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STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT NORTH
SANJEEV LATH, et al., )
)
Plaintiffs, )
)
vs. )
)
SCOTT SAMPLE, )
)
Defendant. )
______________________________)
Superior Court Case No.
216-2016-CV-00173
Manchester, New Hampshire
April 5, 2016
9:07 a.m.
MOTION HEARING
BEFORE THE HONORABLE AMY L. INGATIUS
JUDGE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT
APPEARANCES:
Pro Se Plaintiffs: Sanjeev Lath
Barbara Belware
For the Defendant: John F. Brisson, Esq.
CRONIN BISSON & ZALINSKY, P.C.
722 Chestnut Street
Manchester, NH 03104
Audio Operator: Electronically Recorded
By Karen Anderson
TRANSCRIPTION COMPANY: AVTranz
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Proceedings recorded by electronic sound recording; transcript
produced by court-approved transcription service.
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I N D E X
WITNESS(ES) DIRECT CROSS REDIRECT RECROSS
FOR THE PLAINTIFFS:
None
FOR THE DEFENDANT:
None
MISCELLANEOUS PAGE
Court's Findings/Ruling 26
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(Proceedings commence at 9:07 a.m.) 1
THE CLERK: So if the parties can come forward on 2
Lath versus Sample. 3
THE COURT: Why don't we put Mr. Lath and Ms. Belware 4
on this side. Good morning. And Mr. Sample and his counsel on 5
this side. 6
MR. BISSON: Good morning, Your Honor. 7
THE COURT: Good morning. This is the case of 8
Sanjeev Lath and Barbara Belware -- I hope I pronounced those 9
correctly -- versus Scott Sample. I am Judge Ignatius. I'm 10
here for the week, and so you may have been expecting a 11
different judge in this courtroom, but Judge Brown is not here 12
this week so I am covering his cases. 13
So I know that this was a motion for a complaint for 14
a restraining order, and I've been through the file. I want to 15
assure you that I've read the materials there. And let's 16
begin, first, just identifying who's here for the record, talk 17
a little bit about what we're going to do today. And what I 18
want to be sure -- well, I'll get to that in a moment. Why 19
don't we first begin just with identification, maybe. 20
MR. LATH: My name is Sanjeev Lath, Your Honor. I'm 21
the Plaintiff. 22
MS. BELWARE: My name is Barbara Belware. 23
THE COURT: Good morning. 24
MR. BISSON: I'm John Bisson for Scott Sample who's 25
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joining me here today. 1
THE COURT: Good morning, everyone. 2
THE DEFENDANT: Good morning. 3
MS. BELWARE: Your Honor -- 4
THE COURT: So one of the things that's important to 5
remember -- have a seat, please -- is that the court monitor is 6
taking down everything as it's said. She can only hear one 7
voice at a time. She can only keep track of one set of words. 8
And so it's very important that we not cross over each other in 9
what we say. I'll try very hard not to interrupt anyone. 10
Please, all of you try very hard not to interrupt each other. 11
Another thing is that you'll each have a chance to 12
respond. I'm not going to cut anybody off and -- not having a 13
chance to react to what they've already heard, as long as it's 14
not just repeating the same thing. So you don't need to jump 15
up or interrupt or, you know, "I have something to say." 16
That's more on those judge shows on TV. But here it's a little 17
more orderly than that, and you'll have an opportunity, and 18
unlike those shows, I won't start yelling at either of you. 19
I think what we want to hear is, obviously, an 20
argument from the Plaintiffs here on why you think a 21
restraining order should be issued. It was filed on March 3rd, 22
and on that same date there was a request for an ex parte 23
restraining order, meaning without a chance to hear all sides. 24
The Judge who reviewed that looked at it and didn't find it was 25
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-- there was a reason to do it on an ex parte basis but said, 1
"Let's schedule it for a hearing and hear more of the details." 2
So that's where we are today. And since then there's been an 3
appearance and an answer filed by Mr. Sample, filed through his 4
lawyer, Mr. Bisson. 5
So what I want to do, then, is hear from the two of 6
you who you've made this request for a restraining order. I've 7
obviously read it so you don't need to repeat everything. But 8
if you want to give your kind of a summary of the most 9
important things that you think lead to the need for a 10
restraining order. So it's not necessarily all of the history 11
between you and Mr. Sample. It's what you think leads to a 12
need for a restraining order that has to do with a fear of harm 13
and sort of immediate concern about harm as opposed to, you 14
know, bad interactions years ago. For example, I know there 15
was something from 2003. I recognize that. I know that that's 16
part of the history between you as you see it. But that 17
doesn't -- isn't very important to me in terms of whether 18
there's an immediate risk of harm. So the more we can focus on 19
those questions, the better. All right? So I'll leave it to 20
whichever of you wants to begin. 21
Oh, and the other thing is, when one speaks you 22
stand. All right? 23
MR. LATH: Sure. Your Honor, my name is Sanjeev Lath 24
and I reside in Oakbrook Condominium. I moved there about 25
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three years ago. And two years ago I had an issue with the 1
board, and since then Scott Sample has retaliated against me. 2
For an example, in the last five months there's a matter 3
pending before this court for wiretapping, illegal wiretapping. 4
And since then his harassment has accelerated. I have 5
requested -- the attorney representing Scott Sample, Attorney 6
John Bisson, and he had request of me that to communicate via 7
email. And I requested Scott Sample to communicate to me via 8
email or postal mail. Despite my several requests, in the last 9
five months he posted seven notices on my door. And every time 10
he comes to my door he vigorously shakes it in order to 11
intimidate and cause fear. 12
The last incident that happened was last night. 13
There was another note posted. On February 26th I hired a 14
handyman to change my locks. And the handyman has placed his 15
tools right outside my door, not inhibiting any fire exits. 16
The handyman, his name is Jerry Dube, he's from Merrimack, and 17
he's here as a witness. And he will testify today that when he 18
came outside he saw the note posted on the door, and his tools 19
were missing. So Scott Sample has continued to harass me 20
despite my several requests. And that request was initially 21
made by Attorney Bisson in October. And I'm prepared to submit 22
that letter as an exhibit because Attorney Bisson said, "In 23
order to prevent any claims of competing harms, that I should 24
communicate" -- and I have followed that. I've communicated 25
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via email. 1
THE COURT: What are the nature of the notices? 2
What's contained in the information in the notices? 3
MR. LATH: So he is requesting a copy of my unit 4
keys, and I have also authorized open -- in case of an 5
emergency, you can bring down my door. Now there's another 6
concern, because I hold a security clearance for a national 7
security position, I'm required to do some work from home 8
during snow days, and I've expressed that concern to the 9
Oakbrook Association. That due to my safety and due to the 10
nature of aggression that Scott Sample has shown, I would 11
rather have you break my door and I will replace it at my own 12
expense. But regardless, they continue to say that they need a 13
copy of my keys, which I'm really scared of giving them -- 14
THE COURT: All right. 15
MR. LATH: -- a copy of my unit keys. 16
THE COURT: And, you know, I just totally forgot 17
about this. But what we should do before I forget any further 18
is have each of you and Mr. Sample stand, and I just want to 19
put you under oath so I don't forget to do that later, all 20
right? So if you'd stand and raise your right hand, please. 21
PARTIES, SWORN 22
THE COURT: Thank you, and I apologize for forgetting 23
that initially. 24
So, all right, you've talked about the keys and 25
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you're concerned about not wanting to have anyone have access, 1
in part because of your work and your security clearance, 2
right? 3
MR. LATH: Yes. Yes, Your Honor. 4
THE COURT: All right. Continued. 5
MR. LATH: And that's all I have to say today. 6
THE COURT: Okay. Just the tools, have you located 7
them again? Do you know where they are? 8
MR. LATH: Yes, Your Honor. When I was -- I was 9
running an errand and -- when Jerry Dube -- when I returned 10
back Jerry Dube handed me the letter, and when I opened the 11
letter the letter had the signature of Scott Sample, and he 12
said he'd have to look for his tools for a little while. And 13
so he did find his tools -- 14
THE COURT: All right. 15
MR. LATH: -- and he went on to complete his job. 16
THE COURT: Okay. Good. Thank you. 17
MR. LATH: Thank you, Your Honor. 18
THE COURT: Ms. Belware. 19
MS. BELWARE: Hi, Judge. 20
THE COURT: Good morning. 21
MS. BELWARE: Judge, I've lived -- I moved in 22
Oakbrook in 2000, and this April, I think the 13th probably, 23
will be 16 years. You mentioned 2003. That was a situation 24
where I looked out and Scott Sample was sawing one of the 25
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branches which was over my car. And the rules are, if they're 1
going to do any work they will notify you so you can move your 2
vehicle or whatever. And so I went downstairs, and I was -- he 3
was told not to have any contact with me, and don't talk at 4
him, whatever, and so I have -- I am going to -- the manager 5
was there. That was Francis White at the time, and I said to 6
him, I said, "All you had to do is just let me know. I would 7
have moved my car." 8
And I heard Scott Sample say, "Why don't you" -- 9
whatever -- "F yourself." And so I walked over to my car and 10
his truck was parked across the back of my car, which I 11
couldn't back out. I wanted to move it. So said, "Would you 12
move your car, please -- your truck, please?" He said, "Kiss 13
my" -- and I said, "Look it," I says, "I want to get my car out 14
of here. I don't want you sawing that over my car." And so he 15
said, "Eff you," whatever, and, "Kiss my butt." And I says, 16
"It looks too much like your face." That's what I answered. 17
And so that's one of the things. 18
Oh, and then the police came. I had to have the 19
police come. And they talked to him. And he -- when the 20
police were talking to him he said, "I'll have her condo." 21
That's what he told the police. 22
THE COURT: Okay. 23
MS. BELWARE: He says, "And this" -- 24
THE COURT: Now remember, this is -- I'm sure that 25
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was a day you don't -- 1
MS. BELWARE: Yeah. 2
THE COURT: -- like to think about. 3
MS. BELWARE: No. 4
THE COURT: But that's -- 5
MS. BELWARE: Okay. That's it for that. 6
THE COURT: -- over ten years ago. 7
MS. BELWARE: Yeah. Okay. So then -- 8
THE COURT: So let's -- 9
MS. BELWARE: So then February 4th I went into the 10
gym -- 11
THE COURT: Of this year? 12
MS. BELWARE: Yes. 13
THE COURT: Okay. 14
MS. BELWARE: '15 -- '14, I'm sorry. '14. Or was it 15
'15? '14. I'm just not sure. '14 or '15, Judge. 16
THE COURT: All right. Still, remember, I'm looking 17
at what there's -- is there an immediate risk of harm. 18
MS. BELWARE: Or is it February, '14? It was '15, 19
I'm sorry. 20
THE COURT: All right. 21
MS. BELWARE: And so I came out of the gym and I was 22
going to go for a little walk, and I came to a stop sign and 23
there was -- I think it's a bulldozer with this big bucket, and 24
it was picking up snow and moving it to another pile. And so I 25
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stood at the stop sign and waited and -- because the girl, I 1
couldn't get her attention. She was talking to the driver. He 2
had backed it up and he stopped. Then he shut the ignition 3
off. So when that happened I said, "Excuse me," and she -- she 4
turned around and she walked towards me. So I walked over to 5
her. I says -- you know, I says, "Could I go, you know, over 6
here?" And by the time I said that, I did see Scott at first, 7
he runs over. He runs over this bucket thing and he's saying, 8
"Listen you stupid B," he says, "Why don't you go around the 9
back of that thing?" And -- because then when I noticed him I 10
didn't want to go over there because he was on the other side. 11
So -- and he kept swearing at me, and he says, "Go 12
ahead, move, move, bitch." He says, "You old bag." So I went 13
around the back of thing. And when I went around the back, he 14
ran over on the other side and then he started following me. 15
There was a lady there from Warrens, and she just stood there. 16
And he was saying, "Come on, move, move, move, bitch. You old 17
bag. If I had a face like that I'd stay home." And he -- I 18
says, "Scott, get away from me. Don't bother me." I says, 19
"Because I'll call the police." But he kept following me. And 20
finally he stopped, and he -- as he was walking back to the 21
girl he says, "Barbara Belware's a troublemaker. Barb" -- and 22
he kept repeating that. So I went for the walk, and I went 23
around, and then I went back home. And I did call the police 24
department and told them about that. And that was one of the 25
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things. 1
THE COURT: All right. And so let's -- anything 2
that's -- 3
MS. BELWARE: And then -- 4
THE COURT: -- in very recent -- 5
MS. BELWARE: Yep. Then when I went into -- let's 6
see. I was into my carport. That was this year. I think it 7
was this year. I guess there was a problem. The lightening 8
hit something and lights were out or something. And he was on 9
a phone, and I could hear him talking. I guess it was the 10
alarm people or something. And so I drove my car in the 11
carport, and then I -- and I had my windows all open. And 12
dialed to call my friend, Diane, who was sitting here, and I 13
said, "Diane," I says -- and we were just gabbing away. And I 14
said, "I just got home," or whatever. And I was there for -- I 15
don't know how long I was there. 16
But then I heard -- and I was kind of leaning on the 17
door, and I have a phone like this. And then I heard, "Are you 18
going to stay in your car all night?" And he was standing 19
right at the door, right at my car door. And I just shut the 20
windows and whatever, and Diane says -- she says, "That sounds 21
like Scott." I said, "It was." She said, "Well, what is he 22
bothering you for?" And I just said, "Well, I'm going to see 23
where he is because I don't want to get out of the car now." 24
So I sat there for a few minutes and I didn't see him around. 25
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So then I -- I went out and I says, "I'll call you when I get 1
upstairs." She says, "Yeah, call me." So I went upstairs and 2
then I called her. 3
Another thing was, it was brought to my attention 4
that Gerard Dufresne, who is also here, Your Honor, said to -- 5
said -- well, I guess he told his dad and that. He said that 6
he was over -- he worked for Oprah, and he said that I went in 7
there. And after I left, he said Scott had a ratchet in his 8
hand, he said, "And, Barbara, he said -- he says, 'I'd like to 9
smash her head with this,'" he said, and he did the motion, he 10
said, and everything. Like, you know, "I'd like to smash her 11
head." 12
And then I had -- then, you know -- let's see what 13
else. I mean, there was -- 14
THE COURT: When did -- when did that occur? Let's 15
back up a little bit on that one. Mister -- you said 16
Mr. Dufresne, so. 17
MS. BELWARE: That -- oh, God, geez, I don't -- I -- 18
he probably knows the date exactly. I don't remember. 19
THE COURT: Was it this year? 20
MS. BELWARE: Last year. 21
THE COURT: Sometime in 2015? 22
MS. BELWARE: Yeah, because now he -- yeah, he -- 23
yeah, he was still there, Your Honor. 24
THE COURT: Okay. 25
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MS. BELWARE: And he's been told many times not to 1
have -- I've asked him to please -- I ask him to leave me 2
alone. And he's been told. I have a letter just from 3
September 15th from Bill Maury who was here also, for Oprah. 4
And he told me that he would -- he told Scott that I -- he 5
says, "I directed Scott Sample not to have anything to do with 6
you," blah, blah, blah, blah. And then he said, "And I would 7
like the same from you." Believe me, I don't want anything to 8
do with him, Your Honor. 9
THE COURT: All right. 10
MS. BELWARE: And so -- but then -- but then after 11
that happened, I got that letter, then I -- I've been there 16 12
years, Your Honor, and I've never had my locks changed. Then I 13
said I want to have my locks changed. And they have a rule 14
that if you change the locks, okay, you have to have the -- 15
which is Scott Sample, the management, he has to do it. But 16
he's been told, and I was told, that the only thing he's going 17
to do in my condo is to come in in an emergency. Otherwise, 18
he's not going to do any kind of work, and that's changing 19
locks or anything. And so I asked a person, he's -- his 20
business is in Pinardville, I guess, or Goffstown, and I told 21
him the situation. I said, "How soon can you come over here?" 22
And he says -- he says, "Barbara, I'll come over. You know, 23
I'll be there in about a couple hours." So I said, "Okay." 24
And he came, and he was changing the locks, and the 25
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next thing I hear, and I was standing right near the -- he was 1
right here working on the door. He was kind of like half in 2
the hall and whatever. And I heard Scott Sample say, "Are you 3
changing Barbara's locks?" He's yelling at this -- what do you 4
call it -- locksmith. And I looks out and I said, "Scott, 5
you're not supposed to be bothering me. You're not supposed to 6
be here. Would you please leave?" 7
And so, you know -- and then the guy -- they guy told 8
me, "And I had intentions of giving keys to the office." Okay? 9
Because he has to have keys. Your Honor, I've had many -- 10
three or four times someone came into my condo, left their 11
prints and that, and I've called the police department. And 12
there's a couple of reports there. And the last time I called 13
was the Officer Bowen, I think it was or something. 14
THE COURT: All right. Remember, let's stay focused 15
on what the -- 16
MS. BELWARE: Yeah. 17
THE COURT: -- restraining order request is. 18
MS. BELWARE: Okay. So -- so the changing of the 19
locks is because I don't want him coming in my condo. I want 20
him to -- with his keys. I don't want him to have a key 21
because I'm afraid of him. Every time I turn around he -- I go 22
in the gym and he attacks me in the gym. And then -- 23
THE COURT: Well, wait a minute. Don't -- let's be 24
careful about phrases about that. What do you mean he attacked 25
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you in the gym? 1
MS. BELWARE: Well, because he went in the gym and I 2
was on a -- I guess a treadmill or something. And when he 3
walked out he slammed the door. So I reported it to -- there 4
was another lady in there, I think Sandy, but I really don't 5
know her, but she was in there. And I reported it to the 6
board. And I got a letter back from the board, "Well, you 7
know, Barbara, you have had -- many times you've had problems 8
with him. You need to stop bothering him, and you need to stay 9
away from him." And it -- I'm in there exercising. 10
THE COURT: All right. All right. So is there 11
anything else of a recent, very recent, like -- 12
MS. BELWARE: Well -- 13
THE COURT: -- event -- 14
MS. BELWARE: -- the lock -- the lock is the most 15
recent, and that was the 15th of this year. 16
THE COURT: 15th of what month? 17
MS. BELWARE: March. 18
THE COURT: All right. 19
MS. BELWARE: And he's had other -- like Janet Riley, 20
she sent a letter, and she said to me that, you know, "I have 21
told Mr. Sample not to have any contact with you whatsoever." 22
But he doesn't listen. 23
THE COURT: All right. And from what I hear, tell me 24
if I'm correct, there's been a pattern that you see of verbal 25
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harassment, shouting, saying things that are rude, maybe -- 1
MS. BELWARE: That were belittling to me. 2
THE COURT: Okay. 3
MS. BELWARE: When I was walk -- when I -- like I 4
mentioned when I was walking and that machine was there with a 5
big dump thing, he -- when I had wanted to walk over here, and 6
all the -- I didn't want to walk in the back of the machine 7
because I was afraid it might roll back. Usually they put 8
blocks on those wheels, and that was my main thing. But then 9
when I saw Scott, I didn't want to walk in the back either. 10
But he come flying over there and, "Listen, you stupid B," and, 11
"You old bag," and all of this. 12
THE COURT: Okay. All right. Let me -- 13
MS. BELWARE: It just went on and on. 14
THE COURT: I've heard that. 15
MS. BELWARE: And he kept following me, Your Honor, 16
right on my back. 17
THE COURT: All right. Okay. Good. Thank you. 18
MR. LATH: Your Honor, I just want to add, we have 19
Senator Jeanne Boleo (phonetic throughout). 20
MS. BELWARE: Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. 21
MR. LATH: And she was as an advocate. She was there 22
for two annual meetings, and she would testify today how Scott 23
Sample threatened at the -- her and Barbara Belware at the 24
meetings. 25
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THE COURT: All right. Thank you. And we -- 1
MS. BELWARE: I'm sorry, I forgot. 2
THE COURT: That's okay. That's all right. 3
All right. So why don't you have a seat. 4
MS. BELWARE: Thank you. 5
THE COURT: I want to hear from Mr. Sample's lawyer 6
in response. 7
MR. BISSON: Thank you, Your Honor. And by way of 8
offer of proof, Mr. Sample is here, and he would testify that 9
everything that you just heard is absolutely false. There is 10
harassment going on, but it's not harassment from Mr. Sample to 11
the Plaintiffs; it's the other way around. 12
The Plaintiffs, Mr. Lath and Ms. Belware, are 13
constantly in his way. Mr. Sample has worked for Oakbrook 14
Condominium Association for 23 years. He manages a property of 15
192 residents. He has keys to every -- he has a master key, 16
under the condo documents, he is authorized and required to 17
have a master key for health and safety reasons to every unit 18
except for theirs. They have changed their locks. They have 19
decided to take it upon themselves to ignore the condominium 20
documents. 21
Some people should not live in condominiums, Your 22
Honor, and those people are here today. They constantly harass 23
Mr. Sample. They're in his face. They're in his way. You 24
have heard Ms. Belware talk about interfering with contractors 25
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on the property. Constantly making it impossible for him to do 1
his job. And just for an example, Your Honor, I'm going to 2
list the number of ongoing litigation matter where those two 3
are suing the association and/or prior property managers and 4
what have you. 5
There are three HUD complaints. There is a District 6
Court matter pending against Mr. Sample. There are two civil 7
actions pending in this court, Your Honor. They're -- they 8
have filed an attorney discipline office complaint against me. 9
They have filed a Bar complaint against me in Maine. They have 10
filed a writ of cert against me in New Hampshire. And they are 11
saying that they are harassed. But it's absolutely the other 12
way around, Your Honor. 13
With respect to the facts that you have heard, if 14
you've heard any facts, Your Honor, Your Honor is exactly on 15
point, nothing is recent. The worst fact that you heard was an 16
incident that happened in 2003. After the 2003 incident 17
Ms. Belware, in 2006, filed an attempt to get a civil 18
restraining order against the-then property manager, and it was 19
denied by this court. This court, and I have a copy of the 20
order, said that Ms. Belware was completely incredible and not 21
to be believed. So to the extent that she felt threatened by 22
something that happened in 2003, she used this court process in 23
2006 against a prior property manager, and was denied the 24
relief she sought. 25
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What you have heard is -- at worst you have heard 1
insults. That is at worst. If you believe everything that 2
they say, Your Honor, and I would encourage you not to, you 3
have heard abusive language. That is it. For Mr. Lath you 4
have heard that someone posts things on his door and he is 5
offended by that. The reason that things get posted on his 6
door is because that's how the property management company at 7
Oak Brook communicates with its residents. 8
THE WITNESS: Well, that wasn't his statement. It 9
was not the posting; it was the sort of aggressive form of 10
posting and banging and rattling on the door. Do you deny all 11
of that? 12
MR. BISSON: Which Mr. Sample would deny. He posts 13
things on everybody's door that he needs to post. And if he 14
was in the process of rattling and -- and engaging people for 15
192 residents that's all he'd be doing all day is going around 16
posting and antagonizing people. 17
So he -- the facts that you've heard are simply -- if 18
you assume everything they said is true, there's nothing that 19
supports a civil harassment restraining order, Your Honor. 20
There's no irreparable harm. There is no immediacy. There is 21
nothing that has occurred in the recent past. And in addition 22
to that, Mr. Sample denies everything that you have heard, Your 23
Honor. 24
THE COURT: And is it your explanation of -- well, 25
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let me ask it more directly. The people that they say are here 1
and would describe the events that they testified to, do you 2
think they -- they're wrong, they didn't see those things, they 3
have a different explanation for them? 4
MR. BISSON: Again -- again, even if you assume the 5
truth of them -- I do think that they're wrong. I was at that 6
annual meeting that they talked about, as were -- the back row 7
over there, Your Honor, is residents of Oak Brook who would be 8
here to support Mr. Sample. So if we're going to line up 9
people to testify, they would all support what Mr. Sample would 10
say. But I was at that annual meeting. Ms. Boleo was at that 11
meeting. I don't know if she's a senator or representative, I 12
don't know what her capacity is. I don't know what her 13
capacity was at that meeting. But she was rude and 14
belligerent, and I was there. So we can -- we can both take 15
the stand, we can both swear to that. 16
And, in any event, Your Honor, that was in November 17
of 2015. That does not rise to the level of something that 18
this Court should pay attention to for purposes of a civil 19
restraining order. You haven't heard anything from any of 20
those people that would say that there's an immediate threat of 21
irreparable harm right now, currently. 22
THE COURT: What -- 23
MR. BISSON: Mr. Sample has a job to do, and he does 24
it very well. Oak Brook is a beautiful property, if you're 25
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familiar with it. It's mostly due to his efforts. I think the 1
people that are on this side of the courtroom would testify 2
that it's well managed, it's professionally managed, that they 3
have never had incidences with Mr. Sample. It is simply these 4
two people who, for whatever reason, don't like him and have 5
decided to take on a personal vendetta against the association 6
and Mr. Sample. 7
THE COURT: Well, it sounds like it's more than just 8
two individuals. I mean, there are people here who are here in 9
support of the two Plaintiffs. And it -- from what I've heard, 10
things don't rise to the level of a restraining order because 11
it's hard to see what the eminent threat of irreparable harm 12
is. But there's definitely a flavor of volatility and verbal 13
instability, however, we'll put it that way, which is a fancy 14
word for rudeness. And if that's going on, that may not be 15
something that the Court needs to be ruling on, but it's 16
absolutely something that the management of the organization 17
should make sure gets tamped down. It's not pleasant for 18
people. It only leads to further escalation. 19
I don't know the facts. I wasn't there. But 20
descriptions of someone who is shouting, using foul language, 21
belittling people is -- is unacceptable. And I -- you know, I 22
can't reconstruct everything that's gone on, but it's 23
disturbing to hear someone describe that sort of behavior on 24
anyone's part. 25
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MR. BISSON: And it occurs on that side of the table 1
as well, Your Honor. And I've heard it personally. I have 2
heard that language personally and in a meeting. I agree with 3
you, there's no place for it. But there's no place for a civil 4
restraining order to correct rude behavior. A civil 5
restraining order is an extraordinary remedy, Your Honor, and 6
it's not appropriate here. There's insufficient facts to rise 7
to the level of a restraining order, Your Honor. 8
THE COURT: All right. I want to give the two of you 9
an opportunity to respond to what Attorney Bisson said. I told 10
you I'd do that. 11
MS. BELWARE: You want to go first? 12
MR. LATH: Yeah. 13
THE COURT: And I -- so I want to give you that 14
chance right now. 15
MR. LATH: Your Honor, I -- I'm not -- 16
THE COURT: One moment. Somebody's ringing. Do you 17
know who that is? Thank you. It's just hard for the monitor 18
to have that going on. Go ahead. 19
MR. LATH: Your Honor, Attorney Bisson just said that 20
the only way to communicate, Scott Sample, is through by 21
posting letters on people's doors. However, I have a letter 22
from Attorney Bisson dated October 13th where he states that, 23
"We request you to communicate by email only. The staff denies 24
this allegation and insists that it's you who have been abusive 25
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and threatening." And in regards to the letter, Attorney 1
Bisson fails to account for that how does he contradict his own 2
letter where he asked me to communicate via email but allows 3
the office staff to go out -- go around and post letters. 4
Posting letters on my door, Your Honor, is his 5
pretext of causing that ruckus and trying to intimidate and 6
harass me. So I do believe there is an immediate damage of 7
harm to my life. Because I am basing it on competing harms 8
claims, which he states in this letter, "In order to prevent 9
any competing harm claims." And I have honored his request and 10
have communicated via email; however, the staff refuses to do 11
that despite my several requests. Seven letters were posted 12
because he wants a copy of my keys, but he fails to enumerate 13
what the immediate danger is that he needs a copy of my unit 14
keys of the 192 units that the condominium houses. There has 15
been no fire, I called the fire department, since 1996. They 16
could go back. There has been no fire in Oprah. Then what is 17
the immediate need for a copy of my unit keys. 18
THE COURT: All right. Anything else? 19
MR. LATH: No. 20
THE COURT: Anything else, ma'am? 21
MS. BELWARE: Yes, please. As far as being malicious 22
to me and calling me names and things, when I went over to pay 23
my condo fee, I don't know the exact date, I was with my 24
friend, Diane, who is here again. And, see, anytime I go over 25
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there, because of their behavior, him and the management, I 1
would have somebody with me. I never wanted to go alone 2
because of their behavior. Could I have -- 3
THE COURT: I know this is personally emotional to 4
you, but I do think that the tests that I have to apply here is 5
pretty strict, and it has to be a showing of an immediate 6
threat of irreparable, non-fixable harm before I can issue a 7
restraining order. And I don't see that here. I do see -- I 8
do see just a real breakdown in people's ability to interact. 9
And it's a shame because it makes it difficult for everyone, 10
whether you're the people on the battle lines or the people who 11
are living around that. And there's a kind of -- it sucks the 12
energy out of people to have that kind of stuff going on all 13
the time. 14
MS. BELWARE: Well -- 15
THE COURT: And so -- yes. 16
MS. BELWARE: I'm sorry. 17
THE COURT: No, it's all right. 18
MS. BELWARE: Well, when I went over there with 19
Diane, I brought her over to pay my condo fee, when we were 20
going to leave Scott says, "Get out of here you bitch." And I 21
just turned around and looked at him. And then -- and Diane 22
looked at me, and he says, "And you, too, you old bitch," to 23
her. He doesn't know her, and she's here today, also. 24
THE COURT: Okay. 25
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MS. BELWARE: But as far the -- a restraining order, 1
his behavior, it's like he's violent. He gets violent, and 2
he's very, very abusive. And when you're -- like when he 3
followed me, he followed me all the way over. In fact, when I 4
went over to help Sanjeev, what, just a month ago or something, 5
he followed me. He's in his truck, and he parked his truck 6
like right over, and Sanjeev's building is right there, and he 7
sat there for I don't know how long. So when I got inside the 8
door, I looked at those windows on each side of the door, and I 9
looked out and he still was there. He still stayed there, and 10
he had a snipe on his plate, and he stayed there. And he's 11
done that a few times. And -- 12
THE COURT: Okay. So -- 13
MS. BELWARE: And then especially with the -- and 14
then with -- what's his name -- Gerard telling me about -- 15
about that ratchet thing. 16
THE COURT: All right. This is -- we're going to 17
have to wrap this up. We've got a couple of other things and 18
trial starting at 10:00. 19
So I -- I will write a quick order in writing that 20
repeats this, but I'll just tell you right now, I don't see a 21
basis for a restraining order. I do really encourage everyone, 22
and that includes the management of the association, to take 23
steps to improve communications, to discipline your own 24
employees, to encourage, however it needs to happen in 25
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meetings, a greater degree of stability. No one deserves to be 1
pushed around. No one deserves to be intimidated. You all 2
have to live together, and you should be able to live together 3
and not have to have the sense that somebody's being bullied. 4
And I get the absolute impression, Mr. Sample, that 5
you're bullying them. Now I -- that's not a basis for a 6
restraining order, but that's what comes to me loud and clear. 7
And they may be vexing people. They may be people who annoy 8
you. They may be people you don't like. But that doesn't give 9
you the right to bully them. 10
You all got to get along. You've got to put up with 11
the management rules. You got to put up with difficult people 12
in the association. You don't want to have two camps in the 13
community that are all trying to, you know, always be in 14
conflict with each other. 15
So I'm going to deny the request for the restraining 16
order, but I really, really do encourage some effort to bring a 17
little greater sense of peace and respect to the community. 18
MR. BISSON: Thank you, Your Honor. 19
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Your Honor -- 20
THE COURT: I'm sorry, we're not able -- we're not 21
taking evidence. It's really just the two what we called 22
offers of proof. 23
(Proceedings concluded at 9:40 a.m.) 24
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CERTIFICATE
I, Tami S. Mayes, CET-547, a court approved
transcriptionist/proofreader, do hereby certify that the
foregoing is a correct transcript from the official electronic
sound recording of the proceedings in the above-entitled
matter, to the best of my professional skills and abilities.
Tami S. Mayes, CET-547 April 15, 2016
Proofreader
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