Transcript Judge Nielsen 9.15am Oct 06 2006 Ada

8/13/2019 Transcript Judge Nielsen 9.15am Oct 06 2006 Ada

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IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRTEENTH JUDICIALCIRCUIT OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, IN AND FORHILLSBOROUGH COUNTY

GENERAL CIVIL DIVISION

NEIL J GILLESPIE,P l a i n t i f f

vs . CASE NO.: 05-CA-7205

BARKER,a F loWILLIAMRODEMS & COOKr ida corpora t ion ;J COOK

P.A.,andDIVISION: F

Defendants .

Transcr ipt o Proceedings

BEFORE: HONORABLE RICHARDCircu i t Judge A. NIELSEN

TAKEN AT: In ChambersHil lsborough County Cour thouseTampa, Flor idaDATE: October 04, 2006TIME: Commencing a t 9:15 a .m.REPORTED BY: SONJA BONANNOCourt ReporterNotary Publ icState of Flor ida a t Large

BERRYHILL & ASSOCIATES501 East Kennedy Blvd. , Sui te 1225Tampa, Flor ida 33602


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_ APPEARANCES

2 On behalf of the Pla in t i f f :3 Neil J . Gil lesp ie , pro se,4 Appearing v ia telephone5

6 On behalf of the Defendants:7 RYAN CHRISTOPHER RODEMS SQUIRBarker , Rodems & Cook, P.A.8 300 W. Pla t t St ree t , Ste . 150Tampa, FL 336069

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IN EX T P R O E E ~ N G S P GE

Proceedings 4e r t i f i c a t e of Reporter 12


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P R O C E E DIN G STHE COURT: This i s Judge Nielsen .MR. GILLESPIE: Yes, good morning, Judge.

This i s Nei l Gil lesp ie .THE COURT: Good morning, s i r . Ryan Rodems -

i s t ha t cor rec t?MR. RODEMS: Yes, s i r .THE COURT: lS present In the cour t -

hear ing room.MR. GILLESPIE: Judge, I want you to know t ha t

I am appearing today by te lephone because I am tooill to a t t end the hearing. And I am t r y i n g to ge ta s s i s t a nc e from the Court for the Americans withD i s a b i l i t i e s Act accommodation and I j u s t found outyes te rday tha t tha t wouldn t happen. This i s not anew c la im. I have been on permanent d i s a b i l i t ys ince be fore I met the defendants .

THE COURT: All r igh t s i r . And has t h a t - what has impacted your a b i l i t y to respond to the - as I unders tand i t you are seeking a cont inuanceo f the hear ing t h i s morning?

MR. GILLESPIE: Yes, Your Honor. And I haveword from my insurance company t ha t t h ey a re l i k e l yto provide counsel to represent me. And I havebeen in contact with Mr Rodems no l e s s than t h r e e


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t i m e s w i t h i n t h e l st week and on a p h o n e c llyes te rday , and he has not responded to any o f mycommunicat ions. I have also been in touch with theCourt about t h i s matter as well .

THE COURT: All r igh t . And, Mr. Gi l l e sp i e ,j u s t so the record i s clear , and I wi l l see t ha t i ft hese l e t t e r s have not been f i l ed tha t t hey wi l l bef i l ed , but there was

MR. GILLESPIE: I am sorry , I d i d n t hear you,Judge.

THE COURT: I sa id I wi l l be su re t h a t thel e t t e r s are f i l ed , i f they have not a l r e a dy beenf i l ed , r e l a t i ng to your reques t fo r accommodationpursuan t to the Americans with D is a b i l i t i e s Act .And I be l ieve the re has been a t l e a s t two, perhapsth ree , l e t t e r s t ha t you have provided to e i t h e r ourADA coord ina to r o r myself. And I f u r t h e runders tand tha t you have been providedcorrespondence in the l a s t day o r so from our Courtcoun se l s of f ice advis ing you -

MR. GILLESPIE: Yes, Judge.THE COURT: Let me f in i sh , please .

adv is ing you t ha t in the view of the Cour tcoun se l s of f ice , the ADA accommodation does notreach to the accommodation t ha t you have r eques ted ,


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to wit tha t you be provided an a t to rne y torep resen t you In these proceedings .

And, so, as I sa id t ha t i s p a r t o f t he r ecorda t t h i s po in t . And I understand your p o s i t i o n nowas to t h i s hearing t h i s morning. I wi l l askMr. Rodems for a response to the Motion fo rContinuance .

MR. RODEMS: Well, f i r s t of a l l Your Honor ,l Mr. Gi l l esp ie taking the pos i t i on now t h a t hei s by reason of h is d i sab i l i t y unable to fu r t he rrep resen t himself in t h i s matter? Because I t h inkif he i s tha t i s going to c l ea r l y d ic t a t e theproceedings . I f he announces t ha t he i s too ill torep resen t himself fu r the r in t h i s mat te r theni s going to have to h i re an a t to rney .

THE COURT: Well, Mr. Rodems, as I unders tandh i s pos i t i on i s he i s not able to handle t h i shear ing t h i s morning and tha t apparen t ly hebe l i eves t ha t he may have counsel prov ided a t theexpense of h i s insurance company r e l a t i n g to Iguess a counterclaim pending in t h i s mat te r .

I s t ha t your pos i t ion Mr. G i l l e s p i e ?MR. GILLESPIE: Yes, it i s Judge. And once

we ge t - - once I have counsel , I t h ink I wi l l beab le to c l ea r up any other i s sues t ha t may be a


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]. b a r r i e r , b u t I do i n t e n d to have r e p r e s e n t a t i o n .I j u s t wanted to mention t ha t the Court

3 counse l tha t you referenced in r egard to t he ADA I: spoke with him yesterday. His opinion i s h i s own5 opinion . He could not provide me any c i t a t i o n s to6 case law. I j u s t wanted to make t ha t c l e a r .7 THE COURT: Yes s i r . Well do you have any8 c i t a t i o n s t ha t you wish to provide to t he Court a t9 t h i s t ime with respec t to your r eques t?

10 MR. GILLESPIE: I am not an a t to rne y and I11 have not been to law school and t ha t i s why I am12 g e t t i n g an a t to rney who can provide t hose . One13 problem ln t h i s14 THE COURT: Well Mr Gil le sp ie , l e t me

i n t e r r u p t a moment. Just , again so t he record i s16 c lea r then I am going to deny your reques t for an17 ADA accommodation cons is t ing of a prov i s ion o f an18 a t to rne y to represent you ln t h i s case . It s the19 C o u r t s view t ha t the American with D i s a b i l i t i e s20 Act was not designed for the purpose of prov id ing21 counse l , but ra the r to accommodate d i s a b i l i t i e s in22 the t r ad i t i ona l sense of a b i l i t y to hear , a b i l i t y23 to see , a b i l i t y to be able to be mobile o r24 immobile to requi re breaks dur ing proceed ings25 because of some physical d i s a b i l i t y t h a t does not


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p e r m i t a litig nt to spend l o n g p e r i o d s o f t i m e s lncour t o r in hearings.

And so - - again so the record i s c l e a r , yourreques t fo r an accommodation i s denied . I am goingto gran t your Motion for Continuance; howeverhow much t ime do you need to hear a re sponse f romyour insurance company s i r ?

MR GILLESPIE: Your Honor I have a c a l l i n tothem t h i s morning and I am wai t ing fo r a c a l l back.I have a l so provided Mr Rodems with the name andt e lephone number of the ad jus to r . I d o n t know i fhe has independent ly confirmed t h i s o r not .

THE COURT: So i s your answer t h a t you d o n tknow a t t h i s t ime how long it w i l l be b e fo re yourinsurance company responds?

MR GILLESPIE: I t should be wi th in a week o rso on the outs ide . I am wai t ing for a c a l l backtoday. That i s a l l the only in fo rmat ion t ha tcan t e l l you.

THE COURT: All r igh t . Thank you. Then t h i shear ing wil l be continued to on o r a f t e r October18, 2006.

MR GILLESPIE: Thank you Judge.MR RODEMS: Your Honor?THE COURT: Yes Mr. Rodems.

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MR RODEMS: Before we go of f t he record mayI i nqu i re as to whether Mr G i l l e s p i e i n t e n d s toh i re counsel should his insurance company dec l ineto provide counsel? Because a t t h i s po in t he hasmade severa l re fe rences to the fac t t h a t he i s nott r a i ned as a lawyer, and h i s exper ience and ac t ionsin t h i s case bear t ha t out .

And now, with t h i s ra i s ing of the d i s a b i l i t yif he i s asse r t ing to the Court t ha t h i s d i s a b i l i t yi s so severe t ha t he needs the Court to appo in t ana t to rne y to him, not withstanding t h a t t he ADAwon t a l low it What I would l i ke to sugges t tothe Court i s i f Mr Gil lesp ie i s not go ing to haveinsurance-company-provided counsel , he adv i se theCourt whether he in tends to h i r e h i s own counse l .And I th ink tha t my c l i en t s are e n t i t l e d to somesense of di rec t ion so t ha t we can move t he case .

THE COURT: I wil l thank Mr. Rodems.Mr. Gil le sp ie here i s what I wil l ask you to do,s i r . And, Mr. Rodems, i f you want to i nc lude t h i sin the continuance order . That on o r b e fo re theda te i nd ica ted you need to advise the Court andcounse l tha t i s opposing counsel

MR GILLESPIE: Judge?THE COURT: Yes, s i r .


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MR GILLESPIE: The phone l i ne 1 S break ing up.I d i d n t know i f I los t you.

THE COURT: All r igh t . You need to prov ide al e t t e r within the next two weeks t h a t i s on o rbefore October the 18th. Fax it to t he Court andfax it to Mr. Rodems. You need to do s e ve ra lt h ings i n t ha t l e t t e r :

1: Advise us what the response 1 S of yourinsurance company.

Number 2: Advise us whether you a re seekingcounse l ; whether t ha t be some s o r t of pro bonocounse l provided by legal a id o r some o t he r meanso r h i r e counsel on your own a l l r i gh t ?

MR GILLESPIE: Thank you Judge. I wi l l dot ha t .

THE COURT: And i f you d o n t have counse l inp lace on October 18 t ha t l e t t e r a l s o needs toind i c a t e how long it would be before you would havecounse l in place . And then f ina l ly , i you d o n ti n t end t o h i r e c ouns e lo r r e t a i n counse l on o ra f t e r October 18th you should s t a t e t h a t as wel l .

MR GILLESPIE: Thank you Judge. I wi l l dot ha t .

THE COURT: And I suppose - - one f i n a l th ing ,Mr. Gil le sp ie , since Mr Rodems has inqui red , you


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would need to answer the ques t ion , assumlng youd o n t have counsel in place , do you i n t end torep resen t yoursel f in t h i s proceed ing go ingforward?

MR GILLESPIE: Yes, Judge.THE COURT: All r igh t .MR GILLESPIE: Thank you, Judge.THE COURT: Any other ques t ions?MR GILLESPIE: Not from me, Your Honor.MR RODEMS: No, s i r . I w i l l prepare the

proposed order .THE COURT: Very well , s i r . And I wi l l hear

back from you on o r a f t e r October 18th .MR RODEMS: And I wil l send a copy of the

order to Mr. Gil lesp ie with a s u f f i c i e n t amount oft ime before I send t to the Court .

THE COURT: Very well . Thank you.End of proceedings . )


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CERTIFIC TE OF OURT REPORTER

STATE OF FLORIDACOUNTY OF HILLSBOROUGH

I SONJA BONANNO, COURT REPORTER fo r t heCi rc u i t Court of the Thir teenth J ud ic i a l C i r c u i t of theSta t e o f Flor idaDO HEREBY CERTIFY tha t I was a u t h o r i z e d toand d id r e p o r t the proceedings and evidence in t h i shere inbefo re -s ty led cause as s t a t e d i n the c a p t iona t t ached and tha t the preceding t r ansc r ip t a t t a c he dhere to i s a t rue accura te and cor rec t computer izedt r a n s c r i p t i o n of my repor t of the proceedings had a ts a id sess ion .I FURTHER CERTIFY t ha t I am not employed by o rr e l a t e d to the par t i e s to t h i s mat te r nor i n t e r e s t e d inthe outcome of t h i s act ion .IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto s e t myhand and sea l in Tampa Hillsborough County Flo r idat h i s lOth day of October 2006.

J

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Transcript Judge Nielsen 9.15am Oct 06 2006 Ada

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Transcript of Transcript Judge Nielsen 9.15am Oct 06 2006 Ada