Continuing Legal Education Seminar page 2

DEPOSITION OF DONALD MAUS BY MYRA LERNER, AT CHEATAM AND HOWE:

Q. Mr. Maus, can you state your name for the record, please, sir?

A. My name is Donald Maus.

Q. And your attorney, Mr. Murdock, is here today?

A. Yes, he is.

Q. Mr. Maus, we have sued you for an automobile accident that occurred on March 1, 1994, at twelve noon. Can you tell me what you were doing that day?

A. Yes. I was making a delivery.

Q. What do you deliver?

A. Snakes.

Q. There must not be too much call for that?

A. Well, I don't always deliver snakes. I deliver whatever the zoo needs me to.

Q. You work for the zoo, then?

A. Yes, I work for the Snurdly Zoo.

Q. Why were you delivering snakes?

A. It was for some kind of a birthday party. I'm not sure what.

Q. I want you to tell me what happened in this accident.

A. Well, I was driving west on Bumblebee, and I had green lights all the way through. I've driven this route a lot, so I know that if you go down the road about 25 miles an hour, once you get a green light, you'll hit all the lights. Anyway, I was looking as I went down Bumblebee. When I got to the intersection of Nixon, this guy pulled out in front of me in this little red Opal. I couldn't stop. I didn't even have time to put on the brakes.

Q. What kind of car were you driving?

A. I was driving a 1976 Cadillac.

Q. Was there any damage to your car?

A. No.

Q. Were you hurt?

A. Yeah, it shook me up quite a bit. I broke my leg, I rammed my head against the windshield, and I think I got a concussion or something.

Q. Have you had any medical treatment for this?

A. Yes I have.

Q. What happened?

A. Well, the ambulance came to get us from the scene of the accident but, unfortunately, the guy in the little car with the big mouth smarted off to me and asked me why I ran the red light. Well, I didn't run the red light -- he did.

Q. Are you sure of that?

A. No question in my mind. He just came through there like a bat out of hell, not paying any attention to where he was going. I couldn't stop. There's nothing you can do with nuts like that driving around on the street.

Q. Did you say something like that to him at the hospital?

A. No. I think I may have been a little bit brusque with him there.

Q. Can you tell me what happened?

A. Well, I didn't get any treatment there. This orderly came in and told that if we were well enough to fight, we were well enough to get out of there, so I went right to my doctor.

Q. Who is your doctor

A. Dr. Bruce Banner.

Q. Where is his office?

A. It's over on Green Street.

Q. What kind of doctor is Dr. Banner?

A. He is just a family doctor.

Q. What kind of treatment did Dr. Banner give you?

A. Well, first he sewed up my head, and he put me in a cast for my leg.

Q. Did you miss any work?

A. Yes. I missed about six weeks of work.

Q. Why is that?

A. Well, part of my job is to feed the animals, and I couldn't do that. Another part of my job is to make deliveries, and I couldn't do that.

Q. Why not?

A. Because I couldn't carry anything. Any time I'd try to carry something, I'd drop it because I was working with these blasted crutches.

Q. Have you returned to work now?

A. Yes.

Q. Are you having any trouble now?

A. Well, my knee still hurts me, especially when the weather's bad.

Q. Do you have any relatives here in Sticks County?

A. Just my wife, Melba, my sons, Tim, Tom, and Terrance, and my Aunt Louise.

Q. Are all your son's last names Maus?

A. Of course.

Q. And your Aunt Louise?

A. Billingsley.

Q. Are you telling me that you are absolutely sure that you had a green light?

A. Yes I am. Why the hell would I drive through a red light?

Q. You tell me. I'm just asking you the questions, Mr. Maus. Now, you filed a counter-claim for damages, and this includes a claim for damage to your automobile, is that right?

A. Yes. It broke out both headlights.

Q. You told me earlier that there was no damage to your automobile.

A. Well, I'd forgot about that. Yeah, it broke the headlights but, other than that, it's fine.

Q. Any damage to the bumper or anything like that?

A. None.

Q. Did you notice if there was any damage to Mr. Duck's car?

A. Yeah, it was smashed to pieces.

Q. Let me ask you this. Do you know a Selina Kyle?

A. No, can't say that I do.

Q. How about Oswald Cobblepot?

A. No.

Q. Do you know a Dick Grayson?

A. No.

Q. How about a Bruce Wayne?

A. No.

Q. Do you know a Clark Kent, a reporter over there at the newspaper?

A. Nope, sure don't.

Q. Now, all these people have been identified as witnesses by your lawyer.

A. Well, he may know them, but I don't.

Q. Thank you. I have no further questions.

DEPOSITION OF PATRICK O'HARA

Q. Can you state your name for the record, sir?

A. Yes. My name is Patrick O'Hara.

Q. What do you do for a living, sir?

A. I am the Chief of Police in Snurdly.

Q. I understand that you investigated an accident which occurred March 1, 1994?

A. Yes, that's right.

Q. Can you tell me what happened?

A. When I arrived a the scene, I observed a red Opal, license plate EAT-ME, in the middle of the intersection of Bumblebee and Nixon. He was about five or seven feet into Bumblebee at the time of the accident. His car was actually more -- it wasn't even much on Nixon anymore, it was barely on Nixon. I noticed some scuff marks where his car had obviously been. It looked like the car must have been trying to turn left. The other vehicle was a blue Cadillac. There was not much damage to the blue Cadillac. Both men appeared to be injured, and I noted that on my police report. I called the ambulance and they came and picked up the two men.

Q. Chief O'Hara, was there anything you could tell from the accident that would let you know whose fault it was?

A. No, not really. The only thing is that it had to be whoever's fault it was that ran the light. The driver of the red Opal, Mr. Duck, said that Mr. Maus had run the red light, and the driver of the Cadillac, Mr. Maus, said that Mr. Duck had run the red light. So, based on that, I gave them both a ticket for running the red light.

Q. Did you get the names of witnesses?

A. Yes, sir, I did. There was a man named Bruce Wayne, who was apparently in the car behind Mr. Duck. There was an Oscar Cobblepot, who, if I remember correctly, the guy tried to sell me an umbrella. Clark Kent, over at The Planet, was looking out his window and saw it. The barber, Dick Grayson, was there, and Selina Kyle is the other name. I don't know who she is but, apparently, she saw the accident, too. I got all their names. The two men were taken to the hospital, and that's really about all I can say.

Q. Thank you very much, Chief.

DEPOSITION OF OSWALD COBBLEPOT

Q. Can you state your name for the record, please?

A. Yes. My name is Oswald Cobblepot.

Q. And what do you do for a living, Mr. Cobblepot?

A. I am in the umbrella business.

Q. The umbrella business?

A. Yes, sir. I sell umbrellas. All kinds of umbrellas. I was in town to sell some to the local mens' fashion stores. I travel all over the world, or all over the country -- oh, let's face it, all over Arkansas -- selling these umbrellas.

Q. And Mr. Cobblepot, did you witness an accident at the corner of Bumblebee and Nixon on March 1, 1994, at twelve noon?

A. Yes, sir, I did.

Q. Can you tell me what happened?

A. Well, it was the darndest thing. I was waiting to cross the street. I was going to cross Nixon. I was on the south side of Bumblebee, getting ready to cross Nixon. I was on the, gosh, let's see -- okay, across from The Planet, so I guess that makes that the east side, doesn't it?

Q. No, that's the west side.

A. Oh, the west side. I was on the west side of Nixon, getting ready to cross the east -- south of Bumblebee, I know that -- and I looked up to see who had the red light, and it was real surprising, you know, see if I could cross. And I looked up and I was real surprised because the lights were red both ways. Then, all of a sudden, I hear this crash. This guy's pulled out from Nixon, and this other guy pulled across, or was still going, actually, he never stopped, the guy in the big blue car, crashed.

Q. Mr. Cobblepot, can you tell me which one had the green light?

A. Neither one of them did. The light was red for both of them when this accident happened, and I could see it there from the corner. The reason I was looking at it is cause I wanted to cross the street and I wanted to wait and see if I got the light, so I know that's right. I think it's broken or something. I complained to the cop -- there was a policeman that investigated the accident, and I told him that I didn't think it was safe to have all the lights red. What if they all turned green? You know, somebody could get hurt.

Q. Thank you, Mr. Cobblepot.

CROSS EXAMINATION BY MYRA LERNER:

Q. Mr. Cobblepot, have you been to Snurdly before?

A. Oh, yes. I often come to Snurdly. It's one of the best places to sell umbrellas. There's a lot of call for good, fine umbrellas right here in Snurdly.

Q. And have you ever seen the light red both ways before?

A. Nope, can't say that I have. I think there's something wrong with it.

Q. Well, Mr. Cobblepot, you're sure of that?

A. Yes. Yes, I'm quite sure.

Q. Well, let me ask you this. Is there anything else you could tell me about the accident scene?

A. Well, not really. But, I can tell you this. I couldn't help but notice your umbrella, and you, you really need a new one.

Q. Yes, sir.

A. That's one of those, that looks like one of those they manufacture in the Oling Factory in Taiwan. The problem with those is that they get stuck, they start getting stuck, and then you can't get them up when you need them, and then, what's the point. The next thing that happens is . . .

Q. Mr. Cobblepot, let's wait till we're off the record to talk about umbrellas.

A. Oh, very well.

Q. I have no further questions.

TESTIMONY OF BARRY ALLEN, ORDERLY

Q. Can you state your name for the record?

A. Yes. My name is Barry Allen.

Q. What do you do for a living?

A. I'm an orderly at the Snurdly General Hospital.

Q. Can you tell me about an incident that occurred there on March 1, 1994?

A. Yes. I was in the emergency room, and they brought in two accident victims. I was not present when the argument started, but I heard a lot of yelling and screaming, and not a small amount of cursing. I came in and found that Mr. Mickey Duck and Mr. Donald Maus were laying on their stretchers, yelling at each other about who caused the accident. I asked them to please be quiet. This is a hospital situation and they were disturbing the other patients, but they simply wouldn't stop. Finally, I told them that if they were well enough to argue like that, they were well enough to go home, and I asked them to leave the hospital. They did. Both of them had to call somebody to pick them up. Actually, I think Mr. Maus took a cab, and they got out of my hospital.

Q. Thank you.

TESTIMONY OF DICK GRAYSON

Q. Mr. Grayson, can you state your name for the record?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. What do you do for a living, Mr. Grayson?

A. I'm a barber.

Q. Mr. Grayson, did you witness an accident that occurred March 1, 1994, at twelve o'clock.

A. Well, I wouldn't say I witnessed it.

Q. What do you mean?

A. Well, I was at Bumblebee and Nixon. I was getting ready to cross Nixon, and I heard this wreck. I looked over when I heard the wreck, and there was a red car and a blue car, and one of them had hit the other. I guess they hit each other. Anyway, the guys -- both of them were bleeding, they both had their heads opens, bleeding, and it was really gross.

Q. Mr. Grayson, you didn't actually see the accident?

A. No, sir.

Q. Why not?

A. Well, there was this lady across the street, and she's, uh, she's really kind of good looking, and she had my attention until the wreck. As a matter of fact, even after the wreck, she had my attention for a little bit.

Q. Did she see the accident?

A. I don't know. She was where she could have.

Q. So, you have no idea who had the red light?

A. Absolutely none.

TESTIMONY OF DR. BRUCE BANNER

Q. Would you state your name for the record?

A. Dr. Bruce Banner.

Q. Let me ask you if you can give me a short run-down of your credentials?

A. Yes. I went to medical school at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and I have been in private practice here in Snurdly for the last 16 years.

Q. I understand that you are a general practice physician?

A. Yes, sir, I am.

Q. In the course of your practice, have you had the opportunity to treat Mr. Donald Maus?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Can you tell me what happened?

A. Well, Mr. Maus came into my office bleeding and with a sprained knee. I treated him with conservative therapy, and finally ended up releasing him with a 5 percent disability rating.