FLORIDA IN THE CIRCUIT COURT COUNTY OF ORANGE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT ___________________________ ) LAWRENCE M. DESTEFANO, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) vs. ) ) ADVENTIST HEALTH SYSTEM, ) FILE NUMBER: SUNBELT HEALTHCARE CORP; ) C10-00-7265(32) ADVENTIST HEALTH SYSTEM, ) SUNBELT, INC.; SUNBELT ) HEALTH CARE CENTERS, INC.; ) ORLANDO REGIONAL HEALTHCARE) SYSTEM, INC., ) ) Defendants. ) ___________________________) VIDEOTAPED DEPOSITION OF: DR. JOHN HUGH STEELY, M.D. SCHEDULED TO BE TAKEN ON: Thursday, August 12, 2004 Beginning at 2:00 P.M. * * * * * * TAKEN AT: Hampton Inn 115 Hampton Circle Laurinburg, North Carolina 27704 2 1 T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S 2 Title Page ...................................... 1 3 DR. JOHN HUGH STEELY, M.D. 4 Examination by Mr. Glick ....................... 4 5 Examination by Ms. Marshall .................... 77 Examination by Mr. Glick ....................... 89 6 Reporter's Certificate ......................... 96 7 Plaintiff's Exhibits 1 - 11 marked at beginning. Plaintiff's Exhibit 4 withdrawn. 8 9 A P P E A R A N C E S: 10 ON BEHALF OF THE PLAINTIFFS: 11 JOSEPH A. GLICK, ESQUIRE 12 9130 S. Dadeland Blvd, Suite 1218 13 Miami, Florida 33156 14 15 ON BEHALF OF THE DEFENDANTS: 16 TRACY A. MARSHALL, ESQUIRE 17 Gray & Robinson 18 301 East Pine Street, Suite 1400 19 Orlando, Florida 32801 20 21 DANNY EISEL, ESQUIRE (via phone) 22 Mateer & Harbert, PA 23 225 East Robinson 24 Landmark Center II, Suite 600 25 Orlando, Florida 32801 3 1 J O H N H U G H S T E E L Y (2:00 P.M.) 2 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: I am Larry Schadle, 3 the Videographer, and I represent Accurate Vision in 4 California. I am a Notary Public. 5 I am not financially interested in this action, 6 nor do I have relatives or employed with any attorneys or 7 any of the parties. 8 Today's date is August 12, 2004. The time is 9 two o'clock. This deposition is taking place at the Hampton 10 Inn, in Laurinburg, 115 Hampton Circle, Laurinburg, North 11 Carolina. 12 This is Case Number C10-00-7265(32) entitled 13 Destefano versus Adventist Health System, et al. This 14 deposition is being taken on behalf of the plaintiff. The 15 deponent is Doctor John Hugh Steely, M.D. The Court 16 Reporter is Mary Jo Goettler with Starkings Court Reporting 17 located in Fayetteville, North Carolina. 18 Counsel will now introduce themselves. 19 MR. GLICK: My name is Joseph Glick. 20 And I represent the Plaintiff Larry Destefano. 21 MS. MARSHALL: My name is Tracy Marshall and I 22 represent the Adventist entities and Doctor Steely. 23 MR. EISEL: My name is Danny Eisel and I 24 represent Orlando Regional Healthcare System. 25 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Ms. Court Reporter, 4 1 2 would you please swear the witness. 3 (Whereupon, 4 DR. JOHN HUGH STEELY, M.D. 5 was called as a witness, duly sworn to tell the 6 truth, and testified under oath, as follows:) 7 8 EXAMINATION BY MR. GLICK: 9 Q. Good afternoon, Doctor. Could you please tell 10 us your name and your business address for the record, 11 please? 12 A. Sure. My name is Doctor John Hugh Steely and my 13 office address is 515 Lauchwood L-a-u-c-h-w-o-o-d Drive, 14 Laurinburg, North Carolina 28352. 15 Q. And what is your specialty, Doctor? 16 A. Family practice. 17 Q. Have you ever practiced medicine at Florida 18 Hospital in Orlando, Florida? 19 A. Yes, during my training period. 20 Q. And when was that? 21 A. From August of '99 to June of 2002. 22 Q. So you started there in August of 1999? 23 A. Yes, I think. 24 Q. All right. Doctor, have you had an opportunity 25 to review your prior deposition that was taken in the case, 5 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 in this case of Destefano versus Adventist? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. And when was it that you reviewed that 5 deposition? 6 A. Last evening. 7 Q. And Doctor, I want to ask you a few questions 8 about that deposition if we can. And I will refer you to a 9 page and a line and that way you can follow along and we can 10 clear up a few matters? 11 A. Okay. 12 Q. If you would, turn to page 7, line 12, and at 13 this point, we had asked you about any records that you had 14 regarding Larry Destefano, or his mother, Carolina 15 Destefano. And you referred to a telephone encounter. Is 16 that attached to your deposition to your copy? 17 A. I believe so. 18 Q. Okay, good. On page 7, line 12 of the 19 deposition, you said, and referring to these notes that was 20 attached to Exhibit 1 to your first deposition, you said, I 21 have had a couple of pieces of paper that I have had some 22 personal notes had been put into our record regarding a 23 phone call. And I was wondering what you meant by, our 24 records? 25 A. Oh, I guess I meant the case, because I have 6 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 heard that this letter was going to be put in the case, and 3 then a letter that I had written at the request of, I think, 4 Doctor Milhoun and Doctor, or a Mr. Amick regarding, after 5 this phone call, that was sent over to Sunbelt. 6 Q. Okay. Now you said, put into the case, what do 7 you mean by that? 8 A. Well, I was just assuming that this was taken in 9 as part of the witness stuff that this was going to be 10 reviewed. 11 Q. Okay. Where did you, when you came to the last 12 deposition, you had this with you, where did you obtain it 13 from? 14 A. It was in the medical record. We use an 15 electronic medical record that's on file at the Residency 16 Program. I had actually just made a note about that after 17 the time of the phone call, and it had just been locked in 18 the computer basically for that long, for that period of 19 time. 20 Q. Okay, I gotcha. Now the -- there was also, if 21 you recall, Doctor, a letter that we have had marked to this 22 deposition as Exhibit Number 1, and it's dated September 23 22nd, 1999, and I am going to ask -- I am kind of at a 24 disadvantage here as far as reach -- but I will ask if your 25 attorney, Ms. Marshall, can pass that to you. 7 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 All right. Let me ask you, Doctor, first of 3 all, are you familiar with that letter? 4 A. Yes. 5 MS. MARSHALL: Do you have a copy for 6 me? 7 MR. GLICK: Yes, I do. 8 BY MR. GLICK: 9 Q. That letter September 22nd, 1999 which was just 10 marked as Exhibit 8 to Mr. Destefano's deposition, and 11 Exhibit 1 to this deposition, would that letter have also 12 been kept in the electronic record that you referred to? 13 A. No. 14 Q. Okay. Do you know where this letter would have 15 been stored after it was written? 16 A. I didn't store it. They just asked me to write 17 a letter, and so I gave them the letter, and then that was 18 the last I had ever seen it. 19 Q. Okay. When you say, they asked me to write a 20 letter, who are you referring to? 21 A. The Risk Management for the Florida Hospital. 22 Q. All right. And then you returned to it to them? 23 A. I returned it to them. 24 Q. Do you recall who that was at Risk Management at 25 this time? 8 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 A. I think it was Frances Weignam that originally 3 asked me for it. 4 Q. Okay. Now the notes that are attached to your 5 original deposition, your first deposition, regarding a 6 telephone call with Mr. Destefano, do you have a 7 recollection of that telephone call? 8 A. Just briefly. 9 Q. Okay. And do you have a recollection of the 10 events that are contained within the September 22nd, 1999 11 letter. 12 A. Not really. 13 Q. Would you be able to compare with your 14 recollection as far as the notes in Exhibit 1 to your first 15 deposition, which is the notes of the telephone call, to 16 your letter of September 22nd, 1999, in other words which do 17 you have a better recollection of? 18 A. Probably, I have a better recollection of the 19 note that I actually wrote following the phone call. 20 Q. Okay, the telephone call notes? 21 A. Correct. 22 Q. Do you know why that is you have a better 23 recollection of that? 24 A. Just because it's not as far distant from that 25 point. At the time I wrote the other letter, they just asked 9 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 me to write a letter stating what I had seen. That's what I 3 remember about the first letter. I didn't know about any 4 kind of a case or any, what was going on. I had written a 5 letter for them. But this I remember actually writing the 6 letter and then being advised to see John Amick at the time 7 and Doctor Milhoun to discuss the case. 8 Q. Okay. Now the notes would have been written I 9 believe in January of 2000, is that correct, the electronic 10 note? 11 A. Yes, I wrote it the day after. 12 Q. Okay. So that would have been January of 2000, 13 and the letter of September 22nd, 1999 was obviously 14 September 22nd, 1999 or thereabouts? 15 A. Uh-huh. 16 Q. There isn't much difference in the timeframe as 17 far as September 22nd, '99, to January of 2000, is that not 18 accurate, Doctor? 19 A. Four or five months, I mean it's -- 20 Q. Yeah. I mean, is that why you think you have a 21 more vivid recollection? 22 A. Well, like I said, I have a more vivid 23 recollection of this latter note because there is actually 24 something where I was involved in this. When I wrote the 25 original letter the first time, I was just asked to write a 10 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 letter. I really didn't know what the circumstances 3 regarding why I was writing this letter was done. 4 Q. All right. Doctor. Now I want to talk to you a 5 little bit about those notes that you -- Doctor, I want to, 6 after that technical difficulty there, I want to ask you 7 some questions about the notes. And I refer to the note, 8 actually it's a note, that was generated after the telephone 9 conference with Mr. Destefano back in January of 2000. And 10 on page 10, line 18 of your first deposition, you note there 11 that, the question was, okay, asked to call son in regards 12 to mother's investigation. That was taken from the actual 13 note, the first line I believe of that note says that. 14 A. Yes. 15 Q. And then the question after that was, do you 16 recall at that time what was the nature of the 17 investigation, and you said that, your answer was, Frances 18 Weignam had just called and asked me to call, saying that 19 Mr. Destefano had some questions regarding an investigation 20 regarding his mother. 21 And my question to you, Doctor, is, was it your 22 impression at that time, after speaking with Frances 23 Weignam, that she was conducting some type of an 24 investigation into the allegations surrounding Mr. 25 Destefano? 11 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 A. I really didn't have any kind of ascertations of 3 what was being said. They just said that there was an 4 investigation going on and I really had no clue of what was 5 going on. I know I had written a letter before that and 6 that was really the only inclination about what was going 7 on. So I didn't know what the context of why I was asked to 8 call him. 9 Q. And did you have an understanding of who was 10 conducting the investigation, whether it was Risk Management 11 or whether it was somebody else? 12 A. No. The first instance that I heard any word 13 investigation, was when I heard it from Mr. Destefano, 14 saying about his investigation on his mother. I really, at 15 that point, I didn't have an idea of why I was asked to 16 call. 17 Q. Well, the first line of your note says, I guess, 18 when Frances Weignam spoke to you, you heard of an 19 investigation, because the first line of the note says, 20 asked to call son in regards to mother's investigation? 21 A. Correct. 22 Q. All right. So Frances Weignam must have told 23 you there was some sort of an investigation? 24 A. I don't remember. I remember Mr. Destefano 25 saying that he was investigating his mother. And it was my 12 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 turn to help with the investigation. 3 Q. Okay. All right. Let's go to page 11, line 12 4 and let me just ask you this -- actually, let's start at 5 line 9. It says, from the time she left the Florida 6 Hospital in September of '99, until this point in time, did 7 anything come up regarding Mrs. Destefano or Mr. Destefano? 8 And your answer was, not to me personally, no. 9 Was there anything that you had heard around the 10 hospital in between September of '99 and this January 2000 11 note that had come up regarding Mrs. Destefano or Mr. 12 Destefano? 13 A. Not that I remember. 14 Q. The reason I asked that, Doctor, is because you 15 said, not to me personally, no, and I was wondering if there 16 was something else, that had came up to somebody else that 17 you were aware of? 18 A. I don't remember, no. 19 Q. All right. Let's move on, Doctor, to page 15, 20 line 21. And there, this is again where you were asked to 21 give a call to Mr. Destefano and this refers to the note of 22 January of 2000, and line 21, your answer to a series of 23 questions was, they just asked me to give him a call to find 24 out what his concerns were. So that's what I would do 25 initially, and then it goes on. They -- you said Frances 13 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Weignam asked you to call? 3 A. That's who I remember asking me to call, Risk 4 Management. 5 Q. All right. And when you said they, do you mean 6 Risk Management basically or do you mean somebody other than 7 Frances Weignam? 8 A. Just Frances Weignam which is from Risk 9 Management. 10 Q. All right. Let's look now at page 19, line 13. 11 Question: Okay, all right. And then the memo concludes by 12 saying, in response, I said I would try to investigate it 13 further and be of more assistance, but I do not remember the 14 the name of the nurse who told this to me. Okay. Okay. 15 Now at the end there, you said, I do not 16 remember the name of the nurse who told this to me, and when 17 I questioned you about that, I was reading from the note of 18 January 2000, and did you investigate any further after you 19 had told Mr. Destefano that you would? 20 A. Yeah, I tried to find out who the nurse at the 21 time was, but when I would be on the floor to see if I just 22 recognized her, if I had run across her. That was the 23 extent of what I tried to find out who it was, because like 24 I said, I don't really remember the name of the nurse. I 25 kind of have a vague description. So I didn't know if she 14 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 had left, or what, so -- 3 Q. You didn't see that nurse there at any time 4 thereafter? 5 A. I don't remember. 6 Q. All right. But if you had seen that nurse 7 afterwards, you would have spoken to her about it? 8 A. Yes, probably. 9 Q. And then recontact Mr. Destefano? 10 A. I would have tried, yes. 11 Q. All right. So now that nurse was -- you had 12 described her as middle-aged, and short red haired nurse, 13 correct? 14 A. Correct. 15 Q. And she had, you had testified in your earlier 16 deposition that she had told you that she had observed Mr. 17 Destefano place his knee in his mother's back and had 18 dragged her down a hallway? 19 A. Correct. I think that's the wording. 20 Q. Okay. Did you call Mr. Destefano back at any 21 time and tell him that you tried to locate that nurse again, 22 but you did not see her anymore? 23 A. I don't recall. 24 Q. Did you understand that this was a very serious 25 matter to Mr. Destefano? 15 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 A. Sure. I mean, he was obviously disgruntled when 3 he, when he called me and was upset about things. But I 4 mean, yes, I understood that it to be a very important 5 matter to Mr. Destefano. 6 Q. But the only other assistance that you provided 7 to him, after promising that you would investigate this, was 8 to look to see if the nurse was there, was around, and then 9 not even call him back? 10 A. I guess, yes. 11 Q. What you were kind of hoping was, was that Mr. 12 Destefano -- you were just trying to get rid of Mr. 13 Destefano? 14 MS. MARSHALL: Object to the form. 15 BY MR. GLICK: 16 Q. Is that accurate? 17 A. I need to ask my attorney on it. 18 MS. MARSHALL: You can go ahead and 19 answer. 20 THE WITNESS: Like I said, I mean, I was 21 very busy. And then, you know, I tried to find her as long 22 as I could just randomly when I kind of came up through 23 here. But then by that time, they had started, January kind 24 of come around and I think the investigation had started 25 so -- 16 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 BY MR. GLICK: 3 Q. What investigation had started in January? 4 A. Well, this question that I was having to write 5 the letter and then had to go speak with Mr. Amick at that 6 time so -- 7 Q. Well, I am a little bit confused. Which letter 8 are you referring to now? 9 A. The January. 10 Q. The note where you had the conversation with Mr. 11 Destefano? 12 A. Correct. 13 Q. And then you said the investigation started at 14 about that time? 15 A. Oh, I don't know if the investigation had 16 started. I just said, you know, I was told that they were 17 having some issues with Mr. Destefano and then some other 18 people had been threatened by him, and that I needed to 19 speak with the security, and I talked with Doctor Milhone, 20 who, in turn, advised me to go see Mr. Amick at that time 21 so -- 22 Q. And who told you that there was an investigation 23 and that other people had been threatened? 24 A. Richard Milhone. 25 Q. Who is he? 17 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 A. He was the former Residency Program Director. 3 Q. All right. Doctor, let's take a look at page 4 24, line 8. And this was, you were talking here about you 5 bringing up to the rounding team, that you were on, what you 6 had heard about Mr. Destefano and his treatment of his 7 mother back in September of 1999, and there it says, page 8 24, line 8, and I am breaking into the answer, but I am not 9 trying to mislead you or anything. If you want to read the 10 whole answer, you can. But you say, I brought it up in the 11 discussion on the medical record as part of the Rounding 12 Team. I didn't understand that. What does that mean, as 13 part of the medical record? 14 A. I would -- my assumption would be, that the 15 medical record, I refer to the chart. 16 Q. Okay. Did you note in the medical record 17 anywhere that you discussed it with the Rounding Team? 18 A. I don't remember. But any notes that I make 19 have to be cosigned by the attending physician. 20 Q. All right. There seems to be, throughout your 21 physician's orders and the doctor's progress notes, there 22 seems to be your signature and not cosigned by the attending 23 physician? It seems to be -- 24 A. I don't have an explanation for that. 25 Q. All right. But in this statement here that you 18 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 discussed it on the medical record, did you mean by that, 3 that you would have noted what you told the Rounding Team 4 in the records? 5 A. Yeah, I mean, when we write a chart, the 6 attending comes around and he reviews all the charts, and 7 would cosign all of the charts, and we would discuss the 8 case with the Rounding Team, which is made up of another 9 intern, and myself, an upper level resident, and then the 10 actual attending physician. 11 Q. So if there is no note in the Florida Hospital 12 records of your advising the rounding team of what had been 13 told to you by any nurse, you would have no explanation for 14 that? 15 A. Correct. 16 Q. Now at the time, and I am talking about 17 September 1999, when all of this -- when Mrs. Destefano was 18 first at Florida Hospital, and before any claim was filed by 19 Mr. Destefano, or any lawsuit was filed by him, did you have 20 the opportunity at that time to discuss any inappropriate 21 behavior of Mr. Destefano with regard to his mother, 22 Carolina Destefano, with anyone? 23 A. Just with the rounding team, if there was, what 24 notes I had made in the chart regarding that. That would 25 have been the only person that I would have talked to. I 19 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 think in my last deposition, I mentioned how it would be a 3 violation of patient confidentiality to discuss a current 4 patient with anybody, other than who was directly involved 5 in her medical care. 6 Q. Okay. At that time, though, September 22nd, 7 1999, you did discuss some allegations with Frances Weignam 8 or John Amick, is that correct? 9 A. Not that I remember. All I remember is, that I 10 was asked to write a letter saying what I had noticed or 11 been privy to during the hospitalization. Like I said, I 12 didn't really know the circumstances of why I was writing 13 the letter. I was just asked to write a letter. 14 Q. Okay. But at that time, and you were told to 15 write the letter by, you told us earlier in this deposition, 16 by Frances Weignam and John Amick? 17 A. I believe so, somebody with Risk Management and 18 Doctor Milhone, I believe. 19 Q. Okay. Now at that time, they must have 20 realized that you had some knowledge about some allegations 21 against Mr. Destefano at that time? I mean, they wouldn't 22 have just come to you out of the blue and said, just write a 23 letter about Mrs. Destefano or/and Mr. Destesfano, correct? 24 MS. MARSHALL: Object to the form. 25 THE WITNESS: I -- I don't know what 20 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 their, their thoughts was. I was just -- I was just told to 3 do something and so -- 4 BY MR. GLICK: 5 Q. Well, what did they tell you? 6 A. Just to -- what I remember was, I was asked to 7 write a letter stating what I had seen or taken care of 8 during the case of Mrs. Destefano. I didn't have any form 9 of allegations or anything that I remember them telling me. 10 Q. All right. Do you mean to tell us that, at that 11 time, Mr. Amick or Mrs. Weignam didn't say to you that, 12 look, there are some complaints about Mr. Destefano and Mrs. 13 Destefano, and we want you to write down and if you saw 14 anything inappropriate or wrong? 15 A. Not that I recall. Like I said, the reason I 16 don't remember that letter as well as the first one, is 17 because I didn't know really what the context of writing the 18 letter was about. They just asked me to write a letter and 19 that's all I remember. 20 Q. They just came to you and said, write a letter 21 about Larry Destefano and his mother? 22 A. That's all I can remember. 23 Q. All right. Since the writing of that letter, 24 did you have the opportunity to discuss any allegations with 25 anybody from Risk Management? 21 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 A. I don't remember. 3 Q. Take a look at your deposition, Doctor, page 25, 4 line 4, do you have that? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. Have you discussed this case at all with anybody 7 from Risk Management at the Hospital. Answer: Yes. 8 Question: Okay. And who from Risk Management did you discuss 9 it with. I already stated that Frances Weignam I think and 10 then John Amick, who I guess he's considered Risk 11 Management, and Security. Now, at that time, apparently, 12 you did have a discussion with them? 13 A. Correct. 14 Q. Now is that the discussion leading up to the 15 September 22nd, 1999 letter? 16 A. No, I believe it was, when I talked with John 17 Amick, was after I had gotten the phone call in January, and 18 that's when I initially spoke to him. 19 Q. Okay. Doctor, let's -- I want to ask you some 20 questions now. You are represented at this deposition by 21 Tracy Marshall of the Gray/Robinson firm, is that accurate? 22 A Correct. 23 Q. And it is my understanding that you no longer 24 work at Florida Hospital? 25 A. That is correct. 22 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Q. The place you work at now, is that an Adventist 3 Health System Hospital? 4 A. No. 5 Q. In preparation for this deposition, did you have 6 the opportunity to speak with Mrs. Marshall? 7 A. A couple, a few times, yes. 8 Q. On those few occasions, about how long in total 9 would you say you spent with Mrs. Marshall in preparing for 10 your testimony here today? 11 A. I met with her briefly yesterday for about an 12 hour, and then I have had a few phone calls that lasted just 13 a few minutes. I don't know the exact number or the extent 14 of how long the conversations lasted. 15 Q. What is your -- what are the terms of your 16 engagement or your fee arrangement with Mrs. Marshall? 17 A. I think it's all covered through the Adventist 18 Health Systems since this occurred while I was in their 19 employment. 20 Q. Do you feel that you have an allegiance to them? 21 A. I mean, they were the one that provided my 22 training for my residency program so -- 23 Q. Do you feel you owe them something? 24 A. I don't know if I necessarily owe them anything. 25 I mean, I worked very long hours as a resident for them for 23 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 basically nominal fees. But they did offer my training so 3 that I could obtain my certification and my necessary 4 training. It is kind of like an alma mater school. Sure. 5 But I guess as much as you would owe your law school or 6 where ever you did your first year, an allegiance like that. 7 Q. All right. Are you here today obviously to 8 testify and you have been asked to be here today, but you 9 obviously want to help the Adventist Health Systems in this 10 case? 11 MS. MARSHALL: I object to the form. 12 THE WITNESS: I -- I just want to answer 13 that, you know, I have a deposition that I have to testify 14 to. That's all I really want to do. 15 BY MR. GLICK: 16 Q. All right. Now during September of 1999 at 17 Florida Hospital, at that time, you were a first-year 18 resident, is that correct? 19 A. An intern, uh-huh. 20 Q. First year intern, as opposed to first year 21 resident? 22 A. Well, as an intern, basically, it's the same 23 thing, but for certain, for most primary cares, there are 24 other specialty places, especially surgery. They require 25 you to do an internship, and then they may have a four or 24 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 five year residency program, but a first year -- I was in my 3 first year residency. 4 Q. And I think you told us earlier in the 5 deposition, you started in August of 1999, so at the time 6 that Mrs. Destefano was in the hospital, you had been there 7 about a month? 8 A. Yeah, a month, yeah, correct. 9 Q. And as the first-year resident, there are people 10 that you work under, is that correct? 11 A. Correct. 12 Q. There would be a senior resident? 13 A. Correct. 14 Q. Who was at that time Doctor Ronald Black? 15 A. I believe so. 16 Q. And there was an attending physician? 17 A. Correct. 18 Q. And who was that if you remember? 19 A. I believe it was Maneush Manicheri. 20 Q. Would there be anybody else on your team or 21 would those to be your only two supervisors? 22 A. Those would be my only two supervisors. There 23 was another intern, but I don't remember who it was. 24 Q. Okay. But he or she would be -- 25 A. Equal to me. 25 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Q. -- equal to you, parallel to you. Okay. And as 3 a first-year intern or resident, how many hours would you 4 work a day? 5 A. A day? 6 Q. During a 24 hour period, what would you average, 7 or a week, however you can best quantify it? 8 A. Well, depending on call, probably a 12 hour day, 9 and then you would have a call where you would be there the 10 rest of the night, up until afternoon the following day, and 11 that would probably occur once or twice a week, so, within a 12 week's period, if I didn't have the weekend, probably 13 seventy-five, eighty hours. 14 Q. And at that time, were you married? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. And did you have any children at that time? 17 A. No. 18 Q. Do you have children now? 19 A. I do. 20 Q. And how many children do you have now? 21 A. Two. 22 Q. Okay. 23 A. You are talking about when I was a first-year 24 intern? 25 Q. Yes, a first-year intern? 26 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 A. Yeah, I didn't have any children. 3 Q. Was your wife pregnant at that time or -- 4 A. No. It was during the deposition that she was 5 pregnant. 6 Q. All right. Now you obviously -- well, let me ask 7 this question. I am not sure it's obvious. Do you recall 8 Carolina Destefano? 9 A. I recall, I mean, faintly, but I don't have a 10 real recollection. I mean, I reviewed my testimony. I just 11 remember that she just looked younger than what her age was. 12 That's about what all I remember. 13 Q. Did you remember she was a very ill woman with 14 altzheimer's disease? 15 A. Correct, yes. 16 Q. And as part of your duties as a first-year 17 resident, you did provide care to her and treat her as a 18 doctor? 19 A. During her hospitalization, yes. 20 Q. That was the September 15th to the 19th 21 admission of 1999? 22 A. I -- actually I didn't take care of her over the 23 weekend. 24 Q. Okay? 25 A. Just during the week. I had the weekend off. 27 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Q. But during that -- 3 A. Hospitalization. 4 Q. -- hospitalization. And it's my understanding 5 that was the only admission that you saw her on? 6 A. Correct. 7 Q. And Doctor, by the way, we have here on the 8 table here, we have the Florida Hospital records which is 9 the gray or light blue binder there, write there. We have 10 the Sunbelt Nursing Home records. We have the Department of 11 Children and Family Service records, and we have the 12 depositions of Doctor Black, Frances Weignam, and Kendra 13 Blith, who we believe was the short-haired, short red-haired 14 nurse that you were referring to. By the way, did you ever 15 determine that that was Kendra Blith? 16 A. I don't know. 17 Q. Doctor, during that admission of September 1999, 18 did you ever personally witness, with your own eyes, witness 19 Larry Destefano abuse his mother? 20 A. No. I think I testified in the last deposition. 21 Q. And if you did, you would have reported that to 22 the Department of Children and Family Services? 23 A. Correct. 24 Q. Did you ever witness Mr. Destefano personally 25 engage in rough behavior with his mother? 28 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 A. No. 3 Q. Did you ever witness Mr. Destefano do any of 4 these acts towards his mother? 5 MS. MARSHALL: I object to the form. 6 What acts are you referring to? 7 MR. GLICK: I was just going to list 8 them. 9 MS. MARSHALL: Okay. 10 BY MR. GLICK: 11 Q. Did you ever witness Mr. Destefano knee his 12 mother in the back, place his knee in his mother's back? 13 A. No. 14 Q. Did you ever witness Mr. Destefano drag his 15 mother across the room or the hallway? 16 A. No. 17 Q. Did you ever witness Mr. Destefano either 18 force-feed or force water or another liquid down his 19 mother's mouth or throat? 20 A. No. 21 Q. As a matter of fact, you never witnessed Mr. 22 Destefano act inappropriately towards his mother in any way 23 while in your presence? 24 A. Correct. 25 Q. All right. Now Doctor, there came a time after 29 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Mrs. Destefano was transferred to Sunbelt Nursing Home that 3 you had occasion to draft a letter which was labeled Exhibit 4 82 in Mr. Destefano's deposition, and we have already had it 5 marked as Exhibit 1 to your deposition. Do you have that in 6 front of you, right, Doctor? 7 A. Correct. 8 Q. And I am going to ask you at this time if you 9 could go ahead and read the letter? 10 A. Okay. I first came into contact -- 11 Q. Look, look, before you even get to that, Doctor, 12 the top, and I realize that there is part of this is faint, 13 but I believe the top says, to whom it may concern? 14 A. I believe so. 15 Q. Can you tell me why it was that you addressed it 16 that way? 17 A. They just, they had asked me to write a letter 18 on, and I didn't really have any specifics on what I was 19 writing the letter for. They just said they needed a letter 20 of what I had seen or what had been told to me while I was 21 caring for her. So I didn't know anybody to make it out to 22 specifically. 23 Q. Okay. Again, this Frances Weignam -- she was 24 Risk Management for who? 25 A. Florida Hospital. 30 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Q. That was your understanding? 3 A. That was my understanding. 4 Q. Okay. Go ahead, Doctor? 5 A. Okay. R-e, I guess I am not sure what the first 6 word is. It just says, Carolina Destefano. 7 Q. Right. 8 A. September 22, 1999. I first came into contact 9 with Ms. Destefano and her son on her admission to Florida 10 Hospital on September 15, 1999. Her son had several 11 questions regarding quality of life, prognosis and treatment 12 for Alzheimer's disease, power of attorney, and euthanasia. 13 We discussed these matters to satisfaction at the time. I 14 informed the son that euthanasia is illegal in the State of 15 Florida. 16 Q. Let me just stop you there, Doctor. Mr. 17 Destefano didn't want his mother euthanized, did he? 18 A. Correct. 19 Q. Okay. He did not in other words? 20 A. Right. 21 Q. Okay. Go ahead. 22 A. Okay. It is illegal in the State of Florida. 23 His major focus issued on the quality of life for his mother 24 as an alzheimer's patient and wanting to follow her living 25 will. I ordered that Hospice be involved, as well as the 31 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 chaplain service in this discussion. As part of the Hospice 3 evaluation, I believe, wound care specialist examined and 4 began treating her for two perianal and left heel decubitus 5 ulcers. Mr. Destefano wanted to make it explicitly clear 6 that she had already developed these lesions while in the 7 care of the State of Arizona. During the eight months he 8 cared for her in Arizona, he did everything in his power to 9 make these ulcers heal. He asked if I would write this in 10 her chart so that no one would be -- 11 Q. Suspicious. 12 A. -- I can't really read that -- him abusing her. 13 Q. At this time, do you have a firm recollection of 14 Mr. Destefano asking you that, to write it in the chart so 15 that no one would be suspicious of him abusing her? 16 A. No, I don't. 17 Q. Okay. Please read on, Doctor? 18 A. Over the next two days, Mrs. Destefano's 19 condition improved. I assured Mr. Destefano he could 20 something -- 21 Q. Leave to find housing. 22 A. -- to find housing for them. Several of the 23 nursing staff reported that Mr. Destefano was interferring 24 with his mother's care and that the care he provided seemed 25 inappropriate. They could not say it was, something, 32 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 abuse, but perhaps the son did not know. 3 Q. Is that flagrant abuse? 4 A. I can't make any words out to be honest. 5 Q. Okay. 6 A. Nevertheless, I wrote an order that the son not 7 participate in care unless directed and educated by nursing 8 and physical therapy. Some examples reported that he would 9 place his knee in her back and pull her arms upward so that 10 she would stand continuously -- 11 Q. Inserted. 12 A. I don't know -- something to her mouth until 13 she began to gag so that she would reflexively swallow and 14 would literally -- 15 Q. Drag. 16 A. Something -- his mother to walk until she 17 became exhausted and her heel ulcer began to bleed. I 18 cannot in good faith -- I don't know what that word is -- 19 that Mr. Destefano abuses his mother. However in my 20 dealings with him in regarding her care and Mr. Destefano 21 appeared angry and defensive. 22 Q. And is that your signature at the bottom of the 23 letter? 24 A. I believe so. 25 Q. It says, sincerely, John H. Steely MD? 33 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 A. And Family Practice. 3 Q. Florida Hospital Family Practice Residency. It 4 is clearly typed John H. Steely MD, but my question to you 5 is, are you certain that that is your signature on there? 6 A. It looks like my signature. 7 Q. Okay. Do you remember signing the letter? 8 A. I remember signing the letter. 9 Q. But it seems to me, Doctor, that you are not 10 absolutely certain today that that's your signature? 11 A. Well, that's my signature. 12 MS. MARSHALL: Object to form. 13 BY MR. GLICK: 14 Q. Okay. You are sure of that? 15 A. I'm sure. 16 Q. Okay. All right. Now the letter is dated 17 September 22, 1999. Is that the date that you wrote the 18 letter? 19 A. I don't remember. 20 Q. Well, it certainly had to be on that date or 21 some date after. You wouldn't have written it before 22 September 22, 1999? 23 A. Correct. There seems to be a date stating that 24 it was faxed on September 24th so -- 25 Q. Yeah, and I want to ask you some questions about 34 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 that, Doctor. 3 Now at this time, September 22nd, 1999, let's 4 see, she was in Florida Hospital from September 15th to 5 September 19, 1999, so on September 22nd, she would not have 6 even be in Florida Hospital anymore? 7 A. Correct. 8 Q. And she would not have been a patient of 9 yourself? 10 A. Correct. 11 Q. As a matter of fact, at that time, Doctor, she 12 had already left Sunbelt Nursing Home? 13 A. I don't know. 14 Q. She was in Sunbelt the 19th, the 20th, and the 15 21st? 16 A. I don't know. 17 Q. Is this even part of the medical record, this 18 letter? 19 A. I don't know. I was just -- I was asked by my 20 Program Director and someone from Risk Management to write 21 this letter of what I had seen but without any really 22 specifics on what it was for. 23 Q. And the Program Director was who? 24 A. Richard Milhone. 25 Q. Now when we took your deposition the first time, 35 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 did you, you told us somebody from Risk Management asked you 3 to write this letter, you didn't mention Mr. Milhone? 4 A. Right. 5 Q. Why was that? 6 A. I may have not remembered. 7 Q. Doctor, if at any time you want to look in the 8 medical record, it's the closest binder to you on the table. 9 It's just a few feet away. Please feel free to look in the 10 record. 11 A. Okay. 12 Q. Doctor, did you, of your own free volition, 13 write this letter of September 22, 1999 which has been 14 marked as Exhibit 1? 15 A. I am sorry. Can you repeat that again? 16 Q. Yes. Doctor, of your own free volition, did you 17 write this letter? 18 A. This letter marked -- 19 Q. As Exhibit 1? 20 A. Yeah, I was asked to write this letter. 21 Q. And when you say, asked by Frances Weignam and 22 Doctor Milhone? 23 A. Correct. 24 Q. Was it more of an order than a request? 25 A. Yes. They asked me to just write a letter. I 36 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 don't remember actually being ordered. They just asked to 3 write a letter. I did, because I really didn't know what 4 the context of writing the letter was. 5 Q. Did you feel that, as a first-year resident, 6 only being on the job for about a month or so, that if the 7 person from Risk Management at Florida Hospital and Doctor 8 Milhone -- what was his position again, Doctor Milhone? 9 A. He was the Director. 10 Q. All right. The Director of the Program that you 11 were in, right? 12 A. Correct. 13 Q. If they asked you to do something, then you had 14 better do it? 15 A. Correct. 16 Q. And I think you have already told us in this 17 deposition at that time, all you recall them telling you 18 was, write a letter about what you observed with Larry 19 Destefano and his mother? 20 A. Correct. 21 Q. They didn't tell you that there had been any 22 allegations about Mr. Destefano at that time, or anything, 23 or anything unfavorable about Mr. Destefano? 24 A. Yes, not that I recall. 25 Q. Is it possible that they told you some more 37 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 things but you just don't remember them at this time? 3 A. Like I said, I believe I wrote the letter just 4 out of general context because I was asked to do so. I 5 didn't know the context of why, and I didn't know that she 6 had been discharged from Sunbelt at the time. 7 Q. Okay. Well, I mean, she was -- okay. 8 A. Because he just told me when she got out, I 9 remember. 10 Q. All right. Now I am still somewhat puzzled, 11 Doctor, as to, I understand why you wrote the letter. I 12 mean, somebody told yourto write it, so you wrote it, right? 13 A. Correct. 14 Q. What I am trying to understand is, at that time, 15 Mrs. Destefano was no longer a patient of yours. She was 16 no longer a patient of Florida Hospital's, and do you know 17 what the reasoning was for Risk Management having you write 18 that letter? 19 A. No. 20 Q. I realize you were only a first-year resident 21 but didn't you -- weren't you somewhat curious? Didn't you 22 want to ask them, you know, why am I writing this letter? 23 A. Yes, I was curious. But I was a first-year 24 resident. I had been there maybe, you know, two months. I 25 surely didn't want to stir any waves or tell my Residency 38 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Program Director, or people who were in charge of the 3 hospital, no. 4 Q. Now did, before -- well, let me ask you this. 5 Did you personally type this letter, the Exhibit 1, the 6 September 22, 1999 letter? 7 A. I don't remember. 8 Q. Do you remember if you -- 9 A. Either I or my wife may have typed it for me. 10 Or not my wife, I think I typed it myself. 11 Q. And did you -- was this a final draft. I mean, 12 were there drafts of the letter before, or did you just type 13 this write out like this? 14 A. I don't recall. 15 Q. I mentioned -- you mentioned earlier in your 16 first deposition that you were not a good typist, but there 17 doesn't seem to be any mistakes in this letter? 18 A. Correct. 19 Q. And do you recall how long it took you to type 20 it? 21 A. No, I don't. 22 Q. Did you write the letter at home? 23 A. I don't recall. 24 Q. Was it out of a computer or an old fashioned 25 typewriter? 39 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 A. I don't remember. I think it was -- no, I don't 3 recall. 4 Q. Would this have been -- could this have been the 5 same or similar like an electronic medical record that you 6 used at the hospital? 7 A. No, because the electronic medical record, all 8 of the notes had to be cosigned by the attending before you 9 could sign off and print. 10 Q. Okay. 11 A. But there were computers at the hospital in the 12 Residency Program that I could have used. 13 Q. Okay. So you don't remember where you wrote 14 the letter? 15 A. Correct. 16 Q. But this was personally typed by you, as opposed 17 to dictated into a machine of some kind? 18 A. Correct. 19 Q. That part you do remember? 20 A. I do remember. 21 Q. But you don't remember where or what type of 22 instrument was used? 23 A. Correct. 24 Q. Could it have been at the Clinic that you typed 25 the letter? 40 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 A. It could have. 3 Q. Were you aware where Risk Management's office 4 was in the hospital? 5 A. Not at the time. I think they are on the 12th 6 floor of the tower now. 7 Q. Do you remember if, whether, yes or no -- strike 8 that. Do you remember if you wrote the letter in the Risk 9 Management office? 10 A. I don't recall. 11 Q. Do you recall if, when you wrote this letter, 12 anybody was assisting you in writing this letter, such as 13 somebody from Risk Management? 14 A. I don't recall. 15 Q. Do you recall if anybody from Risk Management 16 actually dictated this letter to you? 17 A. No. 18 Q. No, you don't recall, or they did not? 19 A. No; no one told me what to write. 20 Q. Did Frances Weignam or somebody from Risk 21 Managment give you the parameters of the letter, the things 22 you should include or not include, whether they dictated it 23 or not? 24 A. No. As I said, at the time, I really didn't know 25 any specifics regarding the letter. I was just asked to 41 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 write a letter saying what I had seen. 3 Q. All right. Now did the -- you talked earlier 4 about the, anything that you did on the electronic medical 5 record having to be cosigned by the attending physician? 6 A. Correct. 7 Q. Did this have to be approved by anybody? 8 MS. MARSHALL: Object to the form, the 9 what. 10 BY MR. GLICK: 11 Q. Did the letter of September 22nd, 1999, have to 12 be approved by anybody? 13 A. No. 14 Q. All right. Now what you are telling us, Doctor, 15 is that this letter is, was not dictated to you by anybody. 16 In other words, you are the author of this letter? 17 A. Correct. 18 Q. And you are the actual typist of this letter? 19 A. I believe so. 20 Q. All right. You think it may have been your 21 wife? 22 MS. MARSHALL: Object to the form. 23 THE WITNESS: No. My wife didn't -- like 24 I said, I don't think anybody typed it for me. 25 BY MR. GLICK: 42 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Q. Okay. Your best recollection is that you typed 3 it? 4 A. My best recollection is that I typed it. 5 Q. And now after you finished the letter, I assume 6 that it came out on a printer of some kind? 7 A. I would imagine so. 8 Q. And did you keep a copy of the letter? 9 A. No, I didn't. 10 Q. Earlier, and I apologize for this, Doctor, you 11 told me at your last depo, you turned this over to Risk 12 Management then? 13 A. Correct. 14 Q. All right. Tell me about that, Doctor, how long 15 after you were instructed by Risk Management to write this 16 letter, did you go ahead and actually write it? 17 A. I don't recall. 18 Q. Was it a matter of minutes or hours or days 19 or -- 20 A. I don't recall. 21 Q. Okay. When you finished the letter, what did 22 you do with it? 23 A. I turned it over to the Risk Management. 24 Q. Do you remember at that time did you go up to 25 their office or did you call them and tell them to come and 43 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 get it or -- 3 A. I don't remember. 4 Q. Did you call who specifically at Risk Management 5 you gave the letter to? 6 A. I don't know. 7 Q. In all likelihood, was it Frances Weignam? 8 MS. MARSHALL: I object to the form. 9 THE WITNESS: It would only be 10 speculation, I mean. 11 BY MR. GLICK: 12 Q. Do you remember whoever it was at Risk 13 Management you gave the letter to, if you had any 14 conversation with them at that time as to what was the -- 15 A. The reason. 16 Q. -- the reason for the letter? 17 A. I don't recall. 18 Q. Or what was going to happen to the letter, what 19 it was going to be used for? 20 A. No. 21 Q. Since that time, Doctor, have you learned what 22 the reason was for you authoring this letter? 23 A. Could you be more specific? 24 Q. Yes. Have you learned why you were asked to 25 write this letter? 44 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 A. Following my deposition, there was -- yes. 3 Q. Okay. And who did you learn that from? 4 A. I don't remember. 5 Q. Okay. And what did you learn? 6 A. I don't recall. I think it might have been in a 7 discussion with my attorneys. But again, I can only 8 speculate. 9 Q. In this discussion with your attorneys at that 10 time, I don't want you to tell me about that. But if you 11 learned the reason why you were asked to write this letter, 12 from anybody else or from any other source, from any 13 documentation, please tell us at this time why you were 14 caused to write the letter? 15 A. I don't recall. 16 Q. All right. Let's see if we can try to figure 17 out why you were asked to write the letter, Doctor, and 18 let's start -- 19 MS. MARSHALL: I am going to object to 20 the form of the question. 21 BY MR. GLICK: 22 Q. Let's start by examining the content of the 23 letter, if we can, and I want to go over the examples in the 24 letter, the letter I am referring to is the September 22nd, 25 1999 letter, regarding inappropriate care, and the first 45 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 mention of it there is, he would place his knee in her back 3 and pull her arms upwards so she would stand. Do you see 4 that? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. And the next one is, continuously inserted food 7 in her mouth until she began to gag so that she would 8 reflectively swallow. Do you see that? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. And the third one is, and would literally drag 11 his mother for a walk until she became exhausted and the 12 heel ulcer began to bleed. Do you see that, Doctor? 13 A. I don't see the drag part because of the copy. 14 But I see the, walk until she became exhausted. 15 Q. And can you see, and would literally? 16 A. I see, and would literally, and I don't see the 17 next word. 18 Q. And would literally, okay. They you see 19 something, mother for a walk until she became exhausted? 20 A. Correct. 21 Q. All right. Would it make sense to you that that 22 word was dragged? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. All right. And before we go any further, let me 25 ask you, it says earlier in the few lines up, it says, 46 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 several of the nursing staff reported that Mr. Destefano was 3 interferring with his mother's care and the care he provided 4 seemed inappropriate. At this time, are you able to tell us 5 the names of the nurses, the nursing staff who reported that 6 to you? 7 A. No, I can't recall. 8 Q. When you were doing your investigation trying to 9 locate the nurses who may have reported any of these 10 allegations to you, did you recognize any of the nurses? 11 A. No, I didn't. 12 Q. Isn't it true, Doctor, that there was actually 13 only one nurse who made any report to you whatsoever? 14 A. Perhaps so. I don't recall. 15 Q. All right. Now there is a note that you 16 referred to in your first deposition and I have marked this 17 as Exhibit Number 2 to this deposition. I am going to hand 18 it, along with a copy to your lawyer, Mrs. Marshall, and I 19 want you to take a look at the upper right-hand corner, and 20 correct me if I am wrong, I am going to read that to you. 21 It says, son at bedside, responds to touch only, and then 22 there is a signature that we have discovered as Kendra 23 Blith's signature. And then it says, son forcibly walking 24 mother who was slumped over to the waist, and then again 25 signed by Kendra Blith. Is that how you would read it, 47 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Doctor? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. And I want you -- I am going to now, Doctor, ask 5 you to, if -- Mr. Destefano, can you hand him that, the 6 Florida Hospital records. Those are the Florida Hospital 7 records. 8 A. Thank you. 9 Q. And at your first deposition, Doctor, to the 10 best of my recollection, was the only nurse's note that you 11 were able to identify that provided a basis, or that you 12 believe was a basis for your statements in your letter of 13 September 22, 1999? 14 MS. MARSHALL: I object to the form. 15 BY MR. GLICK: 16 Q. And I want to ask you, Doctor, now -- first of 17 all, let me ask you this. Do you believe that this note of 18 Kendra Blith's provides a basis, provided a basis for your 19 letter of September 22, 1999? 20 A. I am sorry. Can you repeat that question again? 21 Q. Okay. Well, in your note of September 22, 1999, 22 you state that some examples reported that he would place 23 his knee in her back and pull her arms upwards so she would 24 stand; second, continuously inserted food in her mouth 25 until she began to gag so that she would reflectively 48 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 swallow and would literally, and we believe the word is, 3 dragged his mother for a walk until she became exhausted and 4 the heel ulcer began to bleed. Is the note here from Kendra 5 Blith, that is Exhibit 2 to this deposition, the, a basis in 6 your mind for the statements that you made in your letter of 7 September 22nd, 1999? 8 A. The basis I made for my statements is what she 9 had told me, or that I remember her telling me at the time, 10 and remember that she kind of demonstrated what was done. I 11 mean, that's how I remember it. 12 Q. Okay. This was the red-haired nurse? 13 A. I believe so, yes. 14 Q. Well, let me ask you this, Doctor, is there any 15 basis -- is there any documentation in the Florida Hospital 16 records that you are aware of where a nurse, or anybody else 17 besides yourself, has documented any of those allegations, 18 in other words, the allegation of placing his knee in his 19 mother's back and pulling her arms upward, continuously 20 inserting food in her mouth until she began to gag so that 21 she would reflectively swallow, and would literally drag his 22 mother for a walk until she became exhausted and the heel 23 ulcer began to bleed? 24 MS. MARSHALL: Object to the form. The 25 record speaks for itself. If you want him to review the 49 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 whole record, then we can take a break and do that. 3 BY MR. GLICK: 4 Q. Doctor, without reviewing the entire record, are 5 you able to -- do you recall there being any documentation 6 in that record whatsoever of those allegations? 7 A. I am not able to recall. 8 Q. Okay. Let's take a break and I ask you to 9 review the record, Doctor. And we'll go off the record for 10 a second. 11 MS. MARSHALL: Let's stay on the record. 12 I mean, you are asking him to review a file that is 13 approximately two or three inches thick in its totality, to 14 see if there is anything in there. Is that what you are 15 asking him to do? 16 MR. GLICK: Well, actually, there are 17 two admissions in there. That's the entire Florida Hospital 18 records that was produced by your Records Custodian, and 19 that, the first part of that, I believe, is the admission we 20 are talking about. The second part, which is the much 21 larger part, is the second admission to Florida Hospital. 22 So it's not as much as you think. 23 MS. MARSHALL: I object to the form. 24 That you can ask the witness what he knows about it. You 25 want him to refer to something, to have him take time out of 50 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 what was supposed to be a followup deposition, and answer a 3 negative question, I object to it. 4 MR. GLICK: Okay. So first of all, I 5 mean, I don't want to litter the record. But this was never 6 agreed to be a followup deposition. There was never any 7 agreement as to that. 8 Be that as it may, are you instructing the 9 Doctor not to review the September 15th to 19th records? 10 MS. MARSHALL: This was scheduled for, 11 what was told us, to be approximately a two-hour deposition, 12 and it it -- I don't know how long it's going to take him, 13 but how you use your two hours is fine with us, but this 14 witness has other matters to attend to, and this was clearly 15 set with our office, as a two-hour followup deposition. So 16 if you want to use your two hours with him looking and 17 reading through the whole record, we can do that? 18 MR. GLICK: Okay. Well, I think it was 19 scheduled for three hours, and not for followup. But let's 20 go off the record, if we may, and let's have him look 21 through the records of the first admission, and see if he 22 finds any evidence of those allegations in the record. 23 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Off the record at 24 three o'clock . 25 (Off the record.) 51 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 (On the record.) 3 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Back on the record at 4 three-fifteen. 5 BY MR. GLICK: 6 Q. All right. Doctor, you have now had an 7 opportunity to review the Florida Hospital records of from 8 September 15, 1999 and have you, by looking through the 9 record, have you found any documentation by anyone, other 10 than yourself, that Mr. Destefano either placed his knee in 11 his mother's back, continuously inserted food into her mouth 12 until she began to gag, or would drag his mother for a walk 13 until she became exhausted and her heel ulcer began to 14 bleed? 15 A. No. 16 Q. All right. Doctor, let me refer you to the 17 Exhibit Number 2 -- strike that. Let me ask you this. 18 You have told us earlier in this deposition 19 that it may not have been several nurses but it may have 20 been one nurse from the nursing staff. And would that one 21 nurse have been the red-haired nurse? 22 A. I would -- I can only -- I can't recall. I 23 would guess, I would surmise, yes. 24 Q. All right. And if the -- I want you to now take 25 a look at Exhibit Number 2 which is Kendra Blith's note and 52 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 I believe identified as the red-haired nurse. 3 A. Okay. 4 Q. And I want you to assume, Doctor, that Mrs. 5 Blith has testified in this case that she does not recall 6 telling you anything beyond what is noted in her note of 7 Exhibit Number 2. That being the case, Doctor, from whom 8 did you get the information that Mr. Destefano was placing a 9 knee in his mother's back and pulling her arms upwards, 10 continuously inserting food in her mouth until she begins to 11 gag, and dragging his mother for a walk until she became 12 exhausted? 13 MS. MARSHALL: I object to the form. 14 THE WITNESS: Beyond the nurse, that's 15 the one who told it to me. I remember because she just kind 16 of demonstrated it to me, so I would have an understanding. 17 BY MR. GLICK: 18 Q. And that's the red-haired nurse? 19 A. I believe so. 20 Q. Okay. It might have been some other nurse? 21 A. I don't recall. 22 Q. If that -- if Kendra Blith is the red-haired 23 nurse and she has said she does not recall telling you 24 anything beyond what she notes in her Exhibit 2, she would 25 be mistaken? 53 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 MS. MARSHALL: Object to the form. 3 THE WITNESS: I would have to guess. 4 That's all I remember her telling me. 5 BY MR. GLICK: 6 Q. Well, Doctor, I want you to assume tht Kendra 7 Blith, the red-haired nurse has testified that she does not 8 recall telling you anything beyond what she notes in 9 Exhibit Number 2. You have told us that one nurse, at least 10 one nurse, gave you the information that you have put in 11 your September 22nd, 1999 letter. My question to you is, if 12 Kendra Blith, the red-haired nurse did not give you that 13 information, which is what she testified to, how is it that 14 you got the information, the allegations that went into your 15 September 22, 1999 letter? 16 MS. MARSHALL: Object to the form. 17 THE WITNESS: As I stated earlier, the 18 nurse that was taking care of Mrs. Destefano, just reported 19 that to me on morning rounds, and that's when I made a 20 documentation in the record. I don't know if she cannot 21 remember or recall what had happened but all I can recall is 22 the nurse telling me that. So I documented it in my chart 23 at the time I was told. 24 Q. Now you documented it in the chart. Where did 25 you document it in the chart? 54 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 A. What I just put was, son is providing 3 inappropriate care. 4 Q. Where is that? In your -- 5 A. In that weekend checkoff note that I -- 6 Q. The stand alone note? 7 A. The stand alone note for whoever was oncoming. 8 At the time, I didn't suspect that it was anything abusive. 9 And so I documented it in the order just to have nursing or 10 PT to instruct the patient, because I -- we didn't feel that 11 it was a malicious actd on Mr. Destefano's part. 12 Q. Okay. But you didn't document those specific 13 allegations? 14 A. No, not those specific allegations, but that's 15 what I remember, but just because of the way the nurse had 16 demonstrated it to me. 17 Q. Okay. You said the nurse demonstrated to you. 18 You said that she demonstrated and you kind of used your 19 hands a little bit before, of Mr. Destefano picking up his 20 mother and putting his knee to brace her. Is that what it 21 was kind of thing? 22 A. Correctively so. What I recall that the nurse 23 has said, that she just -- I remember to have her hands kind 24 of do this, and he was just using her neck to help prop her 25 up. That's what I remember her telling me. But she didn't 55 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 -- again it wasn't felt to be, you know, abusive in that 3 potential time so -- 4 Q. Did she also demonstrate the gagging of the 5 food? 6 A. No. That was just what she had told me, by word 7 of mouth, she would -- he would just put enough food in her 8 mouth until she would reflexively gag and swallow. 9 Q. All right. And did she -- 10 A. And the swallow, to note, that she should remain 11 in PO. 12 Q. And did she also demonstrate the dragging of the 13 mother? 14 A. I don't recall. 15 Q. That's something that she just told you? 16 A. Correct. All of this is what I recall her 17 telling me. 18 Q. But at that time, Doctor, as you wrote your 19 weekend note, but you didn't write down those specific 20 allegations? 21 A. Correct. At the time, I didn't feel that they 22 were a concern. 23 Q. All right. Doctor, have you had an opportunity 24 to review the Sunbelt Nursing Home records of Mrs. 25 Destefano? 56 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 A. No. 3 Q. All right. Let me ask you first of all, before 4 we take a look at those, did you have any contact with 5 Sunbelt during this time period? 6 A. No. 7 Q. Did you know or speak to Rachel Beane during 8 this time period? She was the Director of Nursing there? 9 A. At Sunbelt? 10 Q. At Sunbelt? 11 A. No. 12 Q. And how Mary Thornton, the Nurse Manager over 13 there? Did you know her or ever speak to her? 14 A. No, not as first-year interns, we didn't have 15 any contact with the Sunbelt. 16 Q. Did you know anyone who worked at Sunbelt? 17 A. No. 18 Q. All right. Now have you had an opportunity -- 19 you said you haven't the Sunbelt -- you have read none of 20 the Sunbelt records? 21 A. No. 22 Q. Have you read Rachel Bean's statement at all 23 that was in the Sunbelt records? 24 A. No. 25 Q. All right. Let me show you, Doctor, if I can, 57 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 and just for the record, we have marked as Exhibit 3, your 3 stand alone 9.17.99 note just so the record is clear. 4 All right. Doctor, let me show you now part of 5 Rachel Bean's note, which I have marked as Exhibit Number 5 6 to this deposition. There is a skip there. I skipped 7 Exhibit Number 4. We haven't discussed it and I am probably 8 not going to refer to it. 9 This was a note, Doctor, and your counsel can 10 correct me if I am wrong, or she feels I am wrong, a note 11 written by Rachel Bean after she had an incident with Mr. 12 Destefano, and I want you to just take a look at the bottom 13 portion of the letter, of the note, of Rachel Bean's. 14 That's Exhibit 5, that I have highlighted, and trust me that 15 everybody in this case has read this many times. So I am 16 going to try to read it rather than you trying to decipher 17 her handwriting. 18 It says, I received a call from Doctor Black at 19 approximately 1:00 p.m. in re: inappropriate behavior at the 20 hospital from the son. Doctor Steely had passed on that the 21 resident's son was kneeing her in the back, telling her to 22 stand up, and was literally dragging her across the room, 23 telling her to walk, causing the dressing to come off. Do 24 you see where that's written? 25 A. Yes. 58 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Q. All right. Now I also want to hand you what I 3 have marked as Exhibit Number 6, and I will give your 4 counsel a copy of that. Actually, this is my only copy, so 5 if you can maybe take a look at that first, Tracy. 6 I am just going to ask him about the highlighted 7 portion. Exhibit Number 6, the highlighted portion says, he 8 then put water in his mother's mouth. He was holding her 9 head and kept telling her to swallow, and was kissing her 10 face. 11 Now Doctor, this note was clearly written on 12 September 21, 1999. I want you to assume that Mrs. Beane, 13 the Director of Nursing at Sunbelt wrote both of these 14 notes. They are part of one long note on September 21, 1999. 15 MS. MARSHALL: Can you refer to them by 16 exhibit number please for the record. 17 BY MR. GLICK: 18 Q. Yes, sure. It's Exhibit Numbers 5 and 6. 19 Now I want you to also note here that Mrs. Beane alleges 20 kneeing in the back and literally dragging her across the 21 room and telling her to walk, causing the dressing to come 22 off, and then in Exhibit 6, she notes, putting water in his 23 mother's mouth, holding her head and kept telling her to 24 swallow. And Doctor, would you agree with me that these 25 allegations are strikingly similar to the allegations that 59 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 are noted in your September 22nd, 1999 letter that we have 3 marked as Exhibit Number 1? 4 A. They are similar, yes. 5 Q. As a matter of fact, your note of September 6 22nd, 1999 would in fact corroborate the note written by 7 Rachel Beane? 8 MS. MARSHALL: Object to the form. 9 THE WITNESS: I mean, they are similar. 10 BY MR. GLICK: 11 Q. Okay. That would support her version of the 12 facts? 13 A. I believe so. I mean, she is saying that they 14 heard it from me, so -- 15 Q. And your note, however, Doctor Steely, was 16 written after Rachel Bean's and contains allegations that do 17 not appear anywhere in the Florida Hospital chart, except 18 for what you have written? 19 A. Correct. 20 Q. Doctor, I want to ask you about the gagging 21 notation that you made in your September 22nd, 1999 letter. 22 And I want to ask you, Doctor, if the gagging note actually 23 came from either a conversation with Rachel Bean or review 24 of anything that she wrote? 25 A. I don't know who Rachel Bean is. 60 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Q. You never spoke to Rachel Bean and you never 3 reviewed any of her records? 4 A. Correct. 5 Q. You are absolutely positive of that? 6 A. Absolutely positive. 7 Q. Doctor, isn't it a fact that Frances Weignam 8 from Risk Management, or anyone, or somebody from Risk 9 Management for sure, came to you and you have already told 10 us that they told you to write the letter of September 22, 11 1999, and as a matter of fact, the reason that they came to 12 you was, because Rachel Bean had already written these notes 13 and wanted you to write your letter to support her 14 allegations? 15 A. Like I said, I was just asked to write a note. I 16 didn't know what the context of the reason was at the time. 17 Q. All right. Let's take a look at Mrs. Bean's 18 note a little further then. She says in the note that she 19 got a call from -- I am going back biw to Exhibit 5. She 20 got a call from Doctor Black at approximately 1:00 p.m., in 21 re: inappropriate behavior at the hospital from the son. 22 Doctor Steely had passed on that resident's son was kneeing 23 her in the back, telling her to stand up, and was literally 24 dragging her across the room, telling her to walk, causing 25 the dressing to come off. Do you see that, Doctor, right? 61 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. I want to ask you again, Doctor, did you tell 4 this directly to Rachel Bean? 5 A. No. 6 Q. Did you tell this to Doctor Black? 7 A. It may have been in our discussion on rounds. 8 Q. You say, it may have been in your discussion on 9 rounds. Are you absolutely positive that you told this to 10 Doctor Black? 11 A. I don't recall. 12 Q. If Doctor Black has testified that you never 13 told him anything about any kneeing in the back or dragging, 14 or force-feeding, or anything like that by Mr. Destefano, 15 upon his mother at Florida Hospital, if he has testified 16 that you never told him anything about that, would you have 17 any reason to disagree with that? 18 MS. MARSHALL: Object to the form, if he 19 testified to. 20 MR. GLICK: Can you explain your 21 objection, counsel? 22 MS. MARSHALL: He said that he didn't 23 know when it occurred. He said he didn't become aware of 24 the allegations, and he wasn't sure when he became aware of 25 that. He didn't say that he had never heard them or that he 62 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 had never heard them -- 3 MR. GLICK: Okay. You are quarreling 4 with my characterization of Doctor Black's testimony. 5 MS. MARSHALL: Yes I am. 6 MR. GLICK: Okay. You can answer the 7 question. 8 THE WITNESS: I'm sorry. Can you repeat 9 the question. 10 BY MR. GLICK: 11 Q. Maybe. I will try. If Doctor Black has 12 testified that you did not advise him in September of 1999 13 of any inappropriate behavior visited by Mr. Destefano upon 14 his mother, such as kneeing in the back, dragging her, or 15 force-feeding her, if he has testified that you did not 16 advise him of any of that, would you have any reason to 17 quarrel with Doctor Black's testimony on that? 18 A. I guess my only question would be, that he 19 states here that he got a call from Doctor Black where this 20 had been passed on by me. 21 Q. Well, that's what Rachel Bean writes here? 22 A. Right. 23 Q. This is Rachel Bean's writing. 24 A. Okay. But it says, it's a call from Doctor 25 Block. 63 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Q. Doctor Black? 3 A. Black. I am sorry. That Doctor Steely had 4 passed on the resident's son was kneeing her in the back. 5 My interpretation is that, that's what Doctor Black told 6 her. 7 Q. Okay. But what I am asking you to assume is, 8 assume that Doctor Black has testified that you didn't tell 9 him anything about that and that he didn't tell Rachel Bean 10 anything about that, would you have any reason to disbelieve 11 or to quarrel with Doctor Black's testimony. 12 MS. MARSHALL: Same objection. 13 THE WITNESS: Like I say, I mean, this 14 is four or five years ago. I can't really make any kind of 15 speculation on whether or not he remembers what we said or 16 what we didn't say. I can't really comment on it. 17 BY MR. GLICK: 18 Q. Do you have any knowledge, specific knowledge of 19 Doctor Black's speaking to Rachel Bean? 20 A. No. 21 Q. Do you have any reason to believe that Doctor 22 Black would falsely state that you never told him anything 23 about Mr. Destefano displaying inappropriate behavior toward 24 his mother? 25 MS. MARSHALL: Object to the form. 64 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 THE WITNESS: Yeah. Like I said, I 3 mean, this happened four or five years ago. I mean, you 4 know, I don't know if I told Doctor Black or not. I can't 5 really speculate on what he is thinking or what he might 6 remember or might not remember. 7 BY MR. GLICK: 8 Q. You are not sure what -- you are not sure if you 9 told Doctor Black anything back in September of '99? 10 A. Like I said, I just reported everything that 11 occurred, what I recall, as everything that occurred on 12 rounds that we had talked about on rounds, but I don't have 13 any recollection specifically telling Doctor Black, or just 14 my rounding team is the only thing I discussed the case to. 15 Q. Was Doctor Black present on rounds at that time 16 when you discussed this? 17 A. I don't know. I don't recall. 18 Q. Who was on the rounding team? 19 A. I don't remember who the attending exactly was, 20 was admitted to Doctor Fleming, but I don't recall whom the 21 attending was. 22 Q. Are you able to tell us specifically what you 23 said, if anything, regarding Larry Destefano and Carolina 24 Destefano, to the rounding team? 25 A. No. 65 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 MR. GLICK: All right. Why don't we 3 just take a break right here. Because There are three 4 minutes left on the videotape. He can change tapes. And I 5 probably have about another fifteen minutes. 6 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: This concludes Tape 7 Number 1 of the Doctor John Hugh Steely deposition. The 8 time is 3:35. 9 (Off the record.) 10 (On the record.) 11 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: This is Videotape 12 Number 2 of Doctor John Steely deposition. The time is 13 3:38. 14 BY MR. GLICK: 15 Q. All right. Doctor, you had stated earlier that, 16 when you wrote your note of 19.17.99, which I have forgotten 17 what exhibit that is, the weekend note? Do you see that? 18 A. Exhibit 3? 19 Q. Yes. You referred to it, you said, nursing 20 believes son providing inappropriate care. But you didn't 21 at that time give specific examples of the inappropriate 22 care, of the kneeing, or the dragging, or the force-feeding, 23 correct? 24 A. Correct. 25 Q. And then later when Risk Management asked you to 66 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 write a letter describing what you knew about Larry and 3 Carolina Destefano, you did decide to go ahead and write 4 specific examples. 5 A. Uh-huh. 6 Q. Can you, please, tell us why, at that time, you 7 decided to, for the first time, put in specific examples of 8 kneeding in the back, dragging his mother across the room, 9 and force-feeding her? 10 A. I can't recall. I think they asked for 11 specifics. 12 Q. Okay. So Risk Management asked for specifics of 13 any abuse that was visited upon Mrs. Destefano? 14 A. I don't know if the word abuse was used. 15 Q. Do you remember if Risk Management asked for any 16 examples of inappropriate care? 17 A. Could have been. But I don't really recall. 18 Q. Okay. Because that kind of brings me to my next 19 question, Doctor. In your, in the letter of 9.22.99, 20 Exhibit 1, you state towards the end of the letter, you say, 21 I cannot say in good faith that, and I realize that this is 22 kind of muddy on the side there, but we believe it says, I 23 cannot say, in good faith, that Mr. Destefano abuses his 24 mother. Do you see that? 25 A. Uh-huh. 67 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Q. Yes? 3 A. Yes, I see that. 4 Q. Okay. Why did you make that statement? 5 A. I don't recall. 6 Q. Did someone ask you from Risk Management whether 7 he abused his mother? 8 A. I don't recall. 9 Q. Now let me show you what has been previously 10 marked -- I am looking for it here. Here it is, sorry. We 11 marked this as Exhibit number 7 to the deposition, and it 12 is, I only have one copy of it, but it is a faxed cover 13 sheet from Rachel Bean to the Department of Children and 14 Family Services. Have you ever seen that before? 15 A. No, sir. 16 Q. And do you see at least that it represents on 17 the cover page of the fax that it is an eleven-page fax? 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. And it is dated 9.24.99? 20 A. September 24, 1999, uh-huh. 21 Q. All right. Now turn the page? 22 A. Okay. 23 Q. And there is your letter of September 22, 1999, 24 do you see that? 25 A. Yes, sir. 68 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Q. All right. And I want to be fair with you, 3 Doctor. When the Department of Children and Family Services 4 produced their records, that's how they produced them. The 5 cover page was first. Your letter was second, and the rest 6 of the fax was after that. If you look at the header on the 7 top of your letter? 8 A. Okay. 9 Q. It says page 2 of 2. Do you see that? 10 A. Okay. 11 Q. All right. There seems to be some conflict 12 there, but I just wanted to point that out to you to be fair 13 to you. But when you look at your letter, it says September 14 24th, 1999, 9:50 from, it looks like Sunbelt Subacute, to a 15 certain fax number. Do you see that, Doctor? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. All right. And this, I want you to assume for 18 me that the phone number or the fax number that the letter 19 is purported to be faxed to, is the Department of Children 20 and Family Services. Okay. 21 A. Okay. 22 Q. Do you -- was it your understanding that your 23 letter was being faxed from -- strike that. Let me ask you 24 this way, Doctor. Do you deny that your letter was faxed 25 from Sunbelt Nursing Home to the Department of Children and 69 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Family Services? 3 A. Do I deny it? 4 Q. Yes? 5 A. You are telling me that this is the fax number 6 of the Children's Services. It looks like it was faxed to, 7 from Sunbelt. 8 Q. You have no reason to believe that your letter 9 was not faxed from Sunbelt to DCFS? 10 A. Correct. 11 Q. Now Doctor, did you, in fact, take that letter 12 or a copy of the letter that's Exhibit 1, over to Sunbelt to 13 have it faxed to DCFS? 14 A. No. 15 Q. You are absolutely certain of that? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. Do you know who could have possibly done that? 18 A. No. 19 Q. How far away is Sunbelt from Florida Hospital? 20 A. Across the street. 21 Q. Would it have -- do you know if there would have 22 been any difficulty for anybody from Risk Management at 23 Florida Hospital to walk across the street and fax your 24 letter over to DCFS? 25 A. I wouldn't imagine there wouldn't be any 70 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 difficulty. 3 Q. All right. At the time -- strike that. Doctor, 4 assuming that you returned the letter to Risk Management 5 after you drafted it? 6 A. Correct. 7 Q. Do you have any idea as to what Risk Management 8 did with the letter afterwards? 9 A. No. 10 Q. Doctor, did you, in fact, deliver the letter, 11 whether it was at Sunbelt, or anywhere else, to Rachel Bean? 12 A. No. 13 Q. Doctor, did you go over to Sunbelt with the 14 letter and see Rachel Bean and actually have an opportunity 15 to go into Carolina Destefano's room? 16 A. No. 17 Q. Absolutely positive of that? 18 A. Positive. 19 Q. Let me show you, Doctor, documents that have 20 been marked previously as Exhibit Numbers 10 and 11 and 21 these are the bed pads. Here are the actual photos. They 22 are marked on the laser copies as 10 and 11. 23 MS. MARSHALL: Which ones do you want 24 him to look at? 25 BY MR. GLICK: 71 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Q. Both of them. The close up is 11. The broader 3 view of the whole pad is 10? 4 A. Okay. 5 Q. You can give those to the court reporter. 6 Doctor, did you, in fact, have you ever seen 7 those photographs before, first of all? 8 A. No. 9 Q. Have you ever seen Carolina Destefano's bedpad 10 at Sunbelt Nursing Home where those bloodstains were there? 11 A. No. 12 Q. Did you ever witness Rachel Bean or anyone else 13 actually putting bloodstains on the bedpad of Carolina 14 Destefano? 15 A. No. 16 Q. Did you, in fact, when you took the fax over 17 there -- 18 MS. MARSHALL: I object to the form. 19 BY MR. GLICK: 20 Q. Did you, in fact, go to Carolina Destefano's 21 room with Rachel Bean and participate in putting that blood 22 on the bed pads? 23 A. No. 24 Q. Doctor, have you reviewed the Department of 25 Children and Family Services records? 72 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 A. No. 3 Q. Other than the fax that I gave you. I want you 4 now to take a look at what has been marked as Exhibit Number 5 8, which is an abuse report, the first two pages of it. And 6 the second page is all I am going to ask you to take a look 7 at. It's highlighted. 8 A. You said the second page? 9 Q. Yes. And there is a highlighted part that says, 10 Carolina was transported to Florida Hospital South for 11 examination. He followed her there and trying to make her 12 walk. He drug her around the floor pulling a bandage off of 13 one ankle that has decubitus on it. He forced her mouth 14 open and pours water in her mouth trying to force her to 15 drink which endangers her. There are serious concerns 16 regarding abuse. Neglect. 17 Do you see that, Doctor? 18 A. Yes, sir. 19 Q. And my question to you is, the information that 20 you placed in your September 22, 1999 letter, is it possible 21 that you have reviewed this abuse report before you placed, 22 before you authored your letter? 23 A. No. 24 Q. Would you agree with me that the verbiage is 25 very similar to the verbiage contained within your report, 73 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 your letter? 3 A. The wording is similar. 4 Q. All right, sir. And I think the last exhibit 5 that I have, which is Exhibit Number 9, it's an Adult 6 Protective Investigation's report. This was produced by the 7 Department of Children and Family Services, pages 15 and 16 8 of their notes, and there is, excuse me, at the bottom, I 9 have highlighted, it says, Ivan, who is Ivan Muldanatto, who 10 is an Adult Protective Services Investigator, called Doctor 11 Steely, left a message to call, and says, urgent. Do you 12 see that? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. Do you remember speaking with Mr. Muldanatto? 15 A. I don't recall. 16 Q. And then on the second page there, the second 17 page of Exhibit Number, what is that, Exhibit Number 9, it 18 says, APIS, Adult Protective Investigator Ivan Muldanatto 19 told Wiegnam, that is Frances Wiegnam, that we do not have 20 enough evidence due to Doctor Olson, nor Doctor Steely 21 returning our urgent messages to call us back in reference 22 to medical documentation that requires skilled care and/or 23 nursing home placement. 24 Do you remember -- you told us you don't 25 remember talking to Ivan Muldanatto, or you don't recall if 74 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 you did. Do you recall getting the message from Ivan 3 Muldanatto? 4 A. I don't recall. 5 Q. Do you recall talking to Frances Weignam at that 6 time and her asking you to return Mr. Muldanatto's phone 7 call? 8 A. No, I don't recall. 9 Q. Do you recall Frances Weignam at that time 10 telling you that you didn't need to return Mr. Muldanatto's 11 phone call, and that she would just simply take care of it, 12 or words to that effect? 13 A. I don't recall. 14 Q. Did you ever receive any messages from DCFS 15 regarding Mr. Destefano or Mrs. Destefano at all? 16 A. Not that I remember. 17 Q. Did you have a secretary at that time? 18 A. A personal secretary? 19 Q. Yes. Let me -- strike that question. Let me 20 ask you this way. How would you get like phone messages from 21 outside of Florida Hospital? 22 A. If they called the Clinic directly, whoever 23 answered the phone, could potentially have paged me or put a 24 message in my box. We have mailboxes in our office, or they 25 could have used our electronic medical records to email me. 75 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Q. All right. Were they generally reliable about 3 getting you messages? 4 A. Usually, yes. 5 Q. Okay. Do you remember there being any times 6 where somebody would say, hey, Doctor, I have been calling 7 you for three days and you haven't returned my calls, and 8 you said, I didn't get any message? 9 A. Not specifically. 10 Q. Now Doctor, months after this, you were told in 11 the doctor's area of the Clinic, by a doctor, that you said, 12 in your earlier deposition, you think it might have been 13 Doctor Black, but you weren't totally sure, that a doctor 14 had told you that he had heard that Mr. Destefano had 15 performed oral sex on his mother. Do you recall that? 16 A. I don't recall it. I think I remember reading it 17 in my deposition. 18 Q. Okay. If you stated it in your earlier 19 deposition, you wouldn't deny that? 20 A. Correct. 21 Q. Now you don't remember that? 22 A. Correct. 23 Q. And do you recall that in your deposition, in 24 your earlier deposition, you stated that your reaction to 25 that was, you were surprised when you heard that statement? 76 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 A. If that's what was in my deposition. 3 Q. Was that because, from what you had observed, 4 Mr. Destefano had always appeared to be a concerned loving 5 son to his mother from what you observed? 6 A. Correct. 7 MR. GLICK: Let's go off the record for 8 one second. 9 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Off the record at 3:54. 10 (Off the record.) 11 (On the record.) 12 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: We are back on the 13 record at 3:55. 14 BY MR. GLICK: 15 Q. Doctor, one last question, in light of what you 16 have, we have gone over here today, and in what you may have 17 learned or may not have learned, do you feel that you have 18 been used as a pawn by the Risk Management Department to 19 support Rachel Bean's allegations of abuse or inappropriate 20 conduct by Mr. Destefano upon his mother? 21 MS. MARSHALL: Object to the form. 22 THE WITNESS: A pawn as you mean like a 23 -- all I did was just write a letter that I was instructed 24 to do so by Risk Management. And whatever they did with it, 25 they did with it so -- 77 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 BY MR. GLICK: 3 Q. But do you feel that you have been used by them 4 as a pawn? 5 A. No. I mean, I have a responsibility as a 6 physician to just, you know, basically tell what I had seen 7 or what I was privy to. I don't necessarily feel, you know, 8 in certain, you know, circumstances as used as a pawn. 9 MR. GLICK: Thank you, Doctor. 10 MS. MARSHALL: I have a few followup 11 questions. 12 EXAMINATION BY MS. MARSHALL 13 BY MS. MARSHALL: 14 Q. Doctor Steely, could you look at what's been 15 marked as Exhibit Number 1 please, which is your September 16 22nd, 1999 letter that we have been referring to in this 17 deposition? 18 A. Okay; okay. 19 Q. Would you say that your recollection about the 20 events of September of 1999 are better today or were better 21 back when you wrote this letter dated September 22, 1999? 22 A. Better when I wrote that letter. 23 Q. Was part of the purpose of writing the letter to 24 document what you had personally seen and heard and observed 25 in the treatment of this patient? 78 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 MR. GLICK: Object to the form. 3 THE WITNESS: I was just asked to write 4 a letter to the specifics what I had been told. 5 BY MS. MARSHALL: 6 Q. Were you asked to write anything that was not 7 true? 8 A. No. 9 Q. Were you asked to write what you had personally 10 seen, observed, and heard regarding Mrs. Destefano's stay at 11 Florida Hhospital? 12 A. Yes. 13 MR. GLICK: Object, form. 14 BY MS. MARSHALL: 15 Q. Is there anything in the letter dated September 16 22, 1999 that is inaccurate or false? 17 A. I would say, no, when I wrote the letter. 18 Q. Is it your practice and procedure as a medical 19 doctor to ignore phone calls or phone messages that come in? 20 A. No. 21 Q. If you would have received the message from Ivan 22 Muldanatto, from the Department of Children and Families, 23 would you have deemed that to be an important phone call? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. Would you have returned his call had you 79 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 received the message? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. That would have been your standard practice and 5 procedure? 6 A. Standard practice and procedure, yes. 7 Q. You talked earlier about the physicians that 8 were part of the rounding team. Do you remember that? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. And were all them, all members of the team 11 always present when you discussed files or cases? 12 A. Usually. 13 Q. Who would have been your direct supervisor with 14 regards to the care of Mrs. Destefano? 15 A. It would have been the attending physician. 16 Q. That was not Doctor Black, correct? 17 A. Correct. No. He was just the Resident -- 18 Q. Can you tell from the file who was the attending 19 physician? 20 A. Well, the attending was Doctor Fleming, but one 21 of the rounding physicians was Doctor Clay Powell. 22 Q. When you were reviewing the Florida Hospital 23 file, there were some notes that were marked in that file, 24 the tabs? 25 A. Okay. 80 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Q. Can you turn to the first one, please? 3 A. Okay. 4 Q. I believe it's the bottom of the page, there is 5 a note that is written by you? 6 A. It's an order. 7 Q. Okay. Could you read what that says? 8 A. Nursing and PT to provide care. Social Services 9 eval. for POT, which abbreviated, potential abuse in family 10 situation. 11 Q. What's the date of that record? 12 A. 9/17. 13 Q. Was that written on or about 9/17? 14 A. Correct. 15 Q. And that's 1999, correct? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. And that is in your handwriting, correct? 18 A. That's my handwriting. 19 Q. And what was the purpose of that note? 20 A. It had been told that Mr. Destefano had been 21 trying to obtain, to care for his mother that was not for 22 her best interests, and so I wanted nursing and physical 23 therapy just to provide her care until Mr. Destefano was 24 better able to be trained on how to handle his mother. That 25 was the ultimate plan. 81 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Q. Was that notation made prior to her being 3 transferred to Sunbelt? 4 A. Correct. 5 Q. And if you could, please, turn to the next tab? 6 A. Okay. 7 Q. Could you tell me who the typewritten portion of 8 that is written by? 9 A. It's R. Hadfield who is the licensed clinical 10 social worker, the Case Management. 11 Q. And what's the date of that notation? 12 A. 9/17 at 15:23 hours. 13 Q. Could you read what that says, as well? 14 A. Yes. Spoke with son who is adamant in his 15 wanting to fulfill his obligation to care for mother at 16 home. He wants have patient spend time in TCF for wound 17 care and IV ANTIBX. Then have her home with help from 18 Hospice. At this time, he does not have a home but says he 19 is looking for an apartment. Son needs considerable 20 supervision and instruction in giving care to patient. 21 Hospice is interested in being involved in home care. 22 Please write order for TCF evaluation, will follow for D/C 23 planning. R. Hadfield, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and 24 then her initials. 25 Q. Okay. And again, that was written prior, on the 82 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 17th of September, 1999, correct? 3 A. Correct. 4 Q. And that was prior to Mrs. Destefano being 5 transferred to Sunbelt? 6 A. Correct. 7 Q. Could you turn to the next tabbed portion of the 8 Florida Hospital records, please? 9 A. Okay. 10 Q. And could you read what that says? 11 A. That's mine. Do you mean down below that or -- 12 Q. Yes, on the previous page? 13 A. Okay. 14 Q. Yes. 15 A. It's a note dated 9/18/99 at 8:15 hours. MFPU, 16 which is our multi family practice unit, Manicheri, 17 Hitchcock, the weekend. Patient sleeping by arousal, 18 disoriented, slept well in p.m., can't remember the call. 19 Generally when she is sleeping, her vital signs and 20 temperature is 98, pulse 71, respiration 24, stats are 98 21 percent, blood pressure is 118 over 60, heart, there is a S2 22 positive, heart murmur at the left external border grade 2 23 out of 6, one is a cleros cutation soft and tender, no 24 distension. Extremeties are foot ulcer with bandage, 25 receiving wound care. Skin: ulcers over coccyx area. 83 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Assessment plan: 71 year old female admitted for MSA, 3 mental status changes. Hospital day number three. Mental 4 status changes, urosepsis on treatment with Loraprin. 5 Dementia: Decubitus ulcers. Disposition: patient to be 6 evaluated by TCF and transferred there for wound care. Then 7 attending: patient discussed with Doctor Hitchcock. Poor 8 responsive VSS AF exam as above. Plan as above. Stable for 9 discharge to TCF or ECF. 10 Q. Discharged to whom? 11 A. TCF or ECF. It's just an abbreviation for a 12 transitional care facility or an extended care facility, a 13 nursing home. 14 Q. The next page, I think, is also. Could you read 15 that one? 16 A. Yeah. That's my weekend note. It's a checkoff 17 note for the person who is coming on for the weekend. 18 Q. What's the date of that? 19 A. 9/17 of '99. 20 Q. Okay. Was that written on September 17, 1999? 21 A. Yes, at 3:28. 22 Q. Okay. And can you read what it says? 23 A. 71 year old with dementia, admitted for 24 urosepsis and acute mental status changes, back to baseline, 25 currently awaiting transfer to TCF and Hospice if placed. 84 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Son has power of attorney and has provided care for the past 3 eight months in Arizona, recently moved back to Orlando. No 4 home. Was living off of disability of mom. Nursing 5 believes son providing inappropriate care from not knowing 6 how and is interferring in care of patient in hospital. He 7 is currently trying to find an apartment. Issues stated 8 above have Social Services involved for situation, potential 9 counseling and education. To TCF for PT, which is physical 10 therapy wound care, till home placement and Hospice inhouse. 11 Will go on ten days of Lovaquin, nursing to do care and may 12 teach son, if able. 13 Q. What was the basis for you stating in your 14 weekend note that, nursing, believe son was providing 15 inappropriate care? 16 A. What had been told by the nurse about the back 17 and the dragging. 18 Q. And were those the same facts that you later 19 put in your September 22, 1999 letter? 20 A. Correct. 21 Q. Can I see that for a second, please, that 22 handbood. 23 On the next marked page, which I believe is 9/16 24 of 1999? 25 A. Uh-huh. 85 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Q. Do you see that? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. Can you read the last portion of that down here? 5 A. Okay. The impression urosepsis, increased white 6 blood cell count, mental status changes relative, patient 7 with slight improvement per son, on two liters of 02, to 8 maintain stats. Dementia, still unresponsive per exam 9 yesterday. Social Service will have Hospice care if 10 appropriate for patient. PT consulted for possible rehab and 11 wound care. 12 Q. Why was Social Services being consulted? 13 A. At the time, it was for a possible placement for 14 Hospice care, as well as at that time, and for potential 15 wound care. 16 Q. Can you turn to the, I believe, these are the 17 ones that we had referred to. Are those the nurses' notes 18 that we were talking about before? 19 A. Uh-huh. 20 Q. On the very first notation, I think it says, 21 son -- can you read what that says, if you can? 22 A. Son in with mother verbally something mother to 23 get out of bed now, end quotation marks. Is that the one or 24 the one at the top? 25 Q. Okay. Do you know who the nurse was that wrote 86 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 these statements? 3 A. No, I don't see a name. 4 Q. And then on the very last notation, can you read 5 what that says? 6 A. Son at bedside, responds to touch only. Son 7 forcefully walking mother, who is bent over to the waist. 8 Q. Okay. When you were questioned regarding 9 whether there was any documentation in Florida Hospital 10 records that supported what you ultimately wrote in your 11 September 22, 1999 letter, would this nurse's record have 12 been one of those things that supported that letter? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. And the previous weekend note that we just 15 talked about, would that have been something that was in 16 support of this letter, as well, that was in the medical 17 records? 18 A. Correct. 19 Q. Have you been contacted by anyone on behalf of 20 Mr. Destefano within the last year and a half? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. Can you tell us about that? 23 A. In September, the private investigators for Mr. 24 Destefano showed up at my house on two occasions and at my 25 workplace. 87 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Q. Is he sitting in the room today? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. Okay. And what did he contact you about? 5 A. Well, initially, he was -- he said he would like 6 to meet with me. The attorneys, who were covering the case 7 now, had basically dropped me, and left me out on my own. 8 Q. Is that what he told you? 9 A. Yes, and that he would just like to go over and 10 discuss some few things with me. That he -- basically, they 11 had gotten in touch with the nurse who had, she had reported 12 all of these instances, and she denied all of that, and he 13 would just like for me to go over there and read that again, 14 and maybe, if I feel like to sign an affidavit saying that I 15 was incorrect in what I had said in my earlier deposition. 16 Q. Was he encouraging you to sign this affidavit? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. Was this affidavit contrary to the facts? 19 A. Correct. This was contrary to what I had stated 20 in my deposition. 21 Q. Is it contrary to the truth? 22 A. Yes. 23 Q. So he was asking you to sign a false affidavit? 24 A. Correct. 25 Q. Now the note that was attached to your first 88 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 deposition, if you could look at that? 3 A. Okay. 4 Q. Mr. Glick briefly referred to that. It was a 5 January of 2000 memo? 6 A. Okay. 7 Q. Was that documentation the result of a phone 8 call that you had had with Mr. Destefano? 9 A. Correct. 10 Q. And what transpired during that telephone 11 conference? 12 A. I called him from my home at work, and I just 13 remember saying that he would get ugly with me. That I 14 wouldn't like what would happen to me. That he was able to 15 get people fired at Sunbelt and that he would stand out and 16 picket that I had made all of these accusations. 17 Q. Did he threaten you? 18 A. He said he would get ugly with me. 19 Q. Did he also threaten to try to get you to lose 20 your job? 21 A. Correct. 22 Q. Did you, in fact, feel threatened by that? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. Did you feel, or did you have any indication of 25 why he was threatening you? 89 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 A. Not at the time, no. 3 Q. Did you subsequently become aware of why he was 4 threatening you? 5 A. Once I had talked -- once I wrote the letter and 6 discussed with Doctor Powell, he referred me to, Doctor 7 Milhone, who referred me to John Amick, who was Security 8 Risk Management. 9 Q. But Security Risk Management, is he responsible 10 for looking after the safety of the employees at Florida 11 Hospital? 12 A. Correct. 13 Q. Is that why you were referred to him? 14 A. Correct. 15 Q. Were you afraid? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. Were you afraid for your family? 18 A. Yes. 19 MS. MARSHALL: Thank you. I have no 20 further questions. 21 MR. GLICK: I have just a few questions 22 on redirect, Doctor. 23 FURTHER EXAMINATION BY MR. GLICK 24 BY MR. GLICK: 25 Q. First of all, is there anywhere in the telephone 90 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 encounter note where you note that Mr. Destefano was 3 threatening your family at all? 4 A. No. 5 Q. Did he threaten your family at all? 6 A. No. 7 Q. Did he, other than the statement which you can 8 interpret it however you like, get ugly with me, did he 9 say -- did he say he was going to do any physical harm to 10 you in any way? 11 A. Not specifically. 12 Q. All right. Now let me talk to you about the 13 affidavit that you referred to that the investigator from, 14 on behalf of the plaintiff, talked to you about, do you have 15 a copy of that affidavit? 16 A. No. I refused to meet with him. 17 Q. Did you ever see a written affidavit? 18 A. No. 19 Q. Well, when you referred to the affidavit, that 20 was just a word that the investigator had used? 21 A. Correct. 22 Q. Did the investigator ever say to you that I want 23 you to lie, or to purger yourself in any way? 24 A. No. Just to change my testimony, to what I had 25 stated in my deposition. 91 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 Q. Okay. Did the investigator -- did it appear to 3 you that the investigator believed that what you had stated, 4 in your earlier testimony, was inaccurate? 5 A. I don't know what his thoughts were. 6 Q. Is that a possibility, Doctor? 7 A. Is it a possibility that -- 8 Q. Let me ask you this. Is it a possibility that 9 the investigator was trying to get you to sign an affidavit 10 or trying to get you to meet with him so that he could 11 provide you with information that had -- strike that. Did 12 the investigator tell you that he had -- that there had been 13 testimony taken that contrary to yours, since your 14 deposition was taken? 15 A. Correct. 16 Q. Did the investigator wish you to listen to what 17 he had to say about that testimony and then decide if you 18 would sign an affidavit that may have been inconsistent with 19 your previous testimony? 20 A. Correct. 21 Q. But the investigator at no time ever encouraged 22 you to lie or not tell the truth in any way? 23 A. He asked me that -- what I recall is, that he 24 had said that the nurse, that had reported telling all of 25 this stuff, denied all of this and he would just like for me 92 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 to look over the record and then sign an affidavit stating 3 that I may have been mistaken. 4 Q. OKay. Did he at any time make any threats 5 towards you in any way? 6 A. No. But I did feel threatened. 7 Q. Why did you feel threatened? 8 A. Because they showed up at my house when I was 9 in there with my two little children. 10 Q. All right. But the investigator didn't make any 11 verbal threats? 12 A. He told me that the hospital had abandoned me. 13 And that I was going to be left alone to take the fall. 14 Q. Did you, in fact, agree to meet with the 15 investigator? 16 A. No. 17 Q. At any time? 18 A. Correct. 19 I did ask him to leave and not to come back. I 20 contacted to find out who the new attorney was that was 21 covering the case. And once I found out that I was covered, 22 and discussed with Tracy what had curtailed, and I was 23 instructed to -- 24 MS. MARSHALL: I am going to object, not 25 to, not to reveal what we talked about. 93 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 THE WITNESS: Okay. 3 BY MR. GLICK: 4 Q. Did you -- at one point, the investigator saw 5 you at his office, at your office. You say he came over to 6 your office at one point? 7 A. Correct. 8 Q. And at that point, did you speak with him and 9 tell him to come back after hours and talk to you? 10 A. No. I was on my way to lunch, and I was just -- 11 I didn't know why he was there, but I had a prior 12 engagement. So I left without -- I just told him I would 13 come back, and then that's when all of the information 14 started. 15 Q. Okay. So when you came back, you did talk to 16 him? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. Okay. And at that time, you didn't tell him to 19 go away or get off of my property or anything like that? 20 A. Not at that time. 21 Q. It was later when he came to your house, is that 22 what you are saying? 23 A. I don't recall the specific events. 24 Q. Okay. But at no time did the investigator make 25 any threats of physical harm to you? 94 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 A. No. 3 Q. Or economic harm, or any kind of harm to you in 4 any way, isn't that accurate? 5 A. Would that not be reported, that the hospital 6 had left me out to take the fall. 7 Q. Okay. 8 A. But no specifics. 9 Q. But not threats that anybody from the 10 plaintiff's side was going to harm you in any way? 11 A. He did not make those threats, no. 12 Q. All right. Doctor, let me go back to just a 13 couple of things, and we will be done. You read a few notes 14 out of the hospital record, the Florida Hospital record, and 15 correct me if I am wrong, but none of those notes that you 16 referred to, used the phrases, kneeing in the back, or 17 dragging Mrs. Destefano, or feeding her too much, or 18 force-feeding her, or gagging, or anything of that nature? 19 A. Correct. 20 Q. Now one last thing. Mrs. Marshall asked you a 21 question, and I probably can't ask it exactly as she did, 22 but it will be close. She asked you if anything that you 23 wrote in the 9/22/99 letter, which is labeled Exhibit Number 24 1, was not true or was false, and your answer was, no, when 25 I wrote the letter. Do you remember giving that answer? 95 1 JOHN HUGH STEELY 2 A. Correct. 3 Q. Now do you, after -- now do you see that there 4 may be some things in your letter that are false? 5 A. No. I mean, like I said, it's been four years, 6 five years since I wrote the letter specifically. At the 7 time I wrote the letter, I wrote what I knew to be truthful 8 at that point. So I would have to go with what I wrote in 9 the letter. That's when the recollection would have been 10 the best. 11 Q. But at this time now, is there any part of the 12 letter that you don't feel is true? 13 A. I believe the letter is true. 14 MR. GLICK: Thank you, Doctor. I have 15 nothing else. 16 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: This completes the 17 deposition of Doctor John Hugh Steely. The time is 4:21. 18 MR. GLICK: Oh, Danny, do you have any 19 questions? 20 MR. EISEL: No, I have no questions. 21 (Off the record.) (4:21 P.M.) 22 (And further, witness sayeth naught.) 23 24 25 96 1 2 State of North Carolina 3 County of Scotland 4 5 C E R T I F I C A T E 6 7 I, MARY JO GOETTLER, Notary Public and 8 Court Reporter, do hereby certify that said witness was 9 duly sworn prior to the examination beginning, and that 10 said deposition was taken and transcribed by me or 11 under my direction; and the foregoing pages constitute 12 a true and correct transcription of the testimony of 13 the witness; and that I am not a relative or employee 14 or any counsel of the parties in this cause and have no 15 interest in the outcome of the same. 16 In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my 17 hand this 17th day of August, 2004. 18 19 ______________________________________ 20 MARY JO GOETTLER 21 Notary Public - State of North Carolina 22 National Certified Verbatim Reporter 23 Member: NCRA 24 My Commission Expires: July 17, 2006 25 97 1 2 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, 3 COUNTY OF SCOTLAND, to-wit: 4 5 I, JOHN HUGH STEELY, M.D., being first duly 6 sworn, deposes and says that he/she has read the foregoing 7 deposition and that the deposition is a true and correct 8 record of the testimony therein recorded. 9 10 ________________________________ 11 JOHN HUGH STEELY, M.D. 12 13 SUBSCRIBED and sworn to before me this ______ 14 day of ____________, 2004. 15 16 ________________________________ 17 NOTARY PUBLIC 18 My commission expires ____________________ 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 98 1 2 ERRATA SHEET 3 CORRECTIONS: 4 PAGE LINE AS READS SHOULD READ 5 ____________________________________________________________ 6 ____________________________________________________________ 7 ____________________________________________________________ 8 ____________________________________________________________ 9 ____________________________________________________________ 10 ____________________________________________________________ 11 ____________________________________________________________ 12 ____________________________________________________________ 13 ____________________________________________________________ 14 ____________________________________________________________ 15 ____________________________________________________________ 16 ____________________________________________________________ 17 18 19 20 ________________________________ ___________________ 21 JOHN HUGH STEELY, M.D. Date 22 23 24 25