10-24-16 SFRX V Volentine Hearing

BAY AREA COURT REPORTING, INC.
www.bar-tampa.com
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRTEENTH JUDICIAL

CIRCUIT OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, IN AND FOR
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY
CASE NO. 14-CA-008902
_____________________________
SEAFARER EXPLORATION CORP,
Plaintiff,
versus
DARRELL VOLENTINE,
Defendant.
_____________________________
PROCEEDINGS:
DEFENDANT'S VERIFIED MOTION

FOR CONTEMPT AND SANCTIONS
AGAINST PLAINTIFFS
DATE:
October 24, 2016
TIME:
3:30 P.M. -
BEFORE:
HONORABLE STEVEN S. STEPHENS

CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE
PLACE TAKEN:
GEORGE EDGECOMB COURTHOUSE

800 East Twiggs Street,
Tampa, FL 33602
REPORTED BY:
Dana L. Stockton, RPR

Notary Public
State of Florida, at Large
4:45 p.m.
PAGES 1 - 67
_____________________________________________________
620 East Twiggs Street, Suite 305
Tampa, FL 33602
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Bayareareporting@gmail.com
Tel. (813) 229-7207
(866)240-9500
www.bar-tampa.com
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APPEARANCES:
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CRAIG A. HUFFMAN, ESQ

13046 Race Track Road, Suite 243
Tampa, Florida 33626
Appearing on behalf of the
Plaintiffs
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EVAN KIDD, ESQ

731 1st Court
Palm Harbor, Florida 34684
Appearing on behalf of
Defendant
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INDEX
PAGE
WITNESS
APPEARING BY TELEPHONE DARRELL VOLENTINE
Direct Examination by Mr. Kidd
16
Cross-Examination by Mr. Huffman
22
Redirect Examination by Mr. Kidd
27
CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER
67
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P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S
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THE COURT:
MR. HUFFMAN:
www.bar-tampa.com
Are we ready to start?

The Plaintiff is ready, Your
Honor.
MR. KIDD:
The defendant is having Wifi
issues at the moment, Your Honor.
for IT personnel to come down and give us a
hand.
the building today.
11
They said that there's been outages in
THE COURT:
10
So what do you think's going
to happen?
12
MR. KIDD:
13
THE COURT:
14
MR. KIDD:
15
Are you asking me, Your Honor?

Uh-huh.
Well, we're going to go ahead
and present our case.

THE COURT:
16
That's what I thought was
17
going to happen.
18
now.
19
We've asked
It's time for that to start
So normally when the beginning of the
20
hearing comes, we start the case.
21
motion, as I understand it, and I'm inviting
22
you to take it up.
23
MR. KIDD:
So it's your
Thank you, Your Honor.
24
believe we've just got connectivity and I'm
25
going to establish connection with my client
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momentarily.
THE COURT:
No, you're not.
You're going
to go over to your counsel table and you're
going to start the argument and not play with
the computer.
When the time comes that you want to call
some testimony and we have a technical problem
with that, then maybe we can take it up.
But typically, when the Judge comes in the
10
room and is ready to start the case, you don't
11
sit around playing with a computer.
12
ready to go.
13
You get
So how about we proceed?
MR. KIDD:
I've
14
got a hearing binder for His Honor, and one for
15
you, as well.
16
THE COURT:
Thank you.
17
THE BAILIFF:
If everybody would, please
18
make your sure cell phones are on vibrate or
19
off, please.
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THE COURT:
21
Go ahead, sir.
22
MR. KIDD:
23
Thanks for reminding me.
May I make an opening
statement, Your Honor?
24
THE COURT:
25
like you to do.
That's exactly what I would
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MR. KIDD:
www.bar-tampa.com
Today
we are here on Defendant's Verified Motion for
Contempt and Sanctions Against Plaintiffs,
Seafarer Exploration Corp., Kyle Kennedy and
Craig Huffman.
If Your Honor will recall, back on
April 7th, 2016, we had a hearing on
Plaintiff's Motion for Order for Rule to Show
Cause and for Attorney's Fees.
10
During that hearing, Your Honor, the
11
plaintiff offered Exhibit A as the crux of its
12
evidence against the defendant.
13
What we will show today through the
14
evidence, Your Honor, is that everything
15
contained within Exhibit A was misrepresented
16
to the Court.
17
A great deceit has been perpetrated on the
18
Court and today is the day that we right that
19
deceit.
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The evidence will show, Your Honor, that
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Exhibit A does not merely contain postings as
22
was claimed at the April 7th hearing.
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Exhibit A does not have any postings from the
24
Seafarer Exploration Board which was the crux
25
of plaintiff's argument connecting the postings
That
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to Seafarer Exploration Corp., and thus a
breach of the injunctive order that the
defendant is currently under.
If you will direct your attention, Your
Honor, to Page 4 of Tab 2.
read into evidence at the April 7th hearing are
the only two postings in this document from the
bottom of four leading into the top of five
which do not contain the EXPL stock symbol,
10
11
The two postings
symbol of Endurance Exploration Company.

Now, this is the source of the postings
12
which were sworn to be Seafarer Exploration
13
Board postings, Your Honor.
14
Furthermore, the evidence will show that
15
the postings are not connected in any way,
16
shape or form to Seafarer Exploration, Mr. Kyle
17
Kennedy or any member of his family.
18
And finally, the evidence will show that
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half of what was offered into Exhibit A as
20
postings, viewable to the entire public, which
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caused you, yourself, Your Honor, to declare
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that my client did what no rational man would
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do, are not available to the public whatsoever,
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Your Honor and, furthermore, are not on the
25
subject matter of Seafarer Exploration.
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A great injustice has been done against my
client, Your Honor.
negative light.
expense.
pursuant to this motion as it was pled.
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He's been portrayed in a
He's been caused undue
He's been threatened with jail time
And today's the day that that wrong is

finally righted, Your Honor.
THE COURT:
Do you want to say something
at this point, sir, or do you want to reserve

until you hear their evidentiary presentation?
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MR. HUFFMAN:
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THE COURT:
I'll reserve, Your Honor.
That would make it time for
13
your evidentiary presentation, sir.
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you want to do?
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MR. KIDD:
What do
May I please return to the
computer and connect to Skype?

THE COURT:
I don't know.
I mean, if you
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can do it, then sure.
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wanted -- you have some sort of a media
20
presentation, have somebody who sets that up so
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that they don't have to be distracted from
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their responsibilities.
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Normally the people who
So I'm not sure what to tell you.
If --
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are you trying to call a witness?
You need to
25
tell me what you're trying to do instead of
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telling me that you want to access a computer
in the middle of the hearing without giving me
any context for that.

MR. KIDD:
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THE COURT:
MR. KIDD:
THE COURT:
MR. KIDD:
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THE COURT:
MR. KIDD:
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THE COURT:
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Darrell Volentine.
Oh, I see.
Okay.
So you want
Yes, Your Honor.

And are you ready to do that
now?
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15
I'm still listening.
to call Mr. Volentine as a witness by Internet?
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12
I'm calling the witness,
Your Honor.
Yes.
Yes, Your Honor.

Let's see that happen.
Go
ahead.
Is there any objection to the gentleman
being called by electronic communication?
MR. HUFFMAN:
No.
Pursuant to the earlier
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hearing that we had on telephonic appearance,
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we had settled for this.
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THE COURT:
Did you have a chance to take
a deposition?
MR. HUFFMAN:
We did, Your Honor, for
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about five-and-a-half hours I had
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Mr. Volentine.
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THE COURT:
www.bar-tampa.com
And you're not going to offer
parts of the deposition in first?
going to go ahead and have the guy put -- all
right.
Let's go ahead and find out how it
works.
Let's see if you can get it to happen.
MR. HUFFMAN:
THE COURT:
You're just
So it's been a couple minutes.
Are you going to be able to get this to work or
not?
10
likely to start happening.

MR. KIDD:
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I'm not seeing any indication that it's
Your Honor, both myself and the
defendant are attempting.
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THE COURT:
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MR. KIDD:
15
What network are you using?

I'm using my paralegal's phone
network because -THE COURT:
16
Okay.
That's what you have to
17
use.
You can't expect unsecured public Wifi to
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handle streaming video.
19
through a cell phone network?
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MR. KIDD:
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THE COURT:
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So you're doing it
Correct.
Yeah, that's what you have to
use.
MR. HUFFMAN:
Your Honor, in order for
24
expediency and the Court's time, we would agree
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that Mr. Volentine can dial in and participate
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telephonically, assuming that he has someone
present to take his oath.

THE COURT:
Well, that's going to be the
next thing.
It could be done just by audio, if
you can get that to happen.
look like the video is happening.
But it doesn't
Is there anything different that you're
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doing now than what you did when you were doing
the preparation?
MR. KIDD:
10
We've got more evidence to
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offer, Your Honor.
12
that via telephonic appearance.

THE COURT:
13
But we could accomplish

No problem.
Well, if you're going to do
14
anything, you probably ought to try that.
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gentleman stipulated to letting it be done by
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telephone.
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be feasible.
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So let's see if that turns out to
MR. BLUMSTEIN:
18
The
Do you want to talk to
him?
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THE COURT:
No.
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MR. BLUMSTEIN:
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THE COURT:
No.
No.
No.
No.
How to connect.
There's a little
23
misunderstanding about how things work when
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we're in live court.
25
If you need a recess to talk to your
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client about anything, you ask for a recess and
you go and talk to your client about something
outside of the hearing of everybody else.
if that's what you want to do, then fine.
So
But you're not going to make phone calls
and talk to people in the middle of the
courtroom.
didn't know if she's supposed to take it down
or not.
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It's not fair to the reporter.
MR. KIDD:
Your Honor, may I please have a
recess?
THE COURT:
Yes, sir.
Of course, you can.
Of course.
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MR. KIDD:
15
THE COURT:

Let's go ahead and get him
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teed up.
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step outside and get that done and get him
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online.
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And I'm going to ask you gentlemen to
And then come on back in.
I take it you have somebody at the far

side to swear him in?
MR. KIDD:
Yes, Your Honor.
As there
would, if he had appeared by video.
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THE COURT:
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MR. BLUMSTEIN:
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She
Yes.
Your Honor, should we have
him on the Court's phone or try to do it --
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THE COURT:
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sir.
www.bar-tampa.com
Oh, absolutely.
I'm sorry.
I don't know who you are.
MR. BLUMSTEIN:
just trying to help him.
THE COURT:
First of all,
Oh, I'm a paralegal.
I'm
Paralegals aren't even
allowed -- see that wooden piece back there?
That's called a bar.
MR. BLUMSTEIN:
THE COURT:
Yes, Your Honor.
And you're supposed to be
10
admitted to the Bar before you come past that
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wooden piece.
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MR. BLUMSTEIN:
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THE COURT:
I apologize.
Okay.
So, no, you're helping
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him for the technical stuff.
15
problem.
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expect the court reporter, once again, to know
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who you are and to put that on the record.
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It's not a
But you can't just start talking and
MR. KIDD:
Your Honor, how about -- shall
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I have him call into the court line or what
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would be your preference, Your Honor?
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THE COURT:
I don't have a preference.
If
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you want to have him testify, you have to have
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him testify somehow.
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a speakerphone or something -- whatever you
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have.
So, you know, if you have
I don't know.
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MR. KIDD:
THE COURT:
MR. KIDD:
THE COURT:
www.bar-tampa.com

Are you all set?
Yes, Your Honor.
All right.
So the important
thing is for the reporter to be able to hear
and for opposing counsel to be able to hear.
Let's give it a video task and yourself to
identify himself, please.
9
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MR. KIDD:
Darrell, could you please state
your name for the record?
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MR. VOLENTINE:
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THE COURT:
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MR. KIDD:
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Darrell Volentine.
All right.
Everybody hearing?
May I approach just a little
closer?
THE COURT:
No.
Not a little closer.
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want you to stand right up here next to the
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phone so you can hear.
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All right.
I think we've got everybody
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where we can hear.
20
have a Notary Public there?
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Let's go ahead and -- do we
MRS. FARNBERGER:
I'm here.
My name is
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Michelle Marie Farnberger (phonetic), Notary
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Public, State of California.
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THE COURT:
expiration date?
And do you have a Commission

Is that how we keep track of
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people in California?
MRS. FARNBERGER:
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www.bar-tampa.com
Yes.
December 25th,
2017.
THE COURT:
All right.
Very good.
And do
you have a form that you use in California to
swear people to tell the truth for depositions
and for testimony in court?
MRS. FARNBERGER:
THE COURT:
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California Jurat.
There we go.
MRS. FARNBERGER:
And would you like my
Commission Number?
THE COURT:
That's even better.
What's
the Commission Number?
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MRS. FARNBERGER:
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THE COURT:
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MRS. FARNBERGER:
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THE COURT:
Are you ready?
No.
2052879.
Thank you.
So when I said a
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form, I didn't mean a piece of paper.
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do you have words that you use to swear
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somebody to sell the truth?
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MRS. FARNBERGER:
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THE COURT:
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MRS. FARNBERGER:
I meant,
Yes.
And then go ahead, please.

Do you, Darrell, swear
24
to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing
25
but the truth, so help you God?
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MR. VOLENTINE:
THE COURT:
I do.
There we go.
The witness has
properly been sworn, as far as we can tell, by
a Notary Public that is licensed in California.

Is there any objection to the swearing of
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the witness at this point, sir?
MR. HUFFMAN:
THE COURT:
None, Your Honor.
All right.
Then you may
proceed with your testimony, direct testimony.
10
Go ahead.
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MR. KIDD:
DARRELL VOLENTINE,
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Thereupon, the witness herein, being first duly
14
sworn, was examined and testified as follows:

DIRECT EXAMINATION
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BY MR. KIDD:
17
Q.
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Mr. Volentine, can you please state your
name and address for the record?
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A.
Excuse me?
20
Q.
Mr. Volentine, can you please state your
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22
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name and address for the record?

A.
Darrell Volentine.
803 Via Concha Road,
Nipomo, California 93444.
24
Q.
Mr. Volentine, what is your profession?
25
A.
Pest control.
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2
Q.
www.bar-tampa.com
Mr. Volentine, are you familiar with
Exhibit A from the April 7th, 2016 hearing?
A.
Yes.
Q.
Do you have it in front of you?
A.
Yes.
Q.
Please take a few moments to read it over.
I'm going to ask you a few questions about it.
A.
Okay.
Q.
Mr. Volentine, are the contents of Exhibit
10
I'm ready.
A postings?
11
A.
No.
12
Q.
Are some of the contents of Exhibit A
13
postings?
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A.
I do not recognize them.
15
Q.
Mr. Volentine, I direct your attention to
16
the bottom half of Page 4.
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A.
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record?
19
Q.
So for the record --
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A.
I have it in front me.
21
Q.
For the record, from the bottom of Page 4
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Okay.
Now, here we go.
So for the
on, do you recognize those postings.
23
A.
Yes, I do.
24
Q.
Thank you, Mr. Volentine.
25
How is it that
you were able to recognize these postings, Mr.
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Volentine?
A.
2
3
Q.
How is it that you recognize the context
of those postings, Mr. Volentine?

A.
6
7
It says my name, Buccaneer 1961, means
Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan, born 1961.
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5
www.bar-tampa.com
Because it has my alias on it, Buccaneer
1961.
Q.
Thank you.
A.
And it also matches word for word what was
10
post -- what I had posted on the Endurance
11
Exploration Board.
Q.
12
How were you able to verify what you
13
posted on the Endurance Exploration Board, Mr.
14
Volentine?
A.
15
16
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it.
I went right to the board and I can read
And I also made copies of it from it.

Q.
Thank you.
Mr. Volentine, I direct your
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attention to the very first posting on Page 4.
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you read it for the Court, please?
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21
22
23
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25
A.
Can
The mighty CEO here is no Koward but a
smart enterprising person.

Q.
Could you please explain to the Court the
context of the letter K being used to spell Koward?

A.
Yes.
Sometimes people write K, for Kool.
Sometimes they'll even post -- and you can even find
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my post, not just here but also in the stock
(inaudible) -THE COURT REPORTER:
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4
Can you stop him?
THE WITNESS:
BY MR. KIDD:
Q.
Mr. Volentine, could you go ahead and
repeat that, please?
10
THE COURT:
No.
THE WITNESS:
13
THE COURT:
14
MR. KIDD:
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17
18
19
No.
No.
That's not how
it works.
12
15
I use the word Koward or the
letter K for Kat for Kalifornia.
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I can't hear him.
(Inaudible) as in --
Get him to stop, first of all.

Mr. Volentine, sorry.
I need
you to stop.
THE COURT:
Okay.
This is the problem
with testimony by phone.

Sir, I need you to listen to me carefully.
Can you hear me?
20
THE WITNESS:
21
THE COURT:
Yes.
All right.
What you need to
22
do is realize that we're communicating over a
23
medium that is not really high fidelity.
24
THE WITNESS:
25
THE COURT:
Okay.
Sir, listen, please.
The lady
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here who's taking down everything needs to take
things down accurately.
stop everybody if she doesn't hear what's going
on, and that's what's just happened.
And it's her job to
So what I need you to do for us is to make
5
6
sure that you speak like I'm speaking now, and
nobody will worry that it sounds condescending.
We just have to do it that way.

You just have to speak with your words
9
10
farther apart, louder and articulated more
11
clearly, especially though, farther apart.
12
you start talking rapidly, it makes it very
13
hard for anybody on this end to know what
14
you're saying.
15
saying?
Do you understand what I'm
16
THE WITNESS:
17
THE COURT:
18
THE WITNESS:
19
THE COURT:
20
Go ahead, Counsel.
21
MR. KIDD:
22
BY MR. KIDD:
23
Q.
24
25
If
Oh, yes.
Yes, I do.
Will you do that then, please?

Yes, I shall.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Volentine, I direct your attention to
the top of Page 2, Exhibit A -MR. KIDD:
Tab 2 in Your Honor's booklet.
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BY MR. KIDD:
Q.
3
4
www.bar-tampa.com
Mr. Volentine, do you recognize the first
paragraph not in bold directly below your name?

A.
No.
I do not recognize it.
The e-mail is
not grouped together, nor would it show who or what
I was posting to.
to something.
8
9
Q.
And it's totally out of context
I do not recognize that.
Mr. Volentine, how is it that you identify
this communication as an e-mail?
10
A.
It says SVpestman@Verizon.net.
11
Q.
Mr. Volentine,
12
how is it that you gather your information as it
13
regards to Seafarer Exploration Corp.?
14
A.
Well, I relied on posters on the stop
15
message board at Investors Hub and private messages
16
from other posters that would tell me things
17
concerning the stop.
Now, I look through filings.
18
Q.
Which filings are those, Mr. Volentine?
19
A.
The 10Ks and 10Qs that were -- that were
20
filed by the company that go to the Security
21
Exchange Commission and that are on the public
22
information up on the Seafarer board and they're
23
signed by Kyle Kennedy.
24
25
Q.

MR. KIDD:
Nothing further at this moment.
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THE COURT:
MR. HUFFMAN:
Cross-examination?
CROSS-EXAMINATION
3
4
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BY MR. HUFFMAN:
Q.
Mr. Volentine, this is Mr. Huffman.
A.
Hello.
Q.
Mr. Volentine, do you remember on or about
September 30th of 2014 -- do you remember entering
into a certain stipulation that was a number of
10
pages and, as a matter of fact, we discussed that at
11
your deposition last Wednesday.
Do you recall that?
12
A.
Yes.
13
Q.
And you recall that you signed that
14
stipulation, which also included a permanent
15
lifetime injunction, correct?
16
A.
Well, there's lots of it that I don't
17
remember, as I told you, because I told you and
18
Judge Cook I skimmed through it.
19
understand what was there.
20
it to find the initials where you told me, because
21
you said it would be done and over with.
I didn't
I just skimmed through
22
Q.
Okay.
23
A.
And that's what I did.
I wanted it to be
24
done and over with.
So I just did that to make you
25
happy and we go our separate ways.
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2
Q.
www.bar-tampa.com
Mr. Volentine, did you sign the document
that was dated September --
A.
I did.
Q.
You did?
A.
If you're referring to the document we
Can you say that again?
just talked about, yes, I did, and initialed it in a
few places, too, I believe.
8
9
Q.
All right.
Would you agree that that
document contained this as part of the injunction,
10
that such injunction extends to all forms of
11
communication, including the Internet postings,
12
Internet message boards, written communications of
13
any kind, in any form, to any third party, of any
14
kind?
15
A.
No.
It was my understanding that --
16
because you tried to bring that up to the judge and
17
she specifically told you afterwards that --
18
Q.
No.
Mr. Volentine, let me ask you this.
19
After the entry of that injunction, did you go on
20
message boards and reference to Seafarer
21
Exploration, any board?
22
23
A.
I'm going to have to say, no, because I
don't recall that.
24
Q.
You don't recall or you did not?
25
A.
No, not afterwards.
So I'm just going to
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have to say no.
memory, I'm going to go with that answer.
Q.
And unless something jogs my
Mr. Volentine, do you recall that you
received this Exhibit A on August 12th of 2015 when
it was originally filed?
A.
I do.
Q.
And you subsequently -- it was refiled on
December 6th of 2015; do you recall that?
A.
Yes.
10
Q.
So Mr. Volentine, having seen this exhibit
11
a number of times before the hearing on April 7th,
12
2016, did you do anything to object to the contents
13
of what were included in Exhibit A?
14
A.
I don't recall.
15
Q.
Mr. Volentine, besides your testimony here
16
today, is there anything else that you know of that
17
shows that you did not mean Seafarer Exploration, or
18
referring to Seafarer Exploration by implication of
19
what you said in those posts, is there anything else
20
other than your testimony today?
21
22
A.
Yeah.
They were posted on the Endurance
Exploration Board.
23
Q.
Right.
24
A.
And you stipulated to that a couple weeks
25
ago, that you understood that when Kyle made his
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testimony that they were on the Seafarer Exploration
board.
Q.
Okay.
THE COURT REPORTER:
4
5
part?
BY MR. HUFFMAN:
7
8
9
Let me ask you this --
Q.
What is the last
What was the last part, Mr. Volentine?
I'll ask you to repeat the answer.

A.
It was -- that when it was on the
10
Endurance Exploration board that I posted those.
11
And I know that Kyle Kennedy gave testimony that
12
they were posted on the Seafarer Exploration board
13
and you stipulated about a couple weeks ago that it
14
indeed was wrong, that it was on the Endurance
15
Exploration board and not on the Seafarer board.
16
All posts were on the Endurance Exploration board,
17
and I'm talking about that stock.
18
Q.
All right.
19
A.
That CEO and the qualities they have in
20
that (inaudible) --
21
Q.
Mr. Volentine --
22
A.
(Inaudible.)
23
Q.
I'm sorry.
Mr. Volentine, I cut you off.
24
Let me ask you this.
So it's your testimony today
25
that you have never referenced, if not by name, by
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initials or any way else, Seafarer Exploration or
their attorney or an agent or anyone who has
anything to do with Seafarer Exploration.
never referenced them on any board anywhere?
You've
A.
That's my understanding.
Q.
That's your understanding or --
A.
(Inaudible) --
Q.
-- or have you or have you not?
A.
-- show me where I did, I'm going to have
10
11
to say I have not.

Q.
Mr. Volentine, you did not appear at the
12
April 7th, 2016 hearing.
So you did not, at the
13
time, take any issue with anything in Exhibit A,
14
correct?
15
A.
Correct.
16
Q.
Before that time, sir, every hearing that
17
was held did you or did you not appear
18
telephonically before the Court?
19
20
21
A.
I did.
Yes, I did.
THE COURT:
Is there anything else,
Counsel?
22
MR. HUFFMAN:
23
THE COURT:
24
way of redirect, sir?
25
MR. KIDD:
No.
Nothing further.
Anything further for you by
Yes, sir, Your Honor.
Page 26
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REDIRECT EXAMINATION
1
2
BY MR. KIDD:
Q.
Mr. Volentine, have you ever broken the
injunctive order against you?

MR. HUFFMAN:
5
6
Objection, calls for
conclusion of law.
THE WITNESS:
THE COURT:
www.bar-tampa.com
No.
He says no.
We'll hear the
answer, but we have to take it for what it's
10
worth, subject to the injunction -- the
11
objection.
Excuse me.
Next question, sir.
12
13
BY MR. KIDD:
14
Q.
Mr. Volentine, were any of the postings or
15
messages referenced to an Exhibit A in any way the
16
subject of Seafarer Exploration, Kyle Kennedy or any
17
member of his family?
18
19
A.
No.
The KK used there was in reference to
Bruce K. Klein, the Kowardly Klein he's referred to.
20
MR. KIDD:
21
THE COURT:
22
Thank you.
Are you asking for leave to
recross?
23
MR. HUFFMAN:
24
THE COURT:
25
Nothing further.
I would, Your Honor.
One question.
RECROSS-EXAMINATION
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2
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BY MR. HUFFMAN:
Q.
Now, could you explain to the Court the
relationship of Bruce K. Klein to Seafarer
Exploration?
A.
None, that I'm aware of.
Q.
As a matter of fact, Mr --
A.
(Inaudible) on another board.
Q.
Mr. Volentine, so Bruce K. Klein, as you
9
10
11
12
13
14
say, you put KK.
you are now stating that's Bruce Klein, right?

A.
Yes.
I told you that during the
deposition.
Q.
I understand; however, the Court was not
present for the deposition.

Now, to your understanding, is Bruce Klein
15
16
Instead of meaning Kyle Kennedy,
a client of mine in other matters?
17
A.
Yes.
18
Q.
So when you talk about an attorney and a
19
KK and so forth, you're now meaning another client
20
of mine from an involvement in another company in
21
which you were never a shareholder, correct?
22
23
24
25
A.
Correct.
THE COURT:
Anything else from either one
of you?
MR. KIDD:
Nothing further at this time,
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Your Honor.
MR. HUFFMAN:
THE COURT:
Evidence or --
No.
No.
Just with this
witness.
hope you can hear me, sir.
I'm going to ask the gentleman -- I
What's happened to -- if this injunction
was entered, or if the order enforcing the
injunction was incorrectly entered, what has
that done to your life?
10
11
12
13
14
THE WITNESS:
I don't understand the
question.
THE COURT:
Well, I don't understand you
not understanding it.

THE WITNESS:
How has it affected you?
Because an injunction, if
15
it's worded the way it is, it would involve
16
many of my First Amendment rights.
17
not -- to watch and see people hump a stock
18
that they know has no treasure is upsetting,
19
that they know the company -- really has
20
nothing to offer.
21
want to buy more shares.
22
shares.
23
24
25
THE COURT:
And it's
And people are posting, I

I want to buy more
Why don't you just sell them
the shares?
THE WITNESS:
(Inaudible) looking for a
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2
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long time, not just this stock -THE COURT:
Sir, that's a serious
question.
Why don't you just sell them the
shares if you think that people are buying
shares that they shouldn't be buying?
THE WITNESS:
THE COURT:
Oh, yes.
Absolutely.
Well, that's an answer of
sorts.
How is this affecting you, though?
What I don't understand -- your attorney is in
10
here and asking the Court to enter these orders
11
of sanctions to punish the other side.
12
gather what he's asking me to punish them for
13
is for entering evidence of you violating the
14
injunction, that they think was not proper
15
evidence, that your attorney thinks was not
16
proper evidence.
17
And I
And even if that is something that we
18
believe did happen, how has that affected you
19
directly, is what I'm trying to ask you?
20
THE WITNESS:
Because you made mention
21
what kind of a person enters into an agreement
22
and breaks it.
23
Also, you told them they could get
24
attorney's fees based on that fraud.
And Craig
25
Huffman, he aided and abetted in that fraud
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because he knew they were not posting on the
Seafarer board.
And everything is going good, I should
say, until Kyle Kennedy got up there and swore
under oath that they were on the Seafarer
Exploration board.
whole matter changed, that perhaps I was
violating it.
Then you're thinking the
Also, it's just frustrating to be accused
10
of something that I know good and well that I
11
didn't do.
12
clear and stated because they were also asking
13
that I be incarcerated.
14
criminal contempt.
15
asking for.
16
17
I just wanted the record to be
THE COURT:
though, right?
THE WITNESS:
19
THE COURT:
20
THE WITNESS:
24
25
(Inaudible.)
That didn't happen, right?

No.
And I thank you for
that.
22
23
That's what they were
Yeah, that didn't happen,
18
21
They were asking for
THE COURT:
me.
Well, you don't have to thank
I'm just going to do my job either way.

So Counsel, either one of you want to ask
the gentleman a question in light of the
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questions that I've asked him?
clearly goes to the question of, you know, how
this affected him directly.
the considerations that are pertinent in this
kind of a proceeding.
It quite
It's just one of
You're welcome to ask any follow-up
questions you want to ask, if you want --
please, don't feel obligated.
9
10
11
12
13
MR. KIDD:
I'm going to go ahead and pass
on that opportunity, Your Honor.

MR. HUFFMAN:
Thank you.
I don't believe so, Your
Honor.
THE COURT:
Yeah, I didn't think I left
14
anything obvious that needed to be asked
15
anyways.
16
So let's go on to whatever's next.
Sir, you're welcome to stay on the line
17
and listen in.
But your testimony time is
18
over.
19
going to have to turn your line off.
20
understand what I'm saying?
And if you interject or anything, we're
21
THE WITNESS:
22
THE COURT:
23
THE WITNESS:
24
THE COURT:
25
I understand.
Do you
But --
Oh, oh, it's incorrect.

(Inaudible.)
Sometimes the use of the word
but is incorrect in this context.
There is no
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but.
understand?
3
4
5
www.bar-tampa.com
You just need to understand.
THE WITNESS:
Oh, I got you.
Do you
No.
I need
to go back and go to work.

THE COURT:
That's fine then.
If you
don't want to listen in, you're certainly not
required to.
point and say good-bye.
9
10
We'll turn the line off at this
MR. KIDD:
Thank you very much.
Thank you for your time, Mr.
Volentine.
11
THE WITNESS:
12
THE COURT:
13
MR. KIDD:
Thank you.
What's next, Counsel?

Next I would like to offer
14
Exhibits 1 through 5 to be entered into
15
evidence, Your Honor.
16
THE COURT:
Well, usually we take them up
17
one at a time.
You mean the ones that are in
18
the book, right?
19
MR. KIDD:
20
THE COURT:
21
22
23
Yes, Your Honor.

Number 1, is there any
objection to Number 1, sir?

MR. HUFFMAN:
That's the motion.
No
objection.
24
THE COURT:
25
MR. KIDD:
It's technically -Exhibit A, Mr. Huffman?
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MR. HUFFMAN:
1
2
objection.
1.
Exhibit 2.
Oh, Exhibit A.
Oh, no
I filed it.
THE COURT:
www.bar-tampa.com
So far we're on Exhibit Number
And Exhibit A, as he's been calling it, is
So he's not objecting to Exhibit 1.
And
the Court will receive Exhibit 1 for what it
is, because it's part of the court file anyway.
9
10
11
12
13
14
(Whereupon, Defendant's Exhibit 1 was received.)

THE COURT:
The court file's not
automatically in evidence.
And so Number 2, you want to offer that
one, right?
MR. KIDD:
Yes.
And, Your Honor, just to
15
clarify, within the index here I've marked
16
Defendant's Exhibit 1, Exhibit 2, Exhibit 3,
17
Exhibit 4 and Exhibit 5 in bold, Your Honor.
18
So when I refer to Exhibit 1, I do not
19
mean Tab 1.
20
Your Honor.
I mean, Exhibit 1, which is Tab 2,
21
THE COURT:
22
MR. KIDD:
23
THE COURT:
24
that.
25
understand it.
You did what now?

May I approach, Your Honor?
No.
No.
We don't need to do
I'll be able to follow it once I

It just takes me a minute
Page 34
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sometimes.
You're saying that you gave me a book full
2
3
of tabbed exhibits and the exhibit numbers
aren't going to match up to the tabs?
MR. KIDD:
Correct, Your Honor.
THE COURT:
Well, actually, I'll not use
that word.
But let's make sure that we have
the exhibits -- well, first of all, why?
would we not just take the stuff that's under
10
Tab 1 and call it Exhibit 1?
11
just do that?
Why wouldn't we
Does that mess up your presentation
12
13
somehow or can we just do it that way?
14
would be so much easier for everybody.

MR. KIDD:
15
16
Why
It
If Your Honor is so inclined,
that's fine.
17
THE COURT:
Okay with counsel over here?
18
MR. HUFFMAN:
19
THE COURT:
No objection, Your Honor.
Yeah, I'm not trying to -- if
20
it messes up your presentation somehow, tell
21
me.
22
way to take it would be according to the tabs.
But it just seems to me that the natural
23
MR. KIDD:
24
THE COURT:
25
Okay, Your Honor.

Let's call -- we'll show --
what's under Tab 1 is now received.
And I'll
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make sure that when we go back to reconstruct
the evidentiary record, which I have a clerk
who does, that they actually put the tabs in as
part of the sequence, so it's clear what's
going on.
MR. KIDD:
THE COURT:
Now 2 is what you've been
calling Exhibit A, which was an exhibit to the
document that was in the other -- the just
10
admitted exhibit.
11
evidence?
12
MR. KIDD:
13
THE COURT:
14
Yes, Your Honor.

And you're not objecting to
that, are you, sir?
15
MR. HUFFMAN:
16
THE COURT:
17
You want to move that into
Certainly not, Your Honor.
That one comes in as Number 2.

THE COURT:
18
Now, what I'm looking at and
19
calling Number 3 is, the document that says --
20
upper left-hand corner, replies to message and
21
Investor's Hub.
22
one?
23
MR. KIDD:
24
THE COURT:
25
And we're looking at the same
Yes, Your Honor.

And you're moving that into
evidence?
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MR. KIDD:
THE COURT:
www.bar-tampa.com
Yes, Your Honor.

Received or not received,
what's your -MR. HUFFMAN:
Received, Your Honor.
I've
verified those posts exist on the Endurance
Exploration board.
(Whereupon, Defendant's Exhibit 3 was marked.)
THE COURT:
to tell me admitted.
Well, you're going
And then under Tab 4 you have a piece of
10
11
transcript.
12
for?
13
All right.
And what are you offering that
MR. KIDD:
Your Honor, this is part of --
14
these are transcripts from the April 7th
15
hearing, which is the subject of this hearing,
16
as well.
17
This is evidence to show what I've been
18
attempting to prove to Your Honor, that the
19
evidence offered at the April 7th hearing was
20
false and deceitful.
21
THE COURT:
Well, that's kind of a general
22
answer to what was supposed to be a fairly
23
specific question.
24
25
What exactly factually is it supposed to

show?
In other words, a conclusion that
Page 37
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something was false or the conclusion that it
was deceitful, those have all these underlying
little pieces that you have to establish before
that big conclusion can be reached, right?
MR. KIDD:
THE COURT:
10
So which of those underlying
little pieces are you relying on here?

MR. KIDD:
8
9
Yes, Your Honor.
This is the testimony given by
Kyle Kennedy, as well as a few other excerpts

from the hearing.
11
THE COURT:
The attorney testified?
12
MR. HUFFMAN:
No.
No.
He's not -- that's
13
Mr. Kennedy there.
14
the record reflect that Kyle Kennedy is with
15
me.
16
THE COURT:
He's not the attorney.
No.
The other gentleman had
17
said that -- I thought he said that the
18
attorney testified.
19
MR. HUFFMAN:
20
THE COURT:
Let
Anyway --
Right.
-- so then this part here
21
where the attorney is talking about what Judge
22
Cook said has been highlighted.
23
have anything to do with what Mr. Kennedy's
24
testimony here was, right?
25
asking.
That doesn't
That's why I'm
Because we go through things at this
Page 38
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level of detail.
MR. KIDD:
So the highlight referring to
Judge Cook was just to establish a basis of
what the boundaries of the injunctive order
were meant to be, Your Honor.

THE COURT:
And this part over here where
you have what the Court was saying, that's also
not something that is used to prove that
Mr. Kennedy did anything deceitful, is it?
10
MR. KIDD:
No, Your Honor.
11
THE COURT:
12
MR. KIDD:
13
THE COURT:
This is --
I mean it shows that the -Mostly for -Changed the terms of the
14
injunction and added some additional terms to
15
it.
16
MR. KIDD:
Yes, Your Honor.
17
THE COURT:
We all know that that's true.
18
That's not in doubt now.
19
evidence for that at this point.
20
What else?
21
MR. KIDD:
22
23
You don't need
The rest of it is, in fact,
Mr. Kennedy's testimony, Your Honor.

THE COURT:
Right.
Okay.
So you're
24
asking to admit 15 through -- it jumps to --
25
you're asking to admit 46 through 49, 50, 51,
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2
3
4
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which would all be testimony, right?

MR. KIDD:
It begins on 45, Your Honor,
with the swearing in.

THE COURT:
Well, you don't need that if
the swearing is not contested, and it's not.
So those pages come into evidence, according to
plaintiff's counsel or no?
8
9
10
11
12
MR. HUFFMAN:
Your Honor, I filed the
whole matter into the court records.

THE COURT:
Then you're not objecting to
those -MR. HUFFMAN:
Obviously, Your Honor.
13
(Whereupon, Defendant's Exhibits 46 through 49, 50,
14
51 were received.)
15
THE COURT:
All right.
What about this
16
next transcript, April 7th, 2016?
17
one we're here about.
18
transcript?
19
MR. KIDD:
20
THE COURT:
21
That's the
Is that just the whole
It is, Your Honor.

All right.
There's no
objection to that coming in?
22
MR. HUFFMAN:
23
THE COURT:
None, Your Honor.
So we'll receive that.
24
9 -- or I'm sorry, that's Number 6.
25
looking at it upside-down.
Number
I was
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2
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Any -- are you offering that into

evidence?
MR. KIDD:
Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT:
All right.
Is there any
objection, Plaintiff's Motion for Order to Show
Cause?
MR. HUFFMAN:
THE COURT:
9
10
11
12
13
14
All right.
That's been
received.
THE COURT:
Number 7, Defendant's Motion
to Compel and Motion for Sanctions.

MR. KIDD:
Yes.
It's being offered, Your
Honor.
15
THE COURT:
16
MR. HUFFMAN:
17
THE COURT:
18
No objection, Your Honor.
Uh-huh.
Okay.
Objection?
No objection.
Received.
19
THE COURT:
Eight?
20
MR. KIDD:
21
THE COURT:
22
MR. KIDD:
23
MR. HUFFMAN:
Same posture, Your Honor.

Offering it into evidence?
Yes, Your Honor.
Your Honor, I'm not going to
24
object to court filings being entered into
25
evidence.
Page 41
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THE COURT:
www.bar-tampa.com
Well, I mean, it's always kind
of tricky because you say anything you want in
a court filing.
filing is the only thing that we prove by
putting it into evidence, is that it was filed,
for whatever value that has.
THE COURT:
MR. KIDD:
10
And the fact that it's a court
All right.
It is being offered, Your
Honor.
11
THE COURT:
12
MR. HUFFMAN:
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Number 9?
Objecting or no?
I'm not sure what it is.
have a single page.

THE COURT:
So that's -- you have to
either object or not object at this point.

MR. HUFFMAN:
I need clarification as to
its identification.
THE COURT:
So you have to object or not
object at this point.
20
MR. HUFFMAN:
21
THE COURT:
22
So now you have to tell me what it is and
23
24
25
I will object.
So he's going to object.
why we should receive it into evidence.

MR. KIDD:
Yes, Your Honor.
This is a
term of use reminder for the Investor's Hub
Page 42
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message board.
that.
www.bar-tampa.com
It's being used to clarify
THE COURT:
MR. KIDD:
I'm sorry, Your Honor?
THE COURT:
How do we know that?
MR. KIDD:
That it's a term of use
7
8
9
10
11
12
And how do we know that?
reminder from the investor's board, Your Honor?

THE COURT:
How do we have any idea what
it is?
MR. KIDD:
Because it says right on the
page, Your Honor, T-O-U reminder -THE COURT:
You're not serious.
In order
13
to get a writing into evidence there has to be
14
some other evidence that shows that it is what
15
it purports to be.
16
It can't prove itself, unless it's one of
17
those narrow class of self-proving things like
18
a Judgment of a Court or the Certificate of
19
Incorporation of a company or something like
20
that that have seals and things.
21
list of them in the statute.
22
say anywhere that these kinds of things are
23
self-proving.
24
25
There's a
And it doesn't
So unless you have a witness or some other

evidence that proves this is what it purports
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to be, we don't go any further.
to have anything like that?

MR. KIDD:
3
4
I'll withdraw that request,
Your Honor.
THE COURT:
5
6
MR. KIDD:
THE COURT:
10
All right.
Yes, Your Honor.

And if that is what it says it
is, I don't suppose you're going to object to

it.
11
MR. HUFFMAN:
12
THE COURT:
13
14
15
So then let's go
on to the next one and that would be Number 10.
Are you going
Certainly not, Your Honor.
Okay.
So they're not going to
object to that either.

THE COURT:
And here's some handwritten --
16
there's some things in here with handwritten --
17
or are all these -- are they official filings,
18
is that what they are?
19
MR. HUFFMAN:
20
THE COURT:
Yes, sir.
Go all the way to the end of
21
your book and see if you have -- I have the
22
last one being Page 15, handwritten Page 15,
23
and saying it's a 10Q from 8/19 of 15.
24
what you have in your book?
25
MR. HUFFMAN:
Is that
The last page does not say
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that, but the one before it says 10Q,
8/19/2015.
THE COURT:
3
4
anything.
MR. KIDD:
THE COURT:
The last page doesn't say
Right.
So you have the same copy that
I have.
MR. HUFFMAN:
THE COURT:
Yes, sir.
And, therefore, are able to
10
formulate whether you're going to object or
11
not.
12
MR. HUFFMAN:
13
THE COURT:
14
MR. HUFFMAN:
15
THE COURT:
16
17
18
That's correct.
Are you going to object?

No.
All right.
So those will all
be received into evidence.

THE COURT:
Basically, sir, your entire
19
book has been received into evidence, except
20
for the one document that you withdrew.
21
22
23
So what else do you want to do at this

point?
MR. KIDD:
Your Honor, at this point,
24
pursuant to Tab 2, Exhibit A, I've asked the
25
Court to take judicial notice of Tab 10.
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THE COURT:
MR. KIDD:
www.bar-tampa.com
Sir, it's already in evidence.

Right.
Thank you.
Your Honor,
the point I'd like to make with Tab 10 is that
as it relates to Tab 2, Exhibit A, even if the
subject of these postings -- or sorry.
messages are found to be about Seafarer, which
in no way do we concede, the 10Q filings of Tab
10 will prove the veracity of their assertions,
Your Honor.
MR. HUFFMAN:
10
11
Objection, what's the
relevance?
THE COURT:
12
13
These
Well, this is -- I want to see
where this goes.

MR. KIDD:
14
I'm listening.
So, Your Honor, as has been
15
mentioned previously, even though my client is
16
under an injunctive order there are privileged
17
violations of an injunctive order.
18
The truth of the matter being one of them.
19
MR. HUFFMAN:
Objection, Your Honor.
That
20
modification was only made by this Court on
21
April 7th -THE COURT:
22
Hang on now.
Hang on.
How
23
would that stop -- how would that be an
24
objection to his -- I'm not sure what this is
25
yet.
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Okay.
www.bar-tampa.com
Your objection is that -- is he
done with his evidence or not done with his
evidence?
We usually clearly demarcate that.
sure, either.
Has he started arguing yet or not?

And I'm not
If that's what your objection is, I'll
sustain that objection.
you just argue that you disagree with him and
make that a basis for your objection.
10
11
12
not how it works.
I'm not going to have
That's
Please have a seat.
Sir, are you finished with your

evidentiary presentation?
13
MR. KIDD:
Yes, Your Honor.
14
THE COURT:
All right.
15
make your argument?
16
MR. KIDD:
17
THE COURT:
So now you want to
Yes, Your Honor.

Well, you don't get to do that
18
now, because you made your opening argument.
19
Now you finish your evidentiary presentation.
20
Now, they get to make their opening argument,
21
if they want.
22
evidentiary presentation on.
23
get a chance to make your final argument.
24
25
They get to put their

And then you'll
If they have some other kind of motion

that they make, then you'll certainly be heard
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before the Court makes a decision on that.
that's where we are now.

So you don't get to object.
But
You have to
stand up and make an opening statement, if you
want one, or present evidence, if you want to,
or do whatever else it is that you think is
appropriate to do at this stage of the
proceedings.
MR. HUFFMAN:
Your Honor, I would ask to
10
do the opening at this point.
11
that the Court feels it needs to hear,
12
obviously we have Mr. Kennedy available, as
13
well as a witness to the post -THE COURT:
14
15
And anything
Let's be clear.
I have no
feelings and I have no needs.
16
MR. HUFFMAN:
17
THE COURT:
Understood.
If you want to stay over there
18
when you make your opening, that's fine with
19
me.
20
podium, that's also allowed.

MR. HUFFMAN:
21
22
25
I will come no closer than
the podium, I assure the Court.

THE COURT:
23
24
If you want to come no closer than the
Very good.
Go right ahead,
sir.
MR. HUFFMAN:
I am not comfortable sitting
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while I'm talking.

THE COURT:
That's why I allow people to
do it either way.
MR. HUFFMAN:
Your Honor, I believe the
Court's heard the testimony today that this
injunction has to be taken in two parts.
Number one, you have the actual injunction
itself, which was the order of Judge Cook
entered on October 6th, 2014.
10
You then have to go to the conditions of
11
the injunction, which are actually included in
12
the stipulation that Mr. Volentine does agree
13
that he signed.
14
agreed to those matters.
15
No matter his reasoning, he
Basically that said, he should not post
16
anywhere, any messages, any e-mails, anything
17
whatsoever about Seafarer individuals --
18
individuals who are around Seafarer, to include
19
its agents, employees, managers, directors,
20
attorneys, anybody.
That's what he agreed to.
21
So that is what was in place until the
22
Court modified it on April 7th of this year
23
when you brought up the right of First
24
Amendment.
25
So we have to operate under -- that was
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our assumption as we went forward on this,
because we were taking posts that were from a
board which tend to challenge, obviously, the
defendant in this case.
Court to review Exhibit A and show me where
they are actually stating that the parts that
are marked that they were posted on Investor's
Hub starting at Page 4 at the bottom.
they were posted on the Seafarer post.
10
They were not.
But obviously for the
That
And that was done on
11
purpose.
And not only that, this contains a
12
great deal of, shall I say, my editorializing
13
as it were in bold.
14
term when I say note and then I give my view of
15
what was being said.
I think that's a proper
16
As far as the evidence that was taken in
17
front of the Court, what we had is we had two
18
parts.
19
Number one, we had these messages, which
20
I'm prepared to present testimony of Mr. Greg
21
Patreachas (phonetic).
22
actually compiled these messages which were
23
from Darrell Volentine to another individual on
24
Facebook and then sent to me.
25
He is the one who
Obviously if that were true, then they
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were in violation of the injunction because Mr
-- at least the terms of the agreement that Mr.
Volentine signed and agreed to, that he should
not post.
Seafarer.
He should not message anything about
If you also read on Page 4 on the note --
I go to my editorial at this point.
to -- obviously it's above the post and it
says, the postings on another message board.
10
11
It goes
That's on Page 5.
So we have the disclaimers there as well
12
as it's showing that these are posted on the
13
EXPL board, which is Endurance Exploration,
14
which is by the way, another treasure company,
15
which by the way is also primarily owned by
16
Mr. Kennedy's former business partner, which
17
calls into question, obviously, there was a
18
large parting of the ways, the relationship
19
there.
20
which were presented.
21
And we have -- so we have the posts
So what they're arguing and what I've not
22
heard before the Court is the statement and the
23
testimony where Mr. Kennedy said that these
24
posts were posted on the Seafarer board on
25
Investor's Hub.
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Now, just so the Court's clear, there are
thousands of message boards on Investor's Hub
for literally any stock you can think of.
go in and you can go on a particular board.
You
In this case Mr. Volentine took the
opportunity, thinking in his mind, and I've
come to this conclusion, that he was allowed to
go to another board and either directly or
indirectly talk about Seafarer.
10
THE COURT:
Can I ask you to move to the
11
conclusion, which is after the Court changed
12
the injunction to say that this fellow would be
13
fined for doing it, if he continued to do it in
14
the future, did he do it, as far as you know?
15
MR. HUFFMAN:
16
THE COURT:
There are -- I mean, yes.
So did he do it in a way that
17
was clear-cut enough and material enough for
18
you to assert that right and bring it up in
19
court?
20
I haven't heard anything like that yet.
MR. HUFFMAN:
I have not brought it
21
because I -- quite honestly, I'm giving him
22
rope.
23
THE COURT:
Well, I mean, there's a big
24
difference between thinking that somebody did
25
something that violates a disparagement clause
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in a contract, for example, to use that
analogy, and thinking that it's bad enough for
one to be worth bringing suit over or asking
for, you know --
MR. HUFFMAN:
THE COURT:
7
8
9
Yes.
-- further relief within the
context of an ongoing litigation.

MR. HUFFMAN:
Yes.
Well, unlike the
defendant who, when he was pro se, every motion
10
was for a Motion of sanction -- for sanctions,
11
in which he filed this.
12
13
THE COURT:
Mr. Kidd --
This was filed pro se, too,
wasn't it?
14
MR. HUFFMAN:
15
THE COURT:
16
MR. HUFFMAN:
It was.
Yeah, it was.
So that being said, Judge,
17
he had this exhibit since August of 2015.
18
hearing was in April.
19
attend.
20
saying, I didn't say those things.
21
The
He didn't bother to
And the only thing he's doing now is
And when I use the letters KK, that's not
22
Kyle Kennedy, that's someone else, Mr. Huffman.
23
That's a former client of yours from another
24
company that's unrelated to Seafarer.
25
So if he mentions an attorney in the same
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paragraph, obviously he's writing about me with
no cause to do so.
fiction.
So he's creating this
And I think it speaks volumes that he had
appeared at every hearing, every hearing
telephonically, except for that one.
Now, again, I can't find where they find
in Mr. Kennedy's testimony that it was
so-called perjury.
10
If anything Mr. Kennedy testified to,
11
which were direct questions when he was asked,
12
he was asked for his -- obviously, his opinion.
13
Was Mr. Volentine talking about Seafarer
14
in these certain paragraphs?
15
has not stated.
16
when there's a K, he's meaning me.
17
Because Seafarer
And what he says, you know,
And again, the Court didn't find Mr.
18
Volentine in violation.
19
clear.
20
was proactive for him in the future.
21
That was abundantly
You modified the injunction so that it
THE COURT:
So based on your argument, is
22
there some sort of interim hearing motion that
23
you're making, or are you just giving me a
24
general argument and we're going to get to your
25
factual presentation?
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MR. HUFFMAN:
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Judge, at this point, I
would move that given the substance of what's
contained before the Court, when weighed
against the allegations, there is not
sufficient evidence to move forward on the
motion for sanctions as they pertain to
Mr. Kennedy, Seafarer and perhaps I shouldn't
say so, myself.
THE COURT:
Well, let's find out.
This is
10
when Mr. Kidd gets to make the argument that he
11
was launching into before when we told him to
12
hold off.
13
about that.
14
another chance to speak before anything
15
happens.
So let's find out what he has to say

And you'll, of course, be given
16
MR. HUFFMAN:
17
THE COURT:
Yes, Your Honor.
So he's saying -- he's making
18
a motion that basically it's a Motion to
19
Dismiss this proceeding on the grounds that the
20
evidence presented doesn't support the punitive
21
kind of sanctions that you've been asking for.
22
Go ahead, sir.
23
MR. KIDD:
24
Your Honor, opposing counsel certainly has
25
a grand flair for the dramatic, and for that I
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2
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do compliment him.
However, if I may direct your attention to
Tab 4, Page 49, I will read to you a brief
excerpt.
The Court:
What in there in your
estimation has referred it to your company?
None of the part you read did.
8
9
10
11
12
13
The witness, referring to Mr. Kennedy:

This.
All these posts are posted under
Seafarer Explorations posts.

The Court:
I see.
They're -- they're in
the group.
The witness, again Mr. Kennedy:
And
14
they're all -- all pertain to that particular
15
company in columns or files.
16
17
18
The Court:
I see.
Go ahead.
What's
next?
Your Honor, very simply put, the claim
19
that the postings came from the Seafarer
20
Exploration was their entire nexus to connect
21
their evidence to a violation of the injunctive
22
order.
23
Now, granted --
24
THE COURT:
25
But if it came from somewhere
else but still happened, why wouldn't it be a
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2
3
4
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legitimate thing for the Court to rely on?

MR. KIDD:
Well, Your Honor, as you can
see -THE COURT:
I mean, your guy couldn't even
contain himself in the testimony.
He had to
get into something where he said that they were
still trying to sell worthless stock.
I mean, he just -- in the theme about
whether he ever said it or not, he still had to
10
11
say it.
He just couldn't contain himself.
And I realize, Counsel, you don't build
12
them; you just fly them.
13
that happens, you're kind of stuck with what's
14
happened, right?
15
MR. KIDD:
But, you know, when
Agreed, Your Honor.
However,
16
the way the Investor's Hub -- or the Investor's
17
Hub message boards work, they're maintained in
18
a sense that if you post about another
19
company -- say you went to the Endurance
20
Exploration board and made a post about
21
Seafarer, that post would be removed.
22
They are very thorough with how they try
23
to stay on topic on the board, you know, given
24
the large volumes of postings and the fact that
25
people come to these boards to get information.
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THE COURT:
www.bar-tampa.com
These younger people know more
about this stuff than any people in my
generation.
moderators police whether they're -- what are
they called, off topic or whatever.
of that.
They have moderators and the
So go ahead.
MR. KIDD:
Yes, Your Honor.
I've heard
So what's
happened here, Your Honor, is that the
10
plaintiff has come to you with evidence saying,
11
you know, we have a violation here.
12
the defendant operating outside of the
13
injunction; however, as you can see from the
14
evidence presented, and as the evidence will
15
continue to show, my client did not even post
16
about Seafarer Exploration.
17
THE COURT:
We have
These challenges that you're
18
making of the evidence that they used then, why
19
weren't these challenges made known back then?
20
I mean, there was nothing new that
21
happened to reveal them in the intervening time
22
frame.
23
MR. KIDD:
Correct, Your Honor.
I took
24
that hearing on short notice.
And I've spent a
25
great deal of my time since that hearing --
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THE COURT:
www.bar-tampa.com
Well, your efforts were
nothing short of heroic, under the
circumstances, but you still have the result
that you have.
Basically what you're asking me to do is
to re-litigate that decision and the one that
was made before.
And I'm not telling you that that's out of
the question, but to do it in the context of
10
the Motion for Sanctions, again, I know that
11
that wasn't your personal choice, but that's
12
most inappropriate.
13
Because the first thing that you would
14
normally do is to show that the change in the
15
injunction or that the initial entry of the
16
injunction was made in error and ask the Court
17
to set it aside or something.
18
happened yet.
19
That hasn't
Instead, the guy will go -- instead of
20
pulling out the baseball bat, he goes straight
21
for the gun and says, let's hold them in
22
sanctions and declare them frauds and liars,
23
when it's entirely possible that they said
24
things that turned out to be wrong, they just
25
were mistakes that they misattributed somehow.
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And that's really all the evidence so far
has shown, that there's not been any -- in
order to get sanctions, you have to have
evidence of deliberate, willful deception.
And you've got some evidence that then
that they -- most of the evidence comes from
them admitting it, that there is a difference
between the original attribution that they had
and what they have now, in having checked it
10
out in more detail, have attributed
11
differently.
12
And it might be possible that they did it
13
in some sinister way to try to deceive people,
14
but it's very rare that people do that because
15
they almost never get away with it, because
16
these proceedings never end, seemingly.
17
So what I'm going to tell you now is that,
18
had you brought a motion to set aside that
19
second part of the injunction, I'd be listening
20
very carefully to the case you've been putting
21
on and take it very seriously, and making them
22
put on a defense to that question.
23
not the relief that you've asked for today.
But that's
24
You've asked for a relief that would
25
amount to punitive sanctions against them, and
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some sort of declaration that they have done
something that deserved punishment.
can't make that determination on the evidence
that's been presented so far today.
not enough to support that relief.
And I
It's just
That doesn't mean that you can't still
ask, citing the same basic argument you've
made, to amend the injunction.
You're allowed to ask to amend or dissolve
10
an injunction at any time.
11
then I have to listen to all of the evidence
12
and the fact that it might be -- some of it
13
might be the same evidence, is not grounds for
14
excluding it.
15
And if you do that,
I'll listen to it.
But right now all I've heard is evidence
16
which, if this was a proceeding about altering
17
the injunction, would give rise to a serious
18
decision about altering the injunction, not one
19
that would give rise to just deciding all at
20
once that somebody is committing some sort of
21
punishable offense.
22
And if I didn't mention the connection
23
between the -- what your clients under -- you
24
know, what the lawsuit was against them all
25
about in the first place and the -- this
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particular piece of decision-making on his
part, that is, accuse everybody of something.
It's way out of proportion to which you
have any possible evidence for at this point.
It doesn't support his overall case or it
doesn't support the case that the criticisms
that he's been making are reasoned criticisms,
rather than ones where he saw a little bit of
smoke and decided that there was a great
10
compurgation by filling in a lot of details on
11
his own.
12
So, you know, I'm going to deny the motion
13
because you asked for sanctions.
14
without prejudice to any sort of request to
15
modify or dissolve the injunction that is
16
frankly, in retrospect -- you know, I know that
17
you never had the opportunity personally to
18
make that decision, but you can go tell your
19
client now that he doesn't have the opportunity
20
to make any different decision now.
21
But it's
That's the only remedy that's open to him
22
under these circumstances for the things that
23
you made reference to.
24
25
And like I said, you've got something to

work with.
They've acknowledged that some of
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the things that they said in that process were
not correctly attributed.
mean that everything they did was dishonest
somehow.
hopefully, when we find them, we own up to them
and reckon the consequences of them.
But that doesn't
All of us make mistakes.
And
So if you want to reckon the consequences
of that mistake, we'll do that in the future.
We're not going to do it, because today your
10
client had filed papers asking for punitive
11
action, which we only take when the case is
12
really, really clear that somebody deliberately
13
did something wrong or they get like caught in
14
a lie and then there's this -- it's a lot more
15
fun when that happens, but it's very rare.
16
All right.
The Perry Mason moments and
17
things like that, they don't happen in the real
18
world.
19
20
21
MR. KIDD:
An egregious example, Your
Honor.
THE COURT:
Well, so -- in any case,
22
you've done, as I said, a very heroic job
23
advancing the interest of your client, but you
24
were, when you came into the case, already
25
facing a request that had been made that was
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going to be almost impossible to fulfill.
But
now you can refocus on the things that are more
possible, and we'll see what happens when that
occurs.
So I think that that's all we need to do
5
6
for today.
I'm just going to deny it without
prejudice, that motion.
ground that it's really just a motion to set
aside or dissolve the injunction.
And basically for the
And if you
10
want to do that, you have to tell them ahead of
11
time before the hearing that that's the relief
12
that you're asking for.
13
So do you have a question?
14
MR. HUFFMAN:
15
Your Honor --
16
THE COURT:
17
MR. HUFFMAN:
18
THE COURT:
19
MR. KIDD:
20
There was one other motion,
What was that?

-- on the docket.
What?
There were two, Your Honor, but
--
21
THE COURT:
What's the other one?
22
MR. KIDD:
Are we out of time or --
23
THE COURT:
24
25
I'll let you know as soon as I
find out what the other one is.

MR. HUFFMAN:
It was a motion for
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sanctions, of course, against Clear Trust,
which is the transfer agent, which by my
understanding --
4
5
THE COURT:
How did they get to be a party
in the case?
MR. HUFFMAN:
THE COURT:
MR. KIDD:
9
10
11
They were not.
Are they a party in the case?

They've been subpoenaed for
information, Your Honor, that they are still

withholding.
We also have a motion to compel.
THE COURT:
All right.
Are you telling me
12
you served a subpoena to Clear Trust and they
13
didn't reply?
14
15
16
MR. KIDD:
I did not personally, Your
Honor, but Mr. Volentine did, as pro se.

THE COURT:
I didn't see -- I didn't look
17
for it, because I wasn't aware that we were
18
going to be talking about that today.
19
didn't see any service return about that in the
20
file.
21
is it?
22
23
24
25
But I
And if there's a service return, how old

You don't know?
MR. KIDD:
I couldn't tell you, Your
Honor.
THE COURT:
We'll set that up for a
separate hearing.
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MR. KIDD:
THE COURT:
www.bar-tampa.com
Yes, Your Honor.

Because you're going to
need -- if you really are going to ask me to
hold somebody in contempt for not appearing for
a subpoena, I do that when that's appropriate.
But we need to give them separate notice of
that question.
right?
You're not representing them,
MR. HUFFMAN:
10
transfer agent.
11
between a company.
Well, Judge, they are a
You know that unique situation
12
However, this matter had already been
13
ruled on, as well, at the April 7th order that
14
was entered.
15
THE COURT:
Well, that's fine.
I'm not
16
ruling on it today, again, or for the second or
17
first time, either one.
18
So right now I'm saying that we have
19
pretty much spent the amount of time we had
20
allocated for this.
21
that up separately then talk to each other
22
first and then bring it up.
23
Okay?
24
MR. KIDD:
25
THE COURT:
And if you want to bring

All right.
Have a great day.
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MR. HUFFMAN:
MR. KIDD:
THE COURT:
(HEARING CONCLUDED.)
Are we off the record?

We are.
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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1
STATE OF FLORIDA
COUNTY OF PASCO
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I, Dana L. Stockton, Registered Professional

Reporter, certify that I was authorized to and did
stenographically report the foregoing proceedings,
and that the transcript is a true and complete
record of my stenographic notes.
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I FURTHER CERTIFY that I am not a relative,

employee, attorney or counsel of any of the parties,
nor am I a relative or employee of any of the
parties' attorney or counsel connected with the
action, nor am I financially interested in this
action.
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Dated this 7th day of November, 2016.
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__________________________
DANA L. STOCKTON, RPR

10-24-16 SFRX V Volentine Hearing

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10-24-16 SFRX V Volentine Hearing

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BAY AREA COURT REPORTING, INC.

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRTEENTH JUDICIAL

DEFENDANT'S VERIFIED MOTION

October 24, 2016

HONORABLE STEVEN S. STEPHENS

GEORGE EDGECOMB COURTHOUSE

Dana L. Stockton, RPR

Tel. (813) 229-7207

BAY AREA COURT REPORTING, INC.

CRAIG A. HUFFMAN, ESQ

EVAN KIDD, ESQ

BAY AREA COURT REPORTING, INC.

APPEARING BY TELEPHONE DARRELL VOLENTINE

Direct Examination by Mr. Kidd

Cross-Examination by Mr. Huffman

Redirect Examination by Mr. Kidd

BAY AREA COURT REPORTING, INC.

Are we ready to start?

The defendant is having Wifi

issues at the moment, Your Honor.

for IT personnel to come down and give us a

the building today.

They said that there's been outages in

So what do you think's going

Are you asking me, Your Honor?

and present our case.

That's what I thought was

It's time for that to start

So normally when the beginning of the

hearing comes, we start the case.

motion, as I understand it, and I'm inviting

you to take it up.

Thank you, Your Honor.

believe we've just got connectivity and I'm

going to establish connection with my client

BAY AREA COURT REPORTING, INC.

No, you're not.

to go over to your counsel table and you're

going to start the argument and not play with

When the time comes that you want to call

some testimony and we have a technical problem

with that, then maybe we can take it up.

But typically, when the Judge comes in the

room and is ready to start the case, you don't

sit around playing with a computer.

So how about we proceed?

Thank you, Your Honor.

got a hearing binder for His Honor, and one for

If everybody would, please

make your sure cell phones are on vibrate or

Thanks for reminding me.

May I make an opening

statement, Your Honor?

like you to do.

That's exactly what I would

BAY AREA COURT REPORTING, INC.

Thank you, Your Honor.

we are here on Defendant's Verified Motion for

Contempt and Sanctions Against Plaintiffs,

Seafarer Exploration Corp., Kyle Kennedy and

If Your Honor will recall, back on

April 7th, 2016, we had a hearing on

Plaintiff's Motion for Order for Rule to Show