3508 19 20 Court Reporter: HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR United States District Court 21 Two Uniondale Avenue Uniondale, New York 11553 22 (516) 485-6558 23 Proceedings recorded by mechanical stenography, transcript 24 produced by Computer-Assisted Transcription 25
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3510 1 M O R N I N G S E S S I O N 2
3 (The following takes place in the absence of the
4 jury.)
5 THE COURT: Do you want to see me, Mr. White?
6 MR. WHITE: I have an evidentiary issue, but if
7 the jury is waiting, we can take it later.
8 THE COURT: All right.
9 (Whereupon an unrelated matter is taken up by the 10 Court.) 11 THE COURT: Is the
jury here? 12 THE CLERK: The jury is here, but we are missing 13 a defendant, your Honor. 14 THE COURT: All right. 15 We have some time now, Mr. White. What is your 16 problem? 17 MR. WHITE: It is not a problem, I don't think. 18 Can we proceed in the absence of one of the 19 defendants? 20 MR. SCHOER: I will waive her appearance, your 21 Honor. 22 THE COURT: It is a question of law, right? 23 MR. WHITE: Yes. 24 THE COURT: All right. 25 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, it has to do with
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3511 1 something we touched upon last week, and at the time I 2 didn't have full research to present to the Court. It has
3 to do with the admissibility of complaint letters sent by
4 customers to the company. This is going to arise in a
5 couple of instances, I think, and perha
ps with one of the
6 customers today, your Honor, who sent a letter of
7 complaint to the company, complaining basically that she
8 was told that she was selected by this exclusive process,
9 and in fact now she realizes that anyone who has 10 incorporated a company or has any sort of a degree has 11 received the same sort of nomination letter that she got. 12 At the time it was raised the last time, the 13 government's argument was that the defendants were on 14 notice that customers were being misled by the 15 solicitation letter, and that customers were dissatisfied. 16 At the time I didn't have any law to cite to your 17 Honor, but I did the research last night. 18 First, from Judge Weinstein's evidence treatise, 19 he says that a writing may be admitted to show the effect 20 on the hearer or reader when this effect is relevant. The 21 policies underline the hears
ay rule do not apply because 22 the utterance is not being offered to prove the truth or 23 falsity of the matter asserted. 24 For example, statements of complaint may be 25 admitted to show that the recipient knew that customers
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3512 1 were generally dissatisfied. 2 Your Honor, there is a whole series cases from
3 different circuits, including the Second Circuit, that
4 hold that.
5 The main one I found in the Second Circuit was
6 United States v. Press, P R E S S, 336 F.2d 1003, Second
7 Circuit, 1964.
8 The case is similar to this, your Honor. It is a
9 conspiracy and mail fraud prosecution. There the 10 defendants are charged with fraud in connection with mail 11 order marketing sales. And there the Court let in 12 complaints that were received from customers by the local
13 chamber of commerce and then forwarded on to the defendant 14 and the defendant corporation in that case. The 15 defendants were convicted and appealed. 16 The Second Circuit said, your Honor, of course -- 17 reading from page 1011, of course, evidence that 18 complaints had been received would not have been 19 admissible to show that members had in fact not received 20 catalogues, merchandise, or refund, which is what the 21 alleged fraud was. 22 THE COURT: What exactly were you referring to 23 that you attempted to admit, Mr. White? 24 MR. WHITE: The last time it came up, your Honor, 25 was the woman who had from the law firm library, who
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3513 1 received a letter addressed to dear Mr. Library, and wrote 2 a letter back saying I think this is misleading that you
3 are tellin
g someone they are nominated based on individual
4 experience and there is no such person.
5 THE COURT: Letters by customers to the
6 defendant?
7 MR. WHITE: Correct.
8 THE COURT: I will have to take a look at it.
9 MR. WHITE: If I can make one other distinction? 10 This case and the others are complaint letters 11 which are just forwarded to the company or received by the 12 company, and are not necessarily ones where that customer 13 actually comes and testifies at the trial. I am not 14 asking to even go that far. I only want to put in the 15 complaint letter when this customer who wrote it comes in, 16 identifies the letter and says I sent it to Who's Who. So 17 if there is any question about the truth of it, they can 18 cross-examine him or her. 19 I have other cites, if you wish them. 20 THE COURT: If you have them you will submit it 21 to me a
nd I will take a look at it. 22 Right now the jury is here. And the defendant 23 who was not here on time is here. 24 MR. GEDULDIG: We are still missing my client, 25 your Honor.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3514 1 THE COURT: Please advise all the defendants that 2 I expect them to be on time and not late.
3 MR. GEDULDIG: I understand from Ms. Garboski who
4 came in that the Meadowbrook is jammed up.
5 THE COURT: The Meadowbrook can be jammed up
6 every day of the week and they are to be here on time. If
7 you leave early enough you don't have to worry about
8 jammed up. Every road is jammed up from time to time.
9 You all got here on time. I expect everybody to be here 10 on time. 11 Now, as far as this is concerned, I am still wary 12 about this. I don't know what the relevancy of those 13 lette
rs are even if they are admissible not for the truth, 14 what is the relevancy? 15 MR. WHITE: Your Honor, I believe the relevancy 16 is this: As I understand the defense proffered here by at 17 least Mr. Gordon, and perhaps the corporations, that we 18 don't think there is anything misleading by telling people 19 they were nominated even telling them it came from a 20 mailing list. Therefore we lack the intent to defraud. 21 The government has to prove that he had an intent 22 to defraud, and as a subsidiary, that they knew that this 23 HAS misrepresentations about the mailing list. If they 24 are getting letters in saying that I was nominated and I 25 wasn't, that is notice, your Honor, to them by saying at
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3515 1 least some people were misled with respect to what we are 2 putting out there.
3 THE COURT: I feel the prejudice is minimum,
4 the -- evidence is minimum and the prejudice is maximum.
5 And 403 is also in effect. How can any reasonably
6 prudent, intelligent person not believe, by telling people
7 you are nominated, and only seven percent or ten percent
8 are accepted and you are the honored few, how could they
9 not believe that that was material? 10 MR. WHITE: You mean the people making it or the 11 customer? 12 THE COURT: The people making it. 13 MR. WHITE: I am glad you feel that way. I don't 14 know how the jury will -- how to prove it to the jury. 15 THE COURT: Common sense will let people believe 16 that it is material. You don't have to prove the obvious, 17 Mr. White. 18 MR. WHITE: I wanted to be safe, your Honor. 19 THE COURT: I will take a look at it. If anybody 20 wants to show me cases to the contrary. 21 Br
ing in the jury. 22 THE CLERK: We are missing Ms. Haley. 23 THE COURT: I am going to tell the jurors that it 24 was because of my other case -- forgive me, lord -- it is 25 because of my business that we are waiting. I don't want
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3516 1 to have to do that again. 2 (The following takes place in the jury room.)
3 THE COURT: Every once in a while I have to come
4 in to see that you are all alert and not sleeping or
5 anything like that, not playing cards, not eating oranges
6 and pears, or working crossword puzzles.
7 I have some other matters that were on and it is
8 taking me a little longer than I thought. I am sorry
9 about that. So it will be a little while longer. I must 10 apologize for keeping you waiting. I don't like to keep 11 you waiting, just as I don't like to be kept waiting
12 myself. I like to make that very clear. I don't wait on 13 movie lines or restaurant lines or anything like that. I 14 just walk away. That's how I deal with that. But you 15 can't walk away. 16 We will see you in a very short time. Thank you 17 very much for your punctuality. 18 19 (Whereupon, a recess is taken.) 20 21 (Whereupon, at this time the following takes 22 place in open court.) 23 THE COURT: When I discussed Mr. White's latest 24 evidentiary venture, I didn't know that Ms. Haley was 25 missing as well as Ms. Garboski. I didn't get a waiver
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3517 1 from her lawyer not to be present for those discussions. 2 Therefore, in the absence of a waiver which I hope to get
3 now nunc pro tunc, I will have to do it all over again.
4 MR. GEDULDIG: Ms. Haley a
sked me to give the
5 waiver you just asked about. She apologizes for being
6 late today in addition. There was a bad accident on the
7 Meadowbrook, backing up the southern state. Ordinarily
8 she is here 15 minutes early.
9 She also said if something like that happens in 10 the future, she is willing to waive her appearance so the 11 trial doesn't start on time and inconvenience anybody. 12 THE COURT: We don't want to do that. We want 13 her during the trial. 14 It is understandable that accidents occur and the 15 Meadowbrook Parkway, like any other parkway in New York, 16 and other major cities, and highways get crowded from time 17 to time. But lawyers and the defendants have to get early 18 in case of that contingency. A lot of people are 19 waiting. We don't want to keep them waiting. And I 20 accept the apology. 21 Bring in the jury. 22 MR. WHI
TE: I have a list of the cases here. 23 THE COURT: Did you make copies to counsel? 24 MR. WHITE: I have the copies and I will hand it 25 out right now.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3518 1 THE CLERK: Jury entering. 2 (Whereupon, the jury at this time entered the
3 courtroom.)
4 THE COURT: Good morning again, members of the
5 jury.
6 Please be seated.
7 I am very sorry that I had to keep you waiting.
8 But when I went into the jury room and saw all
9 the methods of entertainment and diverse actions that are 10 going on there -- all perfectly proper -- I am somewhat -- 11 well, it is easier for me to come in and see that you have 12 been kept waiting when you have some things to do. 13 You may proceed. 14 MS. SCOTT: The government calls Reid Rotatori, 15 R O T A T O R I. 16 THE CLER
K: Please raise your right hand. 17 18 R E I D R O T A T O R I , 19 called as a witness, having been first 20 duly sworn, was examined and testified 21 as follows: 22 23 THE CLERK: Please state your name and spell your 24 last name for the record. 25 THE WITNESS: Reid Rotatori, R O T A T O R I.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3519 1 THE COURT: Have a seat, Mr. Rotatori. 2 You may proceed.
3 MS. SCOTT: Thank you, your Honor.
4
5 DIRECT EXAMINATION
6 BY MS. SCOTT:
7 Q Good morning, Mr. Rotatori.
8 Can you tell us where you live?
9 A 12th South Bury Road, Cumberland, Rhode Island. 10 Q What do you do for a living? 11 A Construction manager. I am a project executive for a 12 construction manager that builds high tech projects for 13 the computer and pharmaceut
ical industries. 14 Q What is the name of the company you work for? 15 A It has since changed. It used to be Marshal 16 Contractors. It is now ADT Marshal, Subsidiary Fluor, 17 F L U O R, Daniel. 18 Q How long have you held that position? 19 A Approximately fourteen years. 20 Q And what are your responsibilities? 21 A I oversee the construction project from a technical 22 and administrative point of view; help with procurement, 23 scheduling, and managing the day to day project and 24 technical staff on the construction site. 25 MR. LEE: I have an application, a limiting
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3520 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 instruction. I apologize for the interruption. 2 THE COURT: Limits instruction?
3 MR. LEE: I am willing to approach, your Honor,
4 if you require that, to make myself clear.
5 THE COURT: All right. Come up.
6
7 (Whereupon, at this time the following took place
8 at the sidebar.)
9 MR. LEE: I apologize. I only knew now who the 10 witness was, and who the salesperson is, and it is not one 11 of the defendants here on trial for this case. I know you 12 gave the instruction yesterday. Each witness is 13 different. They have an instruction perhaps that this is 14 only admissible to the corporation. It may not be clear 15 because each person is different. 16 THE COURT: Is this a customer? 17 MS. SCOTT: A customer of Who's Who Worldwide. 18 The salesperson is not one of the defendants. 19 THE COURT: All right. I will give a limiting 20 instruction. 21 It is against Who's Who Worldwide Registry, 22 Inc.? 23 MS. SCOTT: Yes. 24 THE COURT: That's the proper name? I have to 25 make sure it is the proper name. Or e
lse Mr. White will
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3521 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 give me a memorandum in the morning. 2 MR. WHITE: I am just trying to be helpful, your
3 Honor.
4
5 (Whereupon, at this time the following takes
6 place in open court.)
7 THE COURT: Members of the jury, this testimony
8 is being offered against the defendant Who's Who Worldwide
9 Registry, Inc. only. 10 You say you manage the day to day construction of 11 a project? 12 THE WITNESS: Correct. 13 THE COURT: Is that like what they are doing at 14 Central Islip in building a federal court there? 15 THE WITNESS: I am sure I am doing a much better 16 job. 17 THE COURT: Did you ever hear of Turner 18 Construction Company? 19 THE WITNESS: Yes, they are a competitor. 20 THE COURT: They do the same kinds of
thing that 21 you do? 22 THE WITNESS: To some extent. My division we 23 specialize in high tech work. Turner is not considered a 24 competitor and in cases, but in some cases they are. 25 THE COURT: The person of your equivalent with
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3522 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 Turner is doing the same thing you are doing in managing 2 the building.
3 THE WITNESS: Don't confuse it with the
4 superintendent managing the building. I am in the
5 administrative role.
6 THE COURT: We are just trying to see to it to
7 slow it down because I don't want to leave here.
8 THE WITNESS: Make changes. That will do it.
9 Q Mr. Rotatori, does your job involve supervising other 10 people? 11 A Yes, mostly people with engineering and 12 administrative backgrounds. 13 Q How many people do you
normally supervise in a 14 project? 15 A Depending on the size of the project, I would say it 16 could be as little as two or three. But in recent years 17 it usually ranges from 30 to 70. 18 Q Now, have you ever been contacted by a company called 19 Who's Who Worldwide? 20 A Yes, I have. 21 Q Did you eventually purchase a membership from them? 22 A Yes, I did. 23 Q Can you tell us approximately when you were first 24 contacted? 25 A I believe it was in June of '93, I received
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3523 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 information in the mail and then was contacted a short 2 time thereafter. And basically the information said that
3 I was nominated for acceptance into Who's Who. And I
4 received a phone call asking if I had received the
5 information. I said I had.
6 They as
ked me if I forwarded the card that came
7 with the nomination. And I didn't at the time. I was
8 kind of curious as to what it was and how I got nominated,
9 associating Who's Who with Who's Who in America. And I 10 asked at the time who had nominated me. And they told me 11 that the members who nominated people were -- it was their 12 policy to keep it private, to protect the member's 13 privacy, and that the nomination would go before a 14 selection board. Once the board had approved the 15 nomination, if it got approved, then it was at the 16 member's discretion if they wanted to make it public as to 17 who nominated me. 18 Q Going back to the first communication which you say 19 you received in the mail -- 20 A Yes. 21 Q I am showing you Government's Exhibit 60-H, as in 22 Howard, for Identification. 23 (Handed to the witness.) 24 Q Can you tell
us what that is? 25 A Dated June 17th, 1993, that's the letter I received.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3524 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 It is addressed to me. Addressed to my home address. 2 MS. SCOTT: Your Honor, I offer
3 Government's Exhibit 60-H.
4 THE COURT: Any objection?
5 MR. TRABULUS: No.
6 THE COURT: Government's Exhibit 60-H for How, in
7 evidence.
8 (Government's Exhibit 60-H received in evidence.)
9 Q Mr. Rotatori, would you read aloud for us the first 10 three paragraphs of that letter. 11 A Dear Mr. Rotatori. 12 You were recently nominated for possible 13 inclusion in the Who's Who Registry for global business 14 leaders. We are pleased to inform you that on June 15th 15 the office of public affairs accepted your nomination for 16 the Who's Who Registry of global business leaders.
17 Since the majority of new candidates who are 18 nominated are not approved, we wish to extend our 19 congratulations for this coveted event on behalf of the 20 board of public affairs. 21 Q Can you tell us the date appearing on that letter? 22 A June 17th, 1993. 23 Q Now, did you return the enclosed card? 24 A No. As I recall I didn't recall it right away. I 25 was somewhat curious, as I mentioned, how the heck I got
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3525 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 nominated into Who's Who. I started formulating all 2 possibilities in my own mind as to how I possibly got
3 nominated. I was asking around a little bit.
4 Again, a follow up phone call a short time after
5 I received a letter indicated that someone had nominated
6 me, a member had nominated me. And I accepted that, and a
7 series of cir
cumstances surrounding my work. I had just
8 come off of a prestigious project. I built a new research
9 facility, a national research facility, called the 10 National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Florida. It 11 was a consortium of universities, Florida State 12 University, the University of Florida and Las Alamos 13 National Labs, and this consortium had won a grant from 14 the National Science Foundation to build a new research 15 laboratory. And there were scientists involved with the 16 project from all over the world, scientists from Las 17 Alamos, scientists from Grenoble, France, and from MIT. 18 And I was interfacing with these people day to day. 19 Dr. Jack Crowe -- 20 THE COURT: Spelled how? 21 THE WITNESS: C R O W E. 22 He headed up the program and was director, and 23 was also a nationally renown scientist. 24 In my mind, I am saying, gee, on
e of these guys 25 probably put in this nomination.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3526 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 The fact that they called me at a construction 2 trailer, a temporary office for me. I had been located
3 there on and off for about six months, said, well, they
4 must have given Who's Who my new temporary office number,
5 and that's how I kind of formulated the nomination
6 possibility.
7 Q You mentioned that you asked around about who
8 nominated you. Who did you ask?
9 A Fellow workers. I asked my boss. I did ask the 10 director of facilities at the laboratory. 11 I don't know the time frame, if I asked the 12 director of the laboratory, if he was the one who 13 nominated me, if he would confess up and say he was the 14 person. 15 I asked my boss. My boss said he didn't. But he 16 said
he heard of it, and he heard of one person who had in 17 fact joined as a member, that we both knew in the 18 industry. 19 Q Were you able to find out who had nominated you by 20 asking around? 21 A No. 22 Q Now, did you at some point return the card to Who's 23 Who Worldwide? 24 A After the phone conversation, and speaking with the 25 lady on the phone I decided to return the card and see
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3527 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 what happened, see if I get nominated. 2 Q All right.
3 I am showing you Government's Exhibit 60-F as in
4 Frank, for Identification.
5 (Handed to the witness.)
6 Q Can you tell us what that is?
7 A That looks like the card, and my printing. It
8 basically gives some information on my career position,
9 what I did, what our company does, where the
y are 10 located. I don't see any date on here that I signed it. 11 Q If you flip the card over -- 12 MS. SCOTT: Before I do that, I offer 60-F, as in 13 Frank. 14 THE COURT: Any objection? 15 MR. SCHOER: May we see the original, Judge? It 16 is hard to read some of the printing on our copy. 17 THE COURT: Very well. 18 (Document handed to Mr. Schoer.) 19 THE COURT: Any objection? 20 MR. JENKS: No objection. 21 MR. TRABULUS: No. 22 THE COURT: Government's Exhibit 60-F, for Fox, 23 in evidence. 24 (Government's Exhibit 60-F received in evidence.) 25 MS. SCOTT: Your Honor, may I publish
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3528 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 Government's Exhibit 60-H and 60-F? 2 THE COURT: Yes.
3 Q Would you read the postmark that appears on the back
4 of 60-F?
5
A It looks like July 8th, 1993.
6 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published
7 to the jury.)
8 Q You mentioned some phone conversations you had with
9 someone about the membership. 10 Did that person indicate they were calling from 11 Who's Who Worldwide? 12 A Yes. 13 Q How many conversations did you have with that person 14 approximately? 15 A The first person, I don't recall the name. I know, 16 again, it was a female. I had one conversation with her, 17 and that is what initiated me sending in the card, because 18 I had not forwarded the material until that conversation. 19 Sometime later, about week later after the postmark I 20 received another call informing me that the selection 21 board had in fact nominated me for membership into Who's 22 Who. 23 Q You mean nominated you? 24 A Excuse me, that my nomination had been accepted.
25 Q Can you tell us anything else that was told to you
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3529 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 over the telephone about Who's Who Worldwide and the 2 membership?
3 A Well, before I sent in the card, again, the person on
4 the other end of the phone kind of reiterated that it was
5 prestigious, an honor to get nominated, and even more so
6 the get selected based on the committee's review of your
7 qualifications. And that it was a very low percentage of
8 the nominees who actually got into the Who's Who
9 organization. That's pretty much as I recall it. 10 Q What, if anything, did they tell you would you get 11 for your membership? 12 A They said that you would become added to their 13 Registry and published in the book, that you would get a 14 wall plaque; you would have opportunities to associate
15 with members through business meetings, conferences, 16 seminars, etcetera, with the membership; and you would 17 receive notification when these events would take place. 18 That is pretty much what swayed me to join the 19 organization. I thought it would be an opportunity to 20 move my career and associates with members who had 21 distinguished business careers and a chance to network 22 with people. 23 Q You mentioned you thought this was Who's Who in 24 America? 25 A Yes.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3530 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 Q Can you tell us why you thought that? 2 A It is just a strange coincidence way back when I was
3 in junior high several years ago, there was a librarian,
4 and I will not use the word fanatical, but very pro active
5 in promoting Who's Who in America; always pulled out the
6 books, showed us the books, showed us where they could be
7 found in the library; encouraged us to use them in papers,
8 term papers, etcetera. So, I was familiar with the term
9 Who's Who, Who's Who in America, and I immediately 10 associated Who's Who when they called me and sent me the 11 literature with Who's Who in America. 12 Q Did you discuss Who's Who in America with the person 13 who called you? 14 A Yes. They asked me when they called, if I heard of 15 Who's Who, Who's Who in America. 16 They said, well, we are a similar branch. We are 17 Who's Who Worldwide, which is based on business leaders. 18 I had mentioned that Who's Who in America, I knew 19 that they had a lot of distinguished people from the 20 academic community, medical careers in the community. 21 They said we are kind of the business branch. 22 Q Now, what was the most important thing
that was said 23 to you that led to your purchase of the membership? 24 A I think the fact that my ego got stroked a bit by the 25 fact that I got nominated by a member, and I thought that
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3531 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 the members all themselves must be quite distinguished. I 2 thought the opportunity to meet and associate with these
3 people would be a real rewarding experience, and certainly
4 had the possibility of career enhancement just with the
5 exchange of knowledge, experiences, and developing broader
6 working relationships with more people associated around
7 the United States and the world.
8 Q Now, how, if at all, did your perception that you and
9 the others had been nominated relate to your perception 10 that these other people were people you wanted to meet? 11 A I figured if they
themselves were members, they had 12 to have been nominated, and they had to achieve certain 13 levels of competence and prestige in their careers, so 14 they must be highly intelligent and interesting people. 15 So I naturally wanted to associate with that type of what 16 I thought was a professional organization. 17 Q Now, if in fact your name was obtained not by a 18 mailing list -- not by nomination from other people, but 19 by a mailing list, would that have affected your decision 20 to buy the membership? 21 A Absolutely, I wouldn't have bought it. 22 Q Why is that? 23 A It is a mailing list. It is just people who are a 24 computer selecting names off of a list, doing a sort, and 25 no one was really -- no one would have been selected and
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3532 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 nominate base
d on their accomplishments or achievements. 2 It would have been an entirely different perspective on
3 how the membership was formulated. It would have been
4 just a list of names.
5 Q Can you tell us what kind of membership you
6 purchased?
7 A I got a five year membership. Initially I was
8 looking at the minimum membership. But when I got the
9 second phone call, which was again about a week after I 10 had turned in the card, forwarded the card in, I was 11 communicating with a person by the name of Jill Barnes. 12 THE COURT: Jill? 13 THE WITNESS: Yes, J I L L, and I believe it is 14 B A R N E S. 15 The only reason I know that is I must have been 16 on the phone, or out in the field, and my secretary took a 17 phone message that she had called, and could I return her 18 call, Jill Barnes from Who's Who. 19 Q Can you tell us what kind of membershi
p you bought? 20 A After speaking with her I ended up going with a five 21 year membership. 22 Q How much did you pay for that? 23 A It was about $290, so I thought. 24 Q How did you pay for it? 25 A Credit card.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3533 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 Q How did you give the credit card number to the 2 company?
3 A I forwarded it over the phone.
4 Q I am showing you Government's Exhibit 60-B, as in
5 Boy, for Identification.
6 (Handed to the witness.)
7 Q Do you recognize that document?
8 A Yes. That's the invoice I was sent after that phone
9 conversation. It says effective date of the membership 10 was July 15th, 1993. 11 MS. SCOTT: I offer Government's Exhibit 60-B. 12 THE WITNESS: And it was for $290 plus -- 13 MS. SCOTT: Wait for a second for the judge to
14 rule on the offer. 15 THE COURT: Any objection? 16 MR. TRABULUS: No. 17 THE COURT: Government's Exhibit 60-B, for Baker, 18 in evidence. 19 (Government's Exhibit 60-B received in evidence.) 20 THE COURT: You may proceed. 21 A With the shipping charges it came to 297, and the 22 invoice date was July 18th, 1993. 23 Q Other than the conversations you described to us a 24 moment ago, did you have any other conversations with 25 anybody about your nomination?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3534 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 A I continued to ask around, as to potentially who had 2 nominated me. I was very, very curious, but, again, just
3 after I got the letter, which was dated June 17th, my
4 mother and father's anniversary was June 18th, and it
5 would have been their 44th anniversary. I did have a
6 conversation with my father, and I am going to guess and
7 say June 18th must have been a Friday or Saturday. He was
8 living in Florida at the time with my mother. And we
9 called them that weekend, that Sunday. 10 MR. SCHOER: Objection. 11 A And one of the last things I mentioned to him -- 12 MR. SCHOER: Objection to the conversation. 13 THE COURT: Yes. 14 What is the question, Ms. Scott? 15 MS. SCOTT: The question was: Did you speak to 16 anybody else about your nomination? 17 THE COURT: Outside of Who's Who Worldwide? 18 MS. SCOTT: Yes. 19 THE COURT: The answer is yes, you did? 20 THE WITNESS: Yes. 21 Q Who did you speak to? 22 A My father. 23 Q What happened in your conversation? 24 MR. SCHOER: Objection. 25 THE COURT: Sustained.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3535 Rotatori-direct
/Scott
1 Q Without telling us what, if anything, anyone said, 2 can you tell us what you told anybody about your
3 nomination?
4 A I told my father in that conversation to kind of
5 congratulate them on their wedding anniversary. And one
6 of the last things I did say is: Can you believe, I got
7 nominated for membership into Who's Who? And that's one
8 of the last things I said to him.
9 Two days later he died suddenly, and I just 10 recall that as one of the last things I said to him. 11 Q Now, did you receive a plaque? 12 A Yes, I did. 13 Q Did you make any additional payments to the company 14 after that? 15 A Yes, about mid-November, 1993 I got another phone 16 call saying that that the Registry was ready to go into 17 publication, and in order for me to get my name printed in 18 the next annual publication, another payment was due.
19 I was taken back by this a little bit, because I 20 thought I had paid in full the amount for the five year 21 membership. 22 I was told, no, that it was actually a split 23 payment, another $97 was due. 24 Again I kind of repeated to myself, I said, I 25 thought it was covered the first time.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3536 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 They said, no. If I wanted to get into this 2 coming year, which was the 1994 printing, that I had to
3 hurry up and get the payment in. I had received the
4 invoice in the mail before I got the call. And it was for
5 $97 for the final payment, plus another $97 for the
6 CD-ROM.
7 Q I am showing you Government's Exhibit 60-D, 60-G, and
8 60-E, all for Identification.
9 (Handed to the witness.) 10 Q Can you tell us what those documents are? 11 A Ye
s. This is the invoice I received. The invoice is 12 dated November 12th. It was, again, $97 for final payment 13 in the membership then there was another $97 -- $97.50, 14 for a CD-ROM. 15 Q Can you tell us briefly what the other two documents 16 are? 17 A A copy of the check for $97 for the final membership. 18 Q Is that the check you wrote to them? 19 A Yes. Dated September 22nd, 1993. 20 Q And what is the third document? 21 A The third document is an order form of final 22 membership payment with more lines for additional CD-ROM 23 software, another custom engraved wall plaque, the 24 Registry, and leather jotted memo pad with additional 25 pricing.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3537 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 In the order form I crossed out everything but 2 the final membership payment, and recalculated th
e value
3 at 97 bucks -- dollars.
4 MS. SCOTT: I offer Government's Exhibit 60-D,
5 60-E and 60-G.
6 THE COURT: Any objection?
7 MR. TRABULUS: No.
8 THE COURT: Government's Exhibits 60-D, 60-E, and
9 60-G, in evidence. 10 (Government's Exhibit 60-D received in evidence.) 11 (Government's Exhibit 60-E received in evidence.) 12 (Government's Exhibit 60-F received in evidence.) 13 MS. SCOTT: May any publish this to the jury, 14 your Honor? 15 THE COURT: Yes. 16 MS. SCOTT: I also publish 60-B. 17 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published 18 to the jury.) 19 Q Mr. Rotatori, did you receive a directory? 20 A Yes, eventually I did receive a directory. 21 Q What was your reaction to it? 22 A Disappointment. 23 Q Why was that? 24 A It was just a list of names. I knew that there would 25 be no phone numbers in
it, because, again, they insisted
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3538 Rotatori-direct/Scott
1 on membership privacy. But it was just a list of names. 2 It didn't appear to be sorted by industry or business
3 types. It didn't have any real information as far as I
4 was concerns. It gave basically the member's name, where
5 he lived, and maybe a brief description of his job title.
6 Q Could you find the person who had nominated you?
7 A No.
8 Q Did you use the book for networking?
9 A No. 10 Q Did you get any other items from the company? 11 A I would say over the course of that summer to the 12 following year different brochures and information, always 13 pushing the CD-ROM, always asking if you wanted to procure 14 the CD-ROM; different offers to procure such things as 15 credit cards, with the Who's Who insignia, ag
ain, note 16 pads, discount cards for different offers for things like 17 restaurants, commercial stores, where you could buy 18 things. But it was always to purchase something. 19 MS. SCOTT: Thank you, Mr. Rotatori. 20 I have no further questions. 21 THE COURT: Cross-examination. 22 23 24 25
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3539 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 CROSS-EXAMINATION 2 BY MR. TRABULUS:
3 Q Good morning, Mr. Rotatori.
4 A Good morning.
5 Q You indicated in your testimony before you heard of
6 Who's Who Worldwide you were yourself familiar with Who's
7 Who in America, correct?
8 A Yes.
9 Q I take it when you were in junior high school your 10 librarian would show you as well as other students copies 11 of Who's Who in America? 12 A Correct. 13 Q
Did he or she show you other Who's Who publications 14 in the junior high school library? 15 A Other publications? I don't know what you mean by 16 that. 17 Q Were there any other Who's Whos you were shown, or 18 just Who's Who in America? 19 A As I recall it was just Who's Who in America. 20 Q Since you left junior high school did you have 21 occasion to look at any Who's Who publications in any 22 library or any other place? 23 A I think through high school I always knew where those 24 volumes were. 25 Q Is it correct that Who's Who in America contains
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3540 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 information of the people listed there in alphabetical 2 order?
3 A I don't know.
4 Q Do you recall when you looked at Who's Who when you
5 were in junior high school or high school that
the
6 listings were alphabetical?
7 A Don't know.
8 Q Do you recall if they were sorted by industry or any
9 other category? 10 A It wouldn't have been a concern to me at that time, 11 so I don't know. 12 Q When you spoke to, I believe you said her name was 13 Jill Barnes, did she tell you that the book you were going 14 to be getting was to be sorted by any particular category 15 of business? 16 A No. Just that it would be business leaders. 17 Q Did she talk to you about the CD-ROM? 18 A Yes. 19 Q Did she explain to you that by utilizing the CD-ROM 20 you would access members by business category? 21 A I don't recall. 22 Q Are you yourself familiar with what a CD-ROM is? 23 A I am. 24 Q At the time you spoke with Ms. Barnes, were you a 25 rare that the CD-ROM would enable you to access any of the
HARRY RAPAPORT,
CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3541 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 information on the CD-ROM by any one of a variety of 2 parameters?
3 A During that era I probably would not have been quite
4 as familiar with the operation of CD-ROM.
5 Q Was it explained to you that the CD-ROM would be more
6 flexible in enabling you to utilize the information in the
7 book than simply going to the book itself?
8 A I don't think it was explained that elaborately, no.
9 Q Was it explained that it was used for networking? 10 A No. 11 Q Did you ask any questions about the CD-ROM? 12 A No. I didn't care about it. I didn't own a 13 computer. 14 Q Did you have access to a computer at work? 15 A Yes. 16 Q Is it fair to say that the networking you were hoping 17 to do was networking in connection with your work? 18 A Yes. 19 Q So, it would have
been an appropriate use of the 20 computer at work to utilize the CD-ROM for networking, if 21 you chose to do so; is that correct? 22 A No, that is not correct because I didn't have a 23 computer terminal at my desk. And I was not very computer 24 literate at that time. So I had no desire to use a 25 CD-ROM.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3542 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 Q And I take it that is the reason you did not ask 2 questions about what the CD-ROM could do; is that correct?
3 A Correct.
4 Q It was your decision not to ask questions about it;
5 is that correct?
6 A It was my decision not to purchase the CD-ROM.
7 Q Now, before you ever heard from Who's Who Worldwide,
8 did you consider yourself to be Who's Who material?
9 A No. 10 Q And after you heard from Who's Who Worldwide did you 11 conside
r yourself to be Who's Who material? 12 A No. 13 Q Now, the letter you received, which is in evidence, I 14 think it is 60-H, talks about the publication being the 15 Who's Who Registry of Global Business Leaders. 16 When you received that letter, did you read that? 17 A Yes. 18 Q Did you consider yourself to be a global business 19 leader? 20 A I thought the possibility existed because of the most 21 recent project I completed at Florida State. 22 Q Well, did you consider yourself to be a global 23 business leader? 24 A I considered myself the potential, yes. 25 Q So, you considered yourself suitable to be in a
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3543 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 directory for global leaders; is that correct? 2 A I considered myself for the opportunity to join that
3 group.
4 Q Qui
te apart from the fact that you received the
5 solicitation letter and the card, what I am asking you
6 is: Did you consider yourself to be suitable for
7 inclusion in a directory of global business leaders?
8 A Based on my recent career experiences, I considered
9 the possibility now to exist. 10 Q So, is the answer yes? 11 A Yes. 12 Q Before you got what you described as ego stroke from 13 receiving a letter and being nominated, did you consider 14 yourself at that point suitable for inclusion in a 15 directory of global business leaders? 16 A I am not clear on the time frame you are referencing. 17 Q Before you heard from Who's Who Worldwide did you 18 consider yourself suitable for inclusion in a directory 19 for global business leaders? 20 A Before that time I didn't know that they existed, so 21 I didn't give it any thought. 22 Q Is it fair to
say when you joined Who's Who Worldwide 23 you assumed that the other people who might be members, 24 would be persons like yourself? 25 A I assumed the person who nominated me knew me, and
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3544 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 they considered me qualified to join their membership. 2 MR. TRABULUS: Move to strike, your Honor.
3 THE COURT: Motion granted. Strike the answer as
4 not being responsive. The jury is instructed to disregard
5 it.
6 Q Mr. Rotatori, did you consider the other people who
7 were members, would be people like yourself?
8 A Yes.
9 Q Now, when you received the directory, did you look 10 through it? 11 A Once. 12 Q You say you looked through it once? 13 A Once. 14 Q Did you look through the people listed there? 15 A I received the directory. I looked
at it. If I 16 looked at it for five minutes, that was a long time. 17 Q During those five minutes did you notice that there 18 were people in there with backgrounds similar to yourself, 19 or even higher positions in various companies, including 20 companies other than your own? 21 A I didn't look. 22 Q You didn't look to see that? 23 A No. 24 Q Is it your testimony that once you saw the listings 25 were alphabetical, you were disappointed?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3545 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 A I looked at the page I was on. I looked at a few 2 names above, a few names below, tried to get a feel of the
3 content, and was very disappointed; flipped through a few
4 pages, and never really looked at it again.
5 Q Now, Mr. Rotatori, the book you received, was it one
6 with this color cover (indicating)
?
7 A Yes.
8 Q You say you looked through the listing yourself and
9 it was disappointing; is that correct? 10 A Correct. 11 Q Were you disappointed in the particular listing that 12 was for yourself? 13 A Umm -- 14 Q Yes or no, sir. 15 A Yes. 16 Q Was any of the information in that listing incorrect? 17 A No. It appeared to be copied off the card I 18 submitted. 19 Q It was based upon the information which you had given 20 on the card; is that correct? 21 A Correct. 22 Q And was it also based on the information which was 23 confirmed in your telephone conversation with Ms. Barnes? 24 A Correct. 25 Q And when Ms. Barnes spoke to you, did she ask you ask
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3546 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 you to go through the various items you put on the card to
2 see if they were accurate?
3 A I don't remember.
4 Q Besides the information on the card that you went
5 over with Ms. Barnes, was there any other information
6 which you had furnished to Who's Who Worldwide about
7 yourself?
8 A Not that I can recall.
9 Q And did Ms. Barnes tell you that she had any other 10 information concerning yourself besides what was being 11 gone over with you, yes or no? 12 A Not that I can recall. 13 Q Did you ask her when you spoke to her whether the 14 entry for you would include any other information besides 15 the information she was verifying when she was speaking to 16 you? 17 A It never occurred to me to question what was going to 18 be published. 19 Q So, at the point in time that you spoke to her, you 20 did not inquire concerning the way the Registry would be 21 organized, or what would be publi
shed in it concerning 22 yourself; is that correct? 23 A That's correct. 24 Q And she did not tell you anything which turned out to 25 be incorrect concerning the nature of the listings or the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3547 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 way the Registry would be organized; is that correct? 2 A Again, I did not ask.
3 Q You didn't ask?
4 A Correct.
5 Q And she didn't tell you anything which turned out to
6 be incorrect in that respect; is that correct?
7 A That I don't know. I can't recall what she told me.
8 Q Okay.
9 As you sit here today you can't point to 10 anything, however, can you? 11 A Nope, no. 12 Q You testified in your conversation with Ms. Barnes 13 the subject of Who's Who in America came up; is that 14 correct? 15 A Yes. 16 Q She raised that
subject? 17 A She said do you know who is Who's Who? And I said, 18 yes. 19 Q You raised something about Who's Who in America? 20 A Yes. 21 Q Did you specifically mention Who's Who in America 22 when speaking with her? 23 A Yes, I did. 24 Q Did she tell you that Who's Who in America was a book 25 publisher, but this was something different, a membership?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3548 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 A I don't recall anybody saying that Who's Who in 2 America was a book publisher. But something was said in
3 terms of, well, that's Who's Who in America. This is
4 Who's Who, a publication of global business leaders.
5 Q Did Ms. Barnes say to you that Who's Who in America
6 publishes personal information such as marriages,
7 divorces, children, and so forth, which you might not want
8 to
have published in a directory? Do you recall that?
9 A Let me clarify. I don't think it was Ms. Barnes who 10 got into the detail. It was the caller before Ms. Barnes. 11 Q Whoever the person was, the caller before 12 Ms. Barnes -- 13 A Nothing mentioned along those lines. 14 Q Was that the person with whom you discussed Who's Who 15 in America? 16 A Correct. 17 Q The person before? 18 A Yes. 19 Q Let me just see if I hear you correctly. 20 Did that person in talking to you distinguish 21 Who's Who in America by what you were going to be getting 22 by, saying Who's Who in America publishes personal 23 information, and Who's Who Worldwide Registry did not? 24 A Never had a conversation along those lines. 25 Q Now, if the directory you had received had been
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3549 Rotatori-cross
/Trabulus
1 organized by business category as opposed to alphabetical 2 order, would you have regarded it -- I think you indicated
3 that the fact that this directory was organized
4 alphabetically limited its value to you; is that correct?
5 A Uh-huh.
6 Q And I think you mentioned it was organized by
7 business category; is that also correct?
8 A That's correct.
9 Q And if it would have been organized by business 10 category, would it have been of value to you in terms of 11 the type of information that is in it? 12 A I can't say by answering yes or no. I would really 13 have to see the content to judge whether it was. Because 14 my assumption was that the information provided in the 15 book was all part of the qualifying information that the 16 member had sent to the board, the selection board. And 17 all of that added information would be part of the<
BR> 18 publication. 19 Q So, it is your testimony that you had assumed that 20 there would be additional information from whoever 21 nominated you? 22 A Correct. 23 Q That would be listed for you; is that correct? 24 A Correct. 25 Q And Ms. Barnes didn't tell you that, did she?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3550 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 A Again, I didn't ask that question. 2 Q Did you ask what information had been -- withdrawn.
3 What information about yourself did you believe
4 would have been appropriate for listing, a listing of that
5 sort?
6 A I would think maybe some detail in the type of
7 business activities, past experiences, maybe some
8 technical information.
9 Q Did you ask Ms. Barnes -- withdrawn. 10 Did you volunteer that information to Ms. Barnes, 11 something about you
r past experience, technical 12 information? 13 A Absolutely not. I didn't think it was necessary. I 14 thought they had it all. 15 Q She was asking to verify very simple bits of 16 information concerning you, hobbies, your address, 17 business address, the name of the corporation, the 18 industry, the geographical area that your company 19 serviced; is that correct? Is that what she was doing? 20 A I can't remember that detail. 21 Q Well, do you recall that she asked you where your 22 company -- what your company's geographical area of 23 service was? 24 A No, I don't. 25 Q Do you recall telling her that it was nationwide?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3551 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 A At that time it was for the most part nationwide, 2 except for some defense work that was done worldwide.
3 Q You d
o recall she was verifying with you certain
4 limited types of information; is that correct?
5 A In all honesty, I don't recall what she was
6 verifying.
7 Q Did you ask her -- withdrawn.
8 Did you attempt to find out from her whether any
9 other information that you believed she may have had about 10 you was accurate? 11 A No. I didn't think there was a need. 12 Q Did it occur to you why she might be -- withdrawn. 13 Did it occur to you that it would be most 14 peculiar for her to be verifying simple things, such as a 15 name and address, and not verifying more detailed 16 information such as your background, work background and 17 technical experience? 18 A No, I -- 19 Q Yes or no, sir. 20 A No. I didn't think that, no. 21 Q Now, did you receive any magazines called Tribute? 22 A I believe I received one copy. 23 Q And after recei
ving that one copy, did you change 24 your address at all? 25 A No.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3552 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 Q Did you read that copy? 2 A I recall flipping through it. I didn't read it in
3 any detail.
4 Q Did you see in that copy of the magazine information
5 concerning the members of the very type that you said you
6 were hoping to see in the directory, more detailed
7 information concerning the person's background, work
8 experience, etcetera?
9 A I recall seeing something to that nature, yes. 10 Q And did it ever -- did you ever contact Who's Who 11 Worldwide to see if you yourself, or your company, might 12 have been profiled or referred to in the magazine? 13 A No, I didn't see a need to. 14 Q Did it occur to you that if you could do that it 15 might be a value to you in n
etworking? 16 A I saw -- we got the magazine early on after the 17 acceptance of the nomination. And I just thought that 18 maybe somewhere down the line that might be a 19 possibility. But at the time I received the first 20 magazine the thought didn't occur to me. 21 Q So, you didn't pursue it? 22 A No. 23 Q You received a plaque; is that correct? 24 A I did. 25 Q When you received the plaque, did you hang it on the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3553 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 wall? 2 A Yes.
3 Q Where was the wall?
4 A In the family room.
5 Q And did it remain there for a considerable period of
6 time?
7 A Yes.
8 Q Is it still there?
9 A It is still there. 10 THE COURT: We will take a ten-minute recess. 11 Please do not discuss the case. Keep an open mind.
12 Please recess yourselves. 13 (Whereupon, at this time the jury leaves the 14 courtroom.) 15 16 (Whereupon, a recess is taken.) 17 18 THE COURT: Mr. Rotatori, is that the correct 19 pronunciation? 20 THE WITNESS: Yes. 21 THE COURT: We are sending you to Central Islip 22 from here. Is that all right? 23 THE WITNESS: That would be close to home. 24 THE CLERK: Jury entering. 25 (Whereupon, the jury at this time entered the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3554 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 courtroom.) 2 THE COURT: Please be seated, members of the
3 jury. I am sorry, I didn't see you waving your hand
4 earlier, juror number 7.
5 You may proceed.
6 MR. TRABULUS: Thank you.
7 Q Mr. Rotatori, I will show you Defendant's Exhibit V
8 for Victor, a blank plaque. Is this the k
ind of plaque
9 you received? 10 A Not that color, not the first time. 11 Q Was the second one like this, this color? 12 A It might have been. I don't recall. 13 Q Aside from the color, was this basically the type of 14 plaque you received, and one of the decorations fell off 15 here? 16 A Basically, yes. 17 MR. TRABULUS: I would offer this, your Honor. 18 THE COURT: Any objection? 19 MS. SCOTT: No objection. 20 THE COURT: Defendant's Exhibit V for Victor in 21 evidence. 22 (Defendant's Exhibit V received in evidence.) 23 MR. WHITE: Mr. Trabulus, can we see it first? 24 MR. TRABULUS: Sure. 25 (Exhibit V handed to Mr. White.)
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3555 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 THE COURT: What are you doing, Mr. Trabulus? 2 MR. TRABULUS: Publishing it to the jury.
3
THE COURT: You don't do it before you say
4 something. Are we departing from our custom in the past?
5 MR. TRABULUS: At least I am handing it to the
6 correct juror. With the Court's permission I am handing
7 this to the jury for publication.
8 THE COURT: Very well.
9 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published 10 to the jury.) 11 THE COURT: Members of the jury, that is not 12 because I have to actually give permission to do it. But 13 the record reflects everything that happens in the trial. 14 And if the lawyer just gave the exhibit without saying 15 anything to the jury, one who would read the record would 16 never know that the jurors saw that exhibit. 17 Go ahead. 18 MR. TRABULUS: Thank you, your Honor. 19 Q Now, Mr. Rotatori, one of the plaques that you have 20 is hanging in your family room? 21 A Correct. 22 Q Is the family room
a room used for entertaining in 23 your home? Friends, neighbors, etcetera? 24 A Yes. 25 Q And when you have business -- do you ever do any
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3556 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 business entertaining in your home? 2 A No.
3 Q And you mentioned before that on the project you were
4 working on in Florida, there were many people from
5 Las Alamos National Laboratory; is that correct?
6 A Not many, but some.
7 Q Can you tell the people of the jury what you
8 understand Las Alamos National Laboratory to be?
9 A They are a government research facility. 10 Q Did any of the following people come to know you 11 while you were down there: John Alexander, the manager of 12 non-lethal weapons? 13 A No. 14 Q Andrew Andrews, a project leader? 15 A No. 16 Q Bruce Freeman?
17 A No. 18 Q Damon Giovanelli, G I O V A N E L L I? 19 A No. 20 Q Richard Herbst, H E R B S T? 21 A No. 22 Q Michael Hynes, H Y N E S, Donald Landry, L A N D R Y? 23 A No. 24 Q Kenneth McKenna? 25 A No.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3557 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 Q Anthony Muscatello, M U S C A T E L L O? 2 A No.
3 Q Billy Powell?
4 A No.
5 Q Dr. Thomas S C H R O E D E R, Schroeder?
6 A Not from Las Alamos. There was another
7 Dr. Schroeder, but he was from California Polytech.
8 Q Was he involved in that project?
9 A He became what we would consider a user, scientist. 10 Q Do you know if his first name was Thomas? 11 A No. 12 Q Robert Selden, S E L D E N? 13 A No. 14 Q Oland, O L A N D, Thompson, T H O M P S O N. Any of 15 those names f
amiliar? 16 A No. 17 Q Did you in the course of looking through the 18 directory to see if there was anybody in there that had an 19 affiliation with Las Alamos? 20 A No. 21 Q In talking with Jill Barnes, did you ever ask if 22 there were any people affiliated with Las Alamos in the 23 book? 24 A I didn't feel there was a need to ask that question. 25 Q You mentioned one of your interests in becoming a
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3558 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 member was to attend meetings and seminars; do you recall 2 that?
3 A Yes.
4 Q Do you recall if any of the Tribute Magazines you
5 looked at contained advertisements for meetings and
6 seminars?
7 A I don't recall anything specific. But I think there
8 was mention of future events that would be published and
9 we would be n
otified on. 10 Q And this was in 1993 -- this would have been in July 11 of 1993 that you spoke to Jill Barnes and she mentioned 12 this? 13 A I wouldn't venture to tie it down to that date. 14 Q When you say it was mentioned, are you talking 15 about -- 16 A I am saying it may have been mentioned in the 17 publication Tribute. 18 Q I see. 19 Did you pursue it at all when you received the 20 publication? 21 A No. I figured I would get specific information in 22 the mail when they scheduled any of those types of -- 23 Q Do you recall seeing in the Tribute an actual 24 advertisement with a form for you to send in? 25 A No.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3559 Rotatori-cross/Trabulus
1 Q Did you ever receive from Who's Who Worldwide a 2 document called a nomination ballot?
3 A Yes.
4 Q This is a ballot by which you would have the option
5 of nominating one or two other members; correct?
6 A Yes.
7 Q Did you yourself make any nominations?
8 A No.
9 Q That was your decision not to do so; is that correct? 10 A Correct. 11 MR. TRABULUS: No further questions. 12 13 CROSS-EXAMINATION 14 BY MR. JENKS: 15 Q Good morning, Mr. Rotatori. My name is Ed Jenks. 16 You said you received a nomination ballot in the 17 mail to one of Mr. Trabulus' last questions; is that 18 correct? Or you received a nomination ballot? 19 A Correct. 20 Q How did you receive that nomination ballot? 21 A It must have come in the mail with literature I 22 received from Who's Who. 23 Q Literature you received after you became a member? 24 A Correct. 25 Q And on the nomination ballot, do you recall the
HARRY RAPAPORT
, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3560 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 ballot itself? 2 A Vaguely. It was an oversized piece of paper, like an
3 oversized business envelope. It was a postcard type
4 ballot.
5 MR. JENKS: Let me mark this as
6 Defendant's Exhibit W.
7 Your Honor, give me one moment.
8 THE COURT: Mr. Trabulus, would you want to pick
9 up this plaque? 10 MR. TRABULUS: Certainly, your Honor. 11 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the 12 proceedings.) 13 Q Mr. Rotatori, I will show you Defendant's Exhibit W 14 for Identification. 15 (Handed to the witness.) 16 Q Does that look like the nomination ballot you 17 received in the mail? 18 A It is not quite like the one I got, no. 19 Q Does it contain similar information requesting you to 20 do something similar to the one you got in the mail?
21 A It is similar. 22 Q It is similar to the one you got? 23 A Similar. 24 Q And is it similar in that it gives room for you to 25 provide your signature and to present to the company, if
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3561 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 you wish, two nominee's names? 2 A Yes.
3 Q And that's what was on your ballot; is that correct?
4 A Yes.
5 Q So substantively what is on this would be very
6 similar, if not identical to what is on your ballot?
7 A Certainly not identical, this is prettier.
8 Q This is prettier?
9 A Yes, more gold. 10 MR. JENKS: I will offer Defendant's Exhibit W. 11 MS. SCOTT: Can we just see it? 12 MR. JENKS: Sure. 13 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the 14 proceedings.) 15 MS. SCOTT: No objection. 16 THE COURT: Defendant's Exhibi
t W, for William, 17 in evidence. 18 (Defendant's Exhibit W received in evidence.) 19 Q You say you got this nomination ballot in the mail 20 subsequent to becoming a member; is that correct? 21 A After I became a member I got a ballot in the mail, 22 yes. And I believe it was in with other literature. 23 Q About the company? 24 A Some more things they offered to purchase. 25 Q When you received this nomination ballot, did you
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3562 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 understand that you would be able to use the ballot to 2 nominate other qualified members of Who's Who?
3 A Yes.
4 Q In this, if you so chose as a member, you would be
5 able to nominate somebody from your construction site or
6 from your contracting position to be included along with
7 you as a member?
8 A If I so chos
e. But I didn't choose.
9 Q Okay. 10 But if you so chose you would have been able to 11 select two people, sign it and send it back to the 12 company, am I right? 13 A That was the purpose of the ballot. 14 Q When you received this ballot, would it lead you to 15 the conclusion that perhaps people in that book, including 16 yourself, that were in fact anonymously nominated? 17 A It reinforced my thought, yes. 18 Q The answer is yes or no. It would have suggested to 19 you, a person with common sense, that there could be a 20 number of people in the Registry who were in fact 21 nominated for inclusion by other members; is that right? 22 A Sure. 23 MR. JENKS: Your Honor, I will ask to publish 24 Defendant's Exhibit W to the jury. 25 THE COURT: Very well.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3563 Rotatori-cross/Je
nks
1 (Whereupon, the exhibit/exhibits were published 2 to the jury.)
3 Q You testified you received two plaques from Who's
4 Who; is that correct?
5 A Yes.
6 Q And you weren't charged anything additional for
7 another plaque, were you?
8 A Not accurate. I was told I was getting a second
9 plaque when the request came in for the additional $97. 10 Q That's the additional $97 for the purchase of the 11 Registry; is that correct? 12 A Correct. 13 Q You have already had a plaque; is that correct? 14 A Yes. 15 Q You availed yourself the use of the original plaque 16 by leaving it in the den in your home; is that correct? 17 A There is a reason why it is still in the den. It has 18 nothing to do with the awards. 19 Q It is still hanging in your den? 20 A Yes, for peculiar circumstances, yes. 21 Q From time to time do you ha
ve business people coming 22 to your home? 23 A Not usual. I separate business from social. 24 Q When you first got your membership in July of 1993, 25 shortly thereafter you received your plaque, correct?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3564 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 A I don't know if it was shortly. Maybe a couple of 2 months passed.
3 Q Were you satisfied with the quality of the plaque?
4 Did it meet your expectations?
5 A It was okay.
6 Q It was acceptable to you, correct?
7 A Acceptable.
8 Q You weren't disappointed as you were when you
9 received the Registry? 10 A It was before I received the Registry. So I will not 11 say I was disappointed. It was acceptable. 12 Q It was acceptable? 13 A Yes. 14 Q Did there come a time you received another plaque 15 from Who's Who Worldwide?
16 A Correct. 17 Q That was after you paid your membership for the 18 Registry? 19 A Correct. 20 Q And where is the second plaque? 21 A Still in its box sitting on I believe my bedroom 22 closet shelf. 23 Q Did you open it up and look at the second plaque? 24 A Actually, I didn't open it up. It came into my 25 office, which was at the time located in the corporate
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3565 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 office. As usual, I was away on assignment, and an 2 assistant opened it up.
3 Q Did you see the plaque at some point? Yes or no.
4 A At some point I saw the plaque.
5 Q Let me show you Defendant's Exhibit X for
6 Identification.
7 (Handed to the witness.)
8 Do you recognize that?
9 A No. 10 Q Is this plaque similar in nature to the second plaque 11
that you received, or the first plaque you received? 12 A Don't know. 13 Q You don't know? 14 A Don't know. 15 Q You don't know whether the second plaque has this 16 brass and green marble on it? 17 A I looked at it once and put it away. It came in a 18 later time frame. And I was beginning to be suspicious of 19 the situation surrounding my membership, and never put it 20 up and just filed it away in the closet. 21 MR. JENKS: Your Honor, I move to strike the last 22 portion of the answer as unresponsive. 23 THE COURT: Can I hear the question, 24 Mr. Reporter. 25 (Whereupon, the court reporter reads the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3566 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 requested material.) 2 THE COURT: Strike out everything after the
3 original yes or no was. I don't remember if it was yes or
4 no.
It was no, right?
5 THE WITNESS: I didn't remember, no.
6 THE COURT: All right.
7 Everything else is stricken. The jury is
8 instructed to disregard it.
9 Q Mr. Rotatori, you said you received after you became 10 a member, literature from the company; am I correct? 11 A Correct. 12 Q You also said that at the time you received the 13 Registry, you were disappointed in it; am I right? 14 A Correct. 15 Q Well, sir, when you applied for a membership and 16 expecting a membership, you were expecting a book, right? 17 A Not initially. Not initially I was expecting a 18 book. The book was not really the focus of what I was 19 anticipating the membership to be. 20 Q Well, I think you told us you bought the membership 21 for ego; am I correct? 22 A No. 23 Q For vanity or ego purposes? 24 A No. 25 Q Wasn't that one of the primary r
easons that you
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3567 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 bought the membership? 2 A I said that was one of the motivators for joining
3 what I thought to be an illustrious membership.
4 Q Right, because when you were in school, in junior
5 high school, the librarian was telling you, this is where
6 you go to look up important people; is that right?
7 A Yes.
8 Q So, when you got the offer to become a member, part
9 of your ego appealed itself to the offer of membership; am 10 I right? 11 A Sure. 12 Q I mean, you wanted to see your name in print in a 13 book; am I right? 14 A I wanted to be associated with those type of people. 15 And I was flattered by the thought that one of them 16 nominated me. 17 Q Right. 18 You thought one of them nominated you, you said; 19 is
that right? 20 A That is correct. 21 I was told -- the letter I was given said that I 22 had been nominated by a member. 23 Q Did you ever look up the word "nominated" in the 24 dictionary? 25 A Never had a need to.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3568 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 Q If I told you that the word "nominated" has been 2 defined as selected, chosen or appointed, would that
3 change your opinion as to whether or not you feel you may
4 have been nominated?
5 A I don't know. I would have to look up the definition
6 in the dictionary for myself.
7 Q As you sit here today, has the government shown you
8 anything to suggest that you were in fact not actually
9 nominated by an anonymous nomination or any other form of 10 nomination? 11 A I have no idea. 12 Q Even as you sit here today, you do
n't know whether 13 your name came from a mailing list, or perhaps someone 14 that you haven't been able to speak to actually nominated 15 you via a ballot to include in you the Registry; is that 16 correct? 17 A After extensive questioning of associates, that's 18 correct. 19 Q See, what I don't understand is you make the 20 statement that you were disappointed when you received the 21 Registry, correct? 22 A Correct. 23 Q Did you ever look at Marquis Who's Who in America, or 24 Who's Who in America? 25 A It's been a long time. Like I said, the junior high
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3569 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 school era. 2 Q Nobody ever represented to you in the telephone
3 conversation you had with the representative of the
4 corporation that this was the Who's Who in America; am I
5
right?
6 A That's correct.
7 Q So, nobody told you where Who's Who in -- we are
8 Who's Who in America, right?
9 A No. 10 Q When you accepted your membership and decided to be a 11 member, were you aware that there are thousands of Who's 12 Who publications in America? 13 A Thousands of which Who's Who? Who's Who in America 14 or Who's Who Worldwide? 15 Q All types of Who's Who publications in America, by 16 all different publishers, were you aware of that? 17 A No. 18 Q You thought that Marquis or Who's Who in America, was 19 the only publisher of Who's Who in America? 20 A Yes. I thought the Who's Who in America was 21 affiliated with all Who's Who. 22 Q Did you bother to inquire of the salesperson as to 23 whether or not they were the Who's Who in America that you 24 thought you had seen when you were in junior high school? 25 A
Yes, by describing it to her.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3570 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 Q And she said we are a similar branch of Who's Who was 2 your testimony?
3 A Yes, she --
4 Q Excuse me, let me finish the question, and just
5 answer it yes or no.
6 Did she say we are a similar branch of Who's Who
7 in America? Yes more no?
8 A I don't know if she used the term "branch."
9 Q Did you testify earlier you were told that this was a 10 similar branch of Who's Who in America? 11 A Branch or affiliation. I forget the term they used. 12 Q You say you were disappointed when you got the book, 13 right? 14 A Yes. 15 Q Your name appeared in the book, correct? 16 A Yes. 17 Q All the biographical data you had given to the 18 company through the lead card you had returned back and 19 the tel
ephone interview was stated fairly and accurately 20 inside the Registry; is that right? 21 A I don't recall the telephone interview. I recall 22 that what I put on the card was correct. 23 Q All right. 24 Well, there is nothing that appeared in the 25 Registry under your name that is in fact inaccurate; is
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3571 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 that correct? 2 A No.
3 Q Well, once again, you made the statement that you
4 were disappointed, correct?
5 A Correct.
6 Q It doesn't mean you were defrauded, does it?
7 MS. SCOTT: Objection.
8 THE COURT: Sustained.
9 Q Would you agree with me everyday of the week people 10 buy things that they are disappointed with? Did you ever 11 buy something and take it home and then disappointed with? 12 A Yes. 13 Q It doesn't mean
you were defrauded by someone in the 14 store, does it? 15 MS. SCOTT: Objection. 16 THE COURT: Sustained. 17 Q Mr. Rotatori, you said you received literature from 18 the company after you paid your invoice fee via credit 19 card in 1993; is that correct? 20 A Correct. 21 Q I am going to ask you to take a look at 22 Defendant's Exhibit U, for Identification. 23 (Handed to the witness.) 24 Q And just look at it first. 25 Did you receive a form letter such as this, or
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3572 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 this particular form letter in packaging you received 2 after becoming a member?
3 A I honestly can't recall yes or no.
4 Q You don't know then?
5 A Right.
6 Q Do you recall receiving something that would say that
7 your listing as it appears in the enclosed docum
entation,
8 meaning the invoice Ms. Scott had shown you, will appear
9 in each annual updated edition of Who's Who for the term 10 of your membership? Do you recall receiving something 11 like that? 12 A I may have, but I can't say positively yes or no. 13 Q Do you recall, do you recall receiving literature 14 that says that the biographical information is the only 15 literature you will receive prior to the publication? 16 A Again, I may have. I can't recall yes or no. 17 Q Did you receive everything you were supposed to 18 receive from the company when you ordered your 19 membership -- withdrawn. 20 You bargained for a membership for five years; is 21 that correct? 22 A I didn't bargain. 23 Q You purchased the membership for Who's Who? 24 A Yes. 25 Q You were in fact published in the Registry?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL
COURT REPORTER 3573 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 A Yes. 2 Q You received a wall plaque; is that right?
3 A Yes.
4 Q You hung the wall plaque, right?
5 A Yes.
6 Q Did you receive camera ready art or a logo for the
7 pumper of your vehicle?
8 A No. I don't think I received that.
9 Q Did you get anything you could put on a resume to use 10 from the company? 11 A I think something came through as literature to 12 procure something to that effect. 13 Q All right. 14 Did you intend at any point to use this on a 15 resume, your membership in Who's Who? 16 A No. 17 Q Now with respect to your dissatisfaction with the 18 Registry, did you ever write the company or call? 19 A No, because the company -- 20 Q The answer is yes or no. Try to answer the question 21 I asked. 22 A No. 23 Q Did you ever write
the company? 24 A No. 25 Q Did you ever complain to the company, either orally
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3574 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 or in writing that you felt you had been ripped off? 2 A No.
3 Q Did you ever write a letter to any federal, state or
4 local agency or better business bureau, that you felt you
5 had not received what you had bargained for?
6 A No.
7 Q In fact, is it fair to say that you never voiced any
8 concern or dissatisfaction to any authority until you
9 received the questionnaire in the mail from the United 10 States Government? 11 A Correct. 12 Q In fact, it was the questionnaire that you received 13 sometime around June of 1995 that sort of sparked you to 14 complain; is that right? 15 A The questionnaire, after reading it and putting it 16 aside, because I had
the questionnaire I would say 17 anywhere from two weeks to a month or maybe longer before 18 I turned it in. Some of the questions struck a definite 19 nerve. 20 Q In you, am I correct? 21 A That's correct. 22 Q You didn't just get a questionnaire in the mail, you 23 got a cover letter with it from the government; is that 24 right? 25 A I am sure there must have been a cover letter.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3575 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 Q Well, do you recall the cover letter? 2 A No.
3 Q Telling you that as part of their investigation
4 activities, they were investigating a company called Who's
5 Who Worldwide?
6 A I wouldn't venture to try to recall what the cover
7 letter said.
8 Q Well, it did inform you -- withdrawn.
9 Would you say from the tone of the questionnaire, 10 t
he questions, the way they were phrased and asked of you, 11 that it almost suggested that the government believed that 12 Who's Who Worldwide was involved in some type of 13 wrongdoing? 14 MS. SCOTT: Objection. 15 THE COURT: Overruled. 16 THE WITNESS: All I say is that the cover letter 17 didn't jump out at me because I put it off to the side and 18 didn't really review it that close when it first came in 19 the mail. 20 Q I am asking you about the tone of the questions 21 contained in the government's questionnaire. 22 A The tone of the questions in the questionnaire 23 itself? 24 Q Yes. Did it suggest to you that the government 25 believed that this company was involved in -- in some sort
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3576 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 of wrongdoing? 2 A The questions definitely struck
home in that they
3 accurately reflected concerns that had been built up
4 inside of me.
5 Q But up to the point that you got this thing in the
6 mail that was put together by the United States
7 Government, the questions hadn't built up to the fact
8 where you filed a complaint to anybody?
9 A I didn't file a complaint, but I had decided to let 10 my five-year membership run out and that's it. 11 Q You were dissatisfied with the products, but people 12 are dissatisfied with products everyday, you would agree, 13 right? 14 A I can't answer for other people. 15 Q Let me ask you this: Did you at any point request a 16 refund from the company for the monies you had paid? 17 A I felt I had been snookered and learned my lesson. 18 Q Did you request a refund? 19 A No. 20 Q In fact, in July 1993 you became a member and a month 21 or two later you g
ot a wall plaque? 22 A Yes. 23 Q At that point when you got a wall plaque and became a 24 member you were satisfied? 25 A No, there were still great expectations.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3577 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 Q In December of that year you write up a check in 1993 2 purchasing the Registry; is that right?
3 A I didn't write the check. My wife did.
4 Q Well, you sent a check for $97 to buy the Registry;
5 is that correct?
6 A I sent it with some mixed and ill feelings, correct.
7 Q Did you write them and say I have mixed and ill
8 feelings? I don't want the Registry? You bought the
9 Registry because you were curious; is that correct? 10 A I wrote the $97 check because I already allowed a 11 $297 charge, and I felt I might as well carry this out for 12 another $97 and see what it incorporated, wha
t the 13 Registry incorporated, and what the membership had to 14 offer. 15 Q I don't understand. Why would you -- withdrawn. 16 If you were dissatisfied prior to sending the 17 member in, why would you in the world send a $97 check to 18 the place? 19 A I was not satisfied with the fact that I had to send 20 the other $97 in. That's what, that's what kind of put a 21 negative flavor to it. 22 Q But you didn't have to send the $97 in, did you? 23 A No. And I was told I wouldn't be published in the 24 Registry. And I felt by not being published I would have 25 limited membership offers in participation. So, I said,
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3578 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 here goes another 97. But I distinctly crossed out all of 2 the other things on the membership and invoices, I don't
3 want anything else.
I will pay the $97. I will get
4 published. I will receive the book and see what it is
5 like, and we will go from there.
6 Q Before you sent in the $97, did you call them and
7 inquire about it?
8 A No, they called me.
9 Q They just didn't mail me an invoice? 10 A They mailed an invoice. I didn't return it. They 11 called me. 12 Q When did you receive the invoice? 13 A November 15th was I think the date of the invoice. 14 So it was sometime in that immediate time frame. 15 Q And you sent a check December 22nd, 1993? 16 A That's right, I held off. 17 Q That's the check that Ms. Scott had shown you; is 18 that right? 19 A Yes. 20 Q Were you aware that the Registry was published in 21 October of 1993 already and you were already in there? 22 A I was told it wasn't published and they were 23 preparing it for publication. 24 Q
Did you look at the book to see when in fact the 25 Registry was published in 1993?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3579 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 A No. That would have made me feel worse. 2 Q Did you look to see if it was published in October of
3 1993?
4 A No.
5 Q Now, you know, this thing with you being
6 disappointed, what did you expect to get when you got the
7 book in the mail, except a book with your biographical
8 data alphabetized?
9 A Can I answer this without a yes more no? 10 Q Let me ask you this: Did you ever look at the 11 Marquis Who's Who, the book you were fond of since junior 12 high school? 13 A Not since junior high school. Maybe once or twice 14 since high school. 15 Q If I told you that people were listed alphabetically 16 in that book without any break down as to careers, would
17 that make a difference to you? 18 A No. 19 Q If I told you that that book has the same format and 20 same set up as this book, would it make a difference to 21 you? 22 A No. 23 Q If I told you that Marquis Who's Who uses mailing 24 lists to solicit new members, would you still want to be a 25 member in Marquis Who's Who in America?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3580 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 A I don't know that to be a fact. 2 Q Assume it is a fact. Assume I told you that Marquis
3 Who's Who in America uses mailing lists to solicit new
4 members, would you want to be a member in that
5 publication?
6 A I don't quite really understand the question. But my
7 answer to that would be, if there was a nomination process
8 and there were peers offering you a chance to be a member
9 in their charter
organization, professional organization, 10 then I would be interested. 11 Q All right. 12 A If it was a mailing list, no, I wouldn't. 13 Q Even though you seem, as you sit here, seem to have 14 high regard for Who's Who in America? 15 A I didn't say I had high regard. I said I was aware 16 of it, and it was and it was a publication that supposedly 17 had prestige. 18 Q You are not suggesting, are you, that Marquis Who's 19 Who in America is a better organization than the 20 organization you joined, are you? 21 A I have no idea. 22 Q Let me ask you this: If I told you that Marquis 23 Who's Who in America, you can self nominate yourself via a 24 computer to be a member, would that change your opinion as 25 to whether or not you would want to be a member of that
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3581 Rotatori-cross/Je
nks
1 organization? 2 A I have no opinion one way or the other in that
3 regard.
4 Q When you got the book, you say you were disappointed,
5 and you got a listing alphabetically in a book; is that
6 right?
7 A You mean I was listed alphabetically in the book?
8 Q Yes.
9 A That is correct. 10 Q With all your biographical data? 11 A I wouldn't say all my biographical data. I would say 12 the data on the card I filled in. That's correct. 13 Q That was correct? 14 A Yes. 15 Q And in addition, you saw that there were numerous 16 people in that book who were presidents, CEOs and chairmen 17 of various corporations; is that right? 18 A I gave the book a cursory review. I didn't go into 19 an in depth examination of it. 20 Q It is the hard covered book? 21 A The red cover. 22 Q The red covered book here? 23 A
Yes. 24 Q Were you expecting some kind of gold book or some 25 kind of 18 caret book?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3582 Rotatori-cross/Jenks
1 A No. 2 Q And you were expecting to get a book with your
3 listing in the book as a member of Who's Who; is that
4 right?
5 A The way you worded it, it is not what I was
6 expecting. I could describe what I was expecting.
7 Q You didn't expect the book to talk to you, did you?
8 A No.
9 MR. JENKS: I have nothing further, Judge. 10 11 CROSS-EXAMINATION 12 BY MR. SCHOER: 13 Q Good morning. 14 A Good morning. 15 Q Just a couple of things to try to clarify something. 16 You have Exhibit 60-B in front of you, the 17 invoice? 18 A Yes, I do. 19 Q And you received that invoice shortly after? 20 A Yes. 21 Q And
you received that invoice shortly after the 22 conversation with Ms. Barnes? 23 A I would say from the date, the invoice was received 24 the same day as the conversation. 25 Q You received that invoice shortly after the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3583 Rotatori-cross/Schoer
1 conversation with Ms. Barnes; is that correct? 2 A Yes.
3 Q And that invoice has a box at the bottom that says
4 important information; is that correct?
5 A Yes.
6 Q Did you read that box that says important
7 information?
8 A I probably did not -- I probably did not.
9 Q That invoice has a little star where it says 10 important information, has a star with it that says split 11 billing? 12 A Yes. 13 Q Did you read that when you read the invoice, received 14 the invoice? 15 A No. 16 Q If you had rea
d that would you be surprised you 17 received another invoice in November with respect to the 18 $97? 19 A No, I wouldn't have been surprised in November. But 20 I would have been surprised in July. 21 Q You wouldn't have been surprised when you got it in 22 November? 23 A Right. 24 Q When you got it in July you didn't call Ms. Barnes 25 back and say what is all this about, did you?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3584 Rotatori-cross/Schoer
1 A No, I did not. 2 Q Now, you said that the information that was in the
3 book, that it is only information you put on the cards; is
4 that right?
5 A To the best of what I recall. Again, I just gave it
6 a cursory review.
7 Q Did you put on the card that your favorite magazine
8 was Engineering News Record?
9 A I don't recall saying it was my favorite,
it might be 10 one that I read. 11 Q Do you have the cards in front of you, 60-F, as in 12 Frank? 13 A No. 14 (Handed to the witness.) 15 Q Is there a place on that card for favorite 16 publication? 17 A No. 18 Q Is there a place on that card for favorite vacation 19 place? 20 A No. 21 Q Is there a place on that card for hobby, favorite 22 hobby, favorite sport? 23 A No. 24 Q That information was put in the directory, wasn't it? 25 A Yes, probably from the phone conversation.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3585 Rotatori-cross/Schoer
1 Q So, you did, there were things that were done, and 2 information you provided in the interview which you hadn't
3 provided on the card; isn't that right?
4 A I guess. As I said before, I don't recall.
5 Q When you received the invoi
ce, there was a list of
6 information that you provided; isn't that correct?
7 A Of the invoice?
8 Q Yes, it says business: Business, construction, major
9 products, services, high purity processes, slash, 10 microelectronics? 11 A Yes, correct. 12 Q And it has all the information that is listed there, 13 isn't that's so, that ended up listed in your Registry? 14 A Again, I don't recall everything listed in the 15 Registry. 16 Q And there were blanks on the invoice for you to 17 include additional information; isn't that so? 18 A Two blanks, yes. 19 Q University degree, right, did you put that in? 20 A No. 21 Q Affiliations, did you put that in? 22 A No, I didn't know I was supposed to fill all that in. 23 Q Well, did you read the bottom of the invoice, which 24 says: Please correct any errors on gold remittance copy 25 and return w
ith your payment?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3586 Rotatori-cross/Schoer
1 A The information on there was accurate so no 2 correction would have been required.
3 Q So, you couldn't have expected anything more to be in
4 the Registry other than the information you gave to the
5 people at Who's Who; isn't that correct?
6 A That's absolutely dead wrong.
7 Q You indicated you received -- do you have 60-H in
8 front of you, the solicitation letter?
9 A 60-H? 10 Q Here is 60-H. 11 (Handed to the witness.) 12 Q Read the first paragraph. 13 A You were recently nominated for possible inclusion in 14 the Who's Who Registry of Global Business Leaders. 15 Q It doesn't say you were nominated by someone who knew 16 you, does it? 17 A No. . 18 Q It doesn't say you were nominated by someone in your <
BR> 19 field, does it? 20 A No. 21 Q It doesn't say you were nominated by a peer, does it? 22 A No. 23 Q So, when you said before on cross-examination that 24 the letter said you were nominated by someone who was 25 familiar with your work, that's not what it says in the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3587 Rotatori-cross/Schoer
1 letter, does it? 2 A No, it does not.
3 Q You indicated you wouldn't have purchased this
4 membership if you knew your name came from a mailing list;
5 is that right?
6 A That's correct.
7 Q If you knew your name had come from a selective
8 mailing list, would that have made a difference to you?
9 A No. 10 Q If you knew that after your name came from a mailing 11 list, there was a selection process, would that have made 12 a difference to you? 13 A No.
14 Q If you knew that there was an interview of each of 15 the people that was put in that book to determine whether 16 they were qualified to be in that book, would that have 17 made a difference to you? 18 A The book really wasn't -- 19 Q Yes or no? Would that have made a difference to you, 20 if you knew each of the people in the book, that were in 21 the Registry, that became members, were interviewed to 22 determine whether or not they were qualified to be in the 23 membership -- 24 A Based on the mailing list, you mean? 25 Q Whether it was based on the mailing list or not.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3588 Rotatori-cross/Schoer
1 Whether each person was interviewed to determine whether 2 they were qualified to be in the book, to be a member,
3 would that have made a difference to you?
4 A No, not really.<
BR> 5 Q If you knew even after each person was interviewed,
6 there was another level of people who reviewed, reviewed
7 the applicant, to determine whether or not they made the
8 criteria to be in the book, to determine if they were
9 qualified to be members, would that have made a difference 10 to you? 11 A No. 12 MR. SCHOER: I have no further questions. 13 THE COURT: Anyone else? 14 15 CROSS-EXAMINATION 16 BY MR. LEE: 17 Q Hello, Mr. Rotatori. 18 A Hello. 19 Q Your first contact with Who's Who was when you 20 received Government's Exhibit 60-H; is that correct? You 21 received a letter in the mail? 22 A Yes, I believe that's correct. 23 Q And the maker of the letter, after reviewing that 24 letter was a person from the office of public affairs; is 25 that correct?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT
REPORTER 3589 Rotatori-cross/Lee
1 A Yes, Kathleen Nelson, office of public affairs. 2 Q Subsequently you had a conversation with some people
3 from Who's Who, and those were members of the sales staff,
4 salesperson from Who's Who; is that correct?
5 A I don't know that.
6 Q They didn't identify themselves as an associate
7 director or listing director from the sales staff?
8 A I don't recall how they identified themselves other
9 than to reference Who's Who. I don't recall how they 10 identified themselves. 11 Q Regardless of how they may or may not have identified 12 themselves, it is clear to you that you were speaking to 13 one of the salesperson whose were employed by Who's Who; 14 wouldn't that be fair to say? 15 A To be accurate, all I could say is I was under the 16 assumption that I was speaking of an employee of Who's 17 Who.
18 Q And you are also under the assumption that you were 19 clearly not speaking to the person who had written this 20 letter to you; is that correct? 21 A It never came to mind. 22 Q The person -- did the person identify herself as 23 Cathy Neilson? 24 A I didn't have the letter in front of me, so there was 25 no attempt to correlate who I was speaking to, to the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3590 Rotatori-cross/Lee
1 letter. It just wasn't important to me at the time. 2 Q Now, the first person that you spoke to on the phone,
3 how long did that conversation last?
4 A I don't know.
5 Q Can you approximate for the jury, was it less than
6 five minutes?
7 A No. I would say at least 15 minutes.
8 Q Am I correct that subsequently we had another -- you
9 had another conversation with Ms. Barnes?
10 A Yes, that came later, yes. 11 Q Can you approximately tell us approximately how long 12 that conversation was? 13 A No. I could only venture a guess and say maybe 14 another ten to fifteen minutes. 15 Q Approximately ten to fifteen minutes? 16 A That's my guess. 17 Q Am I correct that during the course of that 18 interview, the second one that took about ten or 15 19 minutes, that part of the discussion encompassed this 20 person obtaining information about your background; is 21 that correct, what your area of expertise was? Was that 22 discussed? 23 A I don't recall that being the primary focus of the 24 conversation, as obtaining -- 25 Q Mr. Rotatori, my question, if you don't understand
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3591 Rotatori-cross/Lee
1 it, let me know. But my question, my direct question is
2 this: Did you in the course of that conversation with
3 Ms. Barnes, did you discuss with her your background that
4 your area of distribution was nationwide? Did you do
5 that?
6 A Apparently so.
7 Q Well, do you recall it? The answer is yes or no, did
8 you discuss that?
9 A I don't clearly recall discussing all the 10 particulars, no. 11 Q You say that someone had apparently sent you an 12 invoice that contained a lot of information about you; is 13 that correct? You are looking at 60-B. 14 A Correct. 15 Q Am I assuming correctly that you were the source of 16 that information? 17 A I am not sure. 18 Q You don't even recall whether or not you gave this 19 information to the person? 20 A I do not recall the specifics, no. 21 Q You don't recall the specifics. 22 Do you recall that a portion of the interview was 23
taken up your providing information about your 24 background? That's a fair statement, isn't it? 25 A I would say that's a fair statement.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3592 Rotatori-cross/Lee
1 Q That's a fair statement. 2 So, a portion of this ten or 15 minute
3 conversation was taken up by you providing background
4 information; is that correct? Is that a fair statement?
5 A The best way to answer that --
6 Q I am asking you --
7 THE COURT: You can't both talk at the same
8 time.
9 Q Mr. Rotatori, if you don't understand my question, 10 let me know. But I asked you, is that a fair statement 11 that a portion of this interview was taken up by gathering 12 the information about you? Yes or no? Is that a 13 difficult question? 14 THE COURT: That's two questions. But I will 15 stop you now.
16 You are going to be asked questions that call for 17 a yes or no answer. And as a layperson, probably not used 18 to testifying too often, sometimes you can't answer every 19 question yes or no, and you attempt to make an 20 explanation, which counsel properly does not want you to 21 make. 22 So, if you can't answer the question yes or no, 23 merely say, I can't answer the question yes or no. Then 24 it is up to the questioner to decide what to do with 25 that.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3593 Rotatori-cross/Lee
1 THE WITNESS: Fair enough. 2 THE COURT: All right.
3 Q Is it a fair statement by me that a portion of this
4 interview with Ms. Barnes was taken up by her gathering
5 information about your background? Yes or no?
6 A I don't know.
7 Q You don't recall?
8 A I don't recall -- I don't re
call being questioned to
9 develop information about my background specifically, no. 10 Q Okay. 11 Do you recall in your conversation with 12 Ms. Barnes, was the networking benefits and capabilities 13 of you being a member of Who's Who, was that discussed? 14 A I just recall a limited area of that discussion. 15 Q Do you recall that that subject was discussed? Yes 16 or no? 17 A I can't recall. 18 Q You can't recall that, and you can't recall as to 19 whether you provided specifics about -- in that interview; 20 is that correct? 21 A I can recall specifics. I can't recall if the term 22 "networking" was used. 23 Q But you discussed benefits you could obtain from your 24 membership, and one of them being networking, correct? 25 A Incorrect.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3594 Rotatori-cross/Lee
<
BR> 1 Q Did you -- did the person you were speaking with, 2 Ms. Barnes, did she go over with you, other benefits you
3 could receive from membership, perhaps discounted air fare
4 prices, perhaps a credit card benefit, insurance, auto
5 insurance, were those matters discussed?
6 A Specifically matters discussed that I do recall were
7 seminars and conferences. That is clear in my mind. The
8 others I am not clear.
9 Q Was there a presentation by the person, Ms. Barnes, 10 describing a listing of benefits? Do you recall that? 11 A Specifically, I don't recall it. Generally I do 12 recall it. 13 MR. LEE: I have no further questions. 14 THE COURT: Anybody else? 15 MR. NELSON: I would like to question. I am 16 sorry I am going out of order for a moment. 17 THE COURT: It is all right. 18 19 CROSS-EXAMINATION 20 BY MR. NELSON: 21 Q Good a
fternoon, Mr. Rotatori. 22 A Good afternoon. 23 Q My name is Alan Nelson. 24 Mr. Schoer asked you a number of questions as 25 they related to your expectations about your membership in
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3595 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 Who's Who Worldwide, and your looking at the Registry. 2 Do you recall him asking you about the manner in
3 which the selection might have been made, if there was an
4 exclusive mailing lists, and the manner in which there
5 might have been a further screening of people who came
6 from the mailing list. Do you recall him asking you those
7 questions?
8 A Yes.
9 Q I believe once he went through what was four 10 different levels of screening, that being, one, a mailing 11 list, which was not a generalized mailing list, but a 12 rather exclusive and specific list from a p
articular field 13 or industry, you indicated that that would not be 14 something from which you would find specific level of 15 exclusivity for you to become a member; is that correct? 16 A Correct. 17 Q Then Mr. Schoer asked you questions concerning three 18 different levels of screening that this company went 19 through, including screening people when they first came 20 before they were being interviewed; is that correct? 21 A Yes. 22 Q He discussed with you the fact, which you are well 23 aware of, that there was indeed an interview of each 24 prospective applicant by a member of the firm; is that 25 correct? And you felt that is something that wouldn't be
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3596 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 sufficient; is that correct? 2 A That's not correct. Because I am not aware of the
3 inter
view process at all.
4 Q Were you interviewed?
5 A Was I interviewed?
6 Q Yes. You spoke with Ms. Barnes on the phone?
7 A I didn't realize I was being interviewed.
8 Q You spoke with Ms. Barnes on the phone?
9 A I spoke with her on the phone. 10 Q Did she ask about your background? 11 A Yes. 12 Q When you were questioned by Mr. Lee, am I correct 13 that you indicated that the majority of the interview you 14 had with her concerns your background; is that correct? 15 A Incorrect. 16 Q Approximately ten or 15 minutes of that interview 17 concerned your background? 18 A No. I said approximately ten to fifteen minutes was 19 the length of the phone call. 20 Q And maybe half of that was your background? 21 A I don't recall. 22 Q Was it five minutes that involved your background? 23 A I believe it was more on the description, the
24 pricing, the benefits of a three year membership, versus a 25 five year membership, versus a lifetime membership.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3597 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 Q Before she discussed the aspects of the organization, 2 did she go through with you your background, your level of
3 employment, the type of employment you engage in?
4 A I recall that being a small portion of the
5 conversation.
6 Q She asked you where you worked and what the nature
7 and specialty of your employment was?
8 A I can't recall the specifics, only generalities.
9 Q This was -- if you found out after that interview was 10 conducted, and after Ms. Barnes would have filled out 11 information concerning your background, there was another 12 level of screening in the company, where they reviewed 13 your background for determination as to wh
ether or not you 14 should be included in the Registry, I believe you 15 testified when you spoke to Mr. Schoer that that as well 16 would not have been sufficient for your membership in this 17 organization; is that right? 18 A That's correct. 19 Q Am I correct that when you first received the 20 solicitation letter from Who's Who, what registered in 21 your mind at that point, as the Who's Who in America that 22 you had been shown when you were in junior high school and 23 high school by the librarian in school? 24 A Correct. 25 Q And that's the mental image you had in mind, the
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3598 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 Who's Who in America that had been shown to you at that 2 time; is that right?
3 A That's correct.
4 Q And that's the thing you were thinking about; is that
5 righ
t?
6 A Correct.
7 Q And would I be correct in stating that what the
8 librarian led you to believe when you were in junior high
9 school and high school, is that this publication reflects 10 the people in America who quote, unquote, have made it; is 11 that right? 12 A I wouldn't use that term. 13 Q Something that you personally would feel proud of to 14 be included in a book of that sort; is that correct? 15 A That's more accurate, correct. 16 Q Certainly when you spoke to the librarian when you 17 were in junior high school, you didn't go through with her 18 the qualification procedures for entry into Who's Who in 19 America; isn't that right? 20 A I don't think as a junior high school -- 21 Q Of course, no one -- 22 THE COURT: You can't speak at the same time. It 23 was you doing that, Mr. Nelson. 24 MR. NELSON: I apologize, your Honor.
25 Q Of course it is correct in stating when you were in
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3599 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 junior high school and high school, it is not something 2 that would have entered your mind?
3 A Correct.
4 Q It was just the emotion of it, or the feelings of it
5 put to you by the librarian, which you subsequently
6 carried through in life; is that correct?
7 A That's correct.
8 Q Now, are you aware, sir, that Who's Who in America is
9 a publication that is put out by Marquis, who is a large 10 corporation? 11 A No. 12 Q And are you aware, sir, that Marquis actually 13 publishes somewhere in the order of 30 or 40 different 14 publications such as Who's Who in business, Who's Who of 15 Attorneys, Who's Who of Pharmacists, various different 16 forms of Who's Who? Are you aware of that,
sir? 17 A No. 18 Q All right, and you -- 19 A And I wasn't at the time. 20 Q In fact, you weren't aware of that until really you 21 came here to testify at the trial; is that right? 22 A No. My daughter got elected to Who's Who High School 23 Students of America and joined. So that's how I became 24 aware. 25 Q Now, are you aware of the facts, sir, that Marquis
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3600 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 Who's Who presently solicits members for entry into their 2 various different forms of publication from exclusive
3 mailing lists that they acquire to targets the particular
4 form of publication that they are attempting to acquire
5 members from?
6 A Not aware.
7 Q All right.
8 And certainly your librarian back in high school
9 wouldn't have been aware of the fact that Marq
uis even at 10 that time was similarly soliciting members for their 11 various forms of publication by the exclusive list of 12 mailing lists to target people to be included in their 13 publication? Did you know that, sir? 14 A I have no idea. 15 Q But when you went -- when you received the letter for 16 Who's Who, would I be correct in stating that your only 17 thoughts really were, gee, this is something that brings 18 me back in time to what my librarian told me of something 19 of people who were renown, who are now included in the 20 publication of this sort? 21 A I made that correlation. 22 Q And would it be fair to say that when you then 23 received the Registry some year later and you looked in 24 the Registry, it was your thought process that, gee, this 25 doesn't bear upon what my anticipations and expectations
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM O
FFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3601 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 were based on what I thought of back in high school? 2 A Totally incorrect.
3 Q Well, had you ever looked at Marquis Who's Who while
4 you were in high school?
5 A While I was in high school? I can't recall.
6 Q Did you ever look at it when you were in junior high
7 school?
8 A I am sure I did, because I had to.
9 Q Was there anything about -- withdrawn. 10 You had indicated between the period of time that 11 you received that you received the plaque and the book -- 12 you received other publications from Who's Who; is that 13 right? 14 A Publications? 15 Q You received the Tribute Magazine? 16 A It was more like a flier than a magazine. 17 Q I would like to show you what is marked as Gordon-G 18 in evidence, which is the spring 1994 edition of Tribute 19 Magazine. <
BR> 20 (Handed to the witness.) 21 Q Do you recall receiving a publication such as that, 22 sir? 23 A Yes. 24 Q When you received the publication, did you read 25 through the publication?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3602 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 A I read through parts of it. Not with any detail. I 2 skimmed it.
3 Q When you received the publication, that was between
4 the period of time that you received the wall plaque that
5 you were satisfied with, and your receipt of the Registry
6 where your impression began to change; is that correct?
7 A I can't answer it. I can't remember when I
8 received -- the time frame I received the magazine. I
9 just recognize the name "Tribute." 10 Q I would like you to look through the Tribute at this 11 point. 12 Am I correct that the Tribute Magazine containing
13 profiles of various different individuals in business and 14 industry? 15 A I see one, two, three, four -- I see four. Yes, 16 there is possibly a dozen or so. 17 Q Do you recall reading through the Tribute when you 18 had seen it reading about a dozen or so biographies of 19 people in industry? 20 A I recall there were biographies on people in business 21 and industry, yes. 22 Q Do you find that those biographies reflected the 23 information that you anticipated would be the kind of 24 information which would be biographical in nature and 25 would be useful to you if your name was included in there
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3603 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 for purposes of networking in your business and 2 profession?
3 A I don't recall passing that judgment on it at that
4 time.
5 Q Do y
ou recall the conclusions that this might be a
6 marketing tool, a networking tool for you in the future in
7 your business or profession?
8 A Again, I didn't think about that at the time I
9 received the magazine. 10 Q Why don't you look at it right now for a moment and 11 just read through one of the biographies. Pick one at 12 your leisure. 13 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the 14 proceedings.) 15 A Thomas Waltz, W A L T Z. 16 THE COURT: Read it to yourself. 17 A All right. 18 (Whereupon, at this time there was a pause in the 19 proceedings.) 20 Q Mr. Rotatori, would you agree it is a fairly detailed 21 break down of biographical information of the individual? 22 A It is descriptive. I will not say detailed, 23 someone's life in two columns. 24 Q Are you aware of the fact that this publication was 25 sent to every
member in Who's Who Worldwide?
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3604 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 A I was aware of the fact. But I would assume if you 2 were a member you would get a copy of it.
3 Q Would I be fair in stating, sir, that -- withdrawn.
4 Were you aware of the fact that there was a
5 public affairs department in Who's Who, and that you could
6 have written or called Who's Who and ask for them to
7 include a similar form of biographical sketch about you
8 and your background for inclusion in the information sent
9 to about 50 or 60 thousand people? 10 A It was never in my mind to be included or published 11 in the magazine. 12 Q Were you advised of the fact there was a public 13 affairs office? 14 A I was from the letter initially sent out. 15 Q Were you aware of the fact that they solicited 16 members
to contact them, they asked for members to call, 17 they asked for members to write in. They asked for 18 members to provide the kind of biographic information they 19 would include in the magazine for purposes of networking 20 to all the other members? Were you aware of that, sir? 21 A Let's say that I made the assumption based on the 22 magazine that I got. 23 Q Did you make any attempt to use it? 24 A I didn't. 25 MR. NELSON: Thank you.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3605 Rotatori-cross/Nelson
1 2 CROSS-EXAMINATION
3 BY MR. DUNN:
4 Q Sir, was it your testimony that you stated that if
5 you that a mailing list was involved you would not have
6 accepted membership? Is that your testimony?
7 A Correct.
8 Q Is it also your testimony that even if it was an
9 exclusive membership -- mailing lis
t, you would not have 10 accepted membership; is that correct? 11 A Correct. 12 Q Do you recall filling out a questionnaire -- 13 withdrawn. 14 Do you recall being asked a number of questions 15 over the phone by an agent of the United States Government 16 investigating this case? 17 A I remember speaking to a postal inspector. 18 Q Do you remember being asked this question: Would it 19 have affected your decision to purchase if your name 20 really had been obtained from a mailing list, and you gave 21 the answer, yes, would not have purchased, and the follow 22 up question being asked -- 23 THE COURT: You have to go slower and louder and 24 say when there is a question, please say "question." 25 Q And then the question, if, yes, would it have
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3606 Rotatori-cross/Dunn
1
affected your decision if a mailing list was an exclusive 2 and selective one, namely, if it listed only corporate
3 executives or individuals with income over a certain
4 amount? And your answer, probably would not have
5 purchased.
6 Does that refresh your recollection?
7 A Specific questions, not really. But it doesn't sound
8 out of align with the phone of questions that were in
9 there. 10 Q So, if you told an inspector that you probably would 11 not have purchased, that is not a 100 percent no, is it, 12 sir? 13 A It is not a 100 percent no. 14 Q In fact, you are leaving a little bit of wiggle room 15 that if it was an exclusive list, you might have 16 accepted? Isn't that true, if you knew that? 17 A What I am saying is I don't know. 18 Q But at some point in time you told an inspector and 19 used the term "probably" which is less than 100 pe
rcent; 20 is that correct? 21 A Probably represents less than 100 percent and more 22 than 50 percent. 23 Q Now, I would like to direct your attention to Exhibit 24 60 -- withdrawn. 25 You said before you discussed membership with
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3607 Rotatori-cross/Dunn
1 Jill Barnes, that you had a discussion, your recollection 2 that you had a discussion with another individual; is that
3 correct?
4 A That is correct.
5 Q And was that a man or a woman?
6 A It was a woman.
7 Q Now, I would like you to take a look at Exhibit 60-H,
8 if you have it in front of you? That's the letter dated
9 June 17th, 1993. 10 Do you see under Who's Who Worldwide there is a 11 line that runs across the page and a quote underneath 12 that? 13 A PS, you mean? 14 Q Under Who's W
ho across the top, there is a long line 15 running underneath it, to the right of the page directly 16 underneath that line there is a quotation; do you see 17 that? 18 A Quotation in the logo you mean? Yes. 19 Q Yes. 20 A Right here (indicating). 21 Q Do you see that? 22 A Yes. 23 Q Would you read that, please. 24 A The largest Who's Who membership organization in the 25 world.
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3608 Rotatori-cross/Dunn
1 Q The term "largest" is used; is that correct? 2 A Yes.
3 Q And would it be fair to say that that is a comparison
4 of something, that you have sometimes used an adjective,
5 large, larger, largest; is that correct? Have you heard
6 those terms?
7 A I heard those terms, yes.
8 Q Would it be fair in describing me you would say I am
9 tall?
10 A Yes. 11 MR. DUNN: Mr. Trabulus, get up for a moment. 12 Q Is that correct to say I am taller than him? 13 A Correct. 14 Q Would it be fair to say if I told you that out of the 15 nine lawyers in the room, I was the tallest, that I would 16 be compared to nine, ten other people; is that correct? 17 A Correct. 18 Q Is it fair to say if someone uses the name largest, 19 that it is being compared to more than two; is that 20 correct? 21 A Not being an English major, I would say I guess you 22 are correct. 23 Q Is it fair to say it would be compared with three or 24 ten or maybe more if you use the term "largest" correct? 25 A If I recall my grammar from past years, I would say
HARRY RAPAPORT, CSR, CP, CM OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER 3609 Rotatori-cross/Dunn
1 that that is correct. 2 Q And you received this letter; is t
hat correct?
3 A Yes.
4 MR. DUNN: I have no further questions, your
5 Honor.
6 THE COURT: Anybody else?
7 Do you have redirect, Ms. Scott?
8 MS. SCOTT: Yes, I do, your Honor.
9 THE COURT: All right. We will have a short part 10 of it now. 11 MS. SCOTT: Okay. 12 13 REDIRECT EXAMINATION 14 BY MS. SCOTT: 15 Q Mr. Rotatori, do you remember Mr. Trabulus asking you 16 about information you gave to Who's Who Worldwide, to the 17 Who's Who salesperson about yourself? 18 A Correct. 19 Q Do you remember Mr. Trabulus asked you whether you 20 gave other information to the salesperson other than what 21 eventually appeared in the book? 22 A Yes. 23 Q Now, you testified, do you recall that it wasn't 24 necessary be