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1.05 MB

Extraction Summary

13
People
4
Organizations
2
Locations
3
Events
2
Relationships
4
Quotes

Document Information

Type: Court transcript
File Size: 1.05 MB
Summary

This document is a court transcript from February 15, 2012, in the case of USA v. Paul M. Daugerdas. The witness, Ms. Trzaskoma, is being questioned regarding her knowledge of misconduct by Juror No. 1 (Catherine Conrad), specifically regarding a Westlaw report identifying Conrad as a suspended lawyer. Trzaskoma testifies that she believed the report was a case of mistaken identity and denies trying to 'sandbag' the court by withholding information about Conrad's criminal history and suspended license during the trial.

People (13)

Name Role Context
Ms. Trzaskoma Witness
Being questioned on redirect and recross examination regarding knowledge of juror misconduct.
Catherine Conrad Juror (Juror No. 1)
Subject of the testimony; a suspended lawyer who lied during voir dire, had a criminal record, and served on the jury.
Paul M. Daugerdas Defendant
Named in the case caption (United States of America v. Paul M. Daugerdas, et al.).
Mr. Shechtman Attorney
Conducts recross-examination; questioned the witness about 'sandbagging' the court.
Mr. Hernandez Attorney
Concludes questioning of the witness.
Ms. Edelstein Associate/Colleague
Discussed the Westlaw report with Ms. Trzaskoma.
Ms. Brune Associate/Colleague
Discussed the Westlaw report; advised to 'leave it'.
Mr. Benhamou Colleague/Clerk
Called by Ms. Trzaskoma to check on a lawsuit filing.
Mr. Okula Recipient
Received a letter from Ms. Conrad which included her phone number.
Mr. Sklarsky Attorney
Present in court, declines further inquiry.
Mr. Rotert Attorney
Present in court, declines further inquiry.
Ms. McCarthy Attorney
Present in court, declines further inquiry.
Juror No. 11 Juror
Excused on May 16th for an emergency medical procedure.

Organizations (4)

Name Type Context
United States of America
Plaintiff in the case.
Westlaw
Source of a report identifying Catherine Conrad as a suspended lawyer.
Southern District Reporters
Transcription service listed in footer.
DOJ-OGR
Department of Justice - Office of Government Information Services (likely source of document release via footer code).

Timeline (3 events)

February 15, 2012
Court transcript date for the testimony of Ms. Trzaskoma.
Southern District Court
Ms. Trzaskoma The Court Attorneys
May 12th (Year implied 2011 or prior)
Date referenced regarding witness state of mind about juror Conrad's potential lies.
Court context
May 16th (Year implied 2011 or prior)
Third day of jury deliberations; Juror No. 11 was excused for a medical emergency.
Courtroom
Juror No. 11 The Court

Locations (2)

Location Context
Location where the managing clerk would have to go to find the lawsuit.
State where Catherine Conrad's husband served prison time.

Relationships (2)

Ms. Trzaskoma Professional/Legal Team Ms. Brune
Discussed strategy regarding the Westlaw report; Brune gave instructions to 'leave it'.
Catherine Conrad Correspondent Mr. Okula
Conrad sent a letter to Okula which facilitated finding her phone number.

Key Quotes (4)

"I actually thought that the more likely explanation was that the Westlaw report was conflating two people, two people named Catherine Conrad, one who was our juror and one who was the suspended lawyer."
Source
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Quote #1
"I certainly did not contemplate that Ms. Conrad was not only a suspended lawyer but was on criminal probation, had been arrested numerous times, had a bench warrant for her arrest, was a severe alcoholic..."
Source
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Quote #2
"Ms. Trzaskoma, at any time were you trying to sandbag the Court or plant error in the record as to Juror No. 1, Ms. Conrad?"
Source
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Quote #3
"I genuinely believed that Juror No. 1 was who she said she was."
Source
DOJ-OGR-00009916.jpg
Quote #4

Full Extracted Text

Complete text extracted from the document (5,243 characters)

Case 1:09-cr-00581-PAE Document 646-10 Filed 02/24/22 Page 5 of 7
A-5633
February 15, 2012
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v
PAUL M. DAUGERDAS, ET AL.,
[Page 93]
C2frdau3 Trzaskoma - redirect Page 93
1 A. No. I actually thought that the more likely explanation
2 was that the Westlaw report was conflating two people, two
3 people named Catherine Conrad, one who was our juror and one
4 who was the suspended lawyer.
5 Q. During your conversation with Ms. Edelstein and Ms. Brune
6 or at any point afterwards, did anyone discourage you from
7 pursuing any additional information about Catherine Conrad or
8 the Westlaw report that had been sent to you?
9 A. No. I believe, as I told you earlier, at the conclusion of
10 my discussion with Ms. Edelstein and Ms. Brune I said something
11 along the lines of, do we need to do anything further, and Ms.
12 Brune said, no, just leave it. Based on that, I called Mr.
13 Benhamou.
14 I went to my children's school to pick them up for the
15 first time in many months, maybe years, and on my way to pick
16 them up at school, my recollection is I called Mr. Benhamou to
17 ask him whether he had gotten the lawsuit. He said that he
18 hadn't, that they couldn't find it online, and if we wanted to
19 get it, our managing clerk would have to go to the Bronx in the
20 morning. I said, we don't think it is her, so you can stand
21 down.
22 Q. Did at any point anyone suggest that you not send any
23 emails about Conrad any further?
24 A. No.
25 Q. You said that you weren't aware of any other juror
[Page 94]
C2frdau3 Trzaskoma - redirect Page 94
1 misconduct case where the lies of this magnitude were involved.
2 Do you remember that testimony?
3 A. I do.
4 Q. Do you recall on direct you testified that in your mind on
5 May 12th there were two possibilities: There was either the
6 possibility that Conrad had lied during voir dire or the
7 information you had was for the wrong person?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. Is it fair to say that in your mind on May 12th they were
10 not just lies that you were contemplating but in your mind
11 unprecedented lies as one possibility?
12 A. I think that what I understood Mr. Shechtman to be asking
13 me was about the totality of Ms. Conrad's lies. I can tell you
14 that on May 12th I certainly did not contemplate that Ms.
15 Conrad was not only a suspended lawyer but was on criminal
16 probation, had been arrested numerous times, had a bench
17 warrant for her arrest, was a severe alcoholic, and was married
18 to a man who himself had served 7 years in a New Jersey state
19 prison. That never entered my head.
20 Q. Those facts that you had you didn't have during the trial,
21 right?
22 A. We did not.
23 Q. If you had researched Ms. Conrad's civil lawsuit, you might
24 have learned about them during the trial, right?
25 A. It's possible, but it took us a long time to put things
[Page 95]
C2frdau3 Trzaskoma - redirect Page 95
1 together. And we were benefited greatly by the fact that Ms.
2 Conrad had included her phone number at the top of her letter
3 to Mr. Okula.
4 Q. You are conflating two issues. My question is about the
5 civil lawsuit. You had a chance to review those documents
6 after the trial, right?
7 A. I did.
8 Q. You know that in Ms. Conrad's testimony in that suit she
9 says she has a law degree, right?
10 A. I did. But it took me days to pull all that together and
11 to find that in the files.
12 Q. Weren't there several days between May 12th and the jury
13 verdict?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. With respect to the motion that you filed, did you make a
16 conscious decision not to disclose the information that you had
17 in your possession during the trial in your motion?
18 A. No, it was not, in my mind.
19 MR. HERNANDEZ: May I have a moment, your Honor?
20 THE COURT: Yes. Take your time.
21 MR. HERNANDEZ: No further questions, your Honor.
22 THE COURT: Go ahead, Mr. Shechtman.
23 RECROSS-EXAMINATION
24 BY MR. SHECHTMAN:
25 Q. Ms. Trzaskoma, at any time were you trying to sandbag the
[Page 96]
C2frdau3 Trzaskoma - recross Page 96
1 Court or plant error in the record as to Juror No. 1, Ms.
2 Conrad?
3 A. Absolutely not.
4 MR. SHECHTMAN: No further questions.
5 THE COURT: Ms. Trzaskoma, I have a question for you.
6 On the third day of jury deliberations, May 16th, this Court
7 was confronted with a juror who needed to have an emergency
8 medical procedure. After conferring with all counsel and over
9 the government's objection, I excused Juror No. 11, replaced
10 Juror No. 11 with an alternate, and instructed the jury to
11 restart anew their jury deliberations. During that entire
12 episode did you ever revisit the question of Juror No. 1 and
13 the possibility that she might be someone other than who she
14 said she was in voir dire?
15 THE WITNESS: I did not. I genuinely believed that
16 Juror No. 1 was who she said she was.
17 THE COURT: Any further inquiry based upon the Court's
18 inquiry?
19 MR. HERNANDEZ: No, your Honor.
20 MR. SKLARSKY: No, your Honor.
21 MR. SHECHTMAN: No, your Honor.
22 MR. ROTERT: No, your Honor.
23 MS. MCCARTHY: No, your Honor.
24 THE COURT: Ms. Trzaskoma, you are excused as a
25 witness. You may step down.
Page 93 - Page 96 (24)
SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS
DOJ-OGR-00009916

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