Professional Documents
Culture Documents
V.
Plaintiffs, )
)NO. CV-07-0189-HU
COPY
CHRISTOPHER HUMPHREYS; KYLE NICE: )
CITY OF PORTLAND; CITY OF ) PORTLAND
JOHN DOE FIREFLGHTERS/PARAMEDICS;
PORTLAND POLICE BUREAU and OTHER )
PORTLAND JOHN and JANE DOE )
OFFICIALS; BRET BURTON; MULTNOMAH )
COUNTY; MULTNOMAH COUNTY JOHN and
JANE DOE DEPUTY SHERIFFS and MEDICAL)
PERSONNEL; MULTNOMAH COUNTY JOHN and)
JANE DOE SHERIFF'S OFFICE and OTHER )
OFFICIALS; TRI-COUNTY METROPOLITAN )
TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT OF OREGON; )
NORTHWEST, INC.,
Defendants. )
DEPOSITION OF
HOMER G. WILLIAMS
Taken in behalf of Defendants
APPEAWCES:
For the Plaintiffs: MR. THOMAS M. STEENSON
Attorney at Law
815 S.W. Second, Suite 500
Portland, OR 97204
INDEX
EXAMINATION BY: PAGE NO.
Mr. Rice 3 - 18
Ms. Dunaway 18 - 23
Ms. Gamblin 23 - 28
Mr. Steenson 28 - 31
EXHIBITS
No. 307 Diagram
* * *
HOMER G. WILLIAMS
called as a witness in behalf of the Defendants,
having first been sworn by the Reporter,
testifies as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. RICE:
Q. Mr. Williams, my name is Jim Rice. We
introduced ourselves just briefly before we started
here today.
This is the time and the place for taking
your deposition. You understand that?
A. (Nods head.)
Q. I'm going to ask you to answer out loud to
help our court reporter.
A. (Nods head.)
Q. I understand when you nod your head - -
A. Sure.
Q. - - but so she can take it down.
Have you had your deposition taken before?
A. Yes.
Q. So you understand it's a question-and-answer
format; is that right?
A. Yes, I do.
Q. And what I'm going to ask you to do is to
pause for a second before answering a lawyer's
question to make sure that the lawyer's completed the
question and also, again, to assist the court reporter
in getting the answer - -
A. Sure.
Q. - - down to your question. Is there any
reason you can't take your deposition today, like
you're on medication, lack of sleep, anything like
that?
A. NO.
Q. Okay. Lastly, if a person testifies in a
deposition a certain way and they change their
testimony if you're called at a trial in some manner,
the lawyer or one of the lawyers have the right to
point that out to the jury.
A. Sure.
Q. Do you understand that?
A. Yes.
Q. Great.
Could you tell us, what is your full name,
please.
A. Homer G. Williams.
Q. And what's your date of birth?
A.
A. Yes.
Q. -- and Everett?
And can you tell us what you were doing in
that vicinity that day?
A. It happened in front of my office. I was
across the street in the restaurant having lunch and
there was a commotion and when I walked out I could
see him on the ground.
Q. Okay. I'm going to stop you there, ask you
a few questions, then we'll go back to your narrative.
A. Okay.
Q. Was anybody with you at that time?
A. Oh, I think I might have been having lunch
with my sister, but I can't remember.
Q. And is the restaurant you mentioned Blue
Hour?
A. Yes.
Q. And there is both a patio area at Blue Hour
and an inside area, do you recall?
A. I was inside.
Q. And when you were sitting inside, was there
anything - - is it just a curtain or wall of any kind
that interfered with you seeing what was going on out
24 on the street?
25 A. I didn't see what was going on until I
walked outside.
Q. Okay. And what caused you to walk outside?
A. As I said, there was a commotion, and I
can't remember if it was waiters talking or whatever,
but - - but there was obviously a disturbance, and so I
just walked outside.
Q. And there is a porch area or a raised area
out there?
A. Yes. That's where I was standing.
Q. And was there anyone standing in front of
you or were you at the edge of that where I believe
there's a fence?
A. I think I was at the edge.
Q. Okay. And when you looked out, what did you
see?
A. Oh, I saw a person laying on the ground who
was handcuffed who was on his stomach. At some point
emergency vehicle came up.
Q. Okay. Let me stop you for a second. When
you saw him handcuffed, were his hands behind his
back?
A. Yes.
Q. And was any other part of his body that you
could see confined or cuffed in any way?
A. I don't remember.
10 A. No.
11 Q. - - or did - -
12 A. Not that I heard.
13 Q. Did she approach him?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. Did she do anything to him or about - -
16 A. Not - -
17 Q. - - him?
18 A. - - that I remember.
19 Q. And how long do you think she stayed in the
20 vicinity of Mr. Chasse?
21 A. I want to say ten or 1 5 minutes.
22 Q. Could you hear her saying anything to police
23 officers?
24 A. No.
25 Q. Could you hear anything police officers were
saying to her?
A. No.
Q. Was Mr. Chasse saying anything, and by
saying anything I mean articulating anything, making
noises, anything lying that?
A. NO.
Q. No?
A. NO.
Q. So after Mr. Chasse had been on the ground
for approximately ten minutes with the medical people
there, what's the next thing that occurred?
A. The next thing I remember is him getting
picked up and her leaving, which surprised me.
Q. Okay. And by him you mean Mr. Chasse?
A. Right.
Q. Okay. And how did - - how was he picked up
or by whom was he picked up?
A. Alls I - - alls I remember, he - - I think
they picked him up by his feet and his head. But I
mean, just looked like a bag of bones, just - - and
they dumped him in the back seat.
Q. Okay. And when they were moving him to the
back seat, is this the back seat of a police car?
A. I think so.
Q. Did you see him actually being placed in the
police car?
A. I think so.
Q. And where in the police car was he placed?
A. In the back seat.
Q. All right. Was he making any - - was he
saying anything or making any sounds at that time?
A. No.
Q. Did you - - during the transportation
process, did you hear any officers saying anything
among themselves?
A. No.
Q. Any EMTs speaking?
A. NO.
Q. Any interaction --
A. NO.
Q. - - between the police at all and the medical
personnel?
A. No.
Q. And once Mr. Chasse was in the back of the
vehicle, what happened to the woman EMT?
A. I think she was already gone.
Q. Okay. You think she left before he was
placed in the car?
A. I think so, but I don't - -
Q. All right.
A. -- remember.
Q. Do you recall whether there was any other
EMT or medical personnel at the scene other than the
woman?
A. Not that I noticed, but - -
Q. When Mr. Chasse was on the ground, could you
ever see his face?
A. I think he was actually facing the other
way. I don't remember seeing his face.
Q. Okay.
A. I mean, his head was towards me, but I think
his face was - -
Q. Earlier you testified he was lying on the
ground on his stomach. Was he moving at all?
A. When I saw him I don't remember him moving.
If he would have been squealing or saying something, I
think I would - - I mean, I would have walked over
there.
Q. Okay.
A. Especially when she -- I remember thinking
the woman wasn't doing what I would think she would be
doing.
Q. Okay. Did you see any law enforcement
officer strike Mr. Chasse?
A. No.
A. (Nods head. )
Q. Yes?
A. Yes.
Q. And is that the principal source of yours
news, local news?
A. Yes, probably.
Q. Okay.
A. I'm a news junky.
Q. Lots of sources?
A. Lots of sources.
Q. Have you been following the newspaper
stories about Mr. Chasse and the lawsuit?
A. Whenever I see them I'd read them.
Q. Okay. Did you testify at the grand jury?
A. No.
Q. Okay. Have you given any statements to
anybody about what you saw that day other than to a
police officer?
A. Somebody from the city contacted me, ex-FBI
agent.
Q. Okay. And you gave that person a statement?
A. Yeah.
Q. Did they say they were from the city?
A. They were working for the city and/or
county. I can't remember which.
Q. Just a couple?
A. Yeah.
Q. Could you put a 5 and a 6 on where you think
they were standing?
A. This is really starting to guess.
Q. All right. And then over here by the 1, can
you put your initials?
A. (Witness complied.)
Q. Okay. When you were standing up here on the
balcony, were there other patrons or employees
standing around you?
A. Yeah. There were two or three people, I
don't know who they were. They were there. A couple
of them were there earlier than I was.
Q. Did you have any conversation, while this
was going on, with any of those people?
A. Well, like I said, there was a commotion
that brought me outside and I got the feeling that a
couple were a little disturbed.
Q. A couple of the patrons - -
A. Yes.
Q. - - were disturbed?
Did they say anything to you that made you
believe that?
A. Well, they just - - 1 can't remember the
A. No.
Q. Okay.
in the car?
A. No, not that I - - no. I'm pretty sure she
was gone by then.
Q. Okay. You just said she - - that they packed
up and left, meaning the female EMT and if there was
another EMT on the scene, then they packed up - -
A. Yes. I think - -
Q. Let me finish my question.
A. Yeah, okay.
Q. And so does that mean that they had medical
equipment with them then?
A. Well, if they did, it went back in the car.
But I don't - - I don't -- I'm trying to remember if I
remember a gurney coming out, but I just don't
remember.
Q. So let me ask you this way: What did they
pack up when they left?
A. Like I said, I don't remember.
Q. Okay. But you know they packed something
up?
A. I don't even know that for sure.
Q. Okay, okay.
A. All right.
Q. Did you observe the female EMT take a blood
pressure?
1 transcript?
2 A. No. I'd be curious what I remember today
3 and what - - what I remembered then.
4 Q. I assume, based upon what you've told me,
5 you were trying to be honest with the detective and
6 tell - -
7 A. Sure.
8 Q. - - what you saw or heard?
9 The transcript, it says that at one point - -
10 or at a point you thought Mr. Chasse was unconscious.
11 Do you recall thinking that at some point?
12 A. Well, I think, again, I just had this vision
13 of this bag of bones going in the car. I mean, if he
14 was conscious and he was all right, he would have --
that were on the deck, you know, that were there that
were upset by it. And so I just --
Q. Okay.
A. I don ' t remember.
Q. You also told the detective that when he
woke up again he was, you know, squealing. So was
there a point when he seemed to wake up and was
squealing or making noises?
A. Well now, you know, it's hard for me to
remember, but -- you know, that probably is accurate,
if that's what I said. But there was a point where
there was just nothing happening.
Q. Sure.
And do you think you were there with your
sister or someone else or you just can't recall?
A. I think it was my sister - -
Q. Okay.
A. --but --
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C E R T I F I C A T E
STATE OF WASHINGTON )
) ss.
COUNTY OF CLARK )
Shannon K. Krska
Certified Shorthand Reporter
Oregon CSR No. 90-0216