The Madness of Joe Francis: "I thought we were all just having fun. I was wrong." (21 page)

“You may answer,” Bateman said to Francis. “Ask it again. Are you asking it again?”

“I’m trying to get …” McCloy started.

“You can repeat the question,” Bateman repeated.

“I’m trying to get an answer to the question and I’d appreciate it if you would not coach the witness by holding your hand out and things of that nature.”

“I’m not coaching the witness at all. It’s on videotape, Mr. McCloy. The judge asked that we conduct this deposition with straightforward questions and straightforward answers. You asked the question regarding the corporate makeup of a particular company. Mr. Francis replied that he did not know, he did not understand the structure. You’re welcome to ask a question over and over if you want to, that’s appropriate until we get to the point of harassment. But he has answered the question.

“OK,” McCloy began again. “From here on out, Mr. Bateman, if you have an objection, I would ask that you simply object to the form, as the rules provide and that you don’t give Mr. Francis any type of assistance in giving an answer to a question.”

“I have not done so. And I will take your suggestion in stride. But I do know the rules and I do know how to conduct myself. And we are being recorded and we are being taken down in the transcript. So I know how to conduct myself appropriately. I’ve never been chastised for not, I’ve never been censured for not, I’ve never been sanctioned for not. So you are an attorney, you need to operate by the rules and I will do so as well. Please proceed.”

“What does a CEO of Mantra Films Inc. do?”

“Just oversee the general corporate activities just from a macro scale.”

“And what are the general corporate activities of Mantra Films Inc?”

“You know, I don’t know the day-to-day job. I’m a figurehead. Go out there and promote the brand.”

“Are you the sole shareholder of Mantra Films, Inc?”

“I don’t know how things are structured.”

“Are you the owner of Girls Gone Wild? Are you the president of Mantra Films Inc?”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“You don’t know what being a president of a company means?”

“If you can explain it to me, I’ll be happy to answer it sir. I’m here to answer your questions and participate in any way I can to answer your questions. I’m here to … I’m here to answer all your questions sir, so to …”

“Let’s start from scratch Mr. Francis. You’re 36 years old?”

“That’s true.”

“Did you go to kindergarten?”

“No.”

“Did you go to elementary school?”

“Yes.”

“Did you graduate?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Did you go to junior high school?”

“No.”

“Or middle school, whatever they call it wherever you went?”

“I went to middle school, yes.”

“Did you graduate?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Can you read and write English?”

“Fairly well.”

“Have you ever been diagnosed as having any type of mental disorder?”

“Object to that,” a lawyer said, “and instruct him not to answer that question based on his fifth amendment rights.”

“If he doesn’t know what a president of a corporation is, I just want to make sure I understand that he has capable mental faculties.

When you gave a deposition, the last time you gave a deposition, did you get into arguments with counsel like this?”

“I haven’t gotten into any argument whatsoever. This entire deposition is on video. And as I said before, I’m here. I’m just waiting here, just waiting for your questions sir. And I’m here to answer them.”

“Have you been sued?”

“Have I been sued? Yes.”

“Are you currently being sued?”

“Probably. I don’t pay any attention.”

“Were you physically arrested when the charges were levied against you?”

“I don’t remember.”

“You don’t remember if you were arrested and taken down to a jail?”

“Nope.”

“Has that happened to you on more than one occasion?”

“No.”

“So the only time you’ve ever been physically arrested was in Panama City?”

“Uh-huh.”

“How many times were you physically arrested in Panama City?”

“Six probably.”

“Are you a convicted felon?”

“Fifth,” Francis said, as in his Fifth Amendment right to stay silent instead of saying something that would incriminate him.

“Mr. Francis, did you enter a plea in the circuit court in and for Bay County individually to no contest to one count of child abuse, which is a third-degree felony?”

“I’m not sure. I’m a hundred percent … I didn’t do anything wrong here. I only entered this as I told the judge, Dedee Costello, in court was to get out of jail. I did nothing wrong and none of this is true.”

“Regardless of that, did you enter the plea?”

“No. I merely agreed to get out of jail in exchange for … it was an extortion situation.”

“Do you understand that you have been adjudicated guilty of this crime?”

“It’s a joke. It doesn’t mean …”

“Mr. Francis, are you refusing to answer the question as to whether you have ever been convicted of a felony?”

“I’m not a felon.”

“The question is, have you ever been convicted of a felony?”

“I don’t understand what that means.”

“You don’t understand what being a convicted felon is?”

“No. Can you explain it to me?”

“Did you serve any time in jail?”

“What do you mean ‘serve’?”

“Were you behind bars?”

Bateman interrupted, “I want to go on the record and say, Joe, I don’t want you … if you don’t understand the question …”

“I don’t understand,” Francis said. “You asked if I was ever behind bars. Was I illegally incarcerated? Yes, I was illegally incarcerated.”

“That wasn’t the question,” McCloy said. “The question I’m trying to get to, to make it as simple as I can so that you can understand and follow with me, do you know what a felon is?”

“No.”

“Do you know what a prisoner is?”

“No.”

“Do you know what a cellmate is in a jail?”

“No.”

“Do you know what a jail is?”

“Sort of.”

“Have you lived in jail?”

“No.”

“Mr. Francis, didn’t you serve time in the Bay County Jail and a jail in Nevada that totaled almost a year?”

“I was illegally incarcerated. I didn’t serve any time.”

“But that’s where you took your meals and that’s where you slept wasn’t it?”

“Depends when they gave you food.”

“Mr. Francis, let’s go back to the plea agreement here. Did you sign
Page 3
of this plea agreement? Is that your signature?”

“It could be. I don’t know. Do you have an original document?”

“So you don’t know whether that is your signature?”

“No.”

“Relative to these criminal charges, Mr. Francis, were you masturbated by PV and BW in the Chateau Motel in March 2003?” PV was Plaintiff V and BW was the other girl in the room, who was not a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

“I don’t know who those people are.”

“Were you masturbated by anyone in March of 2003 while on Spring Break in Panama City Beach?”

“I don’t remember. I doubt it.”

“Did you pay anyone to masturbate you in late March of 2003?”

“No.”

“You have no recall at all of ever being in a motel room where you were masturbated by two minors?”

“No. Never.”

“You have no recall at all of ever being masturbated by two minors by grabbing their hands and placing them on your penis and moving it – and moving them up and down?”

“Sir, I’m offended by …”

Bateman interrupted, “Just answer the question.”

“… that’s absolutely …” Francis continued.

“But just answer the question,” Bateman said.

“I would never … that’s disgusting. I’m offended sir. And you know what? If you’re going to make these allegations …”

“No, no, no. We’ll take a break if …” Bateman said, trying to head off a meltdown.

“… That’s gone too far. I mean …”

“Just answer the questions.”

“That’s – to allege conduct like that, sir, that’s just disgusting. You are disgusting sir. Disgusting.”

“Mr. Francis, did you pay two minors in March of 2003 to masturbate you?” McCloy asked again, possibly seeing an opening.

“Absolutely not, sir.”

“Did you admit in the prior lawsuit that you did?”

“No.”

“Did you admit in the prior lawsuit that you paid $50 to PV and BW?”

“Are you joking? No. That’s disgusting. I don’t know who those people are.”

“Did you tell others after the masturbation had taken place that you were, quote, ‘Busy getting a hand job’ in that bedroom?”

“I never said anything of the sort.”

“Have you ever told anyone that you got a hand job or you were masturbated or you were jerked off, or whatever you want to call it, by two teenagers in Panama City Beach?”

“Never. And it’s not true.”

“Do you have any witnesses who can confirm that you did not – that you were not masturbated by PV and BW?”

“I read a police report preparing for my deposition where PV clearly states that no one ever masturbated me and it was a complete lie. So I guess the two witnesses would be your two clients.”

Francis couldn’t keep up the act, or maybe he thought he’d scored big with that last line, but it made him laugh.

“What is so funny?” McCloy asked.

Bateman spoke up, “Object to the form of the question. You don’t have to answer that.”

“Well, I’d like to know what is so funny,” McCloy said.

“It doesn’t matter Ross,” Bateman said. “You’re going too far with, ‘What is so funny?’ That has no rational basis or nexus to anything that has to do with the facts of this case. You’re sitting here, which you’ve got the right to do, to push the client and that’s fine. But let’s ask questions about the case, at least remotely, not what does he think is funny. If you want to take that up with the judge, that I take offense to ‘Is that funny’, then that’s fine.”

McCloy got back on track, “Mr. Francis do you think that the allegations that have been levied against you in this case, including the allegation that you paid PV $50 to masturbate you with another person is something that we ought to joke about?”

“I think the absurdity of the allegations here is disgusting and laughable that you would be accusing a man like me of such disgusting allegations. Just the mere fact, yes, it’s laughable that you would sit me in a room, and with a straight face, a man of my integrity, try to sit here and say that. Yes, it’s laughable and it’s funny because I’m not that person. And that is absolutely disgusting and laughable and disgusting on the part of you, sir, that you would try to do that to get money and make up some ridiculous story and try to exploit some girls to try to …”

Bateman jumped in, “Be quiet, be quiet. You’ve answered the question.”

“It’s disgusting. It’s horrible. Horrible.”

“Now, do you usually have to pay minor teenage girls to have sex with you?” McCloy asked.

“Absolutely not. And I never have.”

“You have never paid minor girls to have sex with you?” McCloy asked, then said: “To make absolutely, positively sure I know what your answer is, Mr. Francis, before I move on to another area, you completely deny ever masturbating, ever having paid PV to masturbate you on March 31, or thereabouts, 2003?”

“I don’t know who PV is sir. But I don’t pay girls to masturbate me.”

“And that’s a blanket rule for you? You don’t ever pay girls to masturbate you?”

“Do you?”

Bateman spoke up quickly, “Joe, this is what the judge asked you not to do. Just answer the question.”

“Do I have a blanket rule, sir? I just think the … what you’re describing is disgusting and I don’t partake in it.”

“So your answer is no, you do not do that.”

“No, I like to masturbate myself but I’ve never paid myself to masturbate myself. Actually, I love to masturbate myself since I was like 14.”

.

Chapter 20

Gateway porn

M
y computer locked up trying to reformat a file. I stood and watched a small color wheel spin on the screen and saw my day whirling around with it.

I picked up my keys and cell phone, walked to my truck and drove to the federal courthouse to read a transcript out of the Girls Gone Wild civil case. Cell phones aren’t allowed inside the courthouse, so I set it in the center console before crunching across the gravel parking lot to the coral encrusted building.

A white haired man was using the lone computer in the clerk’s office, so I sat on a sofa near the window and watched the wind draw lines and push spray off the gray bay water. The beginning of 2010 in Panama City was unbearably cold, with nights sliding into the 20s and days barely reaching 40, even with the sun shining. After six straight nights of subfreezing temperatures I could feel the cold seeping through my hardwood floors. My feet were miserable. I was miserable and I had very little patience with white-haired guys using the computer when I needed it, regardless of how nice the view.

I crunched back across the parking lot to my truck and checked my cell phone: two missed calls and a text message from Joe Francis. The text message and voice mail said pretty much the same thing: “Call me.”

Joe added a little extra on the voice mail, “I got something interesting to tell ya.”

“Can I call you right back?” Joe said almost immediately after answering the phone. “Forty seconds. Oh, they’re going through the safety drill. I’ll call you right back. Just give me forty seconds.”

Forty seconds later, the phone rang.

“Real quick,” he started. “Did you hear?”

One or two of the girls suing him in Panama City for damages they suffered by being filmed by Girls Gone Wild had done additional pornographic films. Rick Bateman had filed a motion demanding the plaintiffs either turn over these films to the defense, or give them a lot more detail about what these girls had done in the movies.

One of the girls, Plaintiff B, moved to California after her Girls Gone Wild experience and had roles, as an extra, on Spider-Man 2 and Starsky and Hutch. Her participation in two pornographic movies, however, was not detailed. All she’d told Bateman was she’d been filmed nude. She wouldn’t describe in what way, where or how it came about.