Case :-cv-000-olg-jes-xr Document 0- Filed 0/0/ Page of 0 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS SAN ANTONIO DIVISION SHANNON PEREZ, ET AL, ) Plaintiffs, ) ) No. SA:-CV-0 vs. ) ) San Antonio, Texas RICK PERRY, ET AL, ) July, Defendants. ) ------------------------------ A P P E A R A N C E S: TRANSCRIPT OF PRETRIAL CONFERENCE BEFORE THE HONORABLE ORLANDO L. GARCIA, THE HONORABLE XAVIER RODRIGUEZ, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGES, AND THE HONORABLE JERRY E. SMITH, UNITED STATES CIRCUIT JUDGE FOR THE MEXICAN AMERICAN LEGISLATIVE CAUCUS, TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid Mr. Jose Garza Mr. Ernest Herrera North Main Street San Antonio, Texas FOR SHANNON PEREZ, ET AL: Richards Rodriguez & Skeith Mr. David R. Richards Congress Avenue, Suite 0 Austin, Texas 0 FOR THE TEXAS LATINO REDISTRICTING TASK FORCE: Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund Ms. Nina Perales 0 Broadway Street, Suite 00 San Antonio, Texas
Case :-cv-000-olg-jes-xr Document 0- Filed 0/0/ Page of 0 FOR TEXAS STATE CONFERENCE OF NAACP BRANCHES, ET AL: Southern Coalition for Social Justice Ms. Allison Jean Riggs West Highway, Suite 0 Durham, North Carolina 0 FOR HOWARD JEFFERSON, EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, SHEILA JACKSON-LEE AND ALEXANDER GREEN: Law Office of Gary L. Bledsoe & Associates Mr. Gary L. Bledsoe West th Street, Suite 0 Austin, Texas 0 FOR U.S. CONGRESSMAN HENRY CUELLAR: Law Offices of Rolando L. Rios Mr. Rolando L. Rios East Travis Street, Suite San Antonio, Texas FOR EDDIE RODRIGUEZ, CITY OF AUSTIN, ET AL: Law Office of Max Renea Hicks Mr. Max Renea Hicks 0 West Sixth Street, Suite 0 Austin, Texas 0 FOR MARGARITA V. QUESADA, ET AL: J. Gerald Hebert, P.C. Mr. J. Gerald Hebert Somervelle Street, Suite 0 Alexandria, Virginia 0 FOR TEXAS DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Brazil & Dunn Mr. Chad W. Dunn FM 0 West, Suite 0 Houston, Texas 0
Case :-cv-000-olg-jes-xr Document 0- Filed 0/0/ Page of 0 FOR THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE: Civil Rights Division Mr. Tim Mellett Mr. Bryan L. Sells 0 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Room -NWB Washington, DC 0 FOR THE DEFENDANTS, STATE OF TEXAS, ET AL: Attorney General's Office Mr. Patrick K. Sweeten Mr. Matthew H. Frederick Ms. Angela Colmenero Ms. Jennifer Jackson Mr. Adam W. Aston Mr. William T. Deane P.O. Box Austin, Texas - OFFICIAL COURT REPORTERS: Karl H. Myers Leticia Rangel Chris Poage East Cesar Chavez Blvd. San Antonio, Texas Telephone: (0) -0 Proceedings reported by stenotype, transcript produced by computer-aided transcription.
Case :-cv-000-olg-jes-xr Document 0- Filed 0/0/ Page of 0 so, you know, we think that with respect to this case, with this matter, with this burden of proof, that the correct way to proceed with that would be, you know, to either call them live or to have taken their deposition in this case with respect to those matters. JUDGE RODRIGUEZ: I guess I am confused. I thought you were referring to depositions taken in this case. You are referring to other depositions? MR. GARZA: So the two that come to mind, Your Honor, are Chairman Solomons and Chairman Seliger, both of whom were deposed in this case, for this go-round, but are outside of the 00-mile range. We would like their testimony from the D.C. depositions, that were taken in the D.C. litigation, but we also have this issue with the current depositions that were taken of Chairman Seliger and Solomons. MR. SWEETEN: As to Chairman Seliger and Solomons, I believe both individuals were taken back in the fall of in this case, and both of those individuals were again taken in this case in. It would be our -- what we would be objecting to is the use of, you know, any of the D.C. designated testimony. That is where we would stand on those issues. JUDGE SMITH: So are both sides comfortable with using their depositions that were taken in this case, as Karl H. Myers, CSR, RMR, CRR - (0) -0
Case :-cv-000-olg-jes-xr Document 0- Filed 0/0/ Page of 0 opposed to another? MR. GARZA: So, again, Your Honor, I went into the preparation for the discovery of this case that if I wanted a witness, I was going to present it live, because the Court expressed a concern that it couldn't judge the credibility of a witness from the written page. It seems to me that that sort of concern is equally applicable to a deposition or sworn testimony in another court. So whether the witness is within the 00-mile range or outside of the 00-mile range, I am a little confused about what is going on. JUDGE RODRIGUEZ: Well, I think -- MR. GARZA: And just one last point. I mean, one of the things that we agreed to in in the September trial was that some of the testimony would be submitted through deposition for logistical reasons, for time reasons, et cetera. And so I don't know how to respond, I guess, to the Court's questions, and I don't know how to respond to the questions of my colleagues, who want me to negotiate on these issues with the State, because I heard one thing during the trial and then another thing on this issue about the trial testimony from D.C., because it just seemed to me that if it is testimony that is coming from the written page, that concern applies equally to depositions or sworn testimony in Karl H. Myers, CSR, RMR, CRR - (0) -0
Case :-cv-000-olg-jes-xr Document 0- Filed 0/0/ Page of 0 another court. JUDGE RODRIGUEZ: I am not sure -- I'm sorry. Go ahead, sir. JUDGE SMITH: Well, I was going to say, I mean, I agree with what Mr. Garza said, just speaking for myself. For one thing, when we have deposition testimony, the Court is not able to ask questions of those witnesses, and I probably ask more questions than the people wish I would of some witnesses, but I thought it was helpful in the earlier proceedings to have the witnesses here live, particularly if we are talking about -- legislators such as the ones that have been mentioned. Obviously, people can be unavailable or people have died or, you know, there are other exceptions, obviously, to using depositions. I am just speaking for myself, I think it would be better to have the live witnesses. JUDGE RODRIGUEZ: Yes. I agree with that. My preference would be to have a live witness. So then, with that said, then for witnesses who have been deposed in this case who reside outside of 00 miles, then the question becomes, is there any objection by the State to that? MR. SWEETEN: And, Your Honor, I mean, I think there are multiple things, multiple issues at play here, but with respect to Seliger and Solomons, I don't know that -- and we are working through some of these objections. I think we may Karl H. Myers, CSR, RMR, CRR - (0) -0
Case :-cv-000-olg-jes-xr Document 0- Filed 0/0/ Page of 0 not have a problem with just doing the designations, because they were here. They have testified in this Court, both of them. They have been deposed two times in this case, so we can discuss those issues, and I think that that may not be the problem. Our biggest objection is to go in and bring in the D.C. -- and there are a dozen depositions that have been designated from the D.C. case, and we have objected to all of those. We can take, on a case-by-case basis, these individuals that are outside of the zone of this Court. We obviously are going to endeavor to call as many live witnesses as we can, but there are some that I think we can work on that have been taken in this case, where we can agree to deposition submissions or to waiving our objection as to them. JUDGE RODRIGUEZ: And let me make sure I understand. The use of the depositions that were taken in the D.C. proceedings, are you going to -- MR. GARZA: I'm sorry. I was speaking about the live testimony at the trial in D.C. -- JUDGE SMITH: We are not going to hear that. MR. GARZA: And I hate to belabor the point, but the unavailability of the witness criteria for allowing deposition testimony outside the 00-mile range applies to two witnesses that gave live testimony under oath who were subject to Karl H. Myers, CSR, RMR, CRR - (0) -0
Case :-cv-000-olg-jes-xr Document 0- Filed 0/0/ Page of -ooo- I certify that the foregoing is a correct transcript from the record of proceedings in the above-entitled matter. I further certify that the transcript fees and format comply with those prescribed by the Court and the Judicial Conference of the United States. Date: // /s/ Leticia Rangel United States Court Reporter E. Cesar E. Chavez Blvd. San Antonio, TX 0 Telephone: (0) -0 Date: // /s/ Karl Myers United States Court Reporter E. Cesar E. Chavez Blvd., Rm. San Antonio, TX Telephone: (0) -0 Date: // /s/ Chris Poage United States Court Reporter E. Cesar E. Chavez Blvd. San Antonio, TX Telephone: (0) -0 Chris Poage, RMR, CRR United States Court Reporter