WILLIAM THOMAS, ET AL., | Docket No. CA 94-2747 Plaintiffs, | | Washington, D.C. vs. | January 6, 1995 | 2:50 p.m. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ET AL.,| Defendants. | | _________________________________|
APPEARANCES:
For the Plaintiffs:
accurately, fully and correctly answer all proper questions put to them by counsel and the Court, and to do so without any bias, fear, prejudice, or sympathy in favor of or against any person or party involved in this case. Therefore, do you agree and declare under the pain and penalty of perjury or false statement to accurately and fully testify as to all the facts as you know them in this case, properly put to you in questions by counsel and the Court? If your answer is yes, please say, "I do."
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q Mr. Kahn, do you remember the afternoon of December 22nd?
A Yes, I do.
Q Did you have any reason to go over to the U. S. Attorney's Office?
A Yes, I did.
Q And could you tell us the address?
A They are located at 555 - 4th Street, Northwest, Washington, D. C.
Q And would you tell us what you did when you went there?
A I entered the U. S. Attorney's Office and signed the log; went through the metal detector. I asked the Marshal what floor I should go to in order to conduct a service of process. The Marshal then told me I should go to the third floor, which I did. I went to the receptionist, who sits inside a glass booth, and I told the receptionist that I was here to serve pleadings and so forth. And the receptionist then took them from me, and that was the entire transaction.
Q Did you later sign --
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q What did you do after you served the papers over at the U. S. Attorney's Office?
A I then -- well, I'm not exactly sure what you mean. In other words, I served the papers and then left the office.
Q And where did you go after you left?
A I returned to my office.
Q Do you remember a press conference that took place in front of the courthouse on that date?
A Yes, I do.
Q And when did you see that?
A Okay. I did go to the press conference prior to serving the papers. The press conference was held in front of the U. S. District Court building. And then I was asked to then go and serve the papers during this press conference. I served the papers as I described earlier, and then returned to the site of the press conference in front of the U. S. District Court building.
Q And when you returned, do you recall going into the courthouse with me?
A Yes.
Q And would you explain what it was that you did when you went into the courthouse?
A We then went to the Clerk's Office and some papers were served there, because we had to serve the papers on the U. S. Attorney to be sure that that was done, which is what I did. WE then went to the Clerk's Office in this building, U. S. District Court building, to give the same set of papers, an additional copy of the same set of pleadings to the Clerk.
Q And did you have any occasion to sign anything while you were in the Clerk's Office?
A Yes. I signed the Certificate of Service, signifying that I had already served this same set of pleadings at the U. S. Attorney's Office.
Q Do you recall where the clerk was standing when you signed that document?
A In other words, what room? Is that what you're asking?
Q No. I'm saying that there was a clerk.
A Right.
Q Did you have any conversation with the clerk, or did you overhear any conversation with the clerk?
A I overheard conversations concerning some procedural matters regarding the filing of these papers.
Q And then you signed the Certificate of Service.
A Yes.
Q And could you tell me how far you were standing from the
clerk when you signed the paper?
A I was a foot away I was very close to the clerk. I mean, I was right there when everything happened.
BY MS. RIDER:
Q When you served these papers on the third floor of the U. S. Attorney's Office, did you find out if that was where you're supposed to serve civil papers?
A When I entered the building and after I had gone through the search, I asked the Marshal. I told him, I said, "I have to serve some pleadings," and he said, "Well, you'll need to go" -I didn't know what floor to go to. So he said, "You should go to the third floor, to the receptionist." So that's where I went.
Q Did you say they we~e civil versus criminal?
A He did ask me that, and I said that as far as I know, I believed that they were criminal. And he told me that was the floor to go to. That's to the best of my recollection.
Q Did you tell anybody it was an emergency matter?
A No.