Deposition of Paul C Stepnes

CASE 0:08-cv-05296-ADM-JJK Document 324-6 Filed 09/08/10 Page 1 of 23
Paul C Stepnes - June 22, 2010 Paul C Stepnes, et al. v. Peter Ritschel, et al.
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA Case No. 0:08-cv-5296 ADM/JJK Paul C. Stepnes, Pete Girard, Jan Girard, David B. Holland, Terry Yzaguirre, Ray Neset, Bennett Ross Taylor, Jr., and Judith Wallen Taylor, Plaintiffs, v. Peter Ritschel (individual capacity), Jane Moore (individual capacity), City of Minneapolis, CBS Broadcasting, Inc., foreign corporation, and Esme Murphy (individual), Defendants.
COPY
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VIDEOTAPED DEPOSITION OF PAUL C. STEPNES

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"4;
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DATE TAKEN: 06/22/10
BY: CINDY M. TRATTLES
612.338.3376 or 800.873.3376
Benchmark Reporting Agency
EXHIBIT

Paul C Stepnes June 22, 2010 Paul C Stepnes, et al. v. Peter Ritschel, et al.
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for today1s deposition? A. I know I've read most of the depositions in this case at some point. I don't know specifically if I reviewed any of them recently for this deposition. Q. A. Q. A. All right. None that I can recall. Okay. Mr. Stepnes, where do you reside? In Golden Valley. MS. CLARK: We'd like his address to be confidential. MR. SULLIVAN: That's fine.
MR. SULLIVAN: All right. I think we've covered personal residences, so we can come out of the confidential portion. BY MR. SULLIVAN: Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. Mr. Stepnes, how old are you?
57.
What is your date of birth? July 30th, 19S3. Where did you grow up? Minneapolis. And were you born in Minneapolis? No. Where were you born? Eau Claire, Wisconsin. And when did you move to Minneapolis? I believe I was eight when my family moved All right. MR. SULLIVAN: This I'm sure
here.
you'll want t o put under the protective order as well.

BY MR. SULLIVAN:
Q.
What is your Social Security number? MS. CLARK: Yes, we would like
this confidential.
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THE WITNESS: I believe that's already been given to you and I would prefer that it be given in writing rather than everyone that's here in the room. BY MR. SULLIVAN: Q. A. I think -I believe you already have that in your
files. For security purposes I'd prefer not to say it out loud in front of everyone here. Q. A. Q.
D o you want to write it a piece of paper?
I'd be happy to. All right. MS. CLARK: You never know these
days. MR. SULLIVAN: All right. What we'll do, we'll have the court reporter put that on a piece of paper and then we'll mark that, put it as a confidential exhibit. MS. CLARK: A confidential exhibit. Good. Thank you.
B Y MR. SULLIVAN:
21 22 23 24 25
Q.
All right. Mr. Stepnes, let me ask you this:
Have you ever used any Social Security number other than the one that you wrote on that yellow Post-It tab?
I
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A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. Q.
Not that I can recall. Mr. Stepnes, are you married? No. Have you ever been married? No. Do you have any children? No. Mr. Stepnes what is your mother's name? My mother is dead. And my mother's name was All right. And when did she pass on? 1996. How about your father, is your tather still My father died in 1989. And what was his first name? Sherman. And today is their 73rd wedding Oh. Do you have any brothers or sisters? I do. Brothers? I have four brothers. All right. And how many sisters? I had four sisters. One passed. And when did she pass on?
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challenged report? Just so that we're both clear, when I refer to the challenged report, I'm referring to the WCCD report that you're suing the defendants over. Is that acceptable to you? A. Q. A. Q. I understand. Okay. So -No, I have not discussed this case with them. Okay. Mr. Stepnes, how about with Stephen
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6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
B Q.
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 18 19
Elizabeth.
and John, have you discussed the challenged report with them? A. Q. I have not discussed this case with them. Okay. Now, referring to your sisters, the
alive?
three that are presently living, what are their names? A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Mary, Ann and Catherine. And where do they reside? T\'VO of them live in Minnesota and one lives All right. Which one lives in North Catherine. And Mary and Ann, do they reside in the Twin Ann does. Mary does not.
Pa_ge 21
anniversary.
in North Carolina. Carolina?
20 21 22 23
24 A.
25
Cities area?
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A. Q.
2001.
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Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q.
Where does Mary reside? Southern Minnesota. All right. Are you close to Ann? No, we don't talk very often. All right. How about Mary? I don't see har very often. And what about Catherine? She lives out of state. I don't talk to her All right. Mr. Stepnes, as to any of the
All right. In terms of your brothers, could
you tell us the names of your brothers from the oldest to the youngest. A. Q. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. Stephen, James, John and Timothy. And l/'Jhere do you fart among your siblings? I'm third from the youngest. Do any of your brothers reside in the Twin Two of them do. Which two? James and Timothy. And how about Stephen and John, where do they Florida. Both of them? Yes. All right. Are you close to James and
7 A.
Cities area?
very often. three sisters, did you talk with them about any problems that were caused to you by the challenged report? A. Q. A. Q. I don't understand your question about All right. Could you clarify what you mean by problems? Sure. Well, let me do it more broadly. Did problems.
reside?
Timothy, the brothers that reside in the Twin Cities area? A. Q. A. Q.

we don't see each other very often.
you talk to them in any way about the challenged report? A. I talked to my sister Catherine. She brought it up at lunch one day when she was here visiting. Q. A. All right. And when was that? She was here visiting over the holidays. And
Do you speak to them often? Not often, no. Would you have talked to them about any
problems that were caused to you by the
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l CASE 0:08-cv-05296-ADM-JJK P Document 324-6 Filed 09/08/10 Page 4 of 23 P l au l June 22, 2010 au C Stepnes C Stepnes, et a . v. Peter Ritschel, et l a .
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1 2 3 I a m I'm not sure if that's When I did or not. I can't recall.
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1 Q.
2 3 A. 4 5 6
All right. Did you ever talk to her about

I just told her that I had a case with the
the challenged report?

city and CBS. I haven't gotten into specifics with it.
Q.
All right. What did she say?

She said that she had received some phone
4 A. 5 6 7
calls from some of her friends that had seen the report on TV and they were quite distressed because they said they thought I was going to prison based upon what they had heard.
Q.
Mr. Stepnes, who are your closest friends?

Could you be more specific? I have a lot of
7 A.
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12 14 15
10
Q.
So Catherine, who's in North Carolina, got
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friends.
Q.
All right. Let me see if this helps you. We
posed in I think it was our third set of interrogatories a question to you asking you to identify your closest friends. Upon that occasion you identified your five closest friends, and that's what we asked you, just so you know, as Michelle Brumm, Bonnie Erickson, Dake Dorris, Lewis Stansfield and Jill Waite.
Okay.
calls frpm friends that resided in the Twin Cities area?

Correct.
13 A.
Q.
Okay. I take it these weren't folks in North

Correct.
Carolina that heard of this? Q.

A.
16 A. 17
Okay. All right. Did she tell you the names

She did not.
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of any of the people that had called her? Q. Did she say anything else about the
That was all we really discussed about it.
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18 A.
Q.
All right. Sitting here today, would you --
are there additional folks that you would add to the list of your closest friends beyond those five?
As I sit here today, I can't recall who I would add. I'm sure there might be, but I can't recall.
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challenged report? Q. All right. What did you say, if anything, i n

I was taken and aghast by it.
22 A.
23 A.
response?
25 A.
)
1 3 4 6 7
Page 23 Q. Q. You were taken aghast?

Yeah.
2 A.
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Page .25 Q. All right. Did you talk to -- taking those five individuals, did you talk to any of them about any problems that were caused to you by the challenged report?
MS. CLARK:
All right. Did you say anything to her in

I said: Obviously they were wrong in their
response?
reporting.
5 A.
Well, I'm going to
Q. Q.
Anything else?
That's all I can recall.
during which Jill Waite was representing Mr. about any of those communications.
MR. SULLIVAN: MS. CLARK:
intercede here because there was a tiiT1e frame
10
8 A.
All right. Mr. Stepnes, are there any other
family members -- or are there any family members that you're particularly close to?
I have a niece that I see from time to time.
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12 A.
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10 12 13 14 15
Stepnes. So I would instruct him not to talk You said Jill.
You're saying representing him as counsel? Yes. Oh, okay.

MR. SULLIVAN:
Q. Q. Q. Q. Q.
And what is her name?

Megan.
14 A. 16 A. 17 18 A. 20 A.
BY MR. SULLIVAN:
And does she reside in the Twin Cities area?

She does.
Q.
Excluding that.
I've talked to them about the case, that I,
16 A. 17 18 20 21 22 23 24 25
How old is she? I believe she's 40. All right. And is her last name Stepnes?
I don't recall.
you know, had this case against the city and aga inst CBS. Specifically I don't recall what I've talked to them about. Dake was working at the house at the time, so he has probably a little more knowledge about this case. But I haven't really spent a lot of time with Dake in the lastnumber o f months. Lewis works not in the Twin Cities, so I don't see him very often. I haven't
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Well, let me ask you this: What is her last

Well, her maiden name was Stepnes. She's
name?
gotten divorced a n d I'm not sure what last name she's using right now.
2 3 A.
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Paul C Stepnes June 22, 2010 . Paul C Stepnes, et al. v. Peter Ritschel, et al.
Page 34 1 Q. 2 A. 3 Q. 4 A. 5 Q. 6 A. 7 8 9 11 All right. And when did you graduate? 1971. Now, have you taken any college courses?
I have, or college-level types of courses.
Page 36 1 A. 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 Q. 10 11
Well, Chester House Homes was the name of a
product that I had given it; but I was operating as a sole proprietorship.
4 Q.
During what period?

MS. CLARK:
Which courses did you take?

I did some studying with various -- like the I know I've
Object to form. don't recall a
THE WITNESS: I
Insurance Institute of America. sit here today.
specific time period. BY MR. SULLIVAN: All right. Let me ask you this: In terms of these new old homes, how many new old homes did you buUd?
I built one.
done some other. I just can't recall as I
10 Q. 12 A. 13 Q. 14 15 A. 16 Q. 1 7 A. 18 Q. 19 20 21 22 24 25
All right. Have you taken any college

Not a t a campus, no.
courses at a college campus? Anywhere else other than the ones you told us
As I sit here today, I don't recall.
12 A. 13 Q. 14 A. 15 Q. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Page 35
And was that the Irving house property?

That is correct.
about like the Insurance Institute? Mr. Stepnes, did you serve in the military?
No. I had a high draft number.
Okay . All right.

THE WITNESS:
Can I ask, can we
take a break here for a second? I drank a lot of tea this morning and I need to do something about that.
MR. SULLIVAN:
What I'd like to do now is shift our focus a
bit and talk about your employment history. Cou!d you please identify for us your employment positions starting with the present and working backwards.
Most of my adult life I've been for a good portion o f it I've been self-employed or a principal in an organization. Currently I --
Sure. We are
THE VIDEO TECHNICIAN:
going off the record at 9:44 a.m. (WHEREUPON, a brief recess was taken, after which the following transpired.)
THE VIDEO TECHNICIAN:
23 A.
We are back Page 37
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one of the things that I do is I buy old home and I fix them up and I sell them.
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on the record at 9:53 a.m. BY MR. SULLIVAN: All right. Mr. Stepnes, what business ventures were you involved in? Let's see if we can take this in time blocks. During the period the last five years, 2010 to 2005, what business ventures were you involved in during that period?
MS. CLARK:
3 Q. 4 A. 5 Q. 6 7 A. 8 Q. 9 10 11 12 13 14 Q. 15 16 17
Are you doing that at present?

I am.
3 Q. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17
All right. And what is the -- is the entity

Paul Stepnes.
under which you operate, does it have a name? Do you still operate Chester House Homes or
MS. CLARK:
any of those -- any other entities? Objection, form. don't use that
THE WITNESS: I
I'm sorry, can I get
the question again? (WHEREUPON, the question appearing on Page 37, Lines 3 through 8 was read back by the court reporter.)
MS. CLARK:
name anymore. BY MR. SULLIVAN: Okay. So operating -- you indicated you're currently buying old homes, fixing them up and selling them. How long have you been doing that?
I've been doing that for almost
Object to the form. What do you mean by
THE WITNESS:
"ventures"? BY MR SULLIVAN:
.
18 A. 19 Q. 20 21 23 25
20 years.
18 Q. 19 20 A. 21 Q. 22 23
Well, you told us that you were involved with

Correct.
All right. And are there any business names
Chester House Homes; right? Any other business ventures other than
that you've operated under while performing those services during those 2 0 years?
I did have a name of Chester House Homes for building new old homes.
22 A. 24 Q.
Chester House Homes during that five-year period?

Describe what you mean by "venture".
During what period in time did you operate as
24 A. 25 Q.
Chester House Homes building new old homes?
Business that you operated. You also told us
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l - June 22, 2010 Paul C Stepnes Paul C Stepnes, et a . v. Peter Ritschel, l et a .
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that you operated as a sole proprietorship; right?

Correct.
1 Q. 2 3
All right. How about during the period 2005
to 2010, how many old homes did you fix up and sell during that period?
3 A. 4 Q. 5 6
You explained that you had a business where
you would buy hold homes, fix them up and sell them; right?
Right.
5
8
4 A.
I sold
one.
.Q. All right. Any other business activity that 6 you conducted during the period from 2000 to
2005 other than what you've already told us
7 A. 8 Q. 9 10 11 12
Okay. And that I understand was a sole
about?
That's all I can recall at this time.
proprietorship. Any other business operations/activity that you conducted during that five-year period other than those items there?
Could you be more specific with the question?
9 A. 10 Q. 11 12 13 15 16 18
Okay. Then let's move back in time once
again for the period 1995 to 2000. Yes, 1995 to 2000. What business activities did you conduct during that period?
I was doing executive search and also buying -- I bought an old home and fixed it up and sold it during that time period.
13 A. 14 Q. 15 16
Did you conduct any business activity other
14 A.
than those two items during the period 2005 to 20107

That was pretty much what I was doing.
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17 Q. 19 A. 20 Q. 21 22 A. 23 Q. 24 A. 25 Q.
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All right. During that time period did you

Correct.
A!I right. What about the period the five
sell one old home? Okay. And were you operating as a sole
I believe I was.
years prior to that, what business activity did you conduct 2000 to 20057
I did -- again I was buying old homes, fixing them up and selling them. And then I also was doing some headhunting at that time.
21 A.
proprietorship during that period as well? All right. Did your business have any name?
Again, I don't recall.
24 Q.
And was your headhunting, was that a sole
proprietorship?
All right. How about your executive search

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1 A. 2 Q. 3 4 A. 5 Q. 6
B
I believe it was.
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activities in the period 1995 to 2000, again, were you operating just as Paul Stepnes?
I believe I was.
All right. Did you -- do you have any

No.
partners or associates in that operation? What name did you conduct business under when
I don't recall. I believe it was just my
3 A. 4 Q. 5 A. 6 Q. 7 A. 8 Q. 9 A. 10 Q. 11 12
Did you operate out of your home?

I did.
you did your headhunting operations?

name.
Did you have stationaiy?

No.
7 A. 9 Q. 10 A. 11 12 13
Business cards?
No.
So was it Paul Stepnes Headhunting?

Really if you're a headhunter, headhunter is
Okay. Any other business activity during
kind of a derogatory term. So, no, I wouldn't have named it that way. But -- I don't recall. I'm sorry, I don't recall.
that five-year period other than what you've already told us about?
That's all I can recall at this time.
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All right. Did you have an office?

I worked out o f m y home.
Mr. Stepnes, d o you have a resume?

No.
A.
Did you have stationery for this headhunting

No.
Have you ever had a resume?

I'm sure I've put one together at some point
business? Did you have a business card?

No.
in my life, but I haven't done one for a very long time.
20 Q.
Okay. All right. Then focusing on the
And how about with respect to your operations
period from 1990 to 1995, d uring that period did you also buy old homes, fix them up and sell them?
I did buy.a home, fixed it up and I sold it.
buying old homes, fixing them up and selling, how many did you sell during the period 2000 to 20057
. I believe I sold one during that time period.
24 A. 25 Q.
25 A.
One home?
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1 A. 2 Q. 3 4 A. 5 Q. 6 A. 7 Q. 8 9 A. 10 Q. 11 13 15 16 18 20 12 A. 14 Q.
Correct. And were you operating as a sole I was. Under the name Paul Stepnes? I believe I was. I believe I was, yes. All right. And did you also conduct a n Yes. Was this conducted in the name of Paul Yes. I'm getting a little fuzzy on the dates All right. Did you have any partners in your
1 Q. 2 3
All right. Mr. Stepnes, any other business
activities that you conducted during that period 1990 to 19957

I don't recall.
proprietorship during that period?
4 A. 5 Q. 6 7 9 10 11' 12
When did you first get in to the business of
acquiring old homes, fixing them up and selling them? I had just -- it was -.:. old homes, 9ld architecture is something that I've just been passionate about all my life, space and how we use it, and found a way that I felt that I could make a business out of it. And when did you start in that business? My first home that I purchased and fixed up
executive search business during that period?
8 A.
Stepnes? now. executive search activities during that period 1990 to 19957 I know I've had some partners at some point. Partners in your home development activities In the executive search side of the business. Okay. And who in the past did you have as I don't recall when, \'lfhat the years \'Vere. or in your executive search activities?
13 Q. 14 A. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 25
and sold was back in the '80s. I really didn't think of it as a business model at that time but was successful at it. And then the next piece of property that I purchased was I believe in the '90s and I was successful a t that. Then I sold that and made money, did well. And I bought another one and sold that and did well and realized that I had a business. All right. You indicated that the fiist home you bought, fixed up and sold was in the
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17 A. 19 Q. 21 A. 22 Q. 23 24
partners at some point in your executive search activities? I had a Brian Hurd I believe his name Was and
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24 Q.
25 A.
1 3 4
David Elhard. I believe that was his name. And what was the name of the business at the time you worked with Brian Hurd and David Elhard? EHS. And what did that stand for? Elhard, Hurd and Stepnes. All right. Not Edina High School? Pardon? If you're local, the other thing that it's Okay. And how long did you operate the I believe the business is still going. I What year was that? I don't recall. I was spending more of my time doing
'80s? Correct. How many houses did you buy, fix up and sell One. Just that one? Correct. Okay. All right. Now, have you told us
2 Q.
2 A. 3 Q. 4 5 A.
in the '80s?
5 A.
6 Q.
7 A. 8 Q. 9 A. 10 Q. 11 A. 12 14 16 13 Q. 15 A. 17 Q. 18 A. 20 A. 21 22 23 24 25
6 Q. 7 A. 8 Q. 9 10 11
about all the other homes that you have bought, fixed up and sold from that point moving forward to the present? I believe I have. Okay. As you sit here today can you tell us
commonly known as is Edina High School. business as EHS? left it within I think the first year.
12 A. 13 Q. 14 15
the total number of homes that you have bought, fixed up and sold? Five. All right. Mr. Stepnes, any businesses
--
16 A. 17 Q. 18 19
we've taken it back to 1990. Any business operations that you conducted in the '80s? Yes. Okay. And what were those? I had two business partners and I was
19 Q. Okay. Why did you leave? administrative work than I was just doing the executive recruiting side of the business and I just decided I wanted to just do what I like to do and I could do it better on my own.
20 A. 21 Q. 22 A. 23 24 25
operating out in Maryland at that time. I do not recall what we called the compciny. And we manufactured aftermarket imaging supplies
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Paul C Stepnes -June 22, 2010 Paul C Stepnes, et al. v. Peter Ritschel, et al.
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in the printer business, computer printer business. We did eight million in sales our first year. We doubled that the second year. And we doubled that the third year. At that poin in time I decided to leave the company and go out on my own. Q. A. And when was that that you decided to leave I believe that was 1985 or 6. I don't All right. And who were your two business Bill Moyle and Anthony Gillosul [phon.). Could you spell those the last names, please? I can't recall how Gillosul spelt his name. All right. And when you left the business I don't recall. When you !eft the business in either 1985 or the company? recall. partners? Q. A. Q. A. Q.
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B
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talk to Dick about working for him. Q. A. Q. A. And did you do so? I did. And how long did you work there? lust over a year. A year or two. I don't What position did you work? I was a store manager by the time I left the
recall.
7 Q.
B A.
company. Started out as a sales associate and rose up through the ranks rather quickly. I've got to told you I never worked so hard for so little money in my life, so I moved on. Q. A. Q. A. Okay. You were store manager of a Best Buy? Correct. All right. And where was that store located? It was their store that they originally
ii Q.
13 A.
Moyle I believe was M-o-y-1-e. and what was the name of the business?
--
started the company in. It was still the original small building out at Southdale. And while I worked there they actually rebuilt the building. Q. A. Q. A. All right. So when did you leave Best Buy? '80s sometime. I don't recall. Late '80s. Okay. Where did you work next? I know I took some time off and just worked a
1986 to go out on your own, what business did you go in to at that point? A. Q. I went into the same -- I moved to Texas to Okay. And did you do this on your own or did
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set up a business in the same industry.
1 2 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
3
Page 49
you have partners in that venture? A. I was going to have a partner until he checked himself into rehab and then while he was in rehab told me that all the money he was going to invest with me went up his nose. Q. What vvas the name of your business that you I don't recall. And did you proceed then on your own? I did. I tried to get funding. It was a set up in Texas? Q. A.
number of odd jobs. Just I had like four or five part-time jobs. One was in market research, which I loved, and I worked with a company that I managed .all their offsite market research. I'd go out and by cars and if the salesman did a good job, I'd give him cash on the spot, that kind of thing. I'd have to do secret shopping. I'd go to grocery stores and see if certain coupons worked. It was a fun job. And I had about four or five of them just to survive on and I loved it. And it was just a time in my life where I just needed to take some time off, In my previous life and building that company I was used to working about 80 or 90 hours a week and I think I kind of hit the wall. Q. A. How long did you do that, for what period of I did that until I went into the executive time? search business. I got offered a job and I thought: I'll give this a shot for a couple of months, see if it works. If I don't like it, you know, I'll find something else. And I found out that I was good at it, so I
B A.
time when Texas was in the midst of their big oil problems and people weren't lending. I was advised to go talk to a guy who had just started a little business in his garage. He was selling in the gray market on the machine side of the business, not the supplies but the machine. I didn't know that business as well as I knew the supply side. In hindsight_ I wish and gone to talk to him. That gentleman was Michael Dell. Q. A. So what did you do? After struggling trying to put the thing
17
together, I moved back to Minneapolis. My dad was a friend of Dick Schultz, who started Best Buy Corporation, cind suggested that I go
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7
B
Q.
A.
stayed with it. You're referring to the executive search business? Correct. Okay. When did you start working in the I did it for at least 15 years. So, you
1 2
3
Irving, I had a house on SOth and Thomas and I had my own residence. Those themselves would have generated over three million dollars in income -- or in sales. I had options on other properties that I had signed a letter of intent on that would have generated at least another ten million dollars in sales. I had another project on the boards that I had an option on getting the property that would have generated another six million dollars in sales. After all the costs involved in all of those things if you add that all up, 6, 16 and 3 - 3 1/2 million dollars, that's about $19 1/2 million. And my profits have always been 20010 or better on every project that I've done. THE WITNESS: And I'm sorry to do this to you at this point, but can I take another break? I'm having dry mouth and I'm drinking too-much or something. And I need
Q.
A.
4 5
6 7
a
executive search business? know, was it the Jate '80s, early '90s, I
9 don't recall. It's all kind of fuzzy to me 10 right now. 11 Q. All right. Mr. stepnes, any other business 12 activities where you were self-employed or 13 you ran the business other than what you've 14 already told us about? 15 A. That's all I can think of at this time. 16 By the way, the gentleman that I 17 hired at Best Buy is now running the company. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
. \
10 -111 12 13 14 15
16
17
Q.
A.
Who's that? I can't remember his name right as I sit here
right now, but I rose up through the ranks much quicker than he did and now he's running the company.
Q.
A.
. There's a lesson there perha ps.
He's also put on 200 pounds. I think thats
part of the lesson
22 23 24 25
to use the restroom.

MR.
SULLIVAN: Sure.
THE VIDEO TECHNICIAN: We're going off the record at 10:19. Page 53
)
1 Q. There you go. All righty. 2 Mr. Stepnes1 I'd like to shift gears 3 and talk a little bit about damages. How did 4 the challenged report harm your reputation? 5 A. I had started the contest. I had done all 6 things right in it. I_ had it set up for me 7 to sell 500,000 entries. I had local people
B
Page 51
1 2 3 4
5
(WHEREUPON1 a brief recess was taken, after which the following transpired .) THE VIDEO TECHNICIAN: We are back on the record at 10:28 a.m. BY MR. SULLIVAN: Mr. Stepnes, before the break I had asked you
behind me. I had local press, a website, Internet, YouTube, media consultants, PR people. I had done everything right for it to take off and make money. I set a sign in the yard and sold 62 tickets just by having a sign in the yard before I had a chance to get anything going. As I look at that model, it would just keep duplicating and duplicating and duplicating until it got to a certain point that it would just hum along and achieve that number. The costs would have been somewhere between two and two and a half million dollars. It would have left a profit of aboLit seven and a half to eight million dollars. On the business side I had a number of projects going. I had condos on 35th and
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
6 Q.
A.
about harm to your reputation. Focussing on harm your to your reputation1 who in particular thought less of you? I know that it's killed my business. I was
painted as a criminal, a fraud. By the way, I believe the contest was a business; too, and that was a sole proprietorship as well.
Q.
of you as a res.u lt of the WCCO repor t? A. There are friends that I had in my life at that time that just simply aren't there
All right. Who that you know of thought less
today. There are eople that have removed me from their Email lists.
Q.
A.
Do you attribute that to the WCCO report? I do. What friends that were there that are no
Q.
longer there today that you attribute to the effect of the WCCO report? A. There's one person in particular that I can
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Paul C Stepnes - June 22, 2010 Paul C Stepnes, et al. v. Peter Ritschel, et al. Page 78 1 A.
"
Page 80
Correct. Okay. All right. In addition to that,
)
/
2 Q. 3 4
1 Q, Mr. Stepnes, let's shift our focus once again and talk about the contest. The contest 3 4 container for Contest #1 was an antique chest; correct? Correct. Where did you get the antique chest? It was lent to me by a friend. All right. And who is that friend? Oh, boy, as I sit here today I can't remember
anyone else call you on the phone and accuse you of being a criminal? I just can't recall at this point in time. Okay. All right. Mr. Stepnes, did anyone
5 A. 6 Q. 7
a
5 A. 6 Q. 7 A.
write you and tell you that after seeing the report _they thought you were a con artist or a fraud? I thought media -- that my media guys that I had hired wrote a letter that indicated that. I don't recall. Okay. But the letter from my perception felt that,
9 11 12
10 A.
10 11
13
8 Q. A.
her name. She's the sister of a friend and I just can't recall her name right now. All right. Are you aware of anything that would allow you to refresh your recollection so that you could recall the identity of the person who provided the chest that became the vessel for Contest 1? I'm sorry, would you re-ask that question? MR. SULLIVAN: Would you read it back, please. (WHEREUPON, the question appearing on Page 80, Lines 12 through 16 was read back by the court reporter.) THE WITNESS: Not as I sit here, no. BY MR. SULLIVAN: Page 81
12 Q. 14 15 16 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Page 79
13 Q, 14 A. 15 16 17
that I was being deceitful, that I hadn't told them the truth when in fact I had told them everything long before I had hired them. A!I right. Anyone else? And it was the stipulation of my hiring them.
1 7 A.
18 Q. 19 A. 20 21 22 23 24
I said: The last PR people I had cut and
ran. And I said: I'm looking for somebody that's not going to cut and run this time. And they assured me they weren't the type of people that would cut and run. All right. Did anyone else write you and
25 Q.
)
1 2 tell you that they thought you were a con artist or a fraud?
1 Q. 2 4
s
6
All right. What did you fill that chest with Well, I think a list of what was in the chest
for purposes of Contest 1? was presented to you. And it was different nuts, bolts, screws and fasteners. Q. Now, did you place the iterr1s in the chest I did. Did anyone assist you? No. Was anyone else present at the time that you No. For security reasons I didn't want it. Okay. So no one witnessed the filling of the Correct. All right. When did you fill the chest? I don't recall the exact date that I did it Do you recall whether it was on a weekday or I don't recall that either. Do you recall how long it was from the time yourself?
3 A. I'm sure there Was. I just don't recall at 4 this time. 5 Q. 6 Okay. Did anyone write you and tell you that they thought you were engaged in criminal activity? I just don't recall at this time. MS. CLARK: Whenever it's a good time for you, I wouldn't mind a little break. MR. SULLIVAN: Sure. We can take a break now. THE VIDEO TECHNICIAN: We are going off the record at 1 1 : 13 a.m. (WHEREUPON, a brief recess was taken, after which the follQwing transpired . ) (WHEREUPON, wcco Defendants' Exhibit Number 22 was marked for identification by the court reporter.) THE VIDEO TECHNICIAN: We are back on the record. This is the continuing videotaped deposition of Paul C. Stepnes taken on June 22nd, 2010. The time now is 1 1 : 2 4 a.m. BY MR. SULLIVAN:
3 A.
7
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
lB
B A.
B A.
9 Q. 10 A. 11 Q. 12 1 3 A. 1 4 Q. 15 16 A. 1 7 Q. 18 A. 19 21 20 Q. 22 A. 23 Q. 24 25
filled the chest for Contest 1?
antique chest?
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
or the time that I did it. on a weekend?
you obtained the fasteners to the time you actually filled the chest?
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(20) Page 78 - Page 81

Page
82 1 2 3 4
s
Page 84
1 A. 2 Q. 3 4 5 6 7
.
That's a good question. I don't recall. All right. MR. SULLIVAN: Did you mark that
to play page for description and pictures) in the kitchen hearth room of this home ancj have filled it with enough. nuts, bolts, screws and nails to reasonably build a home with.'' Do you see that? Correct. Okay. Were there any other fasteners in the
as 22? THE COURT REPORTER: Yes. MR. SULLIVAN: Okay, great. I'll ask the court reporter to mark as WCCO Defendants' Exhibit 23 a single-paged document bearing document ID STEPNES 568. (WHEREUPON, WCCO Defendants' Exhibit Number 23 was marked for identification by the court reporter.) MS. CLARK: What is this, Stepnes 17 MR. SULLIVAN: It's 23. MS. CLARK: Stepnes 23? MR. SULLIVAN: I'm sorry. No, it's WCCO Defendants' Exhibit 23. It continues from where we left off the last time. MS. CLARK: Starting you mean with all the plaintiffs? MR. SULLIVAN: Yeah, remember 1..vhen -- because some of the ones -MS. CLARK: It's been a while.
Page
6 A. 7 Q.
a
8 9
chest other than nuts, bolts, screws and nails? of fasteners in there. All right. So there were other fasteners other than nuts, bolts, screws and nails in the chest? I guess they could all be labeled as a nut or a bolt or a screw or a nail of some kind, yes. All right. Were there any other items? You know, but I tei1d to use a more generic
9 11 13 14 16 17
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
10 A. And other fasteners. There were other types 12 Q.
15 A.
18 Q. 19 A. 20 21 23
term, and I don't know why it's not on this page, but of fasteners. All right. Were there any other items in the Wht do you mean by other items in the chest. Anything other than a nut, a bolt, a screw, a
Page
22 Q. 2 4 A. 25 Q. 83 1
chest?
85
1 2 3 4 5 6 Q. 7 8 A. 9 Q. 10 A. 11 Q. 12 14 16 17 13 A. 15 Q .
MR. SULLIVAN: True. Some of the ones that we had used previously I'll use again today, so rather than have to -MS. CLARK: Yeah, that's fine. BY MR. SULLIVAN: Mr. Stepnes, have you had an opportunity to I'm still reviewing it. Okay. All right. Do you recognize Exhibit 23? I do. And could you identify it for the record, It seems to be printout of a page that was on All right. And if you look down there in the review Defendant's Exhibit 23?
nail or an other fastener? Yes. And what were those items? There was a plastic drop cloth that was put
2 A.
3 Q.
4 A. 5 6 7
B
in the chest before I put anything in there. It was a very very thin nlil plastic and it was there to protect the chest from being damaged by the items that were being placed in it. There was also a box of nails in the chest. It became very soon as I started filling up this chest, the weight of all of this thing needed something to help stabilize and disburse the contents in it. So _ I put a box of nails i n the chest. They were a round -- they were round spools of something that would fit into a nail gun. And when you say it was a box, what kind of It was the cardboard box that the nails came All right. And were the nails in the box? I believe they were. Do you remember the size of -- you indi cated box was it? in.
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
lB
please. the website on the Big Dream Home Giveaway. lower right-hand corner, you'll see a date May 29, 2008 . Do you see that? I do. Okay. Now, if you could look at kind of the
17 Q. 19 A. 20 2 1 Q. 22 A. 23 Q. 24 25
18 A. 19 Q. 20 21 22
middle of the page, you'll see a little heading that says, "The Contest:". D o you see that? Correct. Okay. And then the sentence after that says,
23 A. 24 Q. 25
they were nails for a nail gun. Do you remember the size?
"We have placed a large chest (visit the how
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Page 86
Page 88 1 A. 2 Q. 3 4 5 6 It does. Okay. If you could please look at the second
1 A.
\
I don't. I'm sorry. All right. And how big was the box, the Bigger than a shoe box. I don't recall the Okay. Was the box sealed? I don't believe so. I don't know for sure,
2 Q. 3 5 4 A. 6 Q. 7 A. 8 9 10 12 13 14
cardboard box approximately? exact dimensions of it.
page of the exhibit, Bates number 940, you see now kind of the upper half of the document. You'll see a date there appears to be May 7, 2008. Do you see that? Okay. And this appears to be additional
7 A. Yes. 8 Q. 9 10 11 12 fasteners. If you look at the middle of the page, you'll see there are screws, roofing nails, it looks like galvanized spikes and then eight penny spikes. Do you see that? Okay. Do these appear to be additional It does. Okay. Now, if you look above the screws, the
but I don't believe it was because I believe that I had taken a couple of spools out of the box. All right. Now, did you -- were there any other items in the box other than nuts, bolts, screws, nails and other fasteners and these two items that you've described to us? That's all I can think of. All right. Where did you get the items that I bought them at Home Depot and Menards. And did you purchase them yourself? I did. All right. MR. SULLIVAN: I'll ask the court reporter to mark as Defendants' Exhibit 24 a multi-paged document bearing identification n umbers STEPNES 939 through 941.
Page 87
11 Q.
13 A. Yes. 14 Q . 15 16 A. 17 Q. 18 19 20 21 fasteners purchased for Contest #1?
15 A. 16 Q. 17 18 A. 19 Q. 20 A. 21 Q. 22 23 24 25
\
you placed in the chest?
ones on the line there for $2.80, you'll see a n entry - - three entries actually for plastic, i t looks like plastic bag goods. Do you see that? Yes. Okay. And $.98 a piece it appears. Do you I think if you had the pictures that were
Page 89
22 A. 23 Q. 24 25 A.
know what those items vvere?
)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Q. 9 10 A. 11 Q. 12 14 15 16 18 19 20 21 13 A. (WHEREUPON, WCCO Defendants' Exhibit Number 24 was marked for identification by the court reporter.) MS. CLARK: What are we marking this one? MR. SULLIVAN: This will be 24. BY MR. SULLIVAN: Mr. Stepnes, do yoli recognize Defendants' It looks familiar. All right. Can you identify Exhibit 2 4 for It looks like receipts of items that were Exhibit 24?
1 2 3 4 5 7
a
sent to you of these items, it shows that they're little packets of screws or whatever. Home Depot tends to sell, I don't know, little packets of screws or fasteners of certain kinds in prepackaged bags. Okt:Jy. All right. And then continuing over on the next page, Bates number 941, there's a whole list of various fasteners of one sort or another. And it appears that this is -you indicated earlier it's a page of a Menards receipt? It looks like it. Yeah. Do you know where the first page of Well, it was all one receipt; so was it
6 Q.
9 10 11
the record, please. purchased i n May of 'OS a t Menards a n d Home Depot. And the last one looks like the same typeface as a Menards receipt, the last page. Could you look at the first page of Exhibit 24 with the Bates number at the bottom 939. You see down there there's a date a t the very bottom. I t looks like May 10, 2008. D o you see that? I do. Okay. Is it your understanding that this
12 A. 1 3 Q. 14 16 17 15 A.
the receipt is? folded back or something? There's a fold line there. I don't know. Okay. Now, Mr. Stepnes -But you go in there and buy something, they Okay. So you get a long receipt? You get a long receipt. Okay. All right. Do you -- by looking at
17 Q.
18 Q. 19 A. 20 21 Q. 22 A. 23 Q. 24 25
do it all on one receipt.
22 A. 23 Q. 24 25
reflects a receipt for fasteners purchased for Contest #1?
this list here on Page 941, can you determine whether these are fasteners for Contest #1 or
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. Paul C Stepnes June 22, 2010 Paul C Stepnes, et al. v. Peter Ritschel, et al.
P age 1 2 3 4 Q. 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Q. 22 23 24 25 THE WITNESS: I'm the master of my bladder. BY MR. SULLIVAN: I'm trying to get us out of here for a MS. CLARK: What time is it now? MR. SULLIVAN: 12:19. MS. CLARK: Do you have a problem if we go now? MR. SULLIVAN: No, not really. THE WITNESS: Okay. MR. SULLIVAN: Would you prefer? THE WITNESS: I would. THE VIDEO TECHNICIAN: We are going off the record at 12:17 p.m. (WHEREUPON, a recess was taken for lunch, after which the following transpired.) THE VIDEO TECHNICIAN: We are back on the record at 1:29 p.m. BY MR. SULLIVAN: All right. Mr. Stepnes, before we took our luncheon break we had asked you to take a look at WCCO Defendants' Exhibit 3, specifically Paragraph 126 on Pages 43, carrying over to 44. Page 111 1 2 3 A. 4 Q. 5 6 7
e
110
Page 112
1 2 3 5
for you. Is there any reputational harm that you have suffered that you haven't already told us about this morning? I'm sure there is. I just can't recall at All right.
J
4 A. 6 Q. 7 A. 8 10 11 12 14 15 17 18 19 9 Q.
luncheon break at 12:30.
this time. I think I answered it in some I'll show you that in a minute. But just as
interrogatories, too; didn't I? you sit here today, can you think of any professional reputational harm that you have suffered? I think the lack of business that I've gotten
.
13 A.
since this has damaged my professional reputation. Okay. And when you refer to the lack of business, that's what you were telling us about in ter1T1s of your business as person who buys, renovates and sells older homes? And builds new old homes. Okay. All right. In any other capacity? I think that I would be very hard-pressed to
16 Q.
20 A. 21 Q. 22 A. 23 24
go back in to recruiting, executive recruiting a s well. Okay. All right. Anything else? Page 113
25 Q.
Do you have paragraph 126 before you?

I do.
1 A. 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Q. 22 23 24 25
I'm sure there is and I'm sure I answered it
in my interrogatories. If you have something that can refresh my niemory, I'd be happy to talk about it. All right. Let's see. MR. SULLIVAN: !'ii ask the court reporter to mark as WCCO Defendants' Exhibit 26 a multi-paged document that appears to be the plaintiff's answers to the third set of interrogatories. This one dated November 30, 2009. (WHEREUPON, WCCO Defendants' Exhibit Number 26 was marked for identification b y the court reporter.) MS. CLARK: Sometimes a cell phone even if you're not talking on it can a use a little electronic interference. THE WITNESS: Can I ask, has this been updated since this date? BY MR. SULLIVAN: It may have. The portion that I'm going to examine you on I do not think has been, which is Interrogatory 17 and the answer to that one. Mr. Stepnes, could you take a look
Okay. If you'll look there at the top of
page 44, you'll see it refers to statements being defarr1atory of ahd then three lines u p from the bottom of the paragraph it says "plaintiff's personal, professional and business reputation". Do you see that? I do. Okay. Now, before our luncheon recess you
5 Q.
10 A. 11 Q. 12 13 14 15
were telling us about harm to your personal reputation and you told us as well some of the h a r m a s I understood i t to your business reputation also. Correct. The reference there in the complaint to your
16 A. 17 Q. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q.
professional reputation, does that overlap with your business reputation or iS that different in some fashion? MS. CLARK: Object to form. THE WITNESS: Could you ask the question again, please? BY MR. SULLIVAN: Yeah. Let me see if I can make it simpler
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-

Page 1 1 4 Page 1 1 6
1 2 3
at the last page of Exhibit 26, please. Do you see there in the middle of the page a signature? And is that your signature? I believe it is. Okay. And you understood at the time that Correct. All right. If you could look, please, at the
1 A. 2 Q. 3 4 6 7
a
I think it lasted for months. And the portion there about experiencing fear
going out in public, do you still experience fear when you go out in public? I don't go out, especially -- I don't go out in the mornings very much anymore. Like I used to go out every morning and I don't do that much at all anymore. And why is that? I just like being at home more. It's just -
4 A. Yes. 5 Q. 6 A. 7 Q. 8 9 A. 10 Q. 11 12
5 A.
you were signing it under oath?
9 Q. 10 A. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 23 24
third page of the document, you'll see there Interrogatory No. 17. Uh-hum. And it asks you about emotional distress Okay. And then if you look down at the bottom of
it's just a much more relaxed environment for me. It's much more -- I just don't deal with the stress. I can remember going out and if I even just see for instance a police car, I would just break out in a cold sweat for absolutely n o reason a t all and just want to get up and run and panic, even though I had done nothing wrong. Never committed a .crime. And that but just wanting to flee and not v .ranted to be out in those spaces and encounter that kind of feeling. All right. You indicated there that you avoided place you had previously gone like your morning coffee shop. Correct.
Page 1 1 7
13 A. 14 Q. 15 16 A. 17 Q. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
damages.
the page, you'!l see there's a portion tti at objections, Stepnes went thro_ugh the experience of the defamation by CBS (he
says, "Answer: Without waiving the foregoing
observed as those events that are set forth in the Complaint occurred, and watched the response of those people and businesses around him), and he knows that he suffered
Page 1 1 5
22 Q.
25 A.
)
1 2 3 4 5 A. 6 Q. 7 8 9 emotional distress as a result. If this interrogatory is requesting symptoms, Stepnes here indicates: " . Do you see that? Yes . Okay. And then if you turn over to the next
1 Q. 2 4 3 A. 5 Q. 6 A. 7 8 9 10 11 12 Q. 13 A. 14 15 16 18 19 2O 21
Okay. And how long did that last where you Well, I don't g o there at all anymore o r very Is that because you moved? That's one of the reasons. But even the shop
avoided your morning coffee shop? rarely. Very rarely.
page, you'll see there at the top of the page there's a reference to sleep issues, which we
that used to be a part of that shop has moved closer to my house and I still don't go there every morning. Maybe I can explain that a little differently. Sure. Rustica is a bakery within a coffee shop that
talked about before our luncheon break. 10 A. Correct. 11 Q. 12 A. 13 Q. 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 A. 23 Q. 24 25 Do you see that? Correct. Okay. And then the next item is anxiety,
which we didn't really cover. You'll see there it says, "Anxiety: anxiety attacks, fear, embarrassment, humiliation, not wanting to go to places he had previously gone (like his morning coffee shop) for fear of being seen and watching the looks on people's faces who had clearly seen the broadcast." Do you see that? I do. Okay. Now, in terms of the anxiety, over
I used to go to every morning and I just don't do that much anymore, even though it's moved Closer to my house. All right. You indicated there in that answer that you had a fear of being seen and watching the looks on people's faces who dearly had seen the broadcast. that? Correct. Okay. Do you contend that people still
17 Q.
E?o you see
22 A. 23 Q. 24 25
what period of time did you suffer from this anxiety?
recognize you to this day from the WCCO report that aired on July 15, 2008?
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Paul C Stepnes . June 22, 2010 Paul C Stepnes, et al. v. Peter Ritschel, et al.
Page 1 74
1 45,
Page 1 7 6
1 A. 2 It looks familiar.
you see that paragraph I pointed to you
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
earlier, "Early entry purchases will be included in up to twenty six weekly drawings. At the end of each week a drawing will be held for an additional prize, each week the winner will be announced on the web site and by email or phone if possible. All such entries, including often winning entries from weekly drawings, will be included in applicable subsequent drawings as well as the grand prize." D o you see that?
I do.
Q.
Can you identify it for the record, please.

It looks like a sign that might have
3 A. 4 6 7
been
on
the front door.
5 Q.
All right. In fact, was this a copy of a
sign that was on the front door of the Irving outside house in May of 2008?
I don't know that. I don't recall that.
8 A. 9 10 11
Q.
Did you have different versions of the sign
on the front door at different points during the contest?

Yes.
12 A. 13
13 A. 14
Q.
All right. And how many different versions

I don't recall.
Q.
Okay. According to my colleague Mr. Berger's
14
16 17 1 18 20 21 22 23 24 25
did you have?
15
16 18 19 20 21 23 24 25
computer and his calendar search, Mother's Day in 2008 was Sunday, May 11th.
Okay.
15 A.
Q.
Did you -- strike that. Do you recognize the
17 A.
handwriting at the top of the page that says or it appears to rile to sav "posting on door"?
.
Q.
Al! right. So, now, with respect to the
weekly drawing, does this appear to accurately reflect the rules a s of May 1 1 , 2008?
I don't recall.
1 9 A
I don't recall that. I don't know who it is.
I'm sorry.
Q.
All right.
MR. SULLIVAN:
22 A.
I'll ask the court
Q,
All right. To your knowledge were there
reporter to mark as Defendants' Exhibit 32 a single-paged document bearing identification number STEPNES II 313.
Page 177
multiple versions of rules on the website at the same point in time?

Page 175
)
1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 25 MS. CLARK:
Object to the form. Do you want to ask
THE WITNESS:
1 2 3 4
(WHEREUPON, wcco Defendants' ExhibitNumber 32 was marked for identification by the court reporter.)
MR. MAHONEY: MR. SULLIVAN:
that question again, please?

BY MR. SU LLIVAN:
32? 32.
Q.
Sure. I take it you endeavored to have a

Correct.
5
6 7 8 10
single set of rules for participants?
BY MR. SULLIVAN:
7 A.
Q.
Mr. Stepnes, have you had an opportunity to

I do.
Q.
Okay. So do you have reason to believe that
look over Defendants' Exhibit 32? Q. Q. Do you recognize Exhibit 32?

It looks familiar.
there was some different set of rules as of May 1 1 , 2008, other than what we have before us here reflected in Exhibit 30?
I don't reca ll.
9 A. 11 A. 12 13
12 A.
All right. Does it appear to you to be an
Q.
All right.
MR. SULLIVAN:
E-mail exchange between you and Mr. Mihm as of May 18, 2008, regarding the weekly drawing for the microwave?
It does appear to be that.
I'll ask the court
14 15 17 18
reporter t o mark a s Defendants' Exhibit 31 a single-paged document bearing identification number STEPNES 31. (WHEREUPON, WCCO Defendants' Exhibit Number 3 1 was marked for identification by the court reporter.)
BY MR. SULLIVAN:
1 6 A.
Q.
Okay. Now, you see there the name Gregory J.

I do see that.
Strzelecki? Q. All right. Was Mr. Strzelecki the first

Yes.
1 9 A. 20 21 23 24 25
weekly drawing winner? Q. All right. If you'll look down at the bottom
Q.
Mr. Stepnes, have you had an opportunity to

I have.
22 A.
look over defendants Exhibit 31? Q. All right. Do you recognize Exhibit 31?
24 A.
portion of the E-mail, which chronologically is the first E-mail exchange between you and
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Paul C Stepnes . June 22, 2010 Paul C Stepnes et al. v. Peter Ritschel, et al.
,
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Page
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she was pr".ttY thorough in feeding them all the information that they needed to know. All right. How about the next item he lists there. It says you failed to disclose two separate liens against the 2857 Irvi ng Avenue _ South property. Is that true? First of all, I'd like to know where I need to -- a media person that's working for me on a property that I have, that I have to discuss whether I have a lien on the property or not. All right. My question is -That's way out of the scope of what his
1 2
anything about the weekly contest aspect of this, week prizes? I don't recall. All right. And then, lastly, did you tell
3 Q.
3 A. 4 Q. 5 6
Mr. Bonacorso about the bankruptcy filing status of Chester House Homes? No, there wasn't any need to. Whether there was a need to or not, my
7 A. 9 10 11
7 A.
a Q.
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
question is: Did you tell him about the bankruptcy status of Chester House Homes? MS. CLARK: Hang on a second. Object to the forrn. Assumes facts not in evidence. THE WITNESS: I believe I answered the question already. BY MR. SULLIVAN: Did you disclose to Mr. Bonacorso anything about the bankruptcy status of Chester House Homes? THE WITNESS: Did you want to read back my answer that I said when he asked that question. (WHEREUPON, the answer appearing o n Page 228, Line 7 was read back by the court reporter.)
Page 229
12 Q. 13 A. 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Q. 25 15 Q.
responsibilities were in this. All right. My question is simpler. My question is.: Did you fail to disclose to him
that there were two separate liens against the property? MS. CLARK: Hang on. Hang on. Just hold on. Object to the form. THE WITNESS: Do you want to ask the question again, please? BY MR. SULLIVAN: Well, let's see if we can turn it around. Did you tell Mr. Bonacorso that there were
Page 227
17 Q. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
1
2
two separate liens against the property? A. There wasn't any need to. My question wasn't whether there was a need
1 2 Q. 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 13 14 16 17 18 20 21. 23 24 25
BY MR. SULLIVAN: All right

.
Mr. Stepnes, did you ever
3 Q. 4 5 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Q. 16 17
consider'disclosing on the website that the dream house was in foreclosure? No, I didn't think it was necessary. I said: Let's take a negative situation and turn it into a positive one. All right. And did you feel any need to tell the folks that were potentially going to . participate in your contest what that negative situation was? I did. I told lots of people, including Jeannette Trompeter when she visited the house in June. No, my question is more specifically on the website. Did you feel the need to tell folks who visited your website and saw this reference to a negative situation? People could contact me through the website. If they wanted to know what that was, I was more than happy to answer the question. All right. Mr. Stepnes, putting aside the contest related arrest in May of 2008, have you ever been arrested on any other occasions?
to. My question was: Did you tell him that? Did you disclose that? It wasn't part of the contract and I didn't All right. MS. CLARK: I think that your prior question kind of built in the kind of failed to disclose part. I think that's what he's reacting to, counsel. MR. SULLIVAN: All right. BY MR. SULLIVAN: BonacorsO about a threatened foreclosure Yes. So you disclosed that to him? Oh, absolutely. All right. Did you tell Mr. Bonacorso that Let me ask you this: Did you tell Mr. need to.
5 A.
6 A. 8 Q.
8 Q.
12 A.
15 Q.
deadline prior to the game redemption date?
18 A. 1 9 Q. 2 0 A. 21 Q. 22 23
19 A.
you had failed to award and/or notify a weekly contest winner? No. All right. Did you tell Mr. Bonacorso
-:-
22 Q.
24 A. 25 Q.
Min-U-Script
(57) Page 226 Page 229

Paul C Stepnes - J une 22, 2010 Paul C Stepnes, et al. v. Peter Ritschel, et al.
Page 246 Page 248
1 2 4 5
my documents to my accountant and he filled out the taxes. All right. And as you sit here today do you believe them to be truthful and accurate returns? It's based on the information that I had. All right. And that I gave him. Okay. Mr. Stepnes, how many times have you
1 Q. 2 A. 3
Right. Thanks.
3 Q.
And he represented to me that he was an acquaintance and knew Esm e Murphy. All right. Anyone else? Those three and Esme herself. All right. Mr. Stepnes, are there occasions
4 Q. 5 A. 6 Q. 7
B
6 A. 7 Q. 8 A. 9 Q. 10 11
where although you didn't give a formal interview to a reporter or journalist, that you nevertheless provided a comment or a quote? I don't recall. I just donTrecall. All right. I'm sure there might have been over the All right. MR. SULLIVAN: I'll ask the court reporter to mark a s Defendants1 Exhibit 3 8 a single-paged document bearing identification number STEPNES II 7. (WHEREUPON, WCCO Defendants' Exhibit Number 38 was marked for identification by the court reporter.) MS. CLARK: Stepnes II 7. BY MR. SULLIVAN: Mr. Stepnes, have you had a chance to look
Page 249
9 10
been interviewed by a reporter or a journalist? I don't knO\I\/. C a n you give u s an approximate number? I don't know. As you sit here today can you tell us what
11 A. 12 Q. 13 A. 14 16 17 , 10 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q.
-
12 A. 13 Q. 1 4 A. 15 Q. 16 17
course of m y life, but I just don't recall.
15 Q.
news entities have sought interviews with you in t h e past? What do you mean by news entities? Newspapers, television stations, web Newspapers, the Southwest Journal and the
18 A. 1 9 Q. 20 22 23 24 21 A.
publications, any of those. Star & Tribune. I never did speak with the with the Star & Tribune. I referred them to m'y lawyer. All right.
Page 247
25 Q.
1 A. 2 4 5 7
B
I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can Okay. In terms of news entities, which news
over Exhibit 38? I have. All right. Do you recognize Exhibit 38? I do. And can you identify it for the record, It's an E-mail that I sent to a group of
think of at this time. entities actually obtained a_n interview with you that you can recall sitting here today? Well, V'ICCO asked for one once hen they knocked on my door at my house. And then they asked for -- they hounded, really hounded and used a number of different people to hound me to do the interview with Esm e Murphy on the house. Are you referring to the story on the Correct. Okay. And you say they hounded you? Correct. You indicated they hounded you through other contest?
2 A. 3 Q. 4 A. 5 Q. 6
B
3 Q.
6 A.
ple8se. people, Tom Barrett, and then I carbon copied Carolyn Aberman; Senator Dibble; Michael Shmagin, who is Senator Dibble's aide; Jean Golden; Jill Clark; Dan McGowan, a senator. for the senate for the state of Minnesota; and then Scott at his own personal E-mail address. Scott who? Senator Dibble. Oh, oh. Thank you. And then it indicates that you forwarded this to Paul Simonson; correct? It looks like I did. Dkay. And why did you forward the E-mail to
7 A. 9 10 11 12 13 14
9 10 11 13
12 Q. 1 4 A. 15 Q. 16 A. 17 Q. 18
15 Q. 16 A. 17 Q. 18 19 20 A. 21 Q. 22 23 25
19 A. Jennifer Torgerson, a friend of Esm e's. 2 0 Q. 21 A. 22 Q. 23 A. 24 25 All right. And Scott Christensen. And who is Scott Christensen? A friend of Jennifer's and a gentleman who --
people. Who were these other people?
Barrett and the other individuals that you copied it to to Mr. Simonson? Paul was working for me on setting up the Chester House Foundation and I just wanted to
he's also the salesman at Channel 9 and channel 29.
24 A.
Min-U-Script
(62) Page 246 - Page 249

Page 250 1 . 3 4 A 5 7 keep him in the loop as to what was going, on. All right. When was the original meeting It was in Senator Dibble's office. I don't Okay. The E-mail that we have before us is Correct. Okay. How close in time was the meeting in This was in April I believe of that year. Okay. Either March or April, but I think it was All right. And then if you look at the first with Tom Barrett?
.
Page 252 1 Q. 2 3 5 Okay. And you're saying he said he had --
2 Q.
that was fine by him or what did he say in response? He asked me why I wanted to have a weekly And what did you say? To generate interest and to keep people All right. What did he say in response to Because there wasn't any consideration, he Okay. If you look down at the final contest.
4 A. 6 Q. 7 A.
a
recall the exact date. dated May 29, 2008. Do you see that?
6 Q.
a A.
coming back to visit the website. that, if anything? didn't seem to have a problem with it. paragraph, you say, "Please feel free to call me again about this -- I would appreciate a response from you o n this" , Do you see that? Correct. Okay. Did Mr. Barrett respond to you? He claims he never got this E-mail. All right. Did any of the other recipients I don't recall. I know that Scott -- Senator
9 Q. 10 11 A. 12 Q. 13 A. 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 A. 23 Q. 24 15 Q.
9 Q. 10 12 14 15 16 17 1 8 A. 1 9 Q. 20 A. 21 Q. 22 24 25
Page 251
Senator Dibble's office with Mr. Barrett?
11 A. 13 Q.
April. paragraph, you see it says, "Our first conversation was in Senator Dibble's office at the State Capital with yourself and Dan McGowan the Senate Counsel -- I then call you a day or two later." Do you see that? Correct. Okay. And so you would have called M r.
respond to you? Dibble responded to Toni Barrett to confirm that this was true.
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23 A.
Barrett a couple days later in April?
25 A. Correct.
)
1 Q. 2 3 A. 4 Q. 5 A. 6 Q. 7 A. 8 9 Okay. All right. And when you called him, Myself and .Mr. Barrett. N o one else? That's correct. All right. And what did he say on that call? who was on the call?
1 Q. 2 3 A. 4 Q. 5 6 A. 7 Q.
B
No, what I'm referring to is did any of these Not that I -- I don't recall. Okay. Did you follow up with Mr. Barrett and I don't recall. All right. Mr. Stepnes, why did you send Because I had been arrested the day before
recipients respond to you?
say: Why haven't I heard back from you?
I described the contest that I was going to
do and he said he had absolutely no problem with that. Okay. Did he say anything else? I did talk to him about that -- I said we
this E-mail on May 29, 2008? and I wanted to document the fact that we had the meeting and get it on the record. All right. Did you ever at any subsequent point attempt to follow up with Mr. Barrett to document that prior discussion? I don't recall. I do know that I had his business card in my coat pocket and that was one of the items that Sergeant Ritschel took when he did the search warrant and he never inventoried it and it was never returned to me. All right. Mr. Stepnes, what was Paul Simonson's role in connection with the contest? MS. CLARK: Objection, vague. THE WITNESS: What d o you mean by
9 A. 10 11 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 22 23 24 25
10 Q. 11 A. 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21
were going to have a weekly prize with the contest and that there was no consideration with the weekly prize. Okay. If you look at your E-mail here, in the second paragraph it says, "Because lt is a game of skill you said you had no problem with the game -- also in that conversation said that we were going to have a weekly prize and that there was no charge to enter for that -- thus taking away consideration . " Correct. The speaker is left out. "Also in that I said.
12 Q.
15 Q.
15 A.
21 Q.
22 A. 23 Q. 24 25 A.
conversation said", who said?
Min-U-Script
Benchmark Reporting Agency 012.n=m=S00.873.331 6
(63) Page 250 - Page 253

Page 254 1 2 role? BY MR. SULLIVAN: 1 2 3 Q. 4
s
Page 256 to form. BY MR. SULLIVAN: Did Mr. Simonson advice you that contests where you guess the number of beans in a jar are not considered games of skill and are thus illegal? I never used Mr. Simonson as an advisor in And, again, my question is more precise. It those kind of roles. is: Did he advise you that contests were you
3 Q. Well, let me ask you this: What was he 4 tasked to do? What did you direct him to do? 5 A. 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 I knew that Paul was a lawyer. He had his . law degree. I knew th at he had been an IRS
6
a
agent. I knew that he was a CPA. And so one of my lawyers uses him as a CPA and so I had -- I had met with him through that lawyer and he talked about his knowledge of setting up SOi(c)3's and so I had hired him in that capacity. All right. Which one of your lawyers used Clint Mclagan. Now, did you hire Mr. Simonson as a lawyer, a I hired him because of his knowledge. But what profession did you think he was CPA. Okay. Because you knew he was disbarred; I did know that. He was very up front about him as a CPA?
7 A. 9 Q. 10 11 12
guess the number of beans in a jar are not games of skill and are thus illegal? I don't recall. All right. MR. SULLIVAN: I'll ask the court
13 Q. 15 A. 16 Q. 17 18 A. 19 Q. 20 21 A. 22 Q. 23 25 24 A.
13 A. 14 Q. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Q. 25 Page 255
reporter to mark as Defendants' Exhibit 39 a single-paged document bearing I D number STEPNES 732. (WHEREUPON, WCCO Defendants' Exhibit Number 39 \Vas marked for identification by the court reporter.) THE WITNESS: Okay. BY MR. SULLIVAN: Have you had an opportunity to look over Defendants' Exhibit 39? Page 257
CPA or what?
practicing at the time?
right? that.
1 Q. 2 A. 3 Q. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Q. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Q. 19 20 22 23 24 25
All right. So -I do believe in second chances for people. Right. Did Mr. Simonson assist you in MS. CLARK: I'm going to object to
1 A. 2 Q. 3 A. 4 Q. 5 6 A. 7 Q.
a
Yes. Do you recognize Exhibit 39? It looks familiar. All right. And you see up there on the top Correct. Okay. Does this appear to you to be a
formulating the contest rules? the vagueness of the contest. THE WITNESS: I did not use h i m for that. BY MR. SULLIVAN: All right. Did Mr. Simonson advise you that the official contest rules cannot change once the contest had begun? MS. CLARK: Objection, vague. I'm sorry, object as to form. THE WITNESS: I never sought his advice on that that I can recall. BY MR. SULLIVAN: Right. And my question is: Did he advise you of that, that the contest rules cannot change once the contest had begun? I don't recall. MS. CLARK: Can you leave me some space? THE WITNESS: Sure. MS. CLARK: Objection. Object as
right corner it's June 9, 2008?
website print of the members area as of June 9, 2008? It looks like it. Okay. If you look right under the heading
10 A. 11 Q. 12 13
there, you'll see, "Welcome to the members area". Do you see that? I do. It says, "Welcome to the members area, I have no idea. Did you have the password of Michelle Gross? I don't recall. All right. Would you ever go and visit the I don't think that I would. As you sit here today do you recall doing Not that I recall.
14 A. 15 Q. 16 1 7 A. 18 Q. 19 A. 20 Q. 21 22 A. 23 Q. 24 25 A.
Michelle". Do you know why it says Michelle?
21 A.
website as Michelle Gross?
that?
Min-U-Script
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Page 274 1 A. 2 3 5 7
B
Page 276 1 Q. 2 3 5 6 7
B
I had asked him that at the time that we had
Okay. What happened after they gave you a
frozen the website and also I had sent him an E-mail too at some point. Did you ever follow up to check to see I believe he did contact me and I told him whether he preserved the website? that we needed to preserve eyerything on the website. Okay. Did you document that conversation in
I don't recall.
business card and told you they were police officers? Which they never did. They never rang the doorbell. They just barged into the house. And- Sergeant Ritschel in a very loud, gruff voice said: I understand you're running an illegal gambling operation here._ And I said: No, I don't believe I am. And Carolyn said: Why don't you folks go up front and talk about this. She was staying back in the kitchen hearth room trying to continue the interview with the Southwest Journal. And when Sergeant Ritschel said: Oh, and-why is that?, I said, well, that I had met wih Senator Dibble, the head -- what I presumed to believe to be the was the head legal counsel for the senate for the state of Minnesota and the head of the state Gambling control Board i n Senator Dibble's office in St. Paul and had worked out a way that I could do this. And Senator -- Sergeant Ritschel's response was (indicating), what do they know? It was at that point just a cold chill ran through me. I realized I was Page 277
4 Q. 6 A.
4 A.
9 Q. 10 11 A. 12 Q. 13 14
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 10 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
writing? I'd like to focus on the May 28 date, May 28,
2008. It's my understanding that was the day that you were arrested; is that right? That's correct. Okay. When did you first become aware that I was in the kitchen hearth room, standing by
15 A. 1 6 Q. 17 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 A.
police had arrived at the Irving house? the fireplace in the kitchen hearth room and I was in the middle of the interview or the interview had actually just started I believe with the Southwest Journell. Excuse me. And there's a little alarm -- there was a little alarm in the house that any time there was an exterior door that was opened, it would beep Page 275
l
1 2 3 4 5
in the kitchen hearth room. And I could hear the front door open and the beep. And so I turned my head to see what that was all about and I saw tvvo individuals running around in the dining -room. Y./hat did you do at that point? I was trying to concentrate on those two
1 2 3
dealing with somebody who couldn't -- that you could not have with. What happened next? He asked to me lny driver's license and I
a
rational conversation
4 Q. 5 A. 6 7 8
6 Q. 7 A.
B
said: I believe you're in my house without my invitation. I don't need to show you my ID and I'm going to ask that you leave. What did he say or do in response to that? He said: Put your hands behind your back.
individuals and the interview. And the publicist who was there at the time with me, Carolyn Aberman, said she would go and see what was going on. When you saw those individuals, were you able to identify that they were uniformed police officers? They were not in uniform. Okay. Were you able to identify them as They were in the house. They were in the
9 10 11 13 14
9 Q. 10 A. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
You're under arrest for not cooperating with my investigation. I said to him: I think you're making a huge mistake. At that time he screamed at me and Sergeant Moore got rough with m e and grabbed m e a n d put m y hands behind my back while h e put the cuffs on. At that time Carol Aberman walks around th1;9 corner again and she said: Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. What's going on? And I said: Call Jill Clark, my attorney. We were handing inside the house in the foyer. And at that point Sergeant Ritschel said: Jill Clark, huh, in a snotty, snide tone. That's all I need to arrest yo!Jr ass. And he proceeded to take the handcuffs
.
12 Q.
15 A. 16 Q. 17 19 20 21 22 18 A.
police officers at that time? foyer between the living room and the kitchen. And they told - - they handed m e a business card and said they were police officers. What happened next? And there was a sign on the front door that
23 Q. 24 A. 25
said: Ring bell for entry.
Min-LI-Script
(69) Page 274 Page 277

-

Page 278
Page 280 1 doctor friend? Yes, the doctor friend. Okay. Was that in a formal medical visit or Just a friend-to-friend conversation. Did you seek any medical treatment for your No. When Sergeant Ritschel was in the Irving
1 2 3 5 6 8
that were already on me and squeeze them even tighter and tighter until they cut into my wrists. Describe how -- you described Sergeant Moore roughly treating you to get you into handcuffs. Describe what that was. She just started barking orders and told me Okay. And grabbed me and started, you know, Were you injured at that point? I was not doing anything. I was just to put my hands behind my back, which I did.
2 A. 3 Q. 4 5 A. 6 Q. 7 8 A. 9 Q. 10 11 12
4 Q.
just a friend-to-friend conversation?
7 A. 9 Q. 10 A. 11 12 Q. 13 A. 14 15
hands or wrists?
house with you, did he ever ask you or tell you that you needed to cease and desist the contest? No, he did not. Your complaint or amerlded complaint in this
manhandling me.
13 A. 1 4 Q. 15 16 17 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Page 279
standing there. I just said: I think you're making a big mistake. Were you injured in any way at that time? I was. The handcuffs cut into my skin. My
matter alleges a lack of investigation by Sergeant Ritschel at the time of your arrest. What did h e fail t o investigate in your view? He -- well, he booked me into jail under the code of concealing m y identity with a mask. It shows to me that he didn't even know what statutes h e was dealing with when h e arrested me. To be held without bail to me for a crime that even if I was guilty, was about the equivalent of a speeding ticket, to hold somebody without bail so that he could go
Page 281
1 6 Q. 1 7 A. 18 19
lawyer came down to the jail within an hour of my being arrested and took pictures of it. At what point -It was weeks and weeks before those marks
18 A.
2 0 Q. 21 A. 22 23
healed and went away. My hands were numb for weeks. Did you go to the doctor for that? No, I did not.
24 Q. 25 A.
\
1 q, 2 A. 3 Q. 4 A. 5 Q. 6 A. 7 Q.
a
Why not? I assumed that the numbness would go away. Okay. It didn't. And you said the numbness lasted for weeks? Correct. After it went away have you had any residual I had very sore -- one finger I thought was
1 2 3
4 s
start to investigate things without any interference and the fact that he got the call and came tearing over to the house, never investigated anything before he came over, just assumed that what I was doing was illegal and in my perception did not have any evidence of any kind at that time. I know there's more. I know that my lawyers responded to this. And without some sort of document in front of me I just can't recall anything else that I can say about it at this time. All right. Your amended complaint at
44
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 17 18 20 21 22
problems relating to your hands or wrists? broken. It had been -- when he was putting the handcuffs on me, I believe Sergeant Ritschel hurt that finger and I thought it was broken. I showed it to a doctor friend and he said it wasn't broken, so -Since the -But it took a long time for that finger to How long? Months. Is it normal now? It's still sore. The doctor said! You'll Which hand? My right hand. When you say "the doctor", is that your
9 A. 10 11 12 13 14
13 Q.
Paragraph
alleges that there was false
15 Q. 1 6 A. 17 18 Q. 19 A. 20 Q. 21 A. 22 23 Q. 24 A. 25 Q.
information in the warrant that was obtained and executed a t the Irving house and/or the that the warrant affidavit was not balanced. Why do you claim that? Again, I'm not a lawyer. I don't recall what's i n No. 44. I just - - I'm sorry, I don't think I can answer that question a s I sit here. Okay. Without reference then to -Unless you have a document or something that
feel normal and well again.
1 9 A.
have a hard time making a fist.
23 Q. 2 4 A. 25
you can show me.
Min-U-Script
(70) Page 278 - Page 281

Page 282 1 Q. Well, I ' m looking for your best recollection 1 2 tickets were not sold by the contest end date? By the contest end date? Yes. Whatever monies were collected, half of them Page 284
-)
2 3 4 5 6 7
B
as we sit here today. What in the warrant application or affidavit was false to your recollection as you sit here today? MS. CLARK: I think he's asking for the warrant. Do you have the warranty itself -- or I mean the warrant application? MR. MOORE: I don't right now. THE WITNESS: Based upon what I heard at Sergeant Ritschel's deposition, it sounded like he wasn1t forthcoming with the judge on all of the information and probably if he had been wouldn't have been granted the warrant. Also, you know, again, I'm not a lawyer. I don't really feel comfortable answering that question without having some sort of documentation in front of me. BY MR. MOORE: Q. What did you hear at Sergeant Ritschel's deposition that led you to the conclusion that he was not fully forthcoming to the judge at the time that he applied for the \Varrant? Based on some questioning that I heard from Page 283
3 A. 4 Q. 5 A. 6 7 9
would go to the winner and the other half would stay with the contest. Were expenses to be paid out of the money Yes. Before or after the distribution to the -Before I believe. Okay. Who was to do the accounting as to MS. CLARK: Object a s to form. THE WITNESS: Well, one of the people that I was looking to to d o the accounting on the contest was Paul Simonson. I hadn't gotten that far with that yet. BY MR. MOORE: Today you told us that you thought you could sell 500,000 tickets. Do you recall that testimony? I do. Upon what do you base the belief that you
Page 285
B Q.
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20
collected?
10 A. 11 Q. 12 A. 13 Q. 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Q. 22 23
expenses in that scenario?
21 22 23 24
24 A. 25 Q.
25 A.
my attorney. Do you recall what that was? I don"t. Okay. After Contest # 1 was cancelled you
1 2 4 5 6 7
B
could have sold 500,000 tickets in the contest, either 1 or 2? If you look at the trajectory and look at what was done and how that can multiply and grow, I felt that I could hit that mark. And looking at other contests and talking to them on their successes and how they had done it, I knew that I was doing all the correct things on it that they did for successful contests. I thought I understood your testimony earlier today to be that you approximated that you were harmed to the tune of $19 million. Is that what you said earlier today? On the business side of things. Okay. Tell me how you were harmed to that
2 Q. 3 A. 4 Q.
s
3 A.
initiated what I've been referring to co!loquially as Contest #2. Do you understand what I'm talking about there? I do. Okay. At the time that you began Contest #2
6 7
B A.
9 Q. 10 11 13 14 15 16 17 19 20 21 22 23
9 1o 12 13 14
were you confident that that contest could succeed in its objectives? I had -- I felt that with the right kind of media exposure, with the right Internet exposure, with the right media publications, with the right marketing team and advertising, that I could go forward and have a successful contest. Okay. It's my understanding that with regard to both Contest # 1 and Contest # 2 in order for the grand prize of the home or the alternative million dollar prize to be awarded, the contest needed to sell 250,000 tickets; is that right? That would be correct. Okay. What would happen if that number of
11 Q.
12 A.
15 A. 16 Q. 17 19 20 21 23 24
extent on the business side of things? contest would have propelled m y business forward. These are the business projects that I had on the drawing board. Okay. Does your estimation of those damages take into account the very difficult real estate market at the time? It does.
18 Q.
18 A. The money that I would have earned from the
22 Q.
24 A. 25 Q.
25 A.
Min-U-Script
(71) Page 282 - Page 285
I NTO THE H O US E AND CONTEST, YO U WI L L B E A UTOMATICALLY R E G ISTE R E D FOR O U R WE EKLY PR IZES . YO U R PARTIC I PATION WI LL H ELP FUND TH E C H ESTER HOUS E FO U N DATION . O U R G OAL IS
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I F YOU WISH TO SEE THE HOUSE BEFORE PAYING THE ENTRY FEE, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE
I I i
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EXHIBIT
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Deposition of Paul C Stepnes

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CASE 0:08-cv-05296-ADM-JJK Document 324-6 Filed 09/08/10 Page 1 of 23

VIDEOTAPED DEPOSITION OF PAUL C. STEPNES

DATE TAKEN: 06/22/10

BY: CINDY M. TRATTLES

Benchmark Reporting Agency

CASE 0:08-cv-05296-ADM-JJK Document 324-6 Filed 09/08/10 Page 2 of 23

you'll want t o put under the protective order as well.

All right. Mr. Stepnes, let me ask you this:

CASE 0:08-cv-05296-ADM-JJK Document 324-6 Filed 09/08/10 Page 3 of 23

in North Carolina. Carolina?

All right. In terms of your brothers, could

Timothy, the brothers that reside in the Twin Cities area? A. Q. A. Q.

problems that were caused to you by the

Benchmark Reporting Agency

(5) Page 18 Page 21

All right. Did you ever talk to her about

the challenged report?

All right. What did she say?

Mr. Stepnes, who are your closest friends?

So Catherine, who's in North Carolina, got

All right. Let me see if this helps you. We

calls frpm friends that resided in the Twin Cities area?

Okay. I take it these weren't folks in North

Carolina that heard of this? Q.

Okay. All right. Did she tell you the names

All right. Sitting here today, would you --

challenged report? Q. All right. What did you say, if anything, i n

Page 23 Q. Q. You were taken aghast?

All right. Did you say anything to her in

Well, I'm going to

intercede here because there was a tiiT1e frame

All right. Mr. Stepnes, are there any other

Stepnes. So I would instruct him not to talk You said Jill.

You're saying representing him as counsel? Yes. Oh, okay.

And what is her name?

And does she reside in the Twin Cities area?

Well, let me ask you this: What is her last

Benchmark Reporting Agency

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CASE 0:08-cv-05296-ADM-JJK Document 324-6 Filed 09/08/10 Page 5 of 23

During what period?

Which courses did you take?

Object to form. don't recall a

Insurance Institute of America. sit here today.

done some other. I just can't recall as I

All right. Have you taken any college

And was that the Irving house property?

Okay . All right.

Can I ask, can we

What I'd like to do now is shift our focus a

THE VIDEO TECHNICIAN:

We are back Page 37

Are you doing that at present?

All right. And what is the -- is the entity

I'm sorry, can I get

Object to the form. What do you mean by

Well, you told us that you were involved with

All right. And are there any business names

Chester House Homes during that five-year period?

During what period in time did you operate as

Chester House Homes building new old homes?

Business that you operated. You also told us

Benchmark Reporting Agency

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