6/2/2016

Seafarer Exploration Corp. vs Darrell Volentine

Deposition of Timothy A. Parsons BACKORDER 14-CA-8902

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IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

IN AND FOR
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA

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SEAFARER EXPLORATION
CORP.,

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Plaintiff,
vs.

CASE NO.: 14-CA-8902

DIV. L

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DARRELL VOLENTINE,
Defendant.
______________________/

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THE DEPOSITION OF:

DR. TIMOTHY PARSONS

AT THE INSTANCE OF:

THE DEFENDANT

DATE:

JUNE 2, 2016

TIME:

COMMENCED: 12:11 p.m.

LOCATION:

PREMIER REPORTING
114 W. 5TH AVENUE
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32301

REPORTED BY:

KAIRISA MAGEE
Court Reporter and
Notary Public in and for
State of Florida at large

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PREMIER REPORTING
114 W. 5TH AVENUE
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32303
(850)894-0828

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Premier Reporting
114 W. 5th Avenue, Tallahassee, FL 32303

(850) 894-0828

Reported by: Kairisa Magee

premier-reporting.com

6/2/2016
Seafarer Exploration Corp. vs Darrell Volentine
Deposition of Timothy A. Parsons BACKORDER 14-CA-8902
Page 2
1 APPEARANCES:

2 ON BEHALF OF THE PLAINTIFF:

(APPEARING TELEPHONICALLY)
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Craig Huffman, Esquire
4 SECURUS LAW GROUP, P.A.
13046 Race Track Road
5 #243
Tampa, Florida
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EXAMINATION INDEX
EXAMINATION OF DR. TIMOTHY PARSONS
BY MR. KIDD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
BY MR. HUFFMAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

INDEX TO EXHIBITS
DESCRIPTION

ON BEHALF OF THE DEFENDANT:

NO.

MARKED

Evan Kidd, Esquire

9 704 1st Court
Palm Harbor, FL 34684
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11 ON BEHALF OF THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF STATE:

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12 David A Fugett, Esquire

david.fugett@dos.myflorida.com
13 FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF STATE
500 South Bronough Street
14 Tallahassee, Florida 32305-0250
(850) 245-6536
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**NO EXHIBITS MARKED**

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ALSO PRESENT:

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**Uh-uh is a negative response

**Uh-huh is a positive response

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Mr. Mark Blumstin

18 Mr. Kyle Kennedy
Mr. Thomas Soeder
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DEPOSITION
Whereupon,
TIMOTHY PARSONS
was called as a witness, having been first duly sworn to
speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth, was examined and testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. KIDD:
Q. I don't know if it's morning or afternoon
anymore, but I'm Evan Kidd, attorney for Darrell
Volentine.
Have you been deposed before?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. So as you know, I'm going to ask you some
questions. The court reporter is going to record your
answers. You can please keep everything as accurate and
truthful as possibly. If you need me to repeat any
questions, I certainly will.
Could you please state your name and occupation
for the record?
A. Tim A. Parsons, Division Director, Division of
Historical Resources, Department of State.
Q. Could you give me a brief description of your
professional and educational background?
A. I have a master's degree and Ph.D. from Florida

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114 W. 5th Avenue, Tallahassee, FL 32303

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1 State University in anthropology and archaeology. I have
2 a bachelor's degree from Millsaps College in anthropology,
3 archaeology, and sociology. I graduated from high school
4 in 1999. I worked for the National Park Service -5

THE COURT REPORTER: I need you to slow down.

THE WITNESS: I'm sorry. It's the coffee.

The Ph.D. is from Florida State. Bachelor's

8 Degree from Millsaps College. Worked as an archaeologist

9 and cultural resources professional for the National Park
10 Service for six years. Been working at the Department of
11 State for four years. I've also worked in the nonprofit
12 industry.
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Q. Okay. And what is your current occupation?

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A. Division Directer, Division of Historical

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Q. And what would your job duties entail?

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A. I oversee the day-to-day operations and budget of

19 the Division's Historical Resources.

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Q. Okay. Are you responsible for maintaining any of

21 the files produced herein?

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MR. FUGETT: I think -- he's not the records

23 custodian for these. We've had Tim, as well as Roger and

24 Mary, as we discussed earlier, look through their files to
25 give us what they had, and then we did some others things.

(850) 894-0828

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6/2/2016
Seafarer Exploration Corp. vs Darrell Volentine
Deposition of Timothy A. Parsons BACKORDER 14-CA-8902
Page 6

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1 So he's -- I mean, if you can ask him about any specific

1 Seafarer Exploration or Seafarer Quest, I'm going to just

2 documents, he would be happy to answer. He's obviously

2 use the work "Seafarer." If for some reason your answer

3 familiar with a lot of them, but if you're just going to

3 to any of my questions would differentiate between the two

4 ask him just a general question as to whether or not he's

4 of them, please be specific for me.

5 familiar with all of the two -- 3,000 pages, I'm going to

A. (Nodding)

6 object to that. He would have to actually look at all of

Q. Okay. So are you familiar with the -- the

7 them before he could give an answer to that.

7 permits that Seafarer has in the aforementioned areas?

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MR. KIDD: Okay.

MR. FUGETT: He can do that, but that would
take -MR. KIDD: Yeah. That would take -THE WITNESS: And I have to be done by 1:30; so
-MR. KIDD: Just have a few more question.
MR. FUGETT: It's your time. You can use it
however you want.
BY MR. KIDD:
Q. Okay. Trying to be a little more specific.
Are you familiar with Areas 3, 2, and 1 as they
relate to Seafarer and their salvage activities?
MR. HUFFMAN: Objection to form.
MR. FUGETT: Object to form.
Go ahead.
BY MR. KIDD:
Q. Okay. And just to state, when I refer to either

A. Yes.

Q. And what type of permits would those be?

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A. I believe they have an exploration permit for

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Q. Area 2? And what about Area 1?

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A. No.

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Q. Do they have a permit pending in Area 1?

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A. I believe so, yes.

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Q. And what type of permit would that be?

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A. Exploration permit.

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Q. Okay. To the best of your knowledge, have they

19 ever had a recovery permit in Area 2?

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MR. FUGETT: Object to the form.

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Go ahead.

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THE WITNESS: No.

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Q. How about Area 1?

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A. No.

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Q. Is there anything pending with regard to Area 3?

A. We received application materials for Area 3.
Q. And what stage of the application is the -- what
stage of the process is the application in?
A. Pending.
MR. FUGETT: Form.
Go ahead.
THE WITNESS: Sorry.
MR. FUGETT: Hang on.
BY MR. KIDD:
Q. Could you be a little more specific? Is there
anything else that they need -- some steps they need to
take?
MR. FUGETT: I want to object to this witness
commenting on an ongoing permitting application process
that hasn't been completed yet. To the extent that -that what has been provided is not privileged or
confidential at this point, feel free to answer. But if
it is, let me know and just don't answer it.
THE WITNESS: We received materials, but we
haven't been processing it. It's pending.
BY MR. KIDD:
Q. What type of permit is being applied for in Area
3?
A. Exploration.

Premier Reporting
114 W. 5th Avenue, Tallahassee, FL 32303

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Q. Exploration?
Okay. Have you had any communication with Kyle
Kennedy?
A. Yes.
Q. Would you be able to describe the nature of that
communication?
MR. FUGETT: Object to form, but go ahead.
THE WITNESS: Telephone and e-mail.
BY MR. KIDD:
Q. In regards to what?
A. Permit applications.
Q. How about anybody else with Seafarer?
A. The Groobers, George Groober, and I forget the
woman's name, his wife.
Q. Okay. And what was the nature of communication
with them?
A. Permit applications.
Q. Permit applications?
And when you say "permit applications," are you
discussing the possibility of one? Are you obtaining
information you need to process the permit?
A. Information.
Q. Can you tell me a little bit more about who the
Groobers are?
A. Not really. I don't know them very well.

(850) 894-0828

Reported by: Kairisa Magee

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6/2/2016
Seafarer Exploration Corp. vs Darrell Volentine
Deposition of Timothy A. Parsons BACKORDER 14-CA-8902
Page 10
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Q. In the capacity of their communication with you,

I mean, did they identify themselves as having a position
within Seafarer?
A. I think they're project managers.
Q. Are you familiar with the financial requirements
necessary to maintain permits?
MR. FUGETT: Object to form.
Go ahead.
THE WITNESS: I'm familiar with what Rule 1A-31
says.
BY MR. KIDD:
Q. And to the best of your knowledge, has Seafarer
complied with the requirements?
MR. FUGETT: Object to form.
Go ahead.
THE WITNESS: To the best of my knowledge.
BY MR. KIDD:
Q. Could you be a little more descriptive of what
the requirements are within the rule?
MR. FUGETT: Object to form.
Go ahead.
THE WITNESS: I don't have the rule in front of
me, but it -BY MR. KIDD:
Q. To the best of your knowledge.

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A. I believe Rule 1A-31 says that an applicant must

demonstrate financial ability to carry out the requested
activities.
Q. If a company's financial position changes after
they have started the application process, are they
required to notify the State?
A. No.
MR. FUGETT: Object to form.
Go ahead.
THE WITNESS: Sorry. I need to slow down.
MR. FUGETT: Slow down. And the court reporter
is shaking her head yes; so -BY MR. KIDD:
Q. How about once the permit has been issued? If a
company such as Seafarer's financial position changed,
would they need to notify the State?
MR. FUGETT: Object to form.
Go ahead.
THE WITNESS: I'd have to revisit the rule. I
don't know that it says anything specific about that -BY MR. KIDD:
Q. Okay.
A. -- off the top of my head.
Q. To the best of your knowledge, has Seafarer ever
gave notice to the State that their financial position has

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1 would tell anyone who called that someone has a pending

MR. FUGETT: Object to form.

2 permit application. It's not secret information.

Go ahead.

3 BY MR. KIDD:

THE WITNESS: Not to the best of my knowledge.

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Q. And so if someone was to contact your office and

7 inquire about the status of a pending permit

8 application, would you comment on that? Would you answer

9 their questions?
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MR. FUGETT: Are you talking specifically about

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11 this particular case --

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MR. KIDD: Yes.

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MR. FUGETT: -- or are you just asking a

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14 general --

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MR. KIDD: Specifically.

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MR. FUGETT: Is there a particular communication

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18 if Seafarer had done this, would you --

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MR. KIDD: No. That part of it's general, like,

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21 were a potential investor and you wanted to inquire as to

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MR. FUGETT: Object to form.

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Answer if you can.

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THE WITNESS: If there's a permit application, we

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Premier Reporting
114 W. 5th Avenue, Tallahassee, FL 32303

Q. How about the status of the pending permit

application?
MR. FUGETT: Object to form.
Go ahead.
THE WITNESS: The status of any application
before it's issued is "pending;" so it's -- there's not
really a status per se, other than pending.
MR. KIDD: I'd like to take a quick break, but
when we come back, I'll be done in just a few minutes.
(Whereupon there was a short break.)
BY MR. KIDD:
Q. Okay. Calling back to a previous question about
whether or not you've had any communication with Kyle
Kennedy, you indicated that you had. Within these
documents, would there be any records of that?
A. Yes.
Q. So how would you keep those records?
A. Do you mean records of meetings or records of
phone calls or something like that? I mean -Q. We'll start with -- we'll start with records of
phone calls.
A. If we set up a -- usually after I talk to

(850) 894-0828

Reported by: Kairisa Magee

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6/2/2016
Seafarer Exploration Corp. vs Darrell Volentine
Deposition of Timothy A. Parsons BACKORDER 14-CA-8902
Page 14

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MR. FUGETT: Again, I want to say on the record

1 somebody on the phone, sometimes I'll send an e-mail

2 describing the conversation. There may be some of that in

2 that this deposition was scheduled by plaintiffs. They

3 there.

3 controlled the scheduling. They asked what they wanted.

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Q. Who would you send that e-mail to?

A. To the person I was on the phone with.
The other would be -- I mean, if there was any
e-mail communication setting up a meeting, that would be
in the records.
MR. KIDD: And if it helps, to the best of my
knowledge, every contact with Kyle Kennedy and Seafarer
between that group and the Department of State is
reflected in these documents. Whether it was a meeting,
an e-mail, a phone call, or something or something else,
you'll be able to see that in all of these documents.
Again, all this stuff is kept and produced when asked for;
so you've got it all. If you think there's something that
we don't have, again, give me a call, and we'll take a
look at it, and you're free to have everything that we've
got on this case.
MR. KENNEDY: No wonder it's so thick.
MR. KIDD: Okay. Similar to the last one, for
the record, I'm going to say that, you know, again, we
received about 2,100 documents today; so we would like to
recess this for the current time with the possibility of
reopening.

4 They asked -- they asked for who they wanted, and how much
5 time they were going to spend with those individuals. We
6 have cooperated fully. These are documents that they
7 probably already have a lot of them or that they could
8 have brought with them. To the extent that they were not
9 prepared for these depositions, that is not going to be
10 the fault of the Department of State or any of these
11 witnesses.

To the extent that you ever want to take

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13 Dr. Parsons' deposition again, we will object to that, and

14 we will want to appear before the court and have a court
15 order before he is deposed again in matter. He is here.
16 He's ready to answer any and all questions that you might
17 have, and he has done so. If you close the depo out,
18 that's fine, but as far as we're concerned, this depo is
19 closed for good, and we're not going to let you have
20 another deposition of Dr. Parsons without a court order
21 forcing us to do so.

MR. HUFFMAN: And not to scare Dr. Parsons --

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23 this is Craig Huffman representing Seafarer -- which,

24 Mr. Fugett, obviously, we are the plaintiffs in this case.
25 It's the defendant --

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1 there.

MR. FUGETT: All right. I'm sorry. I got that

2 wrong. Any part -- let me -- let me --

Just to follow up, have you had personal meetings

MR. KENNEDY: I was wondering about that.

3 with Kyle Kennedy?

MR. FUGETT: -- make sure that the record

A. Yes.

5 reflects that any party in this case, any party,

Q. Do you recognize Kyle Kennedy?

6 plaintiff, defendant, or anybody wants to take

A. Yes.

7 Dr. Parsons' deposition again, we object to it, and we

Q. Is Kyle Kennedy sitting in the room with you?

8 will not do so absent a court order saying that we have

A. Indeed. Yes.

9 to.

Q. Okay. Approximately, how many times have you met

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MR. HUFFMAN: Right. And we join you in your

10 with Kyle Kennedy?

A. I believe I have in person with Kyle Kennedy

11 objection as to any documents that are attempted to be

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12 provided or entered into exhibits which don't have the

12 two -- two times?

13 foundation as previously objected to.

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MR. FUGETT: Don't ask him for help --

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That's it for me.

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THE WITNESS: I'm sorry.

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MR. FUGETT: All right. We will read if ordered.

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MR. FUGETT: Just guess. We can't -- Mr. Kennedy

16 has not been sworn in.

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MR. HUFFMAN: I'm sorry. That was the end of my

18 objection. I only have one question.

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MR. FUGETT: Okay. I didn't mean to cut you off.

20 Go ahead.
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MR. KENNEDY: I don't know either.

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THE WITNESS: No, no, no. I'm sorry. I didn't

19 mean it.

Yeah. I think -- I think it's been two times.

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21 It might have been three, but I think two in-person

EXAMINATION

22 meetings.

22 BY MR. HUFFMAN:

Q. Okay. Dr. Parsons, I'm Craig Huffman. I

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Q. Okay. And when did you take over as director?

24 represent Seafarer Exploration. I'm sorry I didn't get a

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A. Late December.

25 chance to be there today, but I appreciate you being

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Q. Of 2015; right?

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Premier Reporting
114 W. 5th Avenue, Tallahassee, FL 32303

(850) 894-0828

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6/2/2016
Seafarer Exploration Corp. vs Darrell Volentine
Deposition of Timothy A. Parsons BACKORDER 14-CA-8902
Page 18
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A. Correct.

Page 19

CERTIFICATE OF OATH

MR. HUFFMAN: Okay. That's all I have. Thank

3 you, Dr. Parsons.

THE WITNESS: You're welcome.

4 STATE OF FLORIDA

MR. FUGETT: Any follow-up?

MR. KIDD: No, sir.

6 COUNTY OF LEON

MR. FUGETT: All right. Then we're done, and if

8 it's ordered, we will read.

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9 (Whereupon the deposition was concluded at 12:34 p.m., and

I, the undersigned authority, certify that the

10 the witness did not waive his right to read and sign.)

10 above-named witness personally appeared before me and was

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11 duly sworn.

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15 June, 2016.

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__________________________

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KAIRISA JOI MAGEE

NOTARY PUBLIC
COMMISSION #FF971623
EXPIRES MARCH 15, 2020

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WITNESS my hand and official seal 21st day of

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CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER

STATE OF FLORIDA
3 COUNTY OF LEON

2 I have read the transcript of my deposition, Pages 1

through 21 and hereby subscribe to same, including any

)
)

3 corrections and/or amendments listed below.

4 DATE:__________________________ __________________________

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Page 21
ERRATA SHEET

DR. TIMOTHY PARSONE

5 (SEAFARER V. DARRELL VOLENTINE)

I, KAIRISA JOI MAGEE, Professional Court

6 Reporter, certify that the foregoing proceedings were

6 PAGE/LINE CORRECTION/AMENDMENT

7 taken before me at the time and place therein designated;

7 _________ ______________________________ _________

REASON FOR CHANGE

8 that my shorthand notes were thereafter translated under

8 _________ ______________________________ _________

10 21, are a true and correct record of the aforesaid

9 _________ ______________________________ _________

10 _________ ______________________________ _________

11 proceedings.

11 _________ ______________________________ _________

9 my supervision; and the foregoing pages numbered 1 through

I further certify that I am not a relative,

12 _________ ______________________________ _________

13 employee, attorney or counsel of any of the parties, nor

13 _________ ______________________________ _________

14 am I a relative or employee of any of the parties'

14 _________ ______________________________ _________

15 attorney or counsel connected to this action, nor am I

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16 financially interested in this action.

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DATED this 21st day of June, 2016.

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__________________________
KAIRISA JOI MAGEE
NOTARY PUBLIC
COMMISSION #FF971623
EXPIRATION DATE MARCH 15, 2020

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Premier Reporting
114 W. 5th Avenue, Tallahassee, FL 32303

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DATE OF DEPOSITION: JUNE 2, 2016

REPORTER: KAIRISA MAGEE

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(850) 894-0828

Reported by: Kairisa Magee

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