What follows is the twisted and convoluted testimony of Ron Price during a deposition for Price's lawsuit against Richard and Debra Moore. Price sued the Moores for accusing him of stealing campaign signs. The Reidsville Police found the "stolen" campaign signs in Price's car. Price admitted he took the signs from Highway14.
Price appeared very nervous and highly agitated during his testimony.
It is long and laborious, but I recommend you read it before casting a vote for Ron Price. It will reveal much about candidate Price and his view of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
It was not known at the time of the deposition, but Price would later proclaim himself to be a "Sovereign Citizen". Sovereign Citizens believe they are exempt from the laws of our state and country.
Seth Cohen is the attorney hired by the Moores to defend them against Price's ridiculous accusations. Doug Hux of Eden represented Price.
For the record, days after Price gave this deposition the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice against Price.
1 NORTH CAROLINA IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE
2 SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION
3 ROCKINGHAM COUNTY 07 CvS 746
4 RONALD PRICE,
5 Plaintiff,
6 -vs-
7
8 RICHARD J. MOORE and wife,
9 DEBRA T. MOORE,
10 Defendants.
11 ___________________________________
12 Eden, North Carolina
13 November 15, 2007
14 2:01 p.m.
15
16
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18
19
20 - - - - - - - -
21 DEPOSITION
22 OF
23 RONALD FILER PRICE
24 - - - - - - - -
25
2
1 APPEARANCES:
2
3 HUX LAW OFFICES, by
4 DOUGLAS R. HUX, ESQ.
5 703 Washington Street
6 Eden, North Carolina 27288
7 Appearing on behalf of the Plaintiff.
8 (336) 627-5143
9
10 SMITH, JAMES, ROWLETT & COHEN, L.L.P., by
11 SETH R. COHEN, Esq.
12 101 South Elm Street, Suite 310
13 Post Office Box 990
14 Greensboro, North Carolina 27402
15 Appearing on behalf of the Defendants.
16 (336) 274-2992
17
18 ALSO PRESENT:
19 Richard Moore
20 - - - - - - - -
21
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3
1 I N D E X
2 WITNESS DIRECT CROSS REDIRECT RECROSS
3 RONALD FILER PRICE
4 By Mr. Cohen 6
5
6 - - - - - - - -
7
8 E X H I B I T S
9
10 NUMBER DESCRIPTION PAGE
11 1 Interrogatories dated July 27, 2007... 13
12 2 Incident/Investigation Report dated
13 11/06/2006............................ 43
14 3 Statement by Ron Price dated Thursday,
15 November 9, 2006...................... 46
16 4 Misdemeanor Criminal Summons dated
17 11/13/06.............................. 53
18 5 On-line article from Eden Daily News
19 dated Wednesday, November 8, 2006..... 60
20 6 Civil Summons issued to Richard Moore
21 and Debra Moore dated 4/20/07, with
22 complaint attached.................... 73
23 - - - - - - - -
24 Quoted material is verbatim and
25 may/may not reflect a direct quote.
4
1 The deposition of RONALD FILER PRICE was
2 taken by the Defendants for the purpose of discovery
3 and use as evidence in the above-entitled matter,
4 wherein RONALD PRICE is the Plaintiff and RICHARD J.
5 MOORE and Wife, DEBRA T. MOORE are the Defendants,
6 pending before the State of North Carolina, General
7 Court of Justice, Superior Court Division, pursuant to
8 notice, before PAGE CHAMPION ROBERTS, CVR-CM,
9 Certified Verbatim Reporter and Notary Public in and
10 for the County of Guilford and State of North
11 Carolina, on the 15th day of November 2007, at the Hux
12 Law Offices, 703 Washington Street, Eden, North
13 Carolina, commencing at 2:01 p.m.
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1 STIPULATION
2 It is stipulated and agreed, by and between
3 the parties hereto, that all questions are deemed
4 objected to and that a motion to strike is made as to
5 all answers, which objections and motions to strike
6 may be ruled upon at an appropriate time by the Court,
7 except that objections as to the form of the questions
8 shall be lodged at the time the questions are
9 propounded to the witness.
10 - - - - - - - -
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1 Thereupon:
2 RONALD FILER PRICE
3 was called as a witness pursuant to notice in the
4 above-entitled cause and, being first duly affirmed in
5 the manner provided by law, was examined and testified
6 upon his affirmation as follows:
7 DIRECT EXAMINATION
8 BY MR. COHEN:
9 Q Would you state your name, please.
10 A Ronald Filer Price.
11 Q And where do you currently live, Mr. Price?
12 A 218 Cedar Run Drive, Reidsville.
13 Q And how long have you lived there?
14 A A little over two years. We moved there two
15 years ago July 4th.
16 Q Where did you move from?
17 A Orlando - well, Apopka, Florida. We lived
18 about five hundred feet across the border from
19 Orlando.
20 Q And how long were you in Orlando?
21 A A little over fourteen years.
22 Q And before that?
23 A I was in Washington, Centreville, Virginia -
24 northern Virginia.
25 Q How long were you there?
7
1 A I guess about approximately twenty-three
2 years.
3 Q Is that where you were born?
4 A No. I was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
5 Q Where were you before Centreville, Virginia?
6 A I was in Maryland, and then we moved to
7 Charlotte, North Carolina, and then I moved to
8 Centreville.
9 Q Before that?
10 A Prior to Maryland, I was in Norfolk,
11 Virginia.
12 Q Were you in the military at any time?
13 A No.
14 Q All right.
15 A I worked for the Navy Department.
16 Q Okay. Well, go back. Tell me from high
17 school on what's your employment record. Where were
18 you employed?
19 A I worked for the Navy Department.
20 Q What did you do for them?
21 A I was an electronics technician.
22 Q You were a civilian?
23 A Yes.
24 Q All right. Where was that?
25 A That was Portsmouth, Virginia.
8
1 Q Portsmouth. Okay. Go on.
2 A From there, I went to work for IBM.
3 Q Okay.
4 A And that was in Norfolk, Virginia. And from
5 there I went to Control Data Corporation.
6 Q Why did you leave IBM?
7 A Control Data had gotten the NASA contract in
8 Langley, Virginia, and they needed people with IBM
9 expertise, so they really hired me for the Langley
10 NASA contract, but in the process they relocated me to
11 Washington.
12 Q Okay. And then before - after that?
13 A From Control Data I went to California
14 Computer Products.
15 Q Okay.
16 A And then that company subsidiary was bought
17 by the Braegan Corporation. And then from Braegan, I
18 went to AT and T.
19 Q Okay. And from AT and T?
20 A That was - I retired from ATT in Florida.
21 Q Okay. And what did you do for all these
22 companies? Did you do similar things?
23 A Well, I was an engineer for several of the
24 companies at the beginning, and then they moved me
25 into management in Washington, and I've been in
9
1 management since. First field manager, branch
2 manager, district manager.
3 Q Okay. What did you - when you retired, what
4 was your position at AT and T?
5 A With AT and T, I was - I was, I guess, a
6 technology manager. I supported the Phoenix system,
7 which was the internal provisioning system for AT
8 and T.
9 Q When is your date of birth?
10 A 6/27/1944.
11 Q Okay. And then from Orlando how did you get
12 to Reidsville? Why did you choose Reidsville?
13 A Well, my children live here. My daughter,
14 when she was married in '89, moved here, and my son
15 relocated here, I guess, in about 2000.
16 Q What's your educational experience past high
17 school?
18 A Yes.
19 Q What?
20 A Old Dominion College, Control Data
21 Corporation Institute.
22 Q What do you have your degree in, in Old
23 Dominion?
24 A I don't have a degree.
25 Q You attended?
10
1 A Yes.
2 Q So you don't have an engineering degree
3 anywhere?
4 A No.
5 Q All right. And then have you taken courses
6 at community colleges, things like that?
7 A Oh, yes. Yeah.
8 Q Okay.
9 A And I have a real estate license - well, I
10 had a real estate license in Virginia.
11 Q Are you working in Reidsville?
12 A Well, other than for the school board---
13 Q Yeah, I mean other than the school board.
14 A Right.
15 Q Any paying job in Reidsville?
16 A No. When I first moved here, I had started
17 with a company down in Florida that was marking
18 pharmaceuticals, and my plan was to move here and
19 continue marketing pharmaceuticals. I got involved in
20 the - in the school board race, got very, very
21 involved, which kind of prohibited me. I had to stop
22 what I was doing as far as marketing of
23 pharmaceuticals. And then when I was elected, I mean
24 it was kind of like hit the ground running because
25 there were so many things going on with the school
11
1 system.
2 Q Okay. Had you run for political office
3 before the school board in Rockingham County?
4 A No, huh-uh.
5 Q So you'd never run before?
6 A No.
7 Q How did you end up running? What caused you
8 to run for school board?
9 A Well, my daughter contacted me because she
10 had heard from some friends that passed this
11 legislation - or the commissioners had passed this
12 regulation, or whatever, that they were going to have
13 five at-large candidates on the school board, and they
14 felt - she felt that they needed people with a good
15 background. I had some experience in education
16 because I had taught school. I was the president of
17 the PTSA in northern Virginia for several years as
18 well as other offices in the PTSA.
19 Q Where did you teach school?
20 A In Portsmouth, the Portsmouth Public School
21 System.
22 Q You didn't need a college diploma?
23 A No.
24 Q Were you a substitute or a full-time
25 teacher?
12
1 A Full-time. I taught adult education.
2 Q Okay. You taught adult education---
3 A Uh-huh.
4 Q ---not students?
5 A No.
6 Q Okay. All right. Have you ever been fired
7 from any job? Any of these jobs changes, were you
8 ever terminated from a job?
9 A No.
10 Q You hesitated a little bit. Were you
11 downsized or something?
12 A Well, I guess when I left AT and T, that
13 was - that was the primary reason. They were
14 downsizing. I mean they went from - well, they bought
15 a couple of companies that they paid $105 billion for
16 and then they ended up selling them for a $35 billion
17 loss, so they needed to - they were constantly
18 downsizing. When I started with AT and T, I was a
19 data processing manager for IBM. That's why I was
20 hired, because of my IBM background and experience in
21 IBM products. Sometime - I forget exactly when, but
22 after I moved to Florida, they went through a
23 transition and they outsourced the IBM - services to
24 IBM, and at that time I had a choice of going to IBM
25 or staying with AT and T, and because I was - had been
13
1 with IBM before, I said, well, you know, I'd prefer to
2 stay with AT and T. So they moved me into internet.
3 I started working for AT and T labs on the internet
4 functions.
5 Q All right. Let me show you---
6 MR. COHEN: Would you mark this?
7 THE COURT REPORTER: Do you want to start
8 with 1 again?
9 MR. COHEN: Yeah.
10 THE COURT REPORTER: This right here?
11 MR. COHEN: Yeah.
12 (Thereupon, Deposition Exhibit Number 1 is
13 marked for identification.)
14 Q I think these are a copy of your answers to
15 our questions. Do you want to flip through that? Do
16 you recognize that document?
17 A Yes.
18 Q And that's your signature on the last page?
19 A Yes.
20 Q And you cooperated with your attorney in
21 answering these questions that I sent?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Do you want to take a minute---? By the
24 way, have you read these lately?
25 A No.
14
1 Q Do you want to take a minute and read these?
2 I just want to ask you do you want to make any changes
3 or anything in here is wrong. Do you want to add
4 anything or change anything?
5 (Thereupon, the witness reviews the
6 aforementioned document.)
7 A No. It's okay.
8 Q Okay. So the answers, as far - as you sit
9 here, the answers are correct?
10 A Uh-huh.
11 Q And you have nothing to add or delete?
12 A (Witness shakes head negatively.)
13 Q You have to answer yes or no.
14 A Well - well, I'm not sure I understand that
15 question about adding or deleting.
16 Q Well, as you've read the questions and the
17 answers, is there additional information that you
18 think answers a question that's not here, in other
19 words?
20 A Not that - not that I'm aware of.
21 Q And did you review these before your
22 attorney sent them to me?
23 A Yes.
24 Q All right. And they're correct, as far as
25 you know?
15
1 A Uh-huh.
2 Q All right. If you'd look at question 1(a),
3 it says the names, addresses of people with
4 information regarding paragraphs 1 through 7 in the
5 complaint, which is - paragraphs 1 through 7 is
6 slander. And you say the list of witnesses would
7 certainly include the plaintiff, his wife, Celeste
8 Depreist. Who is Celeste Depreist?
9 A She is a school board member.
10 Q Okay. What would - how would she be a
11 witness? What would she say?
12 A Oh, I can't answer for Ms. Depreist.
13 Q Well, she's listed here, is what I'm saying.
14 A Yeah.
15 Q I asked for people with information--- Let
16 me back up. I asked for people with information
17 regarding these paragraphs. Paragraph 1 through 7, if
18 you want to review it, is the slander.
19 A Uh-huh.
20 Q And then you put down her name.
21 A Uh-huh.
22 Q So what would - what - why do you think she
23 has information about this?
24 A Well, because she watched some of those TV
25 programs.
16
1 Q Okay. And Wayne Kirkman, who is that?
2 A He is a school board member.
3 Q And why would - what information would he
4 have?
5 A For the same reason.
6 Q That he watched the TV programs?
7 A Uh-huh.
8 Q And Mark Childrey?
9 A Well, he was a participant in those
10 programs.
11 Q Okay. And Penny Owens?
12 A She was a - she as a candidate for the
13 school board. I believe that she watched those
14 programs too.
15 Q Eric Smith?
16 A Uh-huh.
17 Q Same thing; he was a candidate and watched
18 the programs?
19 A Yes.
20 Q And Chris Knight would be the same?
21 A Yes.
22 Q All right. So all of these people are here
23 because you believe that they - they watched the TV
24 programs in which the statements on the next page were
25 made?
17
1 A Uh-huh.
2 Q Is that right?
3 A Uh-huh.
4 Q You just have to say yes or no---
5 A Yes. I'm sorry.
6 Q ---because she can't record the uh-huhs.
7 A Yes.
8 Q Okay. Then let's see. If you'll look at---
9 One second. If you'll look at question number 3,
10 which is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, page 7. It says question
11 number 3 - question number 3 at the top of the page.
12 A Okay.
13 Q You got it? And this says, "With regard to
14 the allegations in the third cause of action, internet
15 libel and slander."
16 A Uh-huh.
17 Q And, again, I asked for people who have
18 information, and you said, plaintiff, plaintiff's
19 wife, Eric Smith, Penny Owens, Chris Knight, and
20 defendant Debbie Moore." Why did - what kind of
21 information did those folks have?
22 A Because they were participants.
23 Q Participants in---?
24 A In--- Well, let me see.
25 Q Okay. This was on the claim that you were -
18
1 there was libel on the internet, and I said give me
2 the people that you think have information regarding
3 this internet libel, and you said - I understand
4 plaintiff, plaintiff's wife. Eric Smith, for example;
5 what information would Eric Smith have about the
6 alleged libel on the internet?
7 A Having watched it.
8 Q Read the internet?
9 A Uh-huh.
10 Q All right. And Penny Owens, would that be
11 the same?
12 A Yes, uh-huh.
13 Q Chris Knight, the same?
14 A Uh-huh.
15 Q All right.
16 A Yes. I'm sorry.
17 Q Okay. That's fine. And then--- Well,
18 strike that.
19 All right. If you look at the next page,
20 the very next page, question 4, slander on television,
21 this has to do with those statements on the TV?
22 A Yes.
23 Q And you - and I asked, again, the names of
24 the people, and you mentioned the same people as the
25 first time, "Celeste Depreist, Wayne Kirkman, Mark
19
1 Childrey, Penny Owens, Eric Smith, Chris Knight, and
2 many other viewers"?
3 A Uh-huh.
4 Q So the information these folks have is that
5 you believe they watched the TV show?
6 A Yes.
7 Q All right. All right. Go back to the date
8 that these signs were removed from the side of the
9 road. What date was that?
10 MR. MOORE: November the 6th.
11 Q November 7 - no, 6. November 6, 2006,
12 right?
13 A Yes.
14 MR. COHEN: Okay. By the way, your
15 complaint has 2007, but I don't think you need to
16 amend.
17 MR. HUX: Probably already admitted it.
18 MR. COHEN: Huh?
19 MR. HUX: You've probably already admitted
20 it.
21 MR. COHEN: I've probably--- I just noticed
22 it for the first time. I assume you meant 2006,
23 is that right?
24 MR. HUX: The date - the day date is
25 correct, it is the 6th.
20
1 MR. COHEN: Yeah. 2006. Okay.
2 Q November 6th, 2006, about what time - well,
3 just describe your activities leading up to when you
4 saw these signs on the side of the road, when you saw
5 the Brad Miller signs. What were you doing?
6 A I was on my way home from Eden.
7 Q Okay. And what did - what happened as far
8 as the signs? Did you just see these signs on the -
9 Brad Miller signs on the side of the road?
10 A Yes. Well, it started, my wife and I were
11 driving along and we were talking, and I noticed that
12 there were Brad Miller signs up.
13 Q Where?
14 A Along the side of the road.
15 Q I mean, where specifically? Do you remember
16 the road or---?
17 A Well, it was Route 14.
18 Q Route 14.
19 A Because I live along Route 14.
20 Q And was it in front of the Teamsters Union?
21 Is that where it was? Do you know?
22 A No. No. It was---
23 Q It was not in front of the Teamsters Union?
24 A As we were passing Harrington Highway, we
25 were proceeding down south on 14, and my wife and I
21
1 were talking, and I was observing the road, and I was
2 noticing that - I started to comment. I said, "Well,
3 you know, Mr. Miller has got his team out there
4 putting signs out" because we hadn't seen the signs.
5 There were very few signs out up until that time.
6 Q Okay.
7 A And we started seeing a lot of Mr. Miller's
8 signs, and as we were driving along, I'm observing
9 because, well, it just caught my attention because it
10 hadn't been there before, and then as I'm going down
11 the road, I'm noticing there were a lot of Robinson
12 signs and they're gone.
13 Q Wait. I'm sorry. You noticed that there
14 had been Robinson signs but then you no longer saw
15 them?
16 A Well, we had seen the signs before---
17 Q Right
18 A ---along the road.
19 Q Robinson signs?
20 A Robinson signs, very - many, many Robinson
21 signs, very few Miller signs.
22 Q Okay.
23 A Now all of a sudden, there were a lot of -
24 well, this day, not suddenly, but this day there were
25 a lot of Miller signs and there were no Robinson
22
1 signs.
2 Q Let me ask you, had you - were you a Brad
3 Miller supporter?
4 A No.
5 Q Were you a Vernon Robinson supporter?
6 A Yes, I was.
7 Q Were you active in his campaign?
8 A Yes, I was.
9 Q Okay. I hate to - let's just take a sidebar
10 and then we'll start back. I should have stayed in
11 order. How were you involved in Robinson's campaign?
12 A Passing out literature, putting up signs,
13 making donations.
14 Q Did you hold an office like county chair---
15 A No.
16 Q ---or anything like that?
17 A No.
18 Q This was a volunteer?
19 A Yes.
20 Q You weren't paid?
21 A No.
22 Q So you passed out literature, you put up
23 signs, you made personal donations. Did you ask
24 people to give money? Did you solicit?
25 A Yes.
23
1 Q And had you put up Robinson signs in the
2 area in which you were driving?
3 A Yes.
4 Q All right. So you knew for a fact that
5 there had been Robinson signs because you were the one
6 that had put them out?
7 A Not all of them, but---
8 Q But some of them?
9 A ---some of them.
10 Q All right. So continue your story. You're
11 driving around, and you're seeing a lot of Miller
12 signs?
13 A Uh-huh.
14 Q All right. So then what happened?
15 A And, you know, then recognizing that there
16 are no Robinson signs, and as we're continuing on, my
17 wife's looking out the window because I'd just
18 observed this and made a comment, and she's looking
19 out the window, and she says, "Well, there - it looks
20 like there are signs laying on the ground near the
21 Miller signs."
22 Q Okay.
23 A So at this - at this point we passed a
24 couple more, and she said, "Yeah, there are - there
25 are signs laying there." So the next Miller sign I
24
1 came to, I pulled off to look.
2 Q Uh-huh.
3 A And there were - there was a Robinson sign
4 within two feet of the Miller sign.
5 Q And where were you then?
6 A This was several miles down Route 14 from
7 Harrington Highway.
8 Q And how many signs - how many Miller signs
9 were up at that particular location where you pulled
10 off?
11 A Just one.
12 Q Oh, just one?
13 A Yeah.
14 Q And how many Robinson signs were on the
15 ground?
16 A Oh, there were none. There was a Robinson
17 sign laying on the ground.
18 Q That's what I mean. So there was one Miller
19 sign in the ground, and there was one Robinson sign
20 laying on the ground?
21 A Right.
22 Q Prone on the ground?
23 A Right.
24 Q Do you recall whether you had put that
25 Robinson sign up originally?
25
1 A No. No, I do not.
2 Q So what did you do?
3 A Well, I suspected that this was the
4 situation earlier on, so we turned around and went
5 back and started the path again from Harrington
6 Highway.
7 Q Okay. And then what happened?
8 A There - and every place that we saw a Miller
9 sign, there was a Robinson sign laying within two feet
10 of the erected Miller sign. Somebody had pulled it up
11 and laid it on the ground.
12 Q And how many---? Well, go back to the first
13 one you stopped at. You turn around.
14 A Uh-huh.
15 Q Where is your first stop then?
16 A After we turned around from Harrington
17 Highway, probably within a couple hundred feet.
18 Q All right. And you pulled over on the side
19 of the road?
20 A Yes.
21 Q And how many Miller signs were at that
22 location?
23 A There was one Miller sign and one Robinson
24 sign on the ground.
25 Q And did you do anything?
26
1 A No.
2 Q You didn't remove the Miller sign?
3 A No.
4 Q Okay. So then what did you do?
5 A So we proceeded on down to see if this was
6 the case every place, and every place we saw a Miller
7 sign, we pulled off and there was a Robinson sign
8 laying on the ground.
9 Q Okay.
10 A So we continued this down the road a couple
11 of miles, and I said - you know, I told my wife - I
12 said, you know, "This is blatant, you know, sabotage,"
13 as I would call it, and I said, "You know, if we leave
14 these signs here, or we put the Robinson signs back
15 up, somebody during the night is going to come and
16 take them down again."
17 Q Okay.
18 A So I said, "To make it more difficult for
19 these perpetrators to do this, I think I'm going to
20 pull them up and take them over to the Department of
21 Transportation."
22 Q Okay. Why Department of Transportation?
23 A Well, because that's where the Highway
24 Department was taking those signs that were illegally
25 placed.
27
1 Q Okay. And so at what point did you pull up
2 a Brad Miller sign?
3 A Well, I turned around and went back to the
4 beginning---
5 Q Right.
6 A ---and started it again.
7 Q And so you pulled up to the first--- So
8 this is the second time you've gone back?
9 A Well, observed it the first time, turned
10 around, went back and verified, and then went back and
11 said---
12 Q Came back around again?
13 A ---take these - take these too.
14 Q All right. And so you pulled over and you -
15 what did you do? Did you pull up the Brad Miller
16 sign?
17 A Yes.
18 Q All right. And what did you do with it?
19 A I put it in my trunk.
20 Q And what did you do with the Robinson sign?
21 A I put it back in the ground.
22 Q In the same location?
23 A Yes.
24 Q And you - tell me again why you took it to
25 DOT? Because---
28
1 A Because that's where - these were
2 unauthorized. When I went through financial training,
3 they told us that signs placed on the right-of-way
4 were not authorized.
5 Q Right. So you took it, the Miller sign, to
6 DOT because it had been illegally placed, is that
7 right?
8 A Yes.
9 Q Why didn't you take the Robinson sign
10 because it was now illegally placed?
11 A Because I was trying to prevent the
12 perpetrator from doing that again.
13 Q Okay. Let me just get this right. In your
14 view, the Brad Miller sign was illegally placed
15 because it was on the right-of-way, correct?
16 A Uh-huh. Well, both of them were illegally
17 placed.
18 Q All right. So the Miller sign that you
19 pulled up was illegally placed, and the Robinson sign
20 that you put in its place was now illegally placed?
21 A Yes.
22 Q So is it your view that Republican signs can
23 be illegally placed, but Democratic signs cannot be
24 illegally placed?
25 A No.
29
1 Q Well, shouldn't you have taken both signs to
2 the DOT?
3 A What I did was not good sportsmanship. I
4 was trying to get a message across to the people who
5 did this initially that, you know, what they had done
6 was wrong.
7 Q Well, let me ask you this: You said you had
8 put some of those Robinson signs up initially
9 yourself?
10 A Uh-huh.
11 Q So you initially put them in an illegal
12 place.
13 A Uh-huh.
14 Q Then the Miller people put them in an
15 illegal place, and then you put Robinson signs in an
16 illegal place the second time. So you started the
17 illegal activity, is that right?
18 A Well, no. I think it was a case of
19 gentlemen's understanding. You know, people put
20 signs - if you go out during an election, you see
21 signs all over the place. You know, I got a notice
22 from Eden that said, you know, "If you put signs in
23 the right-of-way . . ."
24 Q Right.
25 A ". . . they're not authorized and we're
30
1 going to pull them up."
2 Q So why did you put Robinson signs in an
3 illegal right-of-way to begin with along Route 14?
4 A Well, I recognized that, you know, they
5 would probably - they could possibly be pulled up. A
6 lot of the signs I put out were gone. You know, they
7 were taken down. They were - they were taken by the
8 Department of Transportation. In this case, it was
9 done by not the Department of Transportation, but by
10 somebody who was supporting Brad Miller.
11 Q But those people, whoever they were, did not
12 actually take the Robinson signs away; they just laid
13 them on the ground, right?
14 A They moved them.
15 Q They moved them?
16 A I was moving them a little bit further. I
17 was going to take them over to the Department of
18 Transportation so that the people would now have to
19 come over there and get them.
20 Q Got you. You didn't see anything wrong
21 with - in your mind, you were taking them to DOT
22 because they were illegally placed, the Miller signs?
23 A Uh-huh.
24 Q But you were putting Robinson signs in an
25 illegal place. It didn't strike you as you're being a
31
1 little hypocritical there?
2 A No, because I figured that that night
3 somebody was going to come along who was supporting
4 Miller and they were going to take up the Robinson
5 signs and they were - if they - if the Miller sign was
6 there, they were going to put it back in the ground.
7 Now this way they would have to go over to the
8 Department of Transportation and get those signs.
9 Q So you were making it more difficult for
10 them?
11 A Yes.
12 Q How many Miller signs did you pull up and
13 replace with Robinson signs, total?
14 A Seven.
15 Q Is that all these was along Route 14?
16 A Oh, no. There were dozens of them.
17 Q Okay. Why did you stop at seven?
18 A As I was getting back in the car, a person,
19 Mr. Gammon - Vernon Gammon, pulled up beside me in a
20 hostile manner yelling threats, and at that point, you
21 know, I just got in the car because I was not going to
22 confront somebody in an outrage like that. I got back
23 in the car and I proceeded to drive down the street.
24 Q Did you know it was Vernon Gammon, or did
25 you subsequently find out it was---?
32
1 A No, I knew it was Vernon Gammon.
2 Q You know Vernon?
3 A Yes.
4 Q What did he say to you?
5 A He was yelling out the window. He says,
6 "You're - you're breaking the law. You're breaking a
7 federal law. You're going to jail," and he - you
8 know, these type of threats.
9 Q Okay.
10 A Not knowing his personality in detail, I did
11 not want to get confronted by somebody on the highway.
12 You know, as far as I was concerned, that was a
13 vigilante activity.
14 Q Okay. So your testimony is, you would agree
15 with me that--- Well, let me back up. You didn't own
16 the Brad Miller signs, is that right?
17 A That's correct.
18 Q And you didn't have permission from Brad
19 Miller or someone in his campaign to remove the signs
20 and take them away, did you?
21 A No.
22 Q So you removed property which belonged to
23 another without their permission, placed them in your
24 trunk, and you were going to transport them to another
25 place, is that correct?
33
1 A That's correct.
2 Q Okay. Put lawyer stuff aside. Put state
3 statutes aside. Layman's common sense, you stole the
4 signs, right?
5 A No.
6 Q All right. Let me back up. If I were to
7 define the word "steal" as taking property of another
8 without that person's permission--- Just grant me
9 that. Maybe I'm wrong. I'm just - for the purposes
10 of this deposition, if the definition of "steal" is
11 taking property of another without that person's
12 permission and removing that property to another
13 location, then you stole the signs?
14 A Well, at this point the person had put that
15 property on public right-of-way, and it was - they had
16 given up ownership of it.
17 Q They were no longer Brad Miller signs?
18 A They were Brad Miller signs.
19 Q Right. And he still owned the signs?
20 A Did he?
21 Q Well, I'm asking you.
22 A I don't think he did.
23 Q All right. So your testimony is - I just
24 want to understand it - your testimony is, if Brad
25 Miller owns a sign and someone on his behalf puts the
34
1 sign in a place it doesn't belong, that Brad Miller
2 has lost ownership of the sign? Is that what you're
3 saying?
4 A I think that was the case. You know, I
5 expected that when I put my signs out. I expected
6 that when I put Robinson signs out. What I did not
7 expect to see was blatant - blatantly somebody taking
8 signs that belong to another candidate under the guise
9 that - okay - we're operating within the law to pull
10 these signs up and lay them on the ground and put our
11 signs in their place.
12 Q What was your understanding DOT was going to
13 do with those signs that you - the Miller signs you
14 were going to take to DOT? Were they going to destroy
15 those signs?
16 A No.
17 Q What were they going to do with them?
18 A Well I was going to call the Democrats---
19 Q Sure.
20 A ---and let them know the signs had been
21 moved to DOT.
22 Q So Brad Miller's people could go retrieve
23 them, right?
24 A Yes, uh-huh.
25 Q Because they were his signs, right?
35
1 A They had his name on it, so---
2 Q Right. But if they weren't his property
3 anymore, why would you call him and tell him to come
4 pick it up?
5 A So that they could put their signs back out.
6 Q I know, but you just testified, I think -
7 and if I'm wrong, she'll reread it - that once he put
8 them in a right-of-way where they didn't belong, he
9 gave up ownership interest in the signs; therefore,
10 the signs do not belong to him. So why, then, would
11 you call his people to pick up something that doesn't
12 belong to him?
13 A So that they could put the signs back out.
14 Q Okay. We're going around in circles. But
15 your testimony is, Brad Miller didn't own the Brad
16 Miller signs because someone had put them in a
17 right-of-way. Is that - is that what you're saying?
18 A Yes. When he put them out on the public
19 right-of-way, I think it becomes open season, so to
20 speak.
21 Q For anybody to take them?
22 A Uh-huh. And that apparently, you know, is
23 what happened with the Robinson signs and other signs,
24 you know.
25 Q Well, the Robinson signs weren't taken away,
36
1 were they?
2 A No.
3 Q They were on the ground?
4 A Well, I don't know.
5 Q You don't know. The ones you saw were on
6 the ground; they were not taken away?
7 A That's correct. That's correct.
8 Q So is it your belief that if a sign is in
9 the right-of-way, that any citizen can simply take the
10 sign home and keep it?
11 A No, because I think that would be stealing
12 it. Take it home and keep it?
13 Q Right.
14 A No. It was not my intention to keep the
15 sign.
16 Q So if you take it home and keep it, that's
17 wrong, but if you take it to the DOT, that's okay?
18 A Yes.
19 Q But let me back up again. If they - if you
20 put the sign in an illegal right-of-way, you've
21 testified that campaign - we're talking about Brad
22 Miller - no longer had - no longer had an ownership
23 interest in the sign. That's what you've testified.
24 If they no longer own the sign, it's not theirs, then
25 - and you say it's open season - that was your term -
37
1 why can't I pick up the sign, put it in my trunk, take
2 it home and keep it because it now belongs to no one?
3 Why can't I?
4 A Well, I suppose you could.
5 Q All right. So there's nothing wrong, then,
6 for any citizen who sees a sign in a right-of-way for
7 any candidate to pluck up the sign, put it in the
8 trunk of their car, take it home and keep it, is that
9 right?
10 A No. To take it home and keep it? As I
11 said, you know, it was - I think you're saying that I
12 was planning to take it home and keep it.
13 Q No. No, no, no, no. Forget you.
14 A Uh-huh.
15 Q I'm driving along the road. I see one of
16 your signs, a Ron - I see seventeen - I see seven Ron
17 Price signs on a public right-of-way the night before
18 the election.
19 A Uh-huh.
20 Q Do I have the right to pick up those signs,
21 put them in my trunk, take them home and keep them?
22 Do I have that right? Well, is it stealing? Would
23 that be stealing? Let me start all over. I'm
24 rambling.
25 The night before the election, I see seven
38
1 "Ron Price School Board" signs on the public
2 right-of-way.
3 A Uh-huh.
4 Q Is it stealing for me to pull up those
5 signs, put them in the trunk of my car, take them
6 home, put them on my wall, and keep them?
7 A Yes, I would say so.
8 Q Okay. But you've testified that you no
9 longer would own those signs if they're in the public
10 right-of-way?
11 A That's correct.
12 Q So if you don't own the signs and no one
13 owns the signs, why can't I pick them up and keep
14 them? Why is that wrong? They're not yours anymore.
15 A Well, I don't know that that's ever been
16 tested.
17 Q Well, I'm just asking you because that's
18 your testimony. Your testimony is once you put your
19 signs in an illegal - in a right-of-way, you no longer
20 own the signs.
21 A Yes.
22 Q If you don't own the signs, then why can't I
23 take them and put them in my car and take them home?
24 Why have I stolen them? Who have I stolen them from
25 if you don't own them?
39
1 A Well, when I put them out there in the
2 right-of-way, I think I'm making them fair game for
3 somebody, and if somebody does that, you know, I'm not
4 going to be the one to go out there and try and
5 prosecute them.
6 Q Well, my question is, would I be stealing
7 the signs? If I took your signs off the right-of-way,
8 put them in my trunk the night before the election and
9 took them home, have I stolen the signs?
10 A No.
11 Q I have not. Okay. Now it's not. Okay.
12 And all this is based on the fact that they're in the
13 illegal right-of-way?
14 A That's correct.
15 Q So if someone had come behind you, picked up
16 the Vernon Robinson signs, taken them home, that would
17 have been okay?
18 A Well, there would have been no way to
19 prevent it, but that's what I was expecting. You
20 know, somebody's going to come behind me tonight in
21 the middle of the night because they're going to
22 operate undercover, where nobody's going to see them,
23 and they're going to take those signs, and that's
24 going to be the end of it.
25 Q Okay. All right. Now so you pick them up.
40
1 You put them in the trunk. Vernon comes to you. You
2 leave. Now what happens?
3 A Well, he bird-dogged me down 14.
4 Q What do you mean by bird-dogged?
5 A Well, I mean he stayed right with me. If I
6 speeded up, slowed down, changed lanes, he was right
7 there.
8 Q Okay. And so what did you do?
9 A Well, we got down to Scales Street where it
10 enters 14, and Mr. Gammon gets in the left-hand lane,
11 and I'm in the right-hand lane because I was going to
12 turn there. There was traffic barring him, and I said
13 to myself, you know, the way he has bird-dogged me
14 down this road, he has now by fault gotten in a
15 left-hand lane. So I made a right-hand turn onto
16 Scales Street, and as I'm driving down Scales Street,
17 I'm looking in the mirror because I figure he's handed
18 this off to somebody else to tail me, and he had. So
19 I made several turns through the neighborhood, and
20 this vehicle followed me.
21 Q Okay.
22 A So at that point I proceeded to the
23 Reidsville Police Station.
24 Q Why did you go to the Reidsville Police
25 Station?
41
1 A Well, because I was concerned about the
2 welfare of myself and my wife by whoever this person
3 was, as was demonstrated by the - the hostile nature
4 that Mr. Gammon had illustrated along 14.
5 Q Where was the DOT location you say you were
6 taking them to originally?
7 A It was in Wentworth.
8 Q How far was Wentworth from where you were?
9 A Probably ten, twelve miles.
10 Q What time of the day was this?
11 A This was around five o'clock.
12 Q Did you think someone would be at the DOT
13 location?
14 A I figured they would be open.
15 Q Did you get a call from Sheriff Page while
16 you were driving?
17 A Not while I was driving. He called my home.
18 When I - when I got home, there was a message on the
19 answering machine that he had called and wanted me to
20 return the call.
21 Q There's a newspaper article written by Brian
22 Ewing in the Eden paper November 8th. It says, "Price
23 said Sheriff Sam Page called him about the signs and
24 told him to bring them to his office. Instead, Price
25 says he drove to the Reidsville Police Department."
42
1 Is that not right?
2 A No.
3 Q They got that wrong?
4 A That's incorrect, yes.
5 Q Did you - so you took them to the police
6 station? That was your idea?
7 A I went to the police station because I was
8 being followed.
9 Q Okay. And what happened when you got to the
10 police station?
11 A The person who was following me came over
12 and made a complaint with the police officer.
13 Q Who was that person? Do you remember?
14 A He was - I don't know for a fact, but it's
15 based on the things I've read and the comments, it was
16 a man by the name of Kennedy.
17 Q And what happened then?
18 A Well, the police asked me if, you know, I
19 knew anything about these signs, and I said I did.
20 Asked me if they could look in my trunk, and I said
21 yes. I opened the trunk.
22 Q And then what happened?
23 A Well, they found a number of signs.
24 Q Okay. And what did they do? What did the
25 police do?
43
1 A Well, they wanted to keep the signs. They
2 wanted to keep the Miller signs. I had many signs in
3 the---
4 Q Right.
5 A ---in the trunk, but---
6 Q Did they keep the Miller signs?
7 A Yes, they did.
8 Q Did they fill out an incident report?
9 A Yes.
10 MR. COHEN: Will you mark that. You want a
11 copy? You got it?
12 (Thereupon, Deposition Exhibit Number 2 is
13 marked for identification.)
14 Q Is that the - Exhibit B, is that the---
15 THE COURT REPORTER: Two.
16 Q Two. Is that the incident report?
17 A This is the - the first page is the only
18 thing I've seen.
19 Q Okay. Why don't you read that and see if
20 it's correct. I think RO means reporting officer.
21 A Uh-huh. (Witness complies with request.)
22 Uh-huh.
23 Q Okay. Is there anything---? You've read
24 what's on page 2 of Exhibit 2. Is there anything
25 inaccurate in what the police officer wrote?
44
1 A No.
2 Q Okay. And if you'll look at the first page,
3 "Reidsville Police Department," "Crime: Larceny of
4 election signs," and then further down it says,
5 "Suspect stole signs from side of road." Do you see
6 that?
7 A Yes.
8 Q Okay. Did you sue the Reidsville Police
9 Department?
10 A No.
11 Q Why not?
12 A Because I didn't have anything to sue them
13 over.
14 Q They said you stole the signs in a public
15 report. Anybody can go get this report. It says,
16 "Suspect stole signs from side of the road."
17 A Well---
18 Q Richard Moore said you stole signs from the
19 side of the road. Why did you sue Richard and not the
20 Reidsville Police Department?
21 A This was an incident report based on
22 somebody else's statement. You know, they - when they
23 first - I don't know whether I've seen this. It looks
24 like - but the incident that was reported, I
25 understood that the incident that was reported was
45
1 from Mr. Kennedy---
2 Q Okay.
3 A ---who reported larceny of signs.
4 Q Got you. Did you sue Mr. Kennedy?
5 A No.
6 Q Have you sued Vernon Gammon?
7 A No.
8 Q Have you sued Chris Knight?
9 A No.
10 Q Go ahead.
11 A None of these other people that you've
12 mentioned have raised such an outrageous commotion
13 about this.
14 Q So is it - does it make a difference to you
15 how many times someone says you've stolen a sign
16 before you decide to sue them? Does that fact - did
17 that factor in your calculation to sue Richard but not
18 Kennedy, Vernon, or Chris Knight?
19 A Well, I don't know that Vernon ever said
20 that.
21 Q Okay. Well, Chris Knight sat right here.
22 He said it. And we know Rick Kennedy has said it.
23 They - let's say they said it twice, or whatever, and
24 Richard has said it fifteen times. I haven't added
25 them up. Did the fact that Richard has said it more
46
1 than one time cause you to sue Richard but not to sue
2 the others who have said it less times?
3 A I think that was probable.
4 Q That was part of it?
5 A And that he said it so many different ways
6 in so many different media and so many times.
7 Q Uh-huh. So it's not what he said; it's how
8 much he said it? Was that the tipping point in your
9 decision to file the lawsuit against him?
10 A (Witness nods head affirmatively.)
11 Q Is that - is that yes?
12 A Yes.
13 Q All right. Do you have a web site?
14 A Do I have a web site?
15 Q Uh-huh.
16 A I have a blog site.
17 Q A blog site. I'm sorry. I'm not as
18 computer literate as you. Let me show you what's been
19 marked as 3.
20 MR. COHEN: Have you got this?
21 MR. HUX: Uh-huh.
22 (Thereupon, Deposition Exhibit Number 3 is
23 marked for identification.)
24 Q It's a posting Thursday, November 9, 2006,
25 "Sign Incident." Would you read that.
47
1 A (Witness complies with request.) Yes.
2 Q Did you post that at five forty-one on your
3 blog site?
4 A Yes.
5 Q A.m. on November--- You did?
6 A Uh-huh.
7 Q And it says, "On the eve of the elections, I
8 came across a wrong that had been committed. Signs
9 that I had put up were taken down and others put in
10 their place." So you're saying that you had
11 originally put up the Robinson signs?
12 A Well, some of them, yeah.
13 Q Some of them at least. All right. And you
14 said, "I tried to correct it by committing another
15 wrong, removing the signs that had been put in the
16 place of my signs."
17 A Uh-huh.
18 Q Do you still agree with that statement?
19 A Yes.
20 Q "Two wrongs do not make a right"; do you
21 agree with that statement?
22 A That's correct.
23 Q "For my actions, I am truly sorry and
24 apologize to Congressman Miller, the Democratic Party,
25 and the citizens of Rockingham County." Do you still
48
1 apologize?
2 A Yes.
3 Q "I know that neither Mr. Robinson nor
4 Mr. Miller condone or support this type of action
5 taken on their behalf by their supporters." Do you
6 still agree with that?
7 A Yes.
8 Q "I thank Congressman Miller for not pressing
9 charges and making an even bigger issue of the
10 incident than it has already become." Is that -
11 that's what it says?
12 A Uh-huh.
13 Q Do you believe Congressman Miller had the
14 right to press charges? I'm not talking about
15 Richard. Do you believe Congressman Miller had the
16 right to press charges?
17 A He may have. I don't know. He could
18 certainly press charges. I don't know how it would
19 come out in the court. Mr. Moore pressed charges---
20 Q Well, Mrs. Moore. Mrs. Moore.
21 A Mrs. Moore---
22 Q Yeah.
23 A ---pressed charges, and it was dismissed.
24 Q By the district attorney?
25 A Uh-huh.
49
1 A Okay. You said, "I cannot speak on behalf
2 of the others, but my actions were not in accord with
3 the Judeo-Christian values that I share so much. I
4 apologize to those who elected me, and I pledge to
5 serve you better as a member of the Rockingham County
6 Board of Education." But your contention is, you
7 didn't steal the signs?
8 A That's correct.
9 Q What wrong did you commit?
10 A Unsportsman behavior. I view that as dirty
11 politics. I came across somebody who had done dirty
12 politics, and I responded, which - in a - in a similar
13 manner, which I did not condone.
14 Q Okay. But you actually talk in here about
15 thanking Mr. Miller for not pressing charges?
16 A Uh-huh.
17 Q You're talking about criminal charges,
18 right?
19 A Well, whatever charges - I mean whatever
20 charges he might have been inclined to bring forth.
21 Q Like the ones that Mrs. Richards---
22 MR. MOORE: Moore.
23 A Mrs. Moore.
24 Q Mrs. Moore. Like the charges Mrs. Moore
25 filed? That's the kind of charge you're talking
50
1 about, right?
2 A Yes.
3 Q So you were concerned at this point about
4 someone filing criminal charges against you, is that
5 right?
6 A Well, that's always a possibility. I mean
7 in this situation, I didn't think it was - I did not
8 think it was warranted. I appreciated the fact that
9 he did what I felt was right.
10 Q Why didn't Mrs. Moore have the right to file
11 charges against you? Why, in your view? Well, let me
12 back up.
13 Do you think she had the right - whether you
14 were convicted or not, do you think as a citizen and
15 taxpayer of Rockingham County that she had the right
16 to go to a magistrate, present him with the police
17 report and the statute, and ask him whether or not
18 there's probable cause? Did she have that right as a
19 citizen to do that?
20 A I don't know whether I'd call it a right. I
21 think she - she did it. She obviously---
22 Q Okay. She did it.
23 A Yeah.
24 Q Well, my question to you, as a public
25 servant and as an American and as a citizen of
51
1 Rockingham County, is, do you think---? Let me state
2 it differently. Was it illegal for her, Mrs. Moore,
3 to go to the magistrate and ask the magistrate to
4 review evidence and the magistrate make an independent
5 determination as to whether to issue a warrant? Was
6 that illegal for her to do?
7 A I don't feel I'm qualified to answer that.
8 Based on the people who are in authority who made that
9 decision, it wasn't.
10 Q Right. Wouldn't you agree with me that all
11 citizens of the county have a right to at least---?
12 Not to take out the charges themselves. I'm not
13 talking about that. If you're a citizen of Rockingham
14 County, don't you have the right to go to a Rockingham
15 County magistrate and simply ask and say, "Here are
16 the facts as I know them to be . . ."
17 A Uh-huh.
18 Q ". . . and I'm asking you, as a judicial
19 officer, to make an independent determination whether
20 there's probable cause a crime has been committed"?
21 You have to agree with me, I would assume,
22 that a citizen of Rockingham County has that right, as
23 a citizen, to go to the magistrate, don't they?
24 A The way I understand it is that in North
25 Carolina---
52
1 Q Yes.
2 A ---they do have that right---
3 Q Thank you.
4 A ---without first being reviewed by the
5 district attorney.
6 Q Correct. You're absolutely right. They do
7 have that right. And you were here when Mrs. Moore
8 testified that she took to the magistrate the police
9 report and a copy of the statute. Did you hear her
10 say that?
11 A Yes.
12 Q All right. And I asked her, "Did you say
13 anything else?" and she answered, "No." Did you hear
14 that?
15 A (No response from witness.)
16 Q You have to answer yes or no.
17 A Yes.
18 Q Do you have any evidence, as you sit here
19 today, that she is not telling the truth when she
20 answered those two questions?
21 A No.
22 Q And the magistrate did indeed issue the
23 warrant, is that correct?
24 A Yes.
25 Q Okay.
53
1 MR. COHEN: Do you have the warrant?
2 MR. HUX: I've got the original.
3 (Thereupon, Deposition Exhibit Number 4 is
4 marked for identification.)
5 Q Take a look at 4. Is that the warrant that
6 you were served with?
7 A Yes, it looks similar.
8 Q And it says at the top, "I understand" - "I,
9 the undersigned -" excuse me - "I, the undersigned,
10 find that there is probable cause to believe that on
11 or about the day of offense shown and in the county
12 named above, you unlawfully and willfully did," and
13 then that's typed, and then written in here "pull up
14 and remove advertisement signs for Brad Miller's
15 election on property that the defendant did not
16 possess, in violation of N.C.G.S. section 14-384."
17 And it's signed - there's a signature, and it's
18 checked under "Magistrate," and it's Wentworth
19 District. Is that what it says?
20 A Uh-huh, yes.
21 Q And it says Debra Moore is the complainant,
22 is that right?
23 A That's correct.
24 Q And as we said, Debra Moore said she
25 presented the magistrate with this police report and
54
1 the statute, and you've just sat here and said you
2 have no evidence that that's not true, yet you have
3 filed a lawsuit against her for malicious prosecution?
4 A Uh-huh.
5 Q In order to succeed, you have to show there
6 wasn't probable cause to believe that you committed
7 this crime. I'm sure your lawyer has told you that.
8 Given what we have just discussed, why did you - why
9 did you charge her with malicious prosecution?
10 A Because I felt it was malicious.
11 Q Do you believe there was probable cause to
12 believe not that you did it--- Now this is - I just
13 want to be - I'm not trying to trick you.
14 A Uh-huh.
15 Q I'm not asking you whether you did or did
16 not violate the law. What I'm asking you is, you
17 would agree with me, wouldn't you, that there was
18 probable cause to believe that you had broken this law
19 and that now it would be up to a judge or a jury to
20 make that final determination? You would agree with
21 me on that, wouldn't you?
22 A Well, I think - I believe that she made the
23 statement, and the reason it was dismissed is because
24 she had no nexus in the case. She was not affected by
25 this. She did not have any direct impact. So what -
55
1 that's what makes me believe that it was malicious.
2 Q Well, I understand that that's what the
3 district attorney advised her, and I understand the
4 district attorney took a voluntary dismissal, which
5 means the case can come back because it was dismissal
6 with leave. But my question is, wouldn't you have to
7 agree with me that when she went to the magistrate and
8 she had this police report, that she had probable
9 cause to believe that you had broken this law 14-384,
10 and that now a judge and jury would decide? You have
11 to agree with that, wouldn't you?
12 A Well, I look at all of the incidents that
13 occur in this county, and they say, well, you know,
14 there are certainly a lot more egregious laws that
15 have been gone against, so, you know, I guess my
16 question is, why is she not out there doing this to
17 all of them? She picked - she picked me, I believe,
18 because she had something to gain by it. Her husband,
19 who had run for office, was the next person in line.
20 Q Uh-huh.
21 A And if I stepped down or this became a real
22 problem for me, then, you know, her husband would step
23 into that position.
24 Q Well, we'll talk about that in a minute, but
25 that really wasn't my question. I mean you don't have
56
1 to take out a warrant for everybody that you think has
2 done something wrong. My question is, would you -
3 would you agree with me that based on this police
4 report and this statute, that Mrs. Moore, Debra Moore,
5 had probable cause to believe you had committed this
6 crime and that it was now up to the system, and the
7 system eventually decided, the DA, to dismiss it? But
8 would you agree with me that she had probable cause to
9 go to the magistrate and have him to review this
10 evidence?
11 MR. HUX: I think he's answered that.
12 MR. COHEN: No, he really hasn't. I kind of
13 want a yes or no on that one.
14 A No.
15 Q She did not have probable cause to believe
16 that?
17 A No.
18 Q All right. But the magistrate said he found
19 probable cause, didn't he? Is that what it says?
20 A Yes.
21 Q All right. Did you sue the magistrate for
22 malicious prosecution?
23 A No.
24 Q All right. Now do you believe, had you
25 stepped down, that Richard would have automatically
57
1 gotten the position on the school board?
2 A From my perspective, I think it would have
3 been dependent upon when I stepped down. If I had
4 stepped down before the 11th, before I was sworn in,
5 then he would have been the person to say, "I'm it,"
6 you know, "I'm next in line."
7 Q Wouldn't it have been up to the County
8 Commissioners to choose?
9 A I don't believe so, not at that point. Once
10 I was sworn in, if I stepped down, then the school
11 board would have had to.
12 Q All right. And when were you sworn in?
13 A The 11th of December.
14 Q When was this issued? What's the date on
15 this?
16 A The 13th---
17 Q Right.
18 A ---of November.
19 Q Right. So that couldn't be right. This is
20 two days afterwards.
21 MR. HUX: It's a month earlier.
22 MR. COHEN: Whoops. Sorry. It's what?
23 MR. HUX: A month earlier.
24 MR. COHEN: What's a month earlier?
25 THE WITNESS: When this was sworn out.
58
1 MR. COHEN: This is November 13th.
2 THE WITNESS: Right.
3 MR. HUX: He was sworn in December the 11th.
4 MR. COHEN: Oh, December the 11th.
5 Q You were sworn in December the 11th?
6 A Uh-huh.
7 Q And you believe, had you stepped down, he
8 automatically would have gotten it?
9 A Yes.
10 Q Based on what?
11 A Based on number of votes he had.
12 Q I know, but what are you basing the fact on
13 that there wouldn't have been another election or the
14 Commissioners wouldn't have had to---?
15 A Well, because the person hadn't been sworn
16 in. If I - if I stepped down after I was sworn in,
17 then I would have already been in the position.
18 Q I understand---
19 A That's my understanding.
20 Q I understand. Where did you get that
21 understanding? Did someone tell you that, or is that
22 just your assumption that the next person in line
23 would---?
24 A Based on the things that I've read.
25 Q Okay. Can you tell me what you've read,
59
1 because I need to know?
2 A Oh, I don't recall everything I've read and
3 where I've read it, but it - we've been through - I've
4 been, you know, through a lot of documentation on this
5 addition of the five at-large candidates, and I -
6 based on the information I read in that material, I
7 believe that he would have been able to ask to have
8 that position because the position had not been filled
9 yet.
10 Q Okay. But you can't tell me where you read
11 that?
12 A No.
13 Q All right. I--- I'm sorry.
14 A Because he would have been the next highest
15 candidate. It would have - it would have, you know,
16 stepped down in order.
17 Q Or there could have been a special election
18 to fill the ones---?
19 A Oh, there could have been, yes.
20 Q Right. So how do you know that wouldn't
21 have happened, is what I'm asking you.
22 A Well, I don't. You know, I'm saying based
23 on what I've read and what I can remember, I believe
24 that that was the case.
25 Q All right. But you don't know, because I -
60
1 because I haven't read that---
2 A Yeah.
3 Q ---and I'd like to know that.
4 A Uh-huh.
5 Q But you can't help me out with where you
6 read that?
7 A No.
8 Q All right.
9 A I think we'd have to go back to the law as
10 it was passed by the legislature in adding these
11 additional positions to the county school board.
12 Q And it's quite possible there would have had
13 to have been - do you agree with me that it's quite
14 possible there would have had to have been a special
15 election in which Richard Moore and everybody else
16 could have run to fill it?
17 A It's possible, sure.
18 MR. COHEN: All right. Mark that.
19 (Thereupon, Deposition Exhibit Number 5 is
20 marked for identification.)
21 Q Have you seen that newspaper article?
22 A Yes.
23 Q Okay. I asked you earlier. Did you say the
24 statement in here is incorrect? It says, "Gammon
25 reported the incident to the sheriff's office. Price
61
1 said Sheriff Sam Page called him about the signs and
2 told him to bring them to his office. Instead, Price
3 said he drove to the Reidsville Police Department,
4 where an officer searched his car and found the stolen
5 Miller signs." Are you saying that's incorrect?
6 A Where are you reading this?
7 Q Fourth paragraph from the bottom, "Gammon
8 reported."
9 A Okay. Are we on the same sheet? I think
10 that's different format. I see the---
11 Q Oh. Oh, I see.
12 A I see the paragraph.
13 Q The last paragraph, yeah.
14 A I see the paragraph you're talking about.
15 Q Uh-huh.
16 A That's correct. That's an error.
17 Q That's an error. Okay. During a campaign,
18 do people ask to put signs in their yards? When you
19 ran, did people want to put signs in their yards for
20 you?
21 A For me to put---? Yes.
22 Q And did you give them a sign to put in their
23 yards?
24 A Yes, I did.
25 Q Do any of those people keep the signs later
62
1 as a souvenir?
2 A The ones that I can recall that I gave them
3 to gave them back to me.
4 Q You don't know of anybody who kept one?
5 A No. Well, everybody that I gave them too
6 asked me if I wanted the signs back, and I said yes, I
7 did.
8 Q Okay. If someone said, "Do you mind if I
9 keep the sign," would you let someone keep one of your
10 signs?
11 A Well, I would want to know why because, you
12 know, they cost me a lot of money, so, you know, if I
13 should choose to run again at the end of my term, I
14 would use those signs. So, you know, if I bought more
15 signs, these would just add to them or I would use
16 these signs.
17 Q Do you have any evidence to contradict what
18 Richard Moore testified to, that someone gave him one
19 of your signs?
20 A No.
21 Q All right. If that were true and someone
22 gave him one of your signs, is that the same, in your
23 view, as you pulling up the Brad Miller signs, or is
24 it a different situation, same situation?
25 A I think it's probably the same situation,
63
1 similar situation.
2 Q So you pulling up Brad Miller's signs from
3 the side of the road the night before the election is
4 the same as someone giving Richard Miller one of your
5 signs after the election is over, in your view?
6 A Yes.
7 Q How is it the same?
8 A Well, because he's got a sign that belongs
9 to somebody else or was in the possession of somebody
10 else.
11 Q Uh-huh. But I mean if someone gave - if
12 he's - according to his testimony, which you say you
13 have no evidence to contradict, if someone gave him
14 that sign, why wouldn't Richard be able to assume that
15 that person had ownership of the sign and gave it to
16 him? Why should he assume the person had stolen the
17 sign?
18 A I think you'd have to investigate that
19 further with Mr. Smith.
20 Q So before Richard took the sign, he should
21 have asked Mr. Smith where he got it and how he came
22 into possession of it, things like that?
23 A Well, I mean it had my name on it.
24 Q Right.
25 A Why wouldn't he just give it back to me?
64
1 Q If Mr. Smith gave it to him and if Mr. Smith
2 had ownership of the sign, why shouldn't Richard take
3 the sign as a gift?
4 A Well, how would he have ownership of it?
5 Q I don't know. Maybe you gave it to him.
6 I'm just saying how would Richard know where this guy
7 got the sign? Was he under a duty to inquire how he
8 came in possession of a campaign sign?
9 A Well, I think, you know, on one side he's
10 saying, "Well, you know, Ron Price, you stole signs,
11 but what I'm doing over here is okay," you know, "I've
12 got your sign, but it's all right."
13 Q Well, are you saying Richard stole that
14 sign, that Ron Price sign that he held at the parade?
15 Are you saying here that Richard Moore stole that
16 sign?
17 A Well, I think - I believe that the same
18 standards should be applied across both parties. You
19 know, he's saying I'm a thief because I moved - was
20 going to move signs that belong to - that were put out
21 by Miller's representatives.
22 Q I'm just saying are you saying that Richard
23 Moore stole the sign from you?
24 A Yes. Yes.
25 Q All right. So when--- What's the guy's
65
1 name that gave it to you?
2 MR. MOORE: Eric Smith.
3 Q When Eric Smith gave Richard Moore the sign,
4 in your view, your testimony is that Richard Moore
5 stole the sign from you?
6 A Uh-huh. Wouldn't that be possession of
7 stolen property?
8 Q I'm just asking your opinion. Do you
9 believe he stole the sign?
10 A Uh-huh.
11 Q That's a yes?
12 A Yes.
13 Q All right. Well, if he stole the sign, then
14 that means you stole the signs, right?
15 A So we're both thieves; is that what you're
16 saying?
17 Q That's my question, yes. Isn't that right?
18 I mean, you've just said that he stole the sign
19 because someone gave it to him, and you said that's
20 the same thing as what you did. Therefore, you also
21 stole the signs, correct?
22 A Therefore, we're either both thieves or
23 we're both innocent.
24 Q Correct. That's my question. That's -
25 you've just said he stole the sign, that he's a thief?
66
1 A Uh-huh.
2 Q So what I'm saying to you is, both of you
3 stole the signs, and both of you are thieves, so
4 there's no hypocrisy here. Isn't that right? That's
5 what you've just testified to, correct?
6 A If one is going to apply, then it needs to
7 apply to both.
8 Q So you both stole the signs, yes?
9 A Or we're both innocent.
10 Q But you've just said he stole it?
11 A Yeah. He's saying I'm - I stole it.
12 Q Correct. So you both stole the signs?
13 That's all I'm asking. Right? You both stole the
14 signs?
15 A Okay.
16 Q Okay.
17 A And we're both innocent.
18 Q Well, you've just sued him for stealing the
19 signs.
20 A Yes.
21 Q I mean you've just sued him because he said
22 you stole the signs?
23 A Uh-huh.
24 Q And you've just admitted that he stole your
25 sign and what you did was the same thing he did. So
67
1 both of you-all stole the signs. So how are you - why
2 are you suing him for defamation?
3 A But the difference is that he kept my sign.
4 I was taking them over to DOT. I wasn't planning to
5 keep those signs. I had no use for those signs.
6 Q Okay. So you believe in order to say
7 someone stole something, that person has to keep it?
8 A Yes.
9 Q So if you steal it and give it to someone
10 else, you haven't stolen it, right? Is that - is that
11 what you're saying? You steal it and give it to
12 someone else, you haven't stolen, is that right?
13 A Well, I don't know. I wasn't giving it to
14 someone else.
15 Q How about if you---?
16 A I was giving it---
17 Q I'm sorry.
18 A I was making it available to the people who
19 originally had it.
20 Q And you said you took them to DOT to make it
21 more difficult for them to get out before the
22 election, right? Right?
23 A Yes.
24 Q And you have admitted on your blog that that
25 was wrong to do, right?
68
1 A That's correct. It was not good
2 sportsmanship. I did not view that as a good, proper
3 political move.
4 Q But you didn't steal the signs?
5 A I did not.
6 Q When Richard Moore says you stole the signs,
7 he's committed defamation, right?
8 A That's correct.
9 Q But it's all right if you sit here and say
10 Richard Moore stole the signs because someone gave him
11 a sign and he kept it? So you can say Richard stole
12 signs, is that right?
13 A Well, my belief is or my understanding of
14 libel is that when you go around printing and saying
15 those things in public venue. Now I haven't gone to
16 anybody and said, "Listen, you know -" I haven't gone
17 on WGSR and said, "Listen, listeners of Reidsville,
18 Richard Moore has stolen my sign." I have not done
19 that. I haven't - not - I have not run newspaper
20 articles to say that he has stolen something from me.
21 Q But you equate what you did in removing the
22 signs with Richard receiving the one sign after the
23 election? To you, they're similar? That's a---
24 A Yes.
25 Q All right. Okay.
69
1 MR. HUX: You've got to remember he's a
2 layman.
3 MR. COHEN: As is Richard Moore, correct,
4 which is kind of important in this case.
5 A Except that, you know, I did not initiate a
6 suit against someone, and I was not out there---
7 Q You didn't initiate a suit? You've sued
8 him.
9 A Well, he initiated first.
10 Q Has he sued you?
11 A Well, his wife; I mean they're acting in
12 concert.
13 Q You would agree with me, wouldn't you, that
14 there's a difference in the legal term "to steal" -
15 "larceny," "to steal"? Would you agree with me
16 there's a difference legally how lawyers view that and
17 as a layman to say so-and-so stole something?
18 A I would hope not.
19 Q Oh, you don't think there's a difference in
20 meanings?
21 A I would hope that, you know, the law or
22 legal definition would be the same.
23 Q So you think when everyday people - you
24 believe when everyday people walk around and we're
25 talking and I say so-and-so's a thief--- Let me back
70
1 up.
2 Let's say you're talking to Joe Blow, the
3 owner of the grocery store, and Joe Blow says,
4 so-and-so's a thief, so-and-so stole something from
5 me. Do you think Joe Blow, the owner of the grocery
6 store, understands the legal - the essential elements
7 of larceny in the State of North Carolina? Do you
8 think he knows that?
9 A Well, I don't think he's applying it in that
10 case.
11 Q Right.
12 A It's a liberal---
13 Q It's a liberal - when he said he stole it---
14 A ---view of interpretation.
15 Q Yeah. He's saying that - he's saying that
16 as the guy that owns the grocery store, right?
17 A Uh-huh.
18 Q Is that right? Yes?
19 A Yeah.
20 Q All right. Is Richard Moore a lawyer? Is
21 he a lawyer? I'm asking you, is Richard a lawyer?
22 A No.
23 Q All right. So if Joe Blow, the grocery man,
24 can talk in a liberal interpretation, why can't
25 Richard Moore talk in a liberal interpretation? Why
71
1 are there two sets of rules, one for Richard Moore and
2 one for Joe Blow at the grocery store?
3 A Well, the man in the grocery store is not
4 running a newspaper, he's not maintaining a web site,
5 he's not going on TV---
6 Q Okay. Got you.
7 A ---and making these proclamations.
8 Q All right. So to you, the difference in
9 Richard Moore in this case and Joe Blow, the grocery
10 store owner, is that Joe Blow, the grocery store
11 owner, has said it to you in a liberal layman's term,
12 but Richard has said it in a different forum, which
13 changes things because Richard has said it on
14 television and in the newspaper, so that now makes it
15 different. Is that what you're trying to say?
16 A Yes. I would---
17 Q Okay. Would you be surprised to know that
18 the law of defamation doesn't make that distinction,
19 at least in all the cases I've read?
20 A I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know.
21 Q I understand that. Had Richard Moore -
22 based on what we just talked about, let's say Richard
23 had told people that walked into his bookstore, "Oh,
24 man, that Ron Price, he's a thief. He stole the
25 signs." You know, people come in and they're talking,
72
1 and the guy says, "Yeah, I don't like that Ron Price,"
2 and the next guy says, "Oh, I like Ron Price. He's no
3 thief," blah, blah, and they argue. Some people liked
4 you; some people didn't. And that's all Richard did.
5 He didn't put it on the internet, he didn't put it in
6 the newspaper, he didn't put it on television. Would
7 you have sued him?
8 A I wouldn't have known about it.
9 Q Well, let's say the guy that he told in his
10 store came to you and said, "Richard Moore just told
11 me you were a thief and stole a sign," you know.
12 A I don't think so.
13 Q You don't - you wouldn't have sued him. You
14 wouldn't have sued him, would you?
15 A (Witness nods head affirmatively.)
16 Q Is that a yes?
17 A Yes.
18 Q All right. You sued him because he put it
19 on TV and he put it in the newspaper and on the
20 internet. That's why you sued him, correct?
21 A Yes.
22 MR. COHEN: Okay. Let me take a minute and
23 talk to my client.
24 (Thereupon, a recess is taken from 3:16 p.m.
25 to 3:23 p.m.)
73
1 Q Let me ask you, Mr. Price, did you or your
2 attorney send a letter to Richard Moore or his paper
3 or the television station prior to filing the lawsuit
4 asking them to make a retraction?
5 A No.
6 Q Okay.
7 A I spoke for myself.
8 Q Well, do you know - have you ever seen a
9 letter such as that? Do you---?
10 A Have I ever seen one?
11 Q Well, you didn't send it, correct?
12 MR. HUX: For the record, no letter was
13 sent.
14 MR. COHEN: Okay. Thank you, because that
15 affects the damages.
16 Q Which, speaking of damages, look at the
17 first exhibit, the answers to the interrogatories.
18 Well, let me back up a minute. I'm sorry. Let me
19 mark the complaint.
20 (Thereupon, Deposition Exhibit Number 6 is
21 marked for identification.)
22 MR. COHEN: Do you want another copy of the
23 complaint?
24 MR. HUX: No, thank you.
25 Q Take a look at this.
74
1 MR. COHEN: What's that marked? Six?
2 THE COURT REPORTER: Uh-huh.
3 Q Is that the lawsuit that was filed on your
4 behalf?
5 MR. HUX: I don't think he's ever seen the
6 summons.
7 Q Don't worry about the first two pages. Just
8 start with the third page, "Complaint." Read
9 paragraphs 1 through 7 to yourself.
10 A (Witness complies with request.) Uh-huh,
11 yes.
12 Q All right. And then look at Exhibit 1,
13 which is the answers. And you see question 1(a),
14 "Name, addresses, telephone numbers of anyone with
15 information regarding allegations contained in 1
16 through 7." Those are the paragraphs you just read, 1
17 through 7?
18 A Uh-huh.
19 Q And then that's the one we've already been
20 over. It says, the answer, "It's difficult to answer
21 this question because most of the defendant's
22 slanderous and libelous allegations were made live on
23 the air during his 'Political Soup' television
24 program, and they would certainly include -" and then
25 you name these people that we've gone over.
75
1 A Uh-huh.
2 Q So I understand your complaint, the first
3 cause of action, slander, are you talking about the
4 statements that are---? Flip that page. Are you
5 talking about those statements and on the following
6 pages? Is that what that first cause of action is
7 about? It says - well, I'm sorry - (b) says, "Set
8 forth each alleged slanderous statement made by
9 Richard Moore, and state the time and place." This
10 subsection seeks information with regard to paragraph
11 1 through 7, and then the next page you have "Answer,"
12 and you have "December 7, December 13, December 20,
13 January 7, January 20, January 27, March 21, April 4."
14 All those were on his TV show, is that---?
15 A Uh-huh.
16 Q Yes?
17 A Yes.
18 Q All right. Okay. Now for the internet,
19 you've - your complaint has an internet defamation
20 claim too. Are you talking about the fact that he
21 put---?
22 MR. COHEN: Was it Number 54 of The Neely
23 Chronicle? Was that the one?
24 MR. MOORE: Uh-huh, the last one.
25 Q Is the internet claim based upon Richard
76
1 Moore putting that Number 54 edition of The Neely
2 Chronicle on the internet for folks to read? Is that
3 what that's based on, the internet claim?
4 A No. He had excerpts from The Chronicle---
5 Q Right.
6 A ---displayed on his web site.
7 Q Right. That's---
8 A Some of it. There were - there were
9 modifications, additions. Not all of what was on the
10 internet was what was in the newspaper.
11 Q Okay. What in particular on the internet
12 are you saying was defamatory, in addition to The
13 Neely Chronicle excerpts?
14 A Well, the stuff that was on there. I sent
15 you--- Oh.
16 Q What you sent me? Well---
17 MR. HUX: The Buddy Ron stuff.
18 MR. COHEN: The what? I'm sorry.
19 MR. HUX: The Buddy Ron stuff.
20 MR. COHEN: Buddy Ron stuff. All right.
21 Q That was on the internet, but not in The
22 Neely Chronicle?
23 A We'd have to look.
24 MR. HUX: No, I think it was in both.
25 MR. COHEN: In both? Okay.
77
1 MR. HUX: Yeah.
2 Q So my question is, can you tell me what is
3 the internet defamation information that was not also
4 a part of The Neely Chronicle, specifically?
5 A Well, I'd have to sit down and compare it
6 side by side.
7 MR. COHEN: Do you know?
8 MR. HUX: No. There's stuff in here.
9 There's the little - little blurbs that he uses
10 to introduce different topics---
11 MR. COHEN: Okay.
12 MR. HUX: ---that he adds on the internet
13 that introduce articles that come out of The
14 Neely Chronicle.
15 MR. COHEN: So they're more headlines?
16 MR. HUX: They're headlines. They're
17 captions under the pictures, stuff like this.
18 That's not from The Neely Chronicle.
19 MR. COHEN: Okay. All right.
20 MR. HUX: It's just - that's just pulled out
21 of somewhere; Ether, I think it is.
22 MR. COHEN: Okay.
23 MR. HUX: Plus, not to try to answer, but he
24 also has all of the "Political Soup" programs on
25 the web site that you can buy, and if you call
78
1 up - call up the - all the "Political Soup"
2 things---
3 MR. COHEN: Okay. From the television
4 stuff?
5 MR. HUX: For a price, yeah.
6 MR. COHEN: From the television show?
7 MR. HUX: On the internet.
8 MR. COHEN: On the internet. Okay.
9 MR. HUX: Because it's not - it is certainly
10 The Neely Chronicle, but it's not just The Neely
11 Chronicle.
12 Q All right. But other--- Let me put it this
13 way. Other than The Neely Chronicle and a
14 reproduction of what was on television--- Put those
15 to the side. Other than The Neely Chronicle and the
16 things that were on television, are you saying that
17 the internet libel action independent of those two
18 consists of headlines and captions?
19 A Well, no, because each one of these links go
20 to specific material, and some of that is different
21 than what has been both on the newspaper and on the
22 TV.
23 Q Well, let me - I guess it's easier to back
24 up. Have you given me, through discovery - through
25 the interrogatories and the document production, have
79
1 you produced to me everything you contend in this
2 lawsuit was defamatory?
3 A Yes, uh-huh.
4 Q All right. That's all I need. All right.
5 In the Exhibit 1, when I asked about 14, "Damages set
6 forth"--- And this is the page before the answer, the
7 fourth page from the end.
8 MR. HUX: Is this the complaint or the
9 answers?
10 MR. COHEN: No.
11 A This is the interrogatories, fourth one from
12 the end?
13 Q Yeah, fourth page from the end. You see
14 "14," "Set forth in detail all categories of damage
15 for which plaintiff seeks recovery and for each
16 subcategory itemize each item of damage." And you say
17 you've been "ridiculed, slandered, libeled, publicly
18 castigated by the defendant on television, in print,
19 in person, [and public religious -] and a public
20 religious parade." "The complaint lists every amount
21 of damage broken down by item," and I've looked
22 through the complaint, and all I could see is that
23 you're seeking more than $10,000 in damages for
24 various claims. So my question - let me start out
25 like this: Have you lost any employment because of
80
1 any of the alleged defamation, any employment
2 opportunities?
3 A Yes, I believe so.
4 Q What are they?
5 A Well, as I said, when I came up here, I had
6 contacts with people. I went out to California to
7 talk to them about this Nations Pharmaceuticals,
8 selling drugs or pharmaceuticals and the other
9 services that they provide like laboratory management
10 for doctors, in doctors' office dispensing, lien -
11 medical lien funding. These are all services we
12 provide. But, you know, for me to go in and talk to a
13 doctor with these - these statements that have been
14 made about me and everybody's aware of because they
15 watch it on TV, or they - somebody will bring a Neely
16 Chronicle in and point it out to them. I think that's
17 definitely had an impact on me being able to do
18 business.
19 Q Well, let me ask, you told me you weren't
20 currently working for the pharmaceutical company. Are
21 you working for them now?
22 A Yes.
23 Q I thought at the very beginning I asked if
24 you were employed by anyone other than the school
25 board?
81
1 A I - I do not work for them. I'm a
2 commissioned salesman.
3 Q All right. Are you currently doing
4 commissioned sales?
5 A No.
6 Q All right. When is the last time you
7 attempted to make a sale?
8 A Around September.
9 Q Of---?
10 A Of 2006.
11 Q All right. And you were elected to the
12 school board when? In November?
13 A In November, yes.
14 Q All right. Has anyone told you they would
15 not do business with you because of the alleged
16 defamation?
17 A No.
18 Q So do you have any evidence other than your
19 feelings - do you have any evidence that anybody
20 wouldn't do business with you?
21 A I don't have any sworn testimony from people
22 who said, "I won't do business with you."
23 Q I mean, do you have any evidence whatsoever?
24 Do you have a document? Do you have an affidavit? Do
25 you have anything?
82
1 A No, I do not.
2 Q So you can't really say that you've lost
3 wages, can you?
4 A Well, I can say it because I feel it.
5 Q Can you prove it?
6 A I can't prove it.
7 Q Okay. You can say anything you want.
8 MR. HUX: You've got to phrase your
9 questions the right way.
10 Q You can say it. You agree with me, you
11 can't prove it?
12 A I agree I can't prove it.
13 Q All right. Have you gone to a therapist
14 because of the alleged defamation?
15 A No.
16 Q Have you gone to a psychologist?
17 A No.
18 Q Psychiatrist?
19 A No.
20 Q Do you have any - has your family physician
21 or anyone diagnosed you with any mental health
22 problems?
23 A No.
24 Q Do you take any medications because of the
25 alleged defamation?
83
1 A No.
2 Q You go to church in town?
3 A Yes, I do.
4 Q Have you been thrown out of your church?
5 A No.
6 Q Are you a deacon?
7 A No.
8 Q Have you been prevented from doing anything
9 in church? Has anyone - what kind of church is it?
10 A I go to---
11 Q Methodist? Baptist?
12 A ---a Baptist church.
13 Q Has any - the preacher or anybody told you
14 that they wouldn't allow you to take a certain
15 position because of these allegations?
16 A That's being resisted right now.
17 Q I'm sorry?
18 A That's being resisted. I don't know what
19 the - what the ramifications are. When I was in
20 Florida, the last two churches I was in, I was a
21 deacon.
22 Q Okay.
23 A When I came here, my wife and I went to the
24 church for a period of time, about a year, and the
25 pastor, who was seventy-four years old, took ill and
84
1 had to resign. For the last, well, almost a year now,
2 we've been without a pastor. We've had one deacon
3 resign. We had two, and there's one person in
4 position, and it's been discussed about me becoming a
5 deacon.
6 Q Okay.
7 A And there's been some resistance from some
8 factors in the - in the congregation.
9 Q Have they told you what the resistance is
10 based on?
11 A No.
12 Q So you don't know?
13 A I don't know that that's the cause.
14 Q You don't know that's the cause. So, again,
15 regardless of how you may feel, you can't prove that
16 your reputation in the church has been harmed, can
17 you?
18 A No.
19 Q All right. Have any of your friends stopped
20 going to dinner with you or going out with you?
21 A No.
22 Q Do you play golf?
23 A No.
24 Q Okay. Didn't affect your golf game. What
25 kind of hobbies do you like to do?
85
1 A I don't know. I guess it's primarily taking
2 care of my grandchildren.
3 Q Okay. Your grandchildren still love you---
4 A Yes.
5 Q ---despite the alleged defamation?
6 A Well, my grandchildren still love me, but,
7 you know, when this first started coming out, my
8 grandchildren, you know, they would ask me about this,
9 my being caught stealing signs---
10 Q Right.
11 A ---and, "Grandpa, why were you stealing
12 signs?"
13 Q And did you explain it to them the way you
14 wanted to?
15 A Yes.
16 Q And they understand your position now?
17 A I'm not so sure. You know, it's still a
18 question in their mind, you know.
19 Q How old are they?
20 A Well, I've got a granddaughter who is
21 twelve.
22 Q Okay.
23 A I've got a grandson who is seven. Those are
24 the two who are primarily impacted.
25 Q Okay. What are your categories of damage?
86
1 Explain to me how you've been damaged moneywise. Can
2 you break it down into---? Let me strike that.
3 How much money are you asking for in this
4 case?
5 A Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
6 Q All right. What's that based on?
7 A Based on punitive damage and the - and the
8 seven articles or seven items listed in the---
9 Q Okay. Break down the two hundred and fifty
10 for me. Like, why two hundred and fifty? What's that
11 based upon?
12 A The libel, the slander, the besmirching my
13 character.
14 Q Okay. I mean more like if - if you could
15 prove that you had lost $100,000 in business, and, you
16 know, there'd be the nexus, $100,000 lost wages, or if
17 you had - in a car accident you have medical bills, so
18 you go into court and say, "I've got $30,000 in
19 medical bills." How do you - where do you get the two
20 fifty? What's that based on? Like, ten thousand for
21 what, fifty thousand for what? Is there - is it
22 connected to anything, or is that just a figure pulled
23 out of the air?
24 A No. We felt that - I felt that that was
25 reasonable compensation.
87
1 Q Based upon what? Why do you deserve
2 $250,000? Why should a jury give you $250,000?
3 A Well, because if I - if I go - in my
4 previous jobs, some of those jobs require that I have
5 a top-secret clearance. Example: I applied to the
6 county jail because I want to go in there and to
7 mission work, and I have to fill out an application,
8 and one of the first things is, have you ever been
9 charged with a crime.
10 Q Uh-huh.
11 A And, you know, basically I have been, from
12 what my attorney tells me. The charges that were
13 brought against me in the summons by Mrs. Moore have
14 charged me with a criminal offense.
15 Q Charge you, but it's been dismissed?
16 A Right.
17 Q So - and you know that you could get that
18 expunged---
19 A Expunged?
20 Q ---if you wanted to. But, anyway---
21 A Well, how much would an expunge - how much
22 would it cost to have it expunged?
23 A I can't do it for you. I represent Richard.
24 But I don't charge all that much. I charge a hundred
25 and fifty bucks.
88
1 MR. HUX: You'd better go see him.
2 MR. COHEN: He's more pricey than I am. I
3 don't charge much for expungements.
4 Q Anyway, do you realize because you didn't
5 send the letter, that you're not entitled to punitive
6 damages for certain of your claims? Are you aware of
7 that?
8 A No, I'm not.
9 Q What would the punitive damages be for? Why
10 are you - do you know what punitive damages are?
11 A No, but my attorney does.
12 Q Well, I mean you said the two fifty was
13 based on punitive damage. I just saying do you know
14 what punitive damages are.
15 A I'm thinking as - because of the actions
16 that were taken.
17 Q All right. I'm almost done. You said
18 earlier you don't dispute that you pulled down -
19 lifted up, pulled down Brad Miller's signs, right? I
20 mean, that's---
21 A That's right.
22 Q And you were going to take them to the DOT,
23 you testified, because this was the night before the
24 election and by the time the DOT got in touch with the
25 Brad Miller campaign, basically the election would be
89
1 over, so it made it more difficult for them to put
2 them back?
3 A Oh, they would have been able to do it. I
4 felt that, you know, they would - they would get
5 notified and they would have time to get them and put
6 them out.
7 Q Okay. But you said in the newspaper
8 articles and you've said here, more importantly - you
9 said you did take them there because it would make it
10 more difficult for them to get them back in the ground
11 than had you just left them on the ground?
12 A Yes.
13 Q All right. So, I mean, that was your
14 purpose, to make it more difficult for them to get
15 back in the ground, is that correct?
16 A That's correct.
17 Q Well, if this statute says that a person who
18 wantonly or maliciously pulls down signs not belonging
19 to them is guilty of this crime, if a jury were to
20 determine that that was wanton of you for trying to
21 delay them getting back into the ground, then you
22 would have violated the statute, wouldn't you?
23 A Let me put on my law cap here.
24 Q Okay.
25 A I don't - I don't think I can answer that.
90
1 The---
2 Q Well--- Go ahead. I'm sorry.
3 A This - when I - as I said, when I went
4 through the financial training course for the
5 candidacy for the school board, there were state
6 statutes that were quoted we were - we were told
7 about, which said that it was unlawful and it was
8 unauthorized for anyone to put signs in a public
9 right-of-way.
10 Q And you've admitted doing that. You've
11 admitted doing that, right?
12 A Yes.
13 Q All right. So you violated that law, didn't
14 you?
15 A But, you know, I was expecting that, you
16 know - as a said, a gentlemen's agreement was if I---
17 Q I understand. But you violated--- I'm
18 sorry.
19 A ---put them up---
20 Q I'm sorry.
21 A Okay.
22 Q I'm sorry. No, finish. Finish. I don't
23 mean to stop you.
24 A Uh-huh.
25 Q You - you've admitted violating that
91
1 particular statute? You put signs up in the
2 right-of-way, right? You put up Vernon Robinson signs
3 in the right-of-way, right?
4 A Well, yeah. But the statute says that it's
5 unauthorized, it's illegal, to put those signs up
6 where they're used as a highway marker or a sign
7 governing traffic control, things like that.
8 Q Okay.
9 A It says it's - it's not authorized for those
10 signs to be in the public right-of-way.
11 Q Well, I'm confused now. At the beginning of
12 this deposition you were very clear that, in your
13 view, it was illegal to put signs up in the
14 right-of-way, and you took the Miller signs down, but
15 when you put the Robinson signs back up, you were
16 forced to agree with me that if they were illegal for
17 the Democrats, they were illegal for the Republicans.
18 So it's either illegal for both Miller and Robinson or
19 it's not - or it's - it's either legal or not legal
20 for both of them, right?
21 A And I believe what I said and what I was
22 trying to get across was---
23 Q Okay.
24 A ---that it was kind of a gentlemen's
25 agreement, you know, people put their signs in the
92
1 right-of-way.
2 Q Okay. Forget the gentlemen's agreement.
3 I'm talking about you said you thought it was illegal
4 to put signs in the right-of-way, and if it's illegal
5 to put signs in the right-of-way, then you violated
6 that law.
7 A Well, it's not illegal. It says
8 "unauthorized." You're not authorized to put signs in
9 a public right-of-way. It's illegal to put signs that
10 control traffic or---
11 Q Okay. So then Brad Miller had not - his
12 people had not violated any law when they put his
13 signs in the right-of-way, right?
14 A They said they were unauthorized, so
15 unauthorized signs should be taken down.
16 Q All right. So you should have taken down
17 the Robinson signs you stuck up?
18 A I figured - my thought was that somebody
19 else was going to do that during the night.
20 Q Come on, Mr.---
21 A The very people who did---
22 Q Come on, Mr. Price, you can't have it both
23 ways. If it's wrong for the Miller signs to be in
24 hole number A, it's wrong for the Robinson signs to be
25 in a wrong [sic] number A, right? Come on.
93
1 MR. HUX: Seth, you've asked this four
2 times.
3 MR. COHEN: I know it. The last time, and I
4 promise I'll never ask again until we get to
5 trial.
6 MR. HUX: I mean you got the answer you want
7 three hours ago.
8 MR. COHEN: Yeah, you're right. I did.
9 You're right. Thank you.
10 MR. HUX: You've got everything you need.
11 MR. COHEN: Thank you, professor.
12 Q All right. 14-384 doesn't say anything
13 about right-of-ways, does it, the statute I just
14 handed you, the one---?
15 A No.
16 Q And it doesn't say anything about taking
17 them away and taking them home and keeping them, does
18 it?
19 A No.
20 Q All right. It says if you wantonly or
21 maliciously tear down a sign that's not on your
22 property, you're guilty of the statute. That's what
23 it says, right? I mean, that's what it says?
24 A But do not these statutes work hand-in-hand,
25 and are there not other statutes that will go
94
1 hand-in-hand with this one?
2 Q I'm just asking you about the statute that
3 you were charged with. This is the only one that she
4 charged you with, and that's what this one says,
5 right?
6 A Uh-huh.
7 Q All right. Now would you be surprised to
8 know that Webster's defines "steal" as to take the
9 property of another wrongfully and especially as a
10 habitual or regular practice, but to take the property
11 of another wrongfully? That's not a legal definition,
12 is it? That's just Webster's, right?
13 A Uh-huh.
14 Q And you've agreed with me before that
15 sometimes people use terms like "steal" or "thief"
16 liberally, is that right, liberally meaning not in a
17 legal sense? People do use those terms not in a legal
18 sense, correct?
19 A That's correct.
20 Q All right. And Richard Moore never said you
21 were guilty of larceny, did he? You don't have any
22 statement that you've given me that says Richard Moore
23 or Debbie Moore said you were guilty of the crime of
24 larceny, did they?
25 A I don't know. I guess it's the definition
95
1 of larceny and thievery.
2 Q I'm talking about that word. Have you given
3 me anything that says that they said - Richard and
4 Debbie Moore said you were guilty of larceny? It's
5 not here, so I'm asking do you have it somewhere? Do
6 you have any evidence that they said you were guilty
7 of larceny?
8 A Well, now Mr. Moore read this statement
9 before the school board, which said that I was charged
10 with larceny.
11 Q Said you were charged with larceny. Well,
12 that's the police report. He read what was on the
13 police report?
14 A Yeah. Yeah.
15 Q That's - you know, that's - he's read what
16 was on the police report. That doesn't say you did
17 it. It said - that's the caption there. You've
18 already explained that to me.
19 A Uh-huh.
20 Q I'm saying when you answered my
21 interrogatories and when you gave me documents,
22 there's no evidence Richard Moore said on the web site
23 or on TV or in the newspaper - he never said, "Ron
24 Price is guilty of the crime of larceny," right?
25 A Not that I can recall at this time.
96
1 Q Right. He said you stole the signs, right?
2 That's what he said?
3 A Yes.
4 Q And he said you were a thief?
5 A Uh-huh.
6 Q That's basically what this case is about
7 right?
8 A Right.
9 Q When all is said and done, this case is
10 about - the defamation part is about Richard Moore
11 saying you're a thief and you stole the signs, right?
12 That's what the case is about?
13 A Uh-huh.
14 Q Is that a yes?
15 A Yes. Yes.
16 MR. COHEN: All right. Do you need to say
17 anything to me?
18 MR. MOORE: Do I need to say anything to
19 you?
20 MR. COHEN: Yeah. Do you have anything you
21 want to talk to me about? Otherwise I'm done.
22 MR. MOORE: No, sir, I don't.
23 MR. COHEN: Then I'm done. I'm done. Do
24 you have anything?
25 MR. HUX: No. All my questions have been
97
1 asked and answered.
2 - - - - - - - -
3 STIPULATION
4 It is hereby stipulated and agreed by and
5 between the parties of this proceeding that the
6 reading and signing of the transcript be and the same
7 are not hereby waived.
8 - - - - - - - -
9 AND FURTHER DEPONENT SAITH NOT
10 (Deposition completed: 3:51 p.m.)
11 - - - - - - - -
12
13
14
15
16
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18
19
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25
98
1 WITNESS CERTIFICATION
2 I, Ronald Filer Price, hereby certify,
3 That I have read and examined the contents
4 of the foregoing 97 pages of record of testimony as
5 given by me at the time and place herein
6 aforementioned;
7 And that to the best of my knowledge and
8 belief, the foregoing 97 pages are a complete and
9 accurate record of all of the testimony given by me at
10 said time, except as to where noted on the attached
11 errata addenda.
12
13
14 _______________________________________
15 Ronald Filer Price
16
17 Sworn to and subscribed before me,
18 this the _________ day
19 of ________________ 2007.
20
21 _____________________________________
22 Notary Public
23 My Commission Expires:
24
25
99
1 E R R A T A S H E E T
2 IN THE MATTER OF: RONALD PRICE vs. RICHARD J. MOORE
3 AND WIFE, DEBRA T. MOORE
4 CASE NUMBER: 07 CvS 746
5 DATE TAKEN: NOVEMBER 15, 2007
6 WITNESS: RONALD FILER PRICE
7 PAGE-LINE READS SHOULD READ
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99
100
1 NORTH CAROLINA
2 COUNTY OF GUILFORD CERTIFICATE OF OATH
3 I, Page Champion Roberts, CVR-CM, Notary
4 Public, in and for the County of Guilford, State of
5 North Carolina at Large, do hereby certify:
6 That there appeared before me the foregoing
7 witness at the time and place herein aforementioned;
8 that the foregoing pages numbered 1 through 97,
9 inclusive, constitute a true and correct transcription
10 of the proceedings.
11 I do further certify that the persons were
12 present as stated in the appearances.
13 I do further certify that I am not of
14 counsel for, or in the employment of, either of the
15 parties in this action, nor am I interested in the
16 results of this action.
17 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my
18 hand this the 8th day of December 2007.
19
20
21 ____________________________________________
22 Page Champion Roberts, CVR-CM
23 Guilford County, North Carolina
24 Notary Certificate No. 19942340081
I remember this. Never read the deposition though you were still writing the Chronicle. Good write up and good read. You might want to check on the Natural Gas Pipeline that is coming through Rockingham Co. MVP Southgate. The Planning Board doesn't even know much about it. I was the 3rd one to call about it. There are a few hundred people this is going to affect.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteLook at the bottom of your receipt from your last purchase.
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