the grief counseling in death and
dying situations.
Q. Okay.
A. When someone is on their deathbed in the
last ten days to ten hours, thanatology comes into
play as a way to comfort, think out loud, be prayerful
with a family and the members who are experiencing
that passing.
Q. Okay. With regard to the incident on N.W.
23rd and Everett with Mr. Chasse, you know what I'm
talking about, don't you?
A. Yeah.
MR. STEENSON: 13th actually.
MR. RICE: 13th, excuse me.
Q. (By Mr. Rice) Did you review any documents
prior to coming here today for the deposition?
A. Yes.
Q. Transcribed.
A. Transcribed, thank you.
Q. Sure.
A. The transcription of the interview with Lynn
Courtney --
Q. All right.
A. - - which was a few days after the event, a
periodically?
A. Well, periodically, yes.
Q. All right
A. And then we walked out of Cargo ending up on
the corner of the Bullseye Gallery which is the
northeast corner of the corner in question.
Q. Of the intersection?
A. Intersection, yeah.
Q. Had you had any alcohol to drink that day?
A. No.
Q. Were you on any prescribed medications of
any kind?
A. No, sir.
Q. Okay. And at some point in time when you
were there you observed Mr. Chasse; is that correct?
A. From the northeast corner I observed and
heard a great consternation, both vocally and
visually.
Q. So did the visual and the auditory sort of
occur at the same moment?
A. My looking up and perception of them, yes.
Q. Okay. And what did you see?
A. Mr. Chasse being pursued by three officers
of the law. My - - from mid block down towards the
corner in question.
Q. Were there any police vehicles around that
area at the time?
Q. Okay.
A. -- is that his was a slip.
Q. All right.
A. And the third was somewhere in the midst of
A. Yes.
Q. H e r s dodging them as you described?
A. H e r s dodging them and speaking.
Q. And what's he saying at that point?
A. What have I done, no, no, no, don't hurt me.
It's high pitched and it's fast speech.
Q. Is it a loud or quiet fashion?
A. High pitched and loud.
Q. Okay. And as someone in the theater there
are different not just modulations but tone that's
involved. How would you describe his tone?
A. For an adult male, I would say surprisingly
high pitched and panicked. I would say that there was
great stress and panic in his voice.
Q. All right.
A. Theatrical as we call it.
Q. And that's your background and so that's why
I'm asking you that. How about on the officers' part
when they're standing up, are the officers saying
anything to him?
A. They're just completing grabbing the bag - -
backpack and they are beginning -- they are saying get
down on your stomach, get down on your stomach.
Q. Okay. And how about the - - the -- both the
volume and the tone of their voice, how would you
describe that?
A. Mighty.
Q. Mighty?
A. (Nods head. )
Q. Was it loud?
A. Yes.
Q. Could you clearly hear them?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. So we went from the phase of them
standing up to the next phase and they're ordering him
to the ground; is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. Does he comply?
A. There's a mixture of noncompliance and
dodging and the beginning of forcing him down.
Q. Okay. So the officers have their hands on
him - -
A. Yes.
Q. - - is that correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Is it all three of them or can you tell
which ones?
A. Oh, it would be fair to say that. And mind
you, this is in millisecond increments - -
Q. Okay.
A. M-hm.
Q. And the movement of those actors are - - I
would describe are very flexible people.
A. In that moment of this incident, yes, he was
flexible.
Q. Okay. So he is dodging them and avoiding
them somehow. Ultimately, do they - - do the officers
push him to the ground?
A. Yes.
Q. Or is that what happened next?
A. A continued attempt to control Mr. Chasse at
this point includes pushing him down to the ground as
he says not on my stomach, not on my stomach.
Q. Okay.
A. And they are - - there are now feet on limbs
and -- and physical pressure pushing down from the
officers.
Q. Okay. I understand by pushing down you're
showing with your hands. Feet on limbs, what does
that mean?
A. A foot on a - - to keep him to the ground, an
officer's foot upon one of Mr. Chasse's foot -- feet.
Q. Okay. So one officer sort of pinning a foot
to the ground, is that how you would describe that?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay.
A. -- he's bleeding from his mouth.
Q. Okay. When you're standing looking at
Mr. Chasse at that point, are you seeing his face or
are you seeing his back, are you seeing his feet?
What's the - -
A. At this point it's his back, his head is
going north.
Q. Okay. And at that point, had you seen
Mr. Chasse bleeding at all?
A. Yes. During the fisticuff section I saw one
of his arms with a large red gash as well as a large
bruise.
assessment.
Q. As she's approaching Mr. Chasse is she
carrying anything?
A. Yes. She or perhaps someone with her,
there's a - - like a black medical kit or tool kit.
Q. And they begin to assess Mr. Chasse. Is he
still on the ground on his side handcuffed?
A. Yes.
Q. What's the next thing you observe?
A. Mr. Chasse going limp and beginning to
change color.
Q. Okay. And when he went limp, are you still
looking at him from his - - you're looking at his back
at that point in time?
A. Yeah. Sort of a three quarter so not
totally his back.
Q. And when you say he goes limp, is it a slump
or how would you describe that?
A. A crump.
Q. So his body just becomes loose?
A. Yeah. His - - his vocal speech diminishes
and disappears and he goes loose - -
Q. Okay.
A. - - as you might observe someone fainting
perhaps.
A. High pitched.
24 Q. Okay.
25 A. -- with interest what she was doing.
position, the EMT? Does she stand up, does she walk
away, does she stay with him?
A. I think they all stayed within his sphere.
Q. Okay. What's the next thing that happened?
A. They completed the secondary movement of the
black strap or hog tie, I don't know the proper word
for it, the restraining device that is long and black
and like a rope. And they -- they had partially put
that on him when - - just before he went into
unconsciousness. They completed that situation.
Q. Okay. And by completed that, what did you
observe?
A. I observed the second stage of - - of his
legs being tied at one end and his arms being tied at
another.
Q. Okay. His arms are behind him; is that
right?
A. Behind him.
Q. You're indicating the front, but he was - -
his arms are behind him and are handcuffed still; is
21 that right?
22 A. (Nods head.)
23 Q. And is it a tightening of the strap, is that
24 how you would describe it?
25 A. If not a tightening right in that moment,
convictions of crack.
Q. Did he say anything other than that at that
time? Is there more to his statement or does that end
his statement?
A. Miss Doolan responded.
Q. Miss Doolan responded?
A. M-hm.
Q. And what did Miss Doolan say back?
A. That may or may not be the case, officer,
but what we just witnessed was quite violent.
Q. Did he respond to that?
A. He got in the police car that was nearby and
rolled up the windows and drove away.
Q. Did anyone ask him for a business card or
some sort of identification?
A. There was no time.
Q. Okay. Was there any conversation you either
were involved with or Miss Doolan was involved with
with any other officer?
A. No, sir.
Q. All right. So when he - - when that officer
gets in the car and drives away, what else do you see
happening?
A. A - - a closing up of the event: People
packing up, getting back into vehicles; a gentleman
A. Caucasian.
Q. Anything about his height or weight or some
physical characteristic that stands out to you?
A. A healthy young man of maybe, you know, six
feet or so, healthy, strong, Caucasian male.
Q. All right. And when there was - - were you
the person that said did I jut hear that or did
someone else say that?
A. It was a group consensus.
Q. How many people are standing around that are
what I'm just going to call independent individuals,
not involved with the scene itself?
A. Well, one could - - could see that various
corners have various groups of people. Our corner,
which is the Blue Hour corner and the steps leading up
to the Blue Hour restaurant, our immediate area has
six to eight people, not all of whom stayed through
the entire incident or arrived at the same time, so - -
Q. All right. And were you on - - the Blue
Hour, as I recall, there's some steps that lead up and
there's sort of a patio maybe - -
A. Yes, sir, outside door dining.
Q. - - maybe three or four feet off the ground,
A. No.
Q. - - speak to that employee?
A. No.
One other thing happened. As we ate french
fries about 20 minutes later an unmarked black car
with very dim windows drove by in a slow fashion as if
it were rechecking out the area.
Q. Okay. Anything else?
A. No.
Q. So Miss Doolan and you had your food and
then you left. Did you go back to the play?
A. I'm trying to remember whether we went back
to attend the play again as it was a play I had
directed or whether we went home. I believe we went
home. I think we were in no mood to watch the play
again.
Q. Okay. And by directed, had you directed it
at that theater or at some other time?
A. I was the - - the stage director of the
production performing at that time.
Q. Isee.
Did you have any responsibility that night
there, any work responsibility?
A. No. Once the director's directed the show
they're done.
Q. Okay. What I've tried to do was, and I'm
not an artist, unlike you - -
MR. STEENSON: Just a second, just you're
entitled to a break. If you want to break at some
point, I don't know whether you need one or not or
keep going, but that's up to you.
THE WITNESS: Be nice to use the men's room.
Q. (By Mr. Rice) Fine. Any time after you've
answered a question you can just ask to take a break.
A. Yes.
(Recess: 12:24 to 12:30 PM.)
Q. (By Mr. Rice) I have made some - - some crude
diagrams here and I'm going to ask you to begin by
using one of these. And I'm going to ask you where
some of the events transpired.
The difference I've tried to make really is
just that there's more room on one of them than the
other one in terms of placing objects on here. So I'm
going to suggest you use this one. And I'm going to
have our court reporter mark it as an exhibit, but if
you're more comfortable using the second version I'm
happy to use either one of those, and if you want to
create your own diagram you're also free to do that.
A. I'm wondering whether, please forgive me,
come.
Q. Right. So let's just start with the No. 1
and we'll - -
A. This is the sidewalk. There's the end of
the building, okay. Well, of course it was in motion,
but I believe the first - - the reason I'm holding off
is that I do feel I know where the pool of blood was
but that's a different part of the story.
Q. Why don't we get to that a little later. So
the first place would be where they fell to the
ground.
A. (Witness complied.)
Q. There's a 1 there.
And the second thing would be they got up
and they moved somewhat and then there was another
portion of the altercation?
A. M-hm.
Q. And would you put a No. 2 where that
occurred.
A. (Witness complied.)
Q. Did the Tasering take place at No. 2 or did
that take place somewhere else?
A. No. 2 equals a lot of motion, but it's this
general area, and that's where the Tasering took
place.
79
A. Oh, yes.
Q. Okay. The trial in this matter has been
tentatively set for late April maybe to mid May of
2009. Do you know what your commitments are during
that period of time?
A. They're fluid. And as a free-lancer and
artist in America one is always waiting for the call.
It usually is six months in advance. It can be two
months in advance.
Q. Okay. At this time, do you have anything
scheduled during that time frame?
A. We're talking April - -
Q. April '09.
A. April '09.
Q. The later part perhaps to mid May.
A. I'm not contracted. I have two things
pending.
Q. Okay. Once - -
A. I'm not contracted.
23 A. Violence.
24 Q. Violence and fights?
25 A. Yeah.
A. Officer Nice.
Q. Nice.
Did you observe how they were breathing?
A. How they were?
Q. Breathing.
A. Breathing? They were breathing fine 'cause
there had been a lot of pausing and waiting and
standing still at the arrest - - I mean, once the
arrest was finalized.
Q. So how long after Mr. Chasse is in cuffs are
you saying that they looked fine?
A. Oh. Well, oh, sorry, cuffs, not - - not
coming back to consciousness.
Q. Right.
A. Okay, pardon me.
Oh. Oh, after the success of the cuffs?
Q. Right.
A. Oh, certainly, I'm sorry, breathing heavily
and some sweat, yeah, and some consternation at that
moment.
Q. And at that - - at that moment, how did they
seem then? Before you said they were standing
proud - -
A. M-hm.
Q. - - but that seems to be --
A. Later.
Q. - - related to something later.
A. That's later.
Q. At that moment, how did they appear
emotionally?
A. Like they had just been through something
large.
Q. Did they look tired, at that point, when the
cuffs go on?
A. The kind of tired after a burst of
adrenaline. Not tired tired like you need a cup of
coffee, but sure, they had just been through a great
exertion of energy - -
Q. Okay.
A. - - yeah.
Q. When Mr. Chasse fell after the pursuit, was
his backpack on his back? Were you able to see
whether or not he had his backpack -- you said earlier
that when he fell he fell on his stomach. At that
point when he falls on his stomach, is his backpack on
his back?
A. I'm tracking in my memory. The backpack was
definitely being pulled away from him in the midst of
the first parts of this event. There was even a
moment that he tried to continue to hold on to it.
A. Oh, yeah.
Q. You could?
A. Oh, yeah.
Q. Okay. And were you attempting to observe
whether or not you could see movement in his chest?
A. As someone who deals a lot with death and
dying patients, I saw signs of breathing stopping and
discoloration of his skin and the cessation of
movement on his body or clothing.
Q. And no movement in his chest as you would if
somebody was breathing?
A. Of course the chest was slightly out of my
view by virtue that I was not in front of him but
rather above and behind him, but I saw more than his
back. His cavity, his body was no longer moving,
including the up - - the upper part of his body that I
could observe.
Q. And approximately how far away from him were
you at that point?
A. It would be the mathematics of your chart
here, from my position at No. 7 to the position of No.
9.
A. M-hm.
Q. - - occurred between the time that they
cuffed his hands and the time that you recall his
hands losing color?
A. That would have been -- that would have
included the - - the medic approaching him 1 think
while he still had some consciousness. I'm just
trying to think this through for a second.
Q. Sure, take your time.
period of time.
Q. And the question specifically I want to know
is were you able to actually visualize, see the rise
and fall of his chest when - - at the times that you
feel that he was breathing, were you able to visualize
that his - - that there was a rise and fall?
A. Oh, during breathing times?
Q. Right.
A. Oh, yes, ma'am.
Q. And what do you remember about how -- what
is your memory about those visualizations?
A. Physical exertion and both vocal pleas -
pleas, P-L-E-A-S- that moved upwards as well as then
the body following as well.
Q. Okay. So you're speaking more in terms of
just his movement and his speaking, and I'm speaking
Lehmann, Inc.
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Randall Stuart, 7/14/2008 Chasse v. Humphreys, et al.
109
A. NO.
Q. And did you hear any of the - - did you hear
any -- did you hear Mr. Chasse say anything to her
during this period of time?
A. Only upon reawakening saying don't leave me,
don't leave me when she moved away to go get
something.
interested in.
A. M-hm.
Q. What I'm interested in is knowing what
you're going to say now - -
A. M-hm.
Q. - - because if you say something different in
court --
A. Right.
Q. -- you know, that's important to me:
A. Right.
Q. So aside from what could have happened - -
A. M-hm.
Q. - - or what might have happened, what I want
to know is did you hear any moaning or groaning from
Mr. Chasse when the paramedics were treating him?
MR. STEENSON: Objection, argumentative. Go
ahead.
THE WITNESS: I did not hear low tones
including moaning. I heard high tones.
Q. (By Ms. Back) High-pitched like screams?
A. Yeah. I heard words that were delivered at
a high amp and a high pitch.
Q. What words did you hear?
A. Throughout the event no, no, no, not on my
stomach, mercy, etcetera, etcetera.
Mr. Chasse?
MR. STEENSON: Objection, argumentative,
vague.
THE WITNESS: I don't know how to be a
medic.
Q. (By Ms. Back) Yeah. The question is if --
A. NO.
Q. Okay.
1 ambulance.
2 Q. Okay. I have no more questions.
3 MR. STEENSON: No questions.
4 MR. RICE: Okay. Thank you for coming down
5 here.
6 MS. DUNAWAY: Thank you.
7 THE WITNESS: That's it?
8 MR. RICE: That's it.
9 (The deposition concluded at 1:35 PM.)
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