Here is Hall’s testimony from Fishman trial

Harness racing’s premier news site www.harnesslink.com has been able to obtain the actual testimony from Adrienne Hall in the Federal Government’s jury trial against Dr. Seth Fishman.

It is a long read, but well worth the time as the testimony is quite interesting and explains a lot of what is going on with the investigations.

Government’s next witness.
MR. CHOW: Your Honor, the government calls Adrienne Hall.
ADRIENNE HALL, called as a witness by the Government, having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
THE COURT: You can remove your mask, and please try to speak into the microphone. Thank you.
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
Q. Good morning, Ms. Hall.
A. Good morning.
Q. Could you tell us the city and state where you currently live?
A. Cream Ridge, New Jersey.
Q. What do you currently do for a living?
A. I’m a Standardbred racehorse trainer.
Q. Do you currently have any horses listed as horses that you train?
A. Not at the moment.
Q. How far did you go in school?
A. I have a bachelor’s degree.
Q. And a degree in what?
A. Media communications.
Q. Where did you get that degree?
A. East Stroudsburg University.
Q. After you graduated, what kind of work did you do?
A. I worked in real estate and home finance.
Q. How long did you work there?
A. Probably about five years.
Q. And what type of work did you do after that?
A. I got a job at a Thoroughbred breeding farm.
Q. How long were you in that job?
A. Almost five years.
Q. And what did you do next?
A. I had a little break where I just worked at another smaller breeding farm, then I got a job working for Todd Pletcher Racing Stable.
Q. When you worked for the first Thoroughbred breeding farm, what was your job title?
A. I was part of their office staff, but I helped them with public sales, private sales, planning breedings, dealing with clients.
Q. The second job that you had, what job title did you hold
A. With the farm I was basically helping take care of the horses a little bit.
Q. When you started working for Mr. Pletcher, what job title did you hold?
A. I was part of his administrative team as well.
Q. Were you involved in training horses?
A. No.
Q. At any point have you owned any racehorses?
A. Yes.
Q. Were those Standardbred or Thoroughbreds?
A. Both.
Q. What’s the difference?
A. Standardbreds have the cart behind them that they pull and Thoroughbreds, they have the jockey on top of them and gallop.
Q. And you mentioned that you are now employed as a trainer, is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. And when were you first licensed as a trainer?
A. I got my trainer’s license in December of 2017.
Q. What kind of horses have you trained between 2017 and today?
A. Standardbreds.
Q. Have you ever raced Thoroughbred horses?
A. Not as a trainer, no.
Q. Are you familiar with a company called Equestology?
A. Yes.
Q. What is your understanding of the business that Equestology is engaged in?
A. Pharmaceutical sales.
Q. Have you met anyone from Equestology?
A. I met Dr. Seth Fishman.
Q. Did you meet him in person or did you just communicate with him?
A. Both.
Q. Have you had contact in any form with anyone else from Equestology?
A. Lisa Ranger.
Q. And how did you communicate with Lisa Ranger?
A. Phone, text, email.
Q. Have you ever met her in person?
A. No.
Q. Prior to testifying today, Ms. Hall, did there come a time when you started meeting with the prosecutors in this case?
A. Yes.
Q. Approximately when was that?
A. A few months ago.
Q. Have you spoken with me prior to today?
A. Yes.
Q. More than once?
A. Yes.
Q. After meeting with the government, did you enter into an agreement with the government?
A. Yes.
Q. Was that agreement in writing?
A. Yes.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, could we pull up just for the witness and parties, not the jury, Government Exhibit 11003.
Ms. Hall do you see that document in front of you, Government Exhibit 11003?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you recognize it?
A. Yes.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, if you could go to the last page of this exhibit.
Q. Is that your signature on this agreement, Ms. Hall?
A. Yes.
Q. And do you see my signature on there as well?
A. Yes.
Q. What’s your understanding of what you’re required to do under your agreement with the government?
A. Be honest, tell the truth.
Q. What else?
A. Be available, provide any information that they need that I might have.
Q. If you do those things, what’s your understanding of what the government will do?
A. I will not be prosecuted.
Q. Not prosecuted for what?
A. Giving my horses performance-enhancing drugs.
Q. Does the outcome of this trial have any impact on this agreement with the government?
A. No.
MR. SERCARZ: Objection, calls for conjecture.
THE COURT: No, she’s testifying to her understanding of the agreement she entered into. Correct? Is that what you’re asking for?
MS. MORTAZAVI: Yes, your Honor.
THE COURT: Is that what you have given us?
THE WITNESS: Yes.
THE COURT: Overruled.
Q. What’s your understanding of what could happen today if you do not tell the truth?
A. I could be prosecuted.
Q. And what happens to this agreement?
A. It’s void.
Q. Could you be prosecuted for any other crimes besides the ones that are in the agreement?
A. No.
Q. Could you be prosecuted for committing perjury?
A. Yes.
Q. Ms. Hall, I would like to ask you about the time you began taining horses. In 2017 you said that you were first licensed as a trainer, is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. When in 2017, approximately?
A. December.
Q. Why did you want to be a trainer?
A. I had gotten married and moved to Ohio and I had to give up my job with Pletcher. And there was a harness track about ten minutes from my house in Ohio, and I missed the racetrack so much that I just started going by it to see what it was all about. And I ended up actually meeting some people. I claimed my first Standardbred, and I gave it to somebody else to train, but I wasn’t really happy with the care that she was getting so I started going to the track every, and the more I started going I realized that I really wanted to do this full time.
Q. And, Ms. Hall, you testified that you became licensed as a trainer?
A. Yes.
Q. Where were you licensed initially in December 2017?
A. That was in Ohio.
Q. And what did you have to do to obtain your trainer’s license?
A. I had to get a license with the United States Trotting Association first.
Q. What is the United States Trotting Association?
A. It’s the governing body of harness racing.
Q. Is that sometimes called the USTA?
A. Yes.
Q. And besides getting a membership with the USTA, what else did you have to do?
A. Then I had to get the actual owner and trainer license with the Ohio State Racing Commission.
Q. What’s your understanding of what the Ohio State Racing Commission does?
A. They’re like the governing body of the state of horseracing in the state.
Q. And were they the ones who issued your license to you?
A. Yes.
Q. Apart from Ohio, over the course of your career, did you obtain your trainer’s license in any other states?
A. Yes.
Q. Which ones?
A. So I had Ohio, Kentucky, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Q. Okay. Focusing on Florida for a moment, did you have to apply for your trainer’s license in Florida?
A. Yes.
Q. What agency granted you your license?
A. The Florida State Racing Commission.
Q. And what’s your understanding of what that commission does?
A. The same thing. They’re in charge of the rules and regulations in Florida horseracing.
Q. And in New York, did you have to apply for your license there?
A. Yes.
Q. What agency granted you your license?
A. The New York Gaming Commission.
Q. And what’s your understanding of what they do?
A. The same. They make the rules and regulations for horseracing in the state.
Q. And as a result of being licensed in each of those states, do you have to be familiar with the rules and regulations that apply to horseracing in each state?
A. Yes.
Q. Are you aware of the penalties if you violate rules?
A. Yes.
Q. And do those include rules regarding the administration of drugs to racehorses?
A. Yes.
Q. I want to move you to October 2018. At that point, were you licensed as a trainer in Florida?
A. Yes.
Q. And around that time, approximately how many different racehorses did you train?
A. Two.
Q. They were both Standardbred?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you own them?
A. Yes.
Q. And moving through the course of your career as a trainer, at your peak, how many horses did you run at — did you train, at most?
A. I believe my max was five.
Q. And at most, how many horses did you own?
A. Five.
Q. So again, turning you back to October 2018, I’d like to talk to you about the first time you had contact with Lisa Ranger from Equestology.
A. Mmm, hmm.
Q. When did you first make contact with her, approximately?
A. I believe it was in October of 2018.
Q. And how did you initially make contact with her?
A. I either called her first or sent her an e-mail.
Q. How did you get her contact information, whether it was her phone number or her e-mail address?
A. I believe another trainer in Ohio gave it to me.
Q. Did you ask for her information?
A. I asked where they had been getting their products from.
Q. And what did they tell you?
A. That they were reputable and their pricing was good.
Q. Okay. And as far as you were aware, where was Lisa Ranger located?
A. Delaware.
Q. And at that time, where were you located?
A. Ohio.
Q. And why did you think that Lisa Ranger was located in Delaware?
A. Her phone number was a Delaware area code and the invoices I got had a Delaware address.
Q. Were you aware either way if she had an office in Ohio?
A. No.
Q. And did you ever end up purchasing medications from Lisa Ranger?
A. Yes.
Q. Approximately when?
A. October of 2018.
Q. Ms. Jung, could you please pull up for the witness and the parties only Government Exhibit 1915.
Ms. Hall, do you recognize this exhibit?
A. Yes.
Q. What is it?
A. An e-mail from Lisa to myself.
Q. How do you know that?
A. It’s my e-mail address.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Your Honor, the government offers Government Exhibit 1915.
MR. SERCARZ: No objection.
THE COURT: It will be received in evidence.
(Government’s Exhibit 1915 received in evidence)
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, if you could publish it for the jury, please. I don’t know if it’s up on the jurors’ screens yet. Okay. I see some nodding heads.
THE COURT: Is there anybody who doesn’t have it?
JUROR: Yeah, I don’t have it.
THE COURT: Okay. We’ll try to fix your screen.
(Pause)
Okay? All right. Thank you, Ms. Mortazavi.
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
Q. Ms. Hall, looking at the header information on this e-mail, can you just explain who the e-mail is sent from, who it’s sent to and the date?
A. It’s sent from LisaRangerEquestology@Gmail.com. The date is Tuesday October 16th, 2018 at 12:38 p.m. The subject is Hall Racing, and it’s to HallRacingStable@Gmail.com.
Q. Is that your e-mail address?
A. Yes.
Q. Can you read the body of the e-mail?
A. It says: “Here’s the product sheet, but we are always adding to it. If you don’t see it, just ask. Thanks, Lisa.”
Q. Did this e-mail contain attachments?
A. Yes.
Q. Ms. Jung, could you please turn to the second page of this exhibit? Do you recognize this as the attachment to the e-mail, Ms. Hall?
A. Yes.
Q. And, Ms. Jung, could you please turn to page 3 of this exhibit?
Ms. Hall, do you see, halfway down the page, a category DOC between the categories Delaware and EPM?
A. Yes.
Q. And do you see there that there are some product listed?
A. Yes.
Q. Could you read out those product names?
A. “ATP/B-12, BB3, BPR Blue, Equimass-PG2, Homeogesic-M-D-P, IT Plus, IT Plus Purple, MHP1BP, MHP1DMT, Oxygenator, Serenity, SODHSP-C, TB-7 thymosin, and VO2 Max.”
Q. Ms. Hall, do you recognize on that list any of the products that you have ever received from Seth Fishman?
A. Yes.
Q. Can you list out some of them?
A. VO2 Max.
Q. Anything else?
A. TB-7.
Q. Anything else?
A. BB3.
Q. Thank you.
Ms. Jung, can you please turn to page 6 of this exhibit.
And, Ms. Hall, was this also an attachment to the e-mail that we just reviewed?
A. Yes.
Q. Looking at this first page, is there anything on this first page that you ever received from either Lisa Ranger or Seth Fishman?
A. No.
Q. Ms. Jung, could you turn to the second page. Anything there that you ever received?
A. No.
Q. Ms. Jung, could you turn to the next page. How about here, Ms. Hall, anything here on this page that you ever received?
A. TB-7.
Q. Okay. Ms. Jung, could you please turn to the next page in this exhibit. Anything here that you received, Ms. Hall?
A. No.
Q. Ms. Jung, the next page. Anything here that you received?
A. EGH.
Q. Is that No. 11 on this list?
A. Yes.
Q. Are you aware of what EGH stands for?
A. Equine growth hormone.
Q. Are you familiar we equine growth hormone?
A. No.
Q. Are you familiar, not with this particular product, but generally what the concept of equine growth hormones?
A. Not really.
Q. Okay. Ms. Jung, you can please take down this exhibit, and could you please pull up — just for the witness and the parties, not the jury — Government Exhibit 1914. Ms. Hall, do you see this document in front of you?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you recognize it?
A. Yes.
Q. What is it?
A. An e-mail from Lisa to myself.
Q. And how do you recognize it?
A. It’s my e-mail address.
MS. MORTAZAVI: The government offers Government Exhibit 1914.
MR. SERCARZ: No objection.
THE COURT: It will be received into evidence.
(Government’s Exhibit 1914 received in evidence)
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, please publish it for the jury.
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
Q. Okay. And it looks like everyone is looking at their screens. Ms. Hall, can you read out again the header information on this e-mail, and then the body of the e-mail?
A. It’s from Equestology@Gmail.com. The date is Tuesday, October 16th, 2018, at 1:51 p.m. and it’s to HallRacingStable@Gmail.com.
Q. And the body of the e-mail?
A. Says: “Thank you. Free shipping when order is over $400. Lisa.”
Q. Ms. Jung, could you turn to the next page of this exhibit.
Do you see in the top left corner, Ms. Hall, the company name Equestology and then an address?
A. Yes.
Q. Can you read out the address, please?
A. 125 Jennifer Lane, Felton, Delaware 19943.
Q. And below that, next to the word “for,” do you see your name written there?
A. Yes.
Q. And do you see an address under it?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you recognize that address?
A. Yes, that’s where I was living at the time.
Q. And that’s an address in Delray Beach, Florida?
A. Correct.
Q. So at around October 2018, were you in Ohio at the time or in Florida?
A. Florida.
Q. Okay. And could you please read out the description of the items that are on this invoice?
A. So the first one, it says, LRS 3-liters. Those are electrolyte jugs or bottles. The second one is iron sucrose. The third is folic acid. Then vitamin B-12, then Caco copper with iron, then Amicar, vitamin C, and then postal shipping.
Q. Did you actually receive these items after you placed the order for them?
A. Yes.
Q. Does this reflect an order that you placed with Lisa Ranger?
A. Yes.
Q. And before you placed this order, did Lisa Ranger ask you for a prescription?
A. No.
Q. Did she ask you for your veterinarian’s name?
A. I don’t believe so, no.
Q. Did she ask you about your horses?
A. No.
Q. At the time, did you believe that Lisa Ranger was a veterinarian?
A. No.
Q. And looking at these items, Ms. Hall, are any of these items injectable products?
A. Yes.
Q. Which ones?
A. All of them, except for the three liter bottles. It could either be injected, or I would also pour them over their bran mash.
Q. Ms. Jung, you can take this exhibit down. Thank you.
Ms. Hall, did there come a time when you made direct contact with Seth Fishman?
A. Yes.
Q. When was that?
A. I believe I reached out to him in October of 2018.
Q. And how were you in touch with him?
A. I believe I got his number from Lisa.
Q. Do you recall the conversation you had with Lisa Ranger?
A. Yes.
Q. Regarding Seth Fishman, that is?
A. Yes.
Q. What did you ask her in that conversation?
A. I had told her I had just moved down to south Florida, I did not have a vet, and I was hoping to have Dr. Fishman come out and do some lameness exams on my horses.
Q. What is a lameness exam?
A. It’s when a vet flexes their legs to see if they are sore anywhere.
Q. So that’s an in-person physical exam of the horse?
A. Yes.
MR. SERCARZ: I apologize, your Honor. Could I have those last two answers be read? I really didn’t hear them.
THE COURT: Can we do that. If you can, please.
Mr. Sercarz, you do not have a copy of the transcript?
MR. SERCARZ: The transcript. I don’t have real time of the trial transcript, if that’s what you’re asking. I apologize.
THE COURT: You know what, we’re going to take a break so you can review it over the break. I’d like to keep moving. Would now work for a break, Ms. Dempsey?
All right. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, why don’t we take our mid-morning break now. You can leave your materials on your chair. Please remember, don’t discuss the case over the break.
And, Ms. Hall, you remain under oath and may not speak to anyone about your testimony over the break. Okay?
(Jury not present)
All right. Ms. Hall, you can be excused.
And ladies and gentlemen, please have a seat just for one moment.
(Witness temporarily excused)
All right. Let me just turn first — this is fine while Ms. Hall is walking out. Let me turn first to, I spoke with, communicated by e-mail, as I said, with the District Executive. The issue is that we’re on an every-other-day schedule; so that I think was the problem with you, Mr. Fernich.
Dr. Fishman, the issue with you is the tests are really supposed to be for people who are going to be in the box and taking off their masks. But I did ask the District Executive, as an accommodation to you, please, given issues we’ve talked about earlier and the fact that Mr. Fasulo was around, would he please accommodate you with a test, and he said he will do that, but only on the same every-other-day schedule as the rest of the participants. All right?
MR. FERNICH: That’s fine. Work prohibited my getting down there yesterday. I apologize.
THE COURT: All right. Mr. Sercarz, you can review the transcript over the break.
MR. SERCARZ: Thank you, your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you. We’ll see everyone in roughly ten, 15 minutes. All right?
(Recess)
THE COURT: You can be seated momentarily, but the jurors are here. Do you want to get the witness, please?
MR. SERCARZ: Your Honor, we have a legal issue before the witness.
THE COURT: All right. Do you want to – let Ms. Dempsey know not to bring the jury. You really should have let me know that before the jurors came up.
MR. SERCARZ: I apologize. I didn’t know they were on the way up. I apologize, your Honor.
THE COURT: What’s your issue?
MR. FERNICH: Judge, I’ll make it very quickly. It pertains to what we discussed at sidebar yesterday. I understand that the government is now going to attempt to — forgive me — introduce into evidence a compendium or a series of New York State racing regulations, and I’m reiterating what I said at the sidebar yesterday.
I don’t think the substance of these regulations should come into evidence for the following reasons: A, although this is a very extensive, 46-page speaking indictment that cites a great deal of very specific provisions of the FDCA, there’s not a word about any specific state — well, let me back up.
The first thing I said at the sidebar is that Dr. Fishman is not charged with violating any state racing regulations. He’s charged with violating the FDCA.
THE COURT: And I agreed with that, and you wanted me to instruct the jury in the middle of the trial that he is not charged with something.
MR. FERNICH: Right.
THE COURT: And I said, on your consent — or let me, I read to the jury, as an opening instruction, a summary of the charges, which summary you had consented to.
MR. FERNICH: Right. I have no problem with that. Right now, I’m opposing the introduction of the state regulations into evidence because he’s not charged with violating them because this is an FDCA violation case, not a state racing violation case.
As I pointed out yesterday, in Rojas, the case could have been charged in a different way, under a different theory, under different statutes. In Rojas, they specifically spelled out as the predicate for the mail and wire fraud charges the very specific Pennsylvania race regulations that the defendant was charged with violating there.
That’s not the case with respect to this indictment.
This indictment spells out a variety of jurisdictions in which Dr. Fishman allegedly was involved in or acted in a way that was contrary to race regulations. It doesn’t specify any particular race regulations.
THE COURT: It does name certain states.
MR. FERNICH: It does name certain states, your Honor.
THE COURT: Including New York.
MR. FERNICH: Including New York, but my concern is the following about the constructive amendment. If they are trying to allege, as a material part of this crime, that discrete race regulations were violated, it goes beyond the issue of notice to us, which I assume we could have theoretically scoured all the race regulations in all the different jurisdictions noticed. Notwithstanding that we shouldn’t have to do that, we could have.
But they should have been presented to the grand jury as the theory of the case, the crux of the case, and a grand jury should have passed on those allegations. That’s never happened because it’s not reflected in the indictment. And now they’re trying to expand the bases for conviction to race regulations that were never presented to a grand jury on a theory that was never presented to a grand jury.
The theory was that this was the background or the motive or the intent for engaging in the activity, the intent to — and I’m paraphrasing their opening statement – the intent to rig races unfairly and earn money from them by evading PED regulations without specifying, and that was the reason why they engaged in adulteration and misbranding to violate the FDCA.
THE COURT: No, I think the fair reading is that the intent was to defraud, among others — and the “others” include the FDA and Custom and Border Control — including racing regulators. That’s the intent.
MR. FERNICH: No problem with that.
THE COURT: The intent is not to harm horses.
MR. FERNICH: No problem with that.
THE COURT: And you conceded yesterday that to prove intent, it is relevant to say that you were evading racing regulations, and testability is part of all of this mix, too.
MR. FERNICH: Absolutely no problem with that.
THE COURT: Okay.
MR. FERNICH: They elicited it already through witnesses.
THE COURT: Yes, right. All right. I understand your point. So let me, and I may I agree to a certain extent, but let me just hear from Ms. Mortazavi about exactly what it is you’re intending to do and how long are we going with this because the jurors are literally standing in the hallway. I mean, can this wait until the lunch break?
MS. MORTAZAVI: Your Honor, I believe this was raised because defense counsel anticipated that I would attempt to enter in as a stipulation several racing regulations. I do not plan to do that at this moment. So, I think this can wait, and we can bring the jurors up. Is that sufficient?
THE COURT: All right. Thank you. Let’s do that then, but I understand your argument, and we will take it up, Mr. Fernich.
All right. Ms. Popper, do you want to let Ms. Dempsey know?
(Jury present)
Please be seated, everyone. Do we have Ms. Hall? All right. Ms. Hall, you remain under oath and you can remove your mask. Thank you.
Ms. Mortazavi, please.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Thank you, your Honor.
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
Q. Ms. Hall, I just want to orient you to what we were discussing right before the break. Do you recall that you were testifying about a conversation you had with Lisa Ranger?
A. Yes.
Q. About Seth Fishman?
A. Yes.
Q. And do you recall testifying that you had just moved down to south Florida, and you were looking for a veterinarian to perform a lameness exam?
A. Correct.
Q. And I asked you whether a lameness exam required a physical in-person examination?
A. Correct.
Q. Is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. And when you asked Lisa Ranger if Seth Fishman could perform this lameness exam, did she respond?
A. Yes.
Q. What did she say?
A. I believe her words were, unfortunately, he doesn’t do that type of work anymore because he has a bad back, I believe, is what she said.
Q. Did she indicate that he would be available to perform a physical examination of your horses?
A. No.
Q. Did you ultimately reach out to Seth Fishman anyway?
A. Yes.
Q. Why did you do that?
A. I wanted his help with pre-racing my horses.
Q. What does it mean to pre-race your horses?
A. The drugs, medications you would give to a horse leading up to a race to improve its performance.
Q. Ms. Jung, could you please pull up Government Exhibit 900-A, which is an extraction from an electronic device seized from Seth Fishman.
And, your Honor, this has already been admitted into evidence. Ms. Hall, could you read the participants of this particular next exchange?
A. Seth Fishman and Adrienne Hall.
Q. And what’s the e-mail address associated with Seth Fishman?
A. SethFishman@Hotmail.com.
Q. And here I see “Adrian” Hall. Is that the correct spelling of your name?
A. No.
Q. Do you see the phone number above your name?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you recognize that number?
A. Yes.
Q. Is that your number?
A. It was my number at the time.
Q. And then, Ms. Jung, if we could look at the exhibit as a whole.
Looking at this particular exhibit, Ms. Hall, are the blue bubbles the messages that you sent and the green bubbles the messages that you received from Seth Fishman?
A. Yes.
Q. Could you read the first blue chat message from you to Seth Fishman, dated October 21st, 2018?
A. “Hi, my name is Adrienne and I am a harness trainer at Sunshine Meadows. I got your number from Lisa. I was wondering if you can help me come up with some pre-race options for a new horse I just got in. I could e-mail you his recent blood work, if so.”
Q. Did you hear back from Seth Fishman right away?
A. No.
Q. Ms. Jung, could you please pull up the second text message in the green bubble.
That’s a message from Seth Fishman to you, dated November 4th, 2018. And can you read the message?
A. “I tried calling you a few times from Europe.”
Q. Ms. Jung, if you could please take this exhibit down. I’d ask you to pull up Government Exhibit 320-FJ, which is already in the record as a record of Equestology, Inc.
Ms. Hall, do you see that there are two participants to this particular text exchange?
A. Yes.
Q. Are you one of the participants?
A. No.
Q. Have you seen this exhibit before?
A. No.
Q. Who are the two participants here?
A. Seth AA and Lisa Ranger.
Q. Okay. Ms. Jung, could you please blow up, for the witness, the text message dated October 21st, 2018, 5:54 p.m.
And could you please read out the text?
A. “Just landed in California and got this text: ‘Hi, my name is Adrienne, and I’m a harness trainer at Sunshine Meadows. I got your number from Lisa. I was wondering if you can help me come up with some pre-race options for a new horse that I just got in. I can e-mail you his most recent blood work, if so.'”Q. And, Ms. Jung, can you blow up the two responses in grey. And for the record, these are messages sent from Lisa Ranger’s cell to Seth Fishman. Do you see the number beside Lisa Ranger’s cell, Ms. Hall?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you recognize that number?
A. No.
Q. All right. If you could please read out the first message that’s dated October 23rd, 2018, at 10:19 a.m.?
A. “Hey, can you please try to call that Adrian Hall today.”
Q. I’m sorry, the message above that, starting with “She is going to send you”?
A. “She is going to send you a blood work that she has. She is a referral of Daniel Mier and has been ordering supplies from us. Go ahead and talk to her. She doesn’t have much knowledge. As you can surmise from the text. Old Poliseno client. Tired of his BS.”
Q. Do you know a Daniel Mier?
A. Yes.
Q. Who is that?
A. He’s a harness trainer as well.
Q. Had you talked to Daniel Mier about either Seth Fishman or Lisa Ranger before?
A. Yes.
Q. There’s a reference to “Old Poliseno”; do you know who that is?
A. Tony Poliseno.
Q. How do you know him?
A. He would come to the Ohio tracks, and he was always selling medication and drugs to trainers.
Q. Would he sell pre-race options?
A. Mmm, hmm; yes.
Q. And then you had read out the second message. I just want to have you read it out again. The date on that is October 31st, 2018.
A. It says, “Hey, can you please try to call that Adrian Hall today.”
Q. Ms. Jung, can we please turn to page two of this particular exhibit, and if you could please expand the three messages on
A. “Adrienne Hall” —
Q. And I’m sorry, just for the record, you’re reading out loud from the exhibit a message from Lisa Ranger to Seth Fishman dated November 29, 2018, 1:36 p.m. Go ahead.
A. “Adrienne Hall is at training facility in Delray Beach. She wants to know, is there any other local vet Dr. Fishman would recommend. I call for injections down here.”
Q. What was his response?
A. “Not sure who to recommend.”
Q. And what did Lisa respond?
A. “That’s what I thought, but I figured I would ask.”
Q. Okay. Did you ever end up finding a veterinarian who could perform a lameness exam on your horses?
A. Yes.
Q. Who was that?
A. His name was Dr. Carinda.
Q. And did he, apart from that lameness exam, serve as the veterinarian for your horses for an extended period of time?
A. Yes.
Q. Would he physically examine your horses?
A. Yes, he did.
Q. Had you ever asked Dr. Carinda for pre-race options?
A. I don’t believe I did, no.
Q. Could you please expand the message from Lisa Ranger to Seth Fishman, dated December 28th, 2018, 12:56 p.m.
And, Ms. Hall, ignore
MR. FERNICH: The first line that starts with “File attachment.” Could you start reading from “Adrian Hall is going to text”?
A. “Adrian Hall is going to text you. Can you please get up with her when you get a chance. She has some questions.”
Q. All right. Ms. Jung, you can take down this exhibit. Thank you. So, Ms. Hall, you said that you ultimately did get in touch with Seth Fishman, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Ms. Jung, can we please return to Government Exhibit 900-A, and please turn to page 3 of that exhibit. And, Ms. Hall, can you read the messages on this page, again? Does it appear to you that the blue bubbles are messages sent by you?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Can you go ahead and read the text exchange?
A. “Hey, are you still able to meet tomorrow or Thursday?”
Q. And what did Seth Fishman respond?
A. “Tomorrow good.”
Q. And your response after that?
A. “Okay. Just let me know where and when. Thanks.”
Q. And what was his response?
A. “Atlantic Avenue, 5:00 p.m.”
Q. These messages are all dated January 2nd, 2019, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you recall having an in-person meeting with Seth Fishman around this time?
A. Yes.
Q. What did you discuss with him during that meeting?
A. I don’t recall too many specifics. I’m sure I was talking about my horses. The only thing that really stood out in my mind, when I asked him who his clients were.
Q. Did he respond?
A. He said he was currently helping one of the leading thoroughbred trainers in the country.
Q. Did he give you any other details besides that?
A. He said that he was a minority.
Q. As in the — one of the leading thoroughbred trainers was a minority?
A. Yes.
Q. From that description, did you understand who he was talking about?
A. I believe I said: Oh, you’re helping Navarro.
Q. Do you know Navarro’s first name?
A. Jorge.
Q. Do you know him by any other name?
A. George.
Q. What else happened during that meeting, if you recall?
A. He asked me to walk to his car after the dinner, and he gave me a gift bag that had some samples of some drugs in it.
Q. Do you remember what was in that gift bag?
A. I don’t recall everything that was in there, but I think that there were some bottles of VO2 Max and some syringes of like a bleeder paste.
Q. Okay. Ms. Jung, could you please pull up Government Exhibit 1117, which is a photograph that was taken during a search of a premises that we’ve discussed previously.
Ms. Hall, looking at this particular photo, does this look familiar to you?
A. Yes.
Q. Is this the bottle of VO2 Max that was in the gift bag that you just described?
A. It looks like the same bottle, yes.
Q. Okay. And when you received this bottle in the gift bag, did Seth Fishman explain anything about how to administer it?
A. I’m sure that he did. I don’t remember exactly what he said about it.
Q. Okay. Can you please, if you can make it out, read the label, the red text in silver, starting with “Administer”?
A. “Administer intravenously 10 cc’s four to six hours prior to strenuous exercise. Proprietary blend of amino acids.”
Q. Did you know when you were supposed to administer VO2 Max to your horse?
A. I was under the impression it was best used on race day.
Q. Okay. And had you used VO2 Max on your horses ever?
A. No.
Q. And that’s even prior to receiving VO2 Max?
A. Correct.
Q. Correct. After you received VO2 Max, did you use it on your horse?
A. I did.
Q. And when you used it, when did you use it?
MR. SERCARZ: Objection, relevance.
A. Do you mean when in terms —
THE COURT: Hold on. There is an objection.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Your Honor, I’d like to withdraw the question and rephrase it.
THE COURT: All right.
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
Q. Ms. Hall, you received this bottle of VO2 Max from Seth Fishman, correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Did you end up administering that drug to your horse?
A. Yes.
Q. And in relation — did you administer it to your horse before a race?
A. Yes.
Q. How far in advance of a race did you administer that bottle to your horse?
A. The morning of.
Q. What’s your understanding of whether you can administer VO2 Max to your horse the day of a race?
A. I’m not allowed.
Q. Not allowed according to what?
A. To the gaming commission rules.
Q. Are those the gaming commission rules in Florida?
A. Yes, but pretty much every state has that rule, and I believe it’s USTA rule.
MR. SERCARZ: Objection.
THE COURT: Sorry.
MR. SERCARZ: Move to strike.
THE COURT: Please sit and speak into the mic.
MR. SERCARZ: I’m sorry. Move to strike the latter part of the answer for the reasons discussed earlier.
THE COURT: Overruled.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, could you please take down this exhibit and pull up Government Exhibit 900-B, which is already in evidence, and again, another electronic extraction from a device of Seth Fishman’s.
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
Q. Ms. Hall, again, are the two participants on this Ext exchange you and Seth Fishman?
A. Yes.
Q. Ms. Jung, could you please pull up and expand the two bottom messages.
And, Ms. Hall, I’m going to have you read those out loud into the record.
A. “Do you sell a good blood builder?”
Q. Is that a message from you to Seth Fishman?
A. Yes.
Q. And did he respond?
A. Yes.
Q. What was his response?
A. “Several types.”
Q. When you said “blood builder,” what did you mean by that term?
A. Something that could help build red blood cell counts in my horses to help them race better.
Q. At the time you asked this, were your horses sick?
A. I don’t believe they were at the time, no.
Q. And at the time you asked this, did you have Dr. Carinda as your horses’ veterinarian?
A. I believe he was helping me, yes.
Q. Why were you looking for a blood builder?
A. I was trying to improve my horse’s performance.
Q. Had you purchased blood builders from other people before you reached out to Seth Fishman?
A. There was another blood builder that I had tried, yes.
Q. Did it work?
A. I don’t believe so.
Q. And, again, you said you were familiar with the racing rules in Florida?
A. Yes.
Q. In your mind, were you permitted to add more blood builders to your horses?
A. Not intravenously, no.
Q. And what could happen to you if you were caught by the commission administering blood builders to your horses?
MR. SERCARZ: Objection.
THE COURT: Grounds?
MR. SERCARZ: Does she know?
THE COURT: Every question is if the witness knows. If you don’t know, you need to say I don’t know.
Overruled.
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
Q. Ms. Hall, if you know, what would be the consequences if you were caught administering a blood builder to your horses?
A. I could lose my license. I would probably most definitely be suspended and fined.
Q. If you were caught doing that before a race, would your horse be allowed to race?
A. No.
Q. And if you were caught doing that after a race, would you be allowed to keep any money that you’d earned from the race?
A. Do you mean if I got a positive test or —
Q. That’s right.
A. No, I would not be allowed to keep the purse money.
Q. Ms. Jung, could you please pull down this exhibit and bring up Government Exhibit 900-C, which is also in evidence.
And again, Ms. Hall, do you see that the participants here are you and Seth Fishman?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Ms. Jung, can you pull up these messages starting with the second, down to the one dated March 4th, 2019,3:09 a.m.
And, Ms. Hall, can you read those out loud, starting with your message to Seth Fishman?
A. Which one did you want me to start with? I’m sorry.
Q. Start with “let me know what you’d suggest.”
A. Okay. “Let me know what you’d suggest.”
Q. And his response?
A. “Depends on your budget.”
Q. What did you write?
A. “If it works, I don’t care.”
Q. What did he say back to you?
A. “It’s about 400 to $800 per month per horse.”
Q. And you wrote back to him?
A. “That’s fine if it helps.”
Q. And his response in the last message?
A. “A good program for blood, tissue regeneration and muscle factors is normally 1,250 to $1,500 per horse per month. I will discount you to 750 per horse per month. This is stuff we use on top horses a.”
Q. This discussion of a program, did you have an idea of what you two were talking about?
A. Pre-race program, blood building.
Q. And why were you looking for that?
A. I was hoping to improve my horses’ performance.
Q. So, Ms. Hall, in addition to texting with Seth Fishman and the meeting that you described with Seth Fishman, have you had any prior in-person meetings with him?
A. The one dinner, and then I had met him one other time.
Q. Okay. And other than texting and meeting in person, did you have any phone calls with him?
A. Yes.
Q. I’d like to direct the jurors to their transcript binders, Government Exhibit 101-BT.
And, Ms. Jung, I’ll ask you to pull up that exhibit and Government Exhibit 101-B.
And for the record, this is a call between Seth Fishman and Adrienne Hall that took place March 5th, 2019.
Ms. Jung, I think everyone’s found their place, would you please play the call.
(Audio recording played)
And if the jurors could turn to the next tab, that’s 101-CT, and I’ll have Ms. Jung pull that up on the screen and also have ready 101-C.
Ms. Jung, if you could please play this call.
And for the record, this is a continuation of the same call that we just listened to on March 5th, 2019, between Seth Fishman and Adrienne Hall.
(Audio recording played)
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
Q. Ms. Hall, on that call there was a reference to a referral fee?
A. Yes.
Q. What were you talking about there?
A. I believe if I was able to get him connected with any trainers, any business they did I could get a commission off of.
Q. And prior to this call taking place on March 5th, 2019, had Seth Fishman ever examined your horses?
A. No.
Q. And did he ever diagnose your horses with any medical conditions?
A. No.
Q. And let me just ask, for the sake of clarity, at any point had he physically examined your horses?
A. No.
Q. At any point had he told you a medical diagnosis for your horses?
A. No.
Q. I’d like to direct the jurors to Government Exhibit 102-AT in their binders, and I’ll have Ms. Jung please pull up Government Exhibit 102-AT and Government Exhibit 102-A.
And for the record, this is a call dated March 7th, 2019, between Seth Fishman and Adrienne Hall, approximately two days before the last call that we just heard.
Ms. Jung, if you could please play this call.
(Audio recording played)
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
Q. Ms. Hall, do you know what Epogen is?
A. I don’t know the actual medical term for it.
Q. But what’s your understanding of the term Epogen, if you’re familiar with it?
A. It’s a drug that like dramatically improves – increases red blood cell count.
Q. And there’s a reference here to some other words. “Growth factors,” for example, are you familiar with growth factors?
A. No.
Q. Are you familiar with Thymosin peptides?
A. No.
MS. MORTAZAVI: I’d like to direct the jurors to Tab 102-CT in their binders.
And, Ms. Jung, if you could please pull up that transcript and the corresponding call Government Exhibit 102-C.
And again, for the record, this is a continuation of the last call that we heard.
(Audio recording played)
And, Ms. Jung, you can take this exhibit down.
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
Q. Ms. Hall, did you ever have any conversations with Seth Fishman about whether or not his products would test?
A. I believe so, yes.
Q. And what does it mean for a product to test?
A. Basically show up in a horse’s blood after it races, triggering a positive.
Q. Triggering a positive drug test?
A. Yes.
Q. And who administers those drug tests?
A. The gaming commission in each state sends it to a lab and they test the blood.
Q. And what did Seth Fishman tell you about the testability of his products?
A. I believe he was pretty confident that they did not test.
Q. Did Seth Fishman ever tell you to use his drugs consistent with racing rules?
A. I don’t believe so.
MR. SERCARZ: Object to the leading.
THE COURT: That’s not leading.
Q. And you talked about your horses with Seth Fishman, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. You mentioned that they were racehorses; is that right?
A. Yes.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, could you please pull up Government Exhibit 102-DT.
And I’ll ask the jurors to turn to that tab in their transcript binders.
And, Ms. Jung, if you could also prepare Government Exhibit 102-D.
And again, this is a continuation of the same March 7th, 2019 call.
Ms. Jung, if you could please play the recording.
(Audio recording played)
Q. Ms. Hall, when Seth Fishman was referencing Hong Kong, I believe a track in Hong Kong in relation to testing, what did you understand that to mean?
A. Hong Kong, I believe Japan in general, has one of the cleanest racing jurisdictions in the world.
Q. You mentioned Japan, do you mean Hong Kong specifically?
A. Yes.
Q. And there’s a reference here to jurisdictions. Do you know what he was talking about?
A. I believe he meant the racing commissions, the individual racing commissions would send drugs there to be tested to find out what they were.
Q. Ms. Hall, I asked you this previously but I just want to clarify, did Seth Fishman ever tell you when he gave you his drugs to follow the racing rules when you used them?
A. That was never discussed, no.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, could you please play Government Exhibit 102ET — sorry, pull up Government Exhibit 102ET, and if the jurors could turn to that page in their transcript binders.
And Ms. Jung, please prepare Government Exhibit 102E.
This is a continuation of the same call.
Ms. Jung, if you could please play it.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, if you could turn to Government Exhibit 102FT and Government Exhibit 102F, and if the jurors could turn to that page in the transcript binders.
Q. And Ms. Jung, before we play that particular call, Ms. Hall, I would like to ask you, there was a reference on that prior call to cloudy tests. Do you know what that means?
A. I believe it’s when a positive is triggered but they’re not quite sure what the drug is, why it’s showing up abnormal.
Q. And you were referring to “they,” do you mean the racing commissions?
A. The lab.
Q. And again, by the lab, what do you mean?
A. The commissions contract labs, that’s where the blood goes, and the lab is responsible for actually running the test.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Thank you.
Ms. Jung, could you please play this government exhibit.
(Audio recording played)
MS. MORTAZAVI: You can take down this exhibit,
Q. Ms. Hall, do you know a Mary who was associated with Seth Fishman.
A. Yes.
Q. Who was that, as far as you understood?
A. I wasn’t sure if she was an employee or just ran errands for him.
Q. Did you ever meet with a Mary?
A. Yes.
Q. Can you describe that meeting?
A. I met her in a parking lot and she just gave me some more samples.
Q. Did you ever learn her last name?
A. I believe it was Fox.
Q. And you mentioned that you met her in a parking lot and you got some samples from her?
A. Yes.
Q. What did you receive from her?
A. I believe I got some samples of the blood builders that he was talking about.
Q. Do you remember the names of the product that you received?
A. That was the BB3, I think it was TB-7.
Q. Anything else?
A. And I forget the third name.
Q. The BB3 that you received, did that have a label on it?
A. I don’t remember if that had a label or going off the color of the top.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, could you please pull up Government Exhibit 1220, which is a photograph that was taken during a search of a residence that we previously discussed.
Q. Ms. Hall, does this look like the BB3 that you received?
A. Yes.
Q. And as far as you remember, did it have any additional labels beyond what you’re seeing there?
A. Not that I recall, no.
Q. And it could have been that it was not labeled at all, is that right?
A. Correct.
Q. And you mentioned that you also received TB-7?
A. Yes.
Q. Now with the BB3, Ms. Hall, did you have an understanding of how you were supposed to administer that?
A. He had given me instructions on how to do that.
Q. “He” meaning Seth Fishman?
A. Yes.
Q. What did he tell you?
A. I don’t remember the exact instructions on that.
Q. Do you remember generally what the instructions were?
A. I know it was to be given IV, and I don’t remember exactly how many days out.
Q. Were you supposed to give it in this form?
A. It had to be mixed with a bottle of water, a little bacteriostatic water.
Q. And you said it was supposed to be administered IV?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you end up administering BB3 on any of your horses at any time?
A. Yes, one horse.
Q. And did you prepare the BB3 in the manner that you’re just describing?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you personally inject your horse?
A. Yes.
Q. Why didn’t you ask a vet to do it?
A. Because no vet would do that.
Q. You mentioned that you also —
MR. FERNICH: Objection.
THE COURT: I will sustain that. I will strike it.
MS. MORTAZAVI: It’s as to her state of mind, your Honor.
THE COURT: Then you can ask it that way.
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
Q. Ms. Hall, you mentioned you injected BB3 yourself into your horse, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And that was after you mixed it?
A. Yes.
Q. And you knew it was supposed to be administered IV?
A. Yes.
Q. Before you administered it, is there a reason why you didn’t ask a veterinarian to administer it to your horse IV?
A. I think it would have been stupid because I think I could have probably gotten — I think the vet would have gone to the commission and told them what I was doing. And second, it’s a liability for a vet to take an unknown product that they didn’t draw personally and give it to a horse.
MR. FERNICH: Objection.
THE COURT: She’s testifying to what her state of mind was, not for the truth of the matter.
Q. And Ms. Hall, you mentioned that you received TB-7, correct?
A. Yes.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, could you please pull up Government Exhibit 1259.
Sorry, Ms. Jung, please pull up Government Exhibits 1111, 1112 and 1113.
Q. Ms. Hall, looking at the collection of exhibits, does this resemble the bottle of TB-7 that you received?
A. Yes.
MS. MORTAZAVI: And if you are able to, Ms. Jung, could we possibly pull up — expand the label in Government
Exhibit 1112.
Q. And Ms. Hall, could you try to read the —
MS. MORTAZAVI: Sorry, Ms. Jung, if you could move it a little to the side so there’s a view of the entirety of the page. Sorry, Ms. Jung, move that to the middle and also expand Government Exhibit 1111.
Q. And could you read the directions that appear here, Ms. Hall?
A. Reconstitute with 3 milliliters saline and either IV, IM or SQ.
Q. Do you know what reconstitute means?
A. Mix.
Q. And the terms IV, IM or SQ, do you know what any of those mean?
A. IV and IM.
Q. What do those mean?
A. IV is intravenous.
Q. What does IM mean?
A. Intramuscular.
Q. Had you discussed how to administer TB-7 with Seth Fishman?
A. Yes.
Q. What did he tell you?
A. I don’t remember the exact instructions but I believe it was similar to what was on the label.
Q. So in other words, this was injectable?
A. Yes.
Q. Was it supposed to be administered in this form?
A. No, I had to mix that with water also.
Q. And again, did you personally administer this to your horse or did you ask someone else to do it?
A. I did it.
Q. And again, just looking back to what you with were thinking at the time before you did it, why is it that you didn’t ask a veterinarian to do that?
A. I think they would have told me no way.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, could you please take down these exhibits and pull up Government Exhibit 900D.
Q. And Ms. Hall, could you read the text message at the very bottom of the page, this is a message from Seth Fishman to you, starting with: Here’s reality.
A. Here’s reality. I was tortured so much by race commission without a client ever getting a single positive other than stupid shit like Bute given by another vet. I voluntarily gave up my license and then the veterinary board had me investigated for BS. They even accused Lisa of practicing veterinary medicine. I spent $25,000 in legal fees and had a personal political favor called in to end the BS.
Q. Had Seth Fishman ever told you anything about being investigated by a race commission?
A. I think he had one conversation with me about it.
Q. Do you remember anything about that conversation?
A. I don’t really remember too much about it.
Q. Had he ever talked to you about being investigated by a veterinary board?
A. I think that was, again, part of a conversation, but I don’t really recall all of it.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, could you take down this exhibit and please pull up Government Exhibit 900E, and please turn to the top of page 2.
Q. Ms. Hall, do you see again that these are text messages between you and Seth Fishman?
A. Yes.
Q. Could you read the text from Seth Fishman to you at the very top of the page?
A. It’s Seth trying to call you. Reconstitute TB-7 with two to three milliliters bacteriostatic water and give one dose IV.
For horse you want to build blood, take the one green cap bottle and one navy cap ample bottle and reconstitute with two to three milliliters and give IV.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Thank you, Ms. Jung, you can take that down.
Q. Ms. Hall, often did you receive drugs from Seth Fishman?
A. I think I got three sample sets from him.
Q. And did that include samples that you received from Mary?
A. Yes.
Q. So any one from —
A. It would have been four because I met Mary twice and I met him twice.
Q. So between Mary and Seth Fishman you received about four different orders —
A. Yes.
Q. — of the drugs?
A. Yes.
Q. And did each order have various different drugs?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you use all the drugs that Seth Fishman provided to you?
A. No.
Q. Why not?
A. When I left for New Jersey to drive to Florida I didn’t want to take all of that stuff with me.
Q. And before you left for New Jersey, did you use all the drugs that he had given you up to that point?
A. No.
Q. Why not?
A. Some of the blood builder stuff I wasn’t very comfortable mixing and administering. I didn’t want to screw something up.
Q. What do you mean you weren’t comfortable mixing it?
A. It was a little sophisticated, the color coding and the withdrawal times and the mixing, and I just got nervous.
Q. You mentioned the color coding, what do you mean by that?
A. Just going by the cap.
Q. The cap color, is that how you and Seth Fishman would
describe the drugs when you were talking about them?
A. I believe so, yes.
MS. MORTAZAVI: I would like to direct the jurors to their transcript binders, tab 103AT. And Ms. Jung, if you could pull up that exhibit and Government Exhibit 103A.
And for the record, this is a portion of a March 12, 2019 call between Seth Fishman and Adrienne Hall.
If you could please play the call.
(Audio recording played)
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, you can take down these exhibits. Could you please pull up Government Exhibit 900E and turn to page 4.
Q. Ms. Hall, I’m going to read out these text messages and have you explain what you mean, starting with the message that you sent on March 19, 2019 to Seth Fishman, writing: The green cap and blue cap are the blood builders, correct?
And he responds: Yes. When you testified a moment ago, Ms. Hall, you said that the cap color was how you discussed the drugs, is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you remember what the green cap referred to?
A. I don’t remember which bottle that was.
Q. Do you remember what the blue cap referred to?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. Is there a reason that you referred to the cap color instead of a product name?
A. I don’t think they had actual product names that I remember.
Q. Were all the drugs that you received from Seth Fishman labeled?
A. I don’t remember if they all were.
MS. MORTAZAVI: I would like to direct the jurors to tab 105BT in their transcript binders, and I will have Ms. Jung pull up 105BT and 105B.
And for the record, this is a portion of a call between Seth Fishman and Adrienne Hall dated March 20, 2019.
Ms. Jung, if you could please play this call.
(Audio recording played)
MS. MORTAZAVI: If I could have the jurors turn to the next tab, 105CT. And Ms. Jung, if you could pull up that exhibit and Government Exhibit 105C.
And for the record, this is a continuation of the same call.
Ms. Jung, if you could please play.
(Audio recording played)
Q. Ms. Hall, Seth Fishman referred on that call to mother nature being a bitch and how if you want to take from her you are going to have to give back. What did you understand him to mean?
A. If you’re chemically enhancing a horse to perform above its ability, eventually that’s going to wear off and that horse is going to come down.
Q. And there’s a reference on that call to a horse crashing. What does it mean for a horse to cash?
A. I would refer to it like someone detoxing, like coming off of something and becoming very sick, falling apart.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, could you please play or pull up Government Exhibit 105DT. And I will ask the jurors to please turn to that tab, which should be the next tab in their binders. And Ms. Jung, if you could please also pull up Government Exhibit 105D.
And for the record, this is a continuation of the same call.
Ms. Jung, if you could please play.
(Audio recording played)
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, if you could take down this exhibit and please pull up Government Exhibit 900F and turn to page 2.
And if you could please expand the bottom two messages in the blue bubbles.
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
Q. Ms. Hall, do you see that you sent these messages to Seth Fishman?
A. Yes.
Q. And that you listed there horse A and horse B —
A. Yes.
Q. — in each message?
A. Yes.
Q. Was that the name of your horses?
A. No.
Q. Why didn’t you write your horses’ names?
A. He told me just to refer to them as horse A or horse one.
Q. And there are some dates here and then some letters. What does that represent, starting with the series under horse A?
A. The date and what I had given on that date.
Q. Are these letters all products that you received from either Seth Fishman or Mary?
A. Yes.
Q. I see here the BB and the TB-7 which we discussed before.
Do you see EGH on here?
A. Yes.
Q. Can you just remind us, what does EGH stand for?
A. Equine growth hormone.
Q. Do you recall if the bottle of EGH that you received was labeled?
A. Yes, I believe it was.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, please pull up Government Exhibit 1020, if you could do it alongside 900F, please. If you could expand the label.
Q. Ms. Hall, does this look like the label that appeared on the bottle of EGH that you received?
A. It looks like it, yes.
Q. Do you see the name Equestology anywhere on this label?
A. No.
MS. MORTAZAVI: And Ms. Jung, if you could take down the expanded view of Government Exhibit 1020.
Q. And turning back to page 2 of 900F, why were you sending Seth Fishman that list of dates and products that you had given to your horses on each date?
A. On one of our phone calls he asked me to see what the schedule was, how I was doing it.
Q. What did you think he wanted by asking that?
A. I figured he wanted to make sure I was doing it correctly.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, could you please take down these exhibits. And I will ask the jurors to turn to tab 106AT in their binders. And Ms. Jung, if you could please pull up that exhibit and the audio, Government Exhibit 106A.
And for the record, this is a portion of a call dated April 2nd, 2019, between Seth Fishman and Adrienne Hall.
Ms. Jung, if you could please play.
(Audio recording played)
MS. MORTAZAVI: I will ask the jurors to turn to the next tab, that’s tab 106BT in their binders, and have Ms. Jung pull up that exhibit and Government Exhibit 106B.
And for the record, this is a continuation of that same April 2nd call.
Ms. Jung, if you could please play.
(Audio recording played)
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
Q. Ms. Hall, how much did you pay for Seth Fishman’s products?
A. I didn’t pay for any of it.
Q. Were you receiving them for free?
A. Yes.
Q. In 2019, how much did you earn in purse winnings for your horses?
A. I believe around $60,000.
Q. Did you keep all of that money?
A. No.
Q. Of the $60,000 in purse winnings that you got, where did that money go?
A. About five percent is given to the driver of the horse for each race, some of the money is probably taken out for different fees, some tracks charge a starting fee, and the rest of it went to bills.
Q. And at the end of 2019, had you made any profit?
A. No.
MS. MORTAZAVI: I want to direct the jurors to tab 107AT. And Ms. Jung, if you could please ready Government
Q. And before we play this particular call, Ms. Hall, you had testified before about your initial conversation with Seth Fishman where he mentioned to you one of his clients being a leading Thoroughbred trainer, is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. And did you ever have any other conversations with Seth Fishman about that particular trainer?
A. Not that I recall, no.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, could you please play this exhibit.
(Audio recording played)
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
Q. At the end, Ms. Hall, when you talk about speculation about why that guy wins so many races, who were you talking about?
A. Jorge Navarro.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, please take down this exhibit and pull up Government Exhibit 715, which is an electronic record retrieved from a computer found at Lisa Giannelli’s residence.
Q. Ms. Hall, have you seen this exhibit before?
A. No.
Q. I would like to take a moment to look through this particular exhibit.
Do you see at the top the word Equestology, in bold?
A. Yes.
Q. And what’s written underneath that?
A. AVI client list with phone numbers.
Q. And scrolling at the bottom, do you see the name Allard under last name, then under the column first name, Rene?
A. Yes.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, if you could please turn to page 2 of this particular exhibit.
Q. And Ms. Hall, do you see under last name the last name Banca and the first name Rich?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you see if you go all the way over, do you see there’s an address associated with Rich Banca?
A. Yes.
Q. Can you read out that address?
A. PO Box 344, Otisville, New York, 10963.
MS. MORTAZAVI: And Ms. Jung, if we could turn to page 6 of this exhibit.
Q. And do you see, Ms. Hall, under last name Cohen, first name Ross, and then an address associated with that name?
A. Yes.
Q. Could you please read out the address associated with Ross Cohen.
A. PO Box 1056, Pine Bush, New York, 12566.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, if we could turn to the next page, page 7 of this exhibit.
Q. Looking at the bottom, Ms. Hall, do you see the last name Davidovich and the first name Jamen with an address associated with that?
A. Yes.
Q. Can you read out the address?
A. 426 Quarry Street, Mount Pleasant, PA, 15666.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Turning to page 12 of this exhibit, please, Ms. Jung.
Q. Under the last name, do you see Guido and the first name Tom?
A. Yes.
Q. Could you please read out the address associated with that individual?
A. 261 Bullville Road, Montgomery, New York, 12549.
MS. MORTAZAVI: If you could, on that Government Exhibit 715, turn back to page 12.
Q. Ms. Hall, do you see your name on this list?
A. Yes.
Q. And the address that’s associated with it is an address in Monroe, New Jersey, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you recognize the address?
A. Yes.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, could we turn to page 22 of this exhibit.
Q. Ms. Hall, under the last name Oakes, do you see an individual listed there?
A. Yes.
Q. With the first name Chris?
A. Yes.
Q. And another individual with the first name Sue?
A. Yes.
Q. Are they both associated with the same address?
A. No.
Q. All right. Is Sue Oakes associated with an address?
A. Yes.
Q. What is that?
A. Sandy Valley Farm, White Haven, PA, 18661.
Q. Are you familiar with an individual named Chris Oakes?
A. I have never met him but I know of him.
Q. Who is he?
A. He was a harness trainer.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, could we take down that government exhibit and please pull up Government Exhibit 713.
And again, this is an electronic extraction from a computer found in Lisa Giannelli’s residence.
Q. Ms. Hall, have you seen this exhibit before?
Q. Looking at the top, do you see where it says Equestology?
A. Yes.
Q. What’s written directly under that?
A. New York clients.
Q. Can you list out the first name and address that appears on this list?
A. Maurino, old, Chris, 901 Recency Court, Middletown, New York.
Q. Looking solely at the city and state columns —
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, if you could focus on those for a minute.
Q. — do you see any city and state addresses for New York-based clients in New York, New York?
A. Yes.
Q. Pine Bush, New York?
A. Yes.
Q. Yonkers, New York?
A. Yes.
Q. The Bronx, New York?
A. Yes.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, you can take down this exhibit. Thank you.
Q. Ms. Hall, did you consider Seth Fishman your veterinarian?
A. No.
Q. What was he to you?
A. Someone that I got advice from and help with prerace.
Q. At the time you reached out to Seth Fishman, had you had much experience in racing?
A. Not the hands-on training aspect, no, I was always more on the business side of it.
MS. MORTAZAVI: One moment, your Honor.
(Pause)
MS. MORTAZAVI: Thank you, Ms. Hall, no further questions.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you.
Mr. Sercarz.
MR. SERCARZ: Thank you, your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Sercarz, are you able to proceed without us talking about the issue?
MR. SERCARZ: I think we can get through it without the need for the conference.
THE COURT: Terrific.
MR. SERCARZ: If not, I will let you know, your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you.
CROSS-EXAMINATION
BY MR. SERCARZ:
Q. Good afternoon, Ms. Hall.
A. Hello.
Q. My name is Maurice Sercarz, I represent Dr. Fishman.
Now you mentioned that there came a time when you moved from Ohio to Florida and you recognized — well, let me stop there. When was that, if I may ask?
A. I believe it was October of 2018.
Q. And you worked with a gentleman named Pletcher in Ohio, is that correct?
A. No, in New York.
Q. But I believe you told us that when you got to Florida, you recognized that you missed being at the track and working with horses, am I correct?
A. No, I had said when I got married and moved to Ohio I had to give up my job with Pletcher, and living in Ohio made me realize how much I missed being at the racetrack.
Q. You wanted to get involved with horses again, correct?
A. I missed the racetrack, yes.
Q. And you enjoyed participating in horseracing, am I correct?
A. Yes.
Q. At that time you didn’t have it in mind to violate the law, am I correct?
A. No.
Q. Your desire was to be around the animals that you loved and involved in the sport that you loved, am I correct?
A. Correct.
Q. And there came a time later on when you — I believe you used the word “claimed” some horses, is that correct?
A. I claimed one horse.
Q. Can you explain to me and to the ladies and gentlemen of the jury the meaning of the term “claimed?”
A. It’s a type of race. A claiming race basically means any horse that is entered in that race is technically for sale. So if I’m a licensed trainer and owner, I can go to the track that day, come with a certified check or have money in my account there, fill out the claim form, drop the slip, and when the race is over, if I’m the only one that put the claim in on that horse or if I won the shake, that horse is now owned by me.
Q. And indeed, there came a time you went to one of those races and ended up owning the horse, is that correct?
A. Correct, yes.
Q. And that was the first horse you ever owned, is that correct?
A. The first Standardbred that I ever owned.
Q. At the time that you came into possession of that horse, you had no intention of violating the law, am I correct?
A. No.
Q. You had no intention of resorting to anything that would violate commission rules in order to race that horse, am I correct?
A. Correct.
Q. You were in it for the love of the sport, isn’t that right?
A. The love of the horse, yes.
Q. The love of the horse. And in fact, throughout your career as a trainer, your prime motivation was the love of horses and being around horses, isn’t that true?
A. Yes.
Q. All right. There came a time when one of your horses ended up being lame, I believe is the word you used to describe it, is that correct?
A. I mean I had many horses that had soundness issues. I don’t know which horse you’re talking about.
Q. There was an occasion in Florida —
THE COURT: Could I ask, finish your question then give your answer. You’re stepping on each other’s questions and answers, please. All right?
MR. SERCARZ: Yes, your Honor.
Q. Did there come a time after you left Ohio and moved to Florida that you had a problem with a horse that was lame?
A. I like to do soundness exams on my horses pretty often. I don’t remember at the particular time how lame the horse was, but I might have just wanted to do some thorough going over the horse to make sure he was okay to continue.
Q. And that was for the purpose of ensuring the health and welfare of the horse, am I correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And its suitability to race, is that correct?
A. Yes, correct.
Q. In connection with that desire, you were put in touch with
Dr. Fishman, isn’t that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. I believe you said that you first contacted Ms. Ranger and that then she put you in touch with Dr. Fishman, am I correct?
A. She had given me his number, yes.
Q. And the purpose in your reaching out to Dr. Fishman was to perform an examination to ensure the health and welfare of the horse, am I correct?
A. Correct.
Q. At that point you weren’t looking for any performance enhancing drugs for your horse, am I correct?
A. Correct.
Q. And you indicated to the ladies and gentlemen of the jury that you had been given a recommendation that led you to try and get in touch with Dr. Fishman, am I right?
A. Yes.
Q. Can you remind me who gave you that recommendation?
A. I believe it was another harness trainer in Ohio, Danny Mayer (ph), that referred him.
Q. And I believe the words you used to describe the recommendation was that the person being recommended was reputable and reasonable, is that correct?
A. Reasonable priced, yes, correct.
Q. And reputable. Am I correct about that part, too?
A. Yes, correct.
Q. Now at the time you hadn’t discussed with this gentleman in Ohio that made the recommendation your desire to find performance-enhancing drugs, am I correct?
A. Correct.
Q. What did you understand him to mean when he said that this is a reputable trainer — or withdrawn, a reputable veterinarian?
A. Well, when we were discussing, it was more talking about the Equestology business. And by “reputable” he meant the products that they were selling were actually the products as they were labeled.
Q. There came a time when you contacted Ms. Ranger, is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And ultimately she put you in touch with Dr. Fishman, am I correct?
A. She gave me his phone number, yes.
Q. And you called him, am I correct?
A. I cannot remember if I called him or texted him the first time.
Q. In that initial discussion, did the subject of erformanceenhancing drugs come up?
A. In our first phone conversation?
Q. Yes.
A. I don’t remember, but it might have.
Q. Didn’t there come a time when you asked someone whether Dr. Fishman could perform a lameness exam?
A. Lisa, yes.
Q. It was Lisa to whom you posed the question, am I correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And fair to say then that when you contacted Lisa you were looking for a reputable veterinarian to practice veterinarian medicine by performing the type of exam customarily administered by a veterinarian?
A. Yes.
Q. Then at that point, there had been no discussion of performance-enhancing drugs, am I correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Now you were told that Dr. Fishman could not come out to see your horse, is that correct?
A. Correct.
Q. I may not have heard the answer, so forgive me, but they gave you the reason that he had back trouble, isn’t that correct?
A. I believe that was what she said, yes, that he had a bad back.
Q. All right. Nonetheless, you contacted Dr. Fishman, am I correct?
A. Yes.
Q. When you heard that Dr. Fishman had a bad back and couldn’t perform the lameness exam, you didn’t immediately change the subject of that conversation with Ms. Ranger to performance enhancing drugs, am I right?
A. I don’t believe so, no.
Q. Did you ever order any performance-enhancing drugs from Ms. Ranger?
MS. MORTAZAVI: Objection, scope.
THE COURT: I’m going to allow it. You can answer.
A. I ordered vitamins from her, I ordered electrolytes from her, and I ordered two bottles of VO2 Max from her.
Q. This is before you ever went to see Dr. Fishman, isn’t that correct?
A. I did not order the VO2 Max until after I met Dr. Fishman, but the other products, yes.
Q. Now did there come a time when you met with Dr. Fishman, am I correct?
A. Yes.
Q. I believe you indicated that you had a dinner with him, is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. And you discussed your experience in racing and your desires for the horses, am I correct?
A. I don’t recall all the details of that night, but probably.
Q. Would it refresh your recollection if I asked you: Did you explain to the doctor that these horses — you had very few horses and you wanted to take good care of them?
A. I believe that was on our very first phone call we had a very long discussion about that.
Q. During the discussion, the subject came up of your desire to preserve the health and welfare of animals, is that correct?
A. Yes, I made it clear to him how much I love them and I didn’t want to give them anything bad.
MR. SERCARZ: If I may have one moment.
THE COURT: Of course.
(Pause)
Q. Now there came a time when Dr. Fishman recommended a program for your horses, is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. He designed the program for your horses, am I correct?
A. I don’t know if he designed them specifically for my horses, but he had given me some samples that he thought would help them.
Q. And do you recall what it was that you told him about your horses that prompted him to design the program that he designed?
A. Yes.
Q. What was it?
A. In our first conversation I had made it clear to him that I did not want to use Epogen, I did not want to be giving them baking soda by tube, I just really was desperate to find some help giving my horses an edge. I needed to be able to compete or I was going to lose them.
Q. Did you tell him that you had ever used performance enhancing substances before?
A. Yes.
Q. And did you describe for him, without giving me the details, the nature of the performance-enhancing drugs that had been given to you for your horses on prior occasions?
A. Yes.
Q. And it was in response to the information that you imparted in that call that Dr. Fishman prepared the program for you, correct?
A. I believe that was in our very first call. So at the meeting he had given me some samples of VO2 Max and the bleeder paste, and it was after that I believe I asked for blood builders when my horses weren’t really improving that much.
Q. Do you remember who it was that had previously provided you with the program for performance-enhancing drugs for your horses?
A. Yes.
Q. Who was it?
A. Tony Poliseno.
Q. Did you make it clear in that first conversation you had with Dr. Fishman that you wanted a less toxic program than the one that had been provided to you by Mr. Poliseno?
A. I did not say less toxic, but I do recall having a conversation with him where I had said — by the time I had left Ohio or when I was getting ready to leave Ohio, a lot of trainers were getting fed up with Poliseno. There were rumors that he was selling them products that were not as they were labeled. Horses were having bad reactions. Some of it they thought could have just been saline, so they were wasting money. A lot of people were stopping buying from him, and that’s kind of how I came across Equestology.
Q. During the course of that long conversation, did you also tell Dr. Fishman anything about your particular wants with regard to the program that was to be developed for you?
A. Yes.
Q. And didn’t you tell him in words or substance that you wanted a program that would not be toxic?
A. Yes.
MR. SERCARZ: I would like to ask that Government Exhibit 103A be replayed for the jury and that the jurors look at 103AT, the transcript.
Q. And if we could, when the jurors are ready, we could replay lines one through six?
THE COURT: All right. Let’s give everyone a minute.
MR. SERCARZ: Yes, your Honor.
(Pause)
THE COURT: Okay. I think we are ready, Mr. Sercarz.
MR. SERCARZ: Thank you, your Honor.
(Audio recording played)
BY MR. SERCARZ:
Q. Now, in that conversation, and throughout the conversations, the many conversations that you had with Dr. Fishman, he would brag about the places where he had sold his product and the people to whom he had sold it; isn’t that true?
A. I don’t know if that’s what you call bragging. He mentions some people.
Q. Did he appear to you to be knowledgeable about the programs that he was developing?
A. Very much so.
Q. And did he appear to you to be committed to the programs that he was developing?
A. Very much so, yes.
Q. And was he — did he appear to you to be committed to the
fact that they were a less toxic alternative to what the likes of Mr. Poliseno had been giving you? MS. MORTAZAVI: Objection. Relevance.
THE COURT: She can testify to her understanding. It’s within the scope. You may answer.
THE WITNESS: I’m sorry can you repeat the question?
MR. SERCARZ: May I have it reread, your Honor?
(Record read)
A. Yes.
BY MR. SERCARZ:
Q. He described the program as one that would cause results to develop slowly; am I correct?
A. Yes.
Q. He did not indicate that this was a program that you could administer hours before a race that would show immediate effects; isn’t that correct?
A. In reference to the blood builders, that is what he said took time.
MR. SERCARZ: All right. I’d like to turn your attention to Government’s Exhibit 105, if I may, 105-B, and ask the jury to take a look at the transcripts.
And I would ask, when the jury is ready, if you could play lines one through 11.
(Audio recording played)
BY MR. SERCARZ:
Q. Thank you. Now, in this conversation, Ms. Hall, you’re very enthusiastic about the performance of one of your horses in a race; am I correct?
A. I was very emotional, yes.
Q. All right. And I don’t know whether you have a transcript in front of you, but if you could take a look at line 11. Do you have one in front of you?
A. Yes.
Q. All right. Do you see the line: “Yeah, well, if you think it’s a pet horse, you got to race it a few more times and then fucking” — pardon my language — “fucking find it a home.” Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. You had told Dr. Fishman that you felt the horse was like a pet to you; isn’t that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And he was telling you in this paragraph not to overdo it in racing the horse; am I correct?
A. Yes.
Q. I’d like to call your attention to Government’s Exhibit 105-C.
Ask the jury to bring up the transcript, and ask that the entire conversation be replayed for the jury.
(Audio recording played)
You had a conversation, am I correct, that Dr. Fishman was warning you not to race the horse too often because it could be injured or damaged by that process?
A. Along those lines, yes.
Q. I’m sorry?
A. Along those lines he was referring to that, yes.
Q. Now, I’d like for you to take a look at Government’s Exhibit 105-D.
And ask that that conversation be played in its entirety.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Your Honor, may we approach on this?
THE COURT: Yes.
(Pause)
MR. SERCARZ: Your Honor, I think we solved the problem.
THE COURT: All right. I was told you had some resolution of whatever you wanted to talk about?
MR. SERCARZ: Yes. To be clear, for the record, my request is to have the portion that has been marked as 105-D played in its entirety.
MS. MORTAZAVI: And on that, no objection.
THE COURT: All right.
(Audio recording played)
BY MR. SERCARZ:
Q. Now, Ms. Hall, in the portion of the conversation that’s found in paragraph 3 of the transcription, you are discussing the Hong Kong testing regime and the use of pre-race programs six days out. Do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. And in paragraph 4, you changed the subject and say: “Right, um, all I gave them on race day was that VO2;” do you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you notice that there was a pause in the conversation after you said that?
A. No.
MR. SERCARZ: Is it possible just to have that portion replayed again, beginning with No. 4 in the transcription?
THE COURT: I don’t know. Ms. Jung, are you able to help?
MS. MORTAZAVI: I believe we need the timestamp, your Honor, in order to do that.
MR. SERCARZ: All right. I’ll let it go.
BY MR. SERCARZ:
Q. In any event, Ms. Hall, prior to this conversation, you didn’t tell Dr. Fishman that you planned on administering VO2 to your horse on race day, did you?
A. I don’t remember if I did or not.
Q. And when you look at Dr. Fishman’s response, that took him by surprise, didn’t it?
A. No.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Objection.
THE COURT: The objection is overruled because she answered. But you’ve got to wait when there’s an objection, okay?
THE WITNESS: Sorry.
THE COURT: It’s not overruled because she answered. It’s overruled, and in any event, she answered.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Understood, your Honor.
(Pause)
MR. SERCARZ: If I may have one moment, your Honor?
THE COURT: Yes. Are you getting to the end of your examining?
MR. SERCARZ: Yes.
THE COURT: Okay.
(Pause)
MR. SERCARZ: In fact, I’ll end it right there, your Honor. Thank you very much.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you, Mr. Sercarz.
I asked because, otherwise, it’s about time for the lunch break. So we’ll break at this point. I remind you, Ms. Hall, you remain under oath. You may not speak to anybody about the case until — before we come back from the lunch break, at which time, Ms. Mortazavi will have the option — Do you know now whether you’re going to have redirect?
MS. MORTAZAVI: I will have a few questions.
THE COURT: So we need you back after lunch, please. But, please, don’t talk about the case with anyone.
And for our jurors, I hope you all have a good lunch. You can leave whatever you want on your chairs. Please don’t talk about the case among yourselves over the lunch break, or at any time before the conclusion of the evidence and the start of your deliberations. Okay. Thank you. Have a good lunch, everyone. We’ll see you back here around 1:45.
(Jury not present)
All right. Ms. Hall, you’re excused. Thank you.
(Witness temporarily excused)
All right. Please be seated, everyone. Mr. Sercarz, is there anything we need to talk about?
MR. SERCARZ: No, your Honor, not at this point.
THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. I just wanted to make sure you got what you needed from the transcript.
How about from the government?
MS. MORTAZAVI: Nothing from the government, your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. I’ll see everyone back at 1:45, ready to go at 1:45. Thank you.
(Luncheon recess)
THE COURT: Please be seated, everyone. All right.
So, I understand you’re all suggesting that we deal with the issue of the witness who’s going to invoke? I think that makes good sense, to take care of it so we don’t have to break again once we have the jurors back up here.
So is that witness and the witness’ counsel with us?
MR. CHOW: He’s in the witness room. He’ll be right in.
THE COURT: Okay. Thank you.
All right. Sir, would you please stand and raise your right hand.
(Jamen Davidovich sworn)
THE LAW CLERK: Please sit and state and spell your name into the microphone.
THE COURT: You can take your mask off while you’re in the witness stand.
And now could you please speak into the microphone and say your name and spell it for the record.
THE WITNESS: My name is Jamen Davidovich, and that’s J-a-m-e-n, D-a-v-i-d-o-v-i-c-h.
MR. CHOW: Good afternoon, Mr. Davidovich. How old are you?
THE WITNESS: Thirty-one years old.
MR. CHOW: How far did you go in school?
THE WITNESS: High school.
MR. CHOW: Have you ever doped a racehorse?
THE WITNESS: I’d like to invoke — or with my counsel, I’d like to invoke my Fifth Amendment rights.
MR. CHOW: At this point, your Honor, the government has made an application that this witness be compelled to answer the questions at today’s proceeding.
THE COURT: All right. So, sir, is your counsel in the courtroom?
THE WITNESS: Yes, ma’am.
THE COURT: All right. Sir, can you state your name for the record, sir?
MR. FEINSTEIN: Yes, Miles Feinstein, representing the witness.
THE COURT: Could you spell your name for the record?
MR. FEINSTEIN: Sure. Miles, M-i-l-e-s; last name, Feinstein, F-e-i-n-s-t-e-i-n.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you. And you’ve discussed with your client the issue of his testimony today, and his invocation of his constitutional right?
MR. FEINSTEIN: Absolutely, your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. And have you discussed with the government the intended areas of examination?
MR. FEINSTEIN: Yes, your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. And is it your client’s intent to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights with respect to the entire line of questioning?
MR. FEINSTEIN: It is.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you.
Sir, is that, in fact, the case, you do invoke your Fifth Amendment rights with respect to whatever questions the government intended to put to you?
THE WITNESS: Yes, ma’am.
THE COURT: All right. I have, from the government, a declaration, first of all, signed by Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, supported by a letter authorizing from Jennifer Hodge at U.S. Department of Justice that Mr. Davidovich be compelled to testify and that he be offered immunity with respect to his testimony.
Have you seen the application?
MR. FEINSTEIN: Yes, your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. And have you discussed it with your client?
MR. FEINSTEIN: Yes, your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Mr. Sercarz, is there anything further you want me to address on the record?
MR. SERCARZ: No, your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Chow?
MR. CHOW: No, your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. So pursuant to the application of the government, I will sign the order directing, Mr. Davidovich, that you answer the questions put to you by the government, and that you will have immunity pursuant to this — you’ve seen the order, sir?
MR. FEINSTEIN: Yes.
THE COURT: And you’ve discussed it with your client?
MR. FEINSTEIN: Yes.
THE COURT: And that pursuant to the order, you will have immunity pursuant to the application and the order, and I will sign that order now.
MR. FEINSTEIN: Thank you.
THE COURT: All right. Anything further, Mr. Chow, right now?
MR. CHOW: No, your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Sercarz?
MR. SERCARZ: No. Thank you, your Honor.
THE COURT: All right, sir. You can step down for now. Put your mask back on, please, and do that and then we will be recalling you. We just need to finish up with one other witness.
THE WITNESS: Yes, ma’am.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you.
(Witness temporarily excused)
THE COURT: All right. I assume I will give the original of this to Ms. Dempsey to file on the docket, right?
MR. CHOW: Yes, your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you.
All right. We’ll let Ms. Dempsey know she can bring up the jury then.
Is there anything else that we needed to talk about before Ms. Mortazavi does her redirect?
MR. SERCARZ: I don’t believe so, your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you, Mr. Sercarz.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Not from the government, your Honor. If I may just go back to the podium?
THE COURT: Sure, absolutely. Thank you.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Since I’ll be beginning. And, your Honor, may we have Ms. Hall take her place on the witness stand?
THE COURT: Yes. I think that makes good sense. Thank you.
Good afternoon, Ms. Hall. You remain under oath. You can remove your mask while you’re in the witness stand, and the jury is on its way up. All right? I don’t know if anyone told you, but we stand when the jury comes in. That’s what we were doing. Okay? All right?
THE WITNESS: Okay.
THE COURT: Thank you.
(Jury present)
All right. Please be seated, everyone.
Good afternoon, Ms. Hall. As I said a minute ago, you remain under oath. All right?
Ms. Mortazavi, please.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
Q. Thank you. Ms. Hall, I just have a few more questions for you today. Do you recall before the lunch break you were asked some questions about when you first reached out to Seth Fishman?
A. Yes.
Q. And do you recall testifying that you had heard that his drugs were reputable and reasonably priced?
A. Yes.
Q. Is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. What was Seth Fishman’s reputation with respect to pre-racing horses?
A. One of the things I had heard was that if you want to win races, you need to call him.
Q. And you were also asked about whether you wanted a program from Seth Fishman that would be nontoxic; do you recall that?
A. Yes.
Q. And you didn’t want a toxic program for your horses; is that fair to say?
A. Yes.
Q. And you mentioned that when you talked about the drugs that you received from Seth Fishman, you talked about them by the cap color; is that right?
A. Correct, yes.
Q. You referred to blue caps and green caps; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Can you remind the jury what the process was for preparing the shots that you gave to the horses?
A. Drawing water out of one vial, putting it into another vial, mixing it, drawing that out and then administering it to the horse.
Q. And you had to administer it IV, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And you also testified that you didn’t use all the drugs that you received from Seth Fishman, correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Why is that?
A. Some of it, I just didn’t feel safe using on my horses. I was nervous I was going to hit the wrong vein, or put it in the muscle or just administer it incorrectly or just somehow harm them.
Q. Are you trained as a veterinarian?
A. I am not, no.
Q. Have you ever worked as a veterinarian?
A. No.
Q. And did you ask the veterinarian to prepare the drugs before you injected them in the horses?
A. No.
Q. Ms. Jung, can you please pull up the transcript only for Government Exhibit 103-AT.
Which I believe you were asked about, Ms. Hall, when Mr. Sercarz was asking you questions a few minutes ago.
And if you could, turn to the next page, Ms. Jung. Do you see at the very bottom, this is next to line 8, Seth Fishman stating: “Nothing I have is caustically dangerous”?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you know what “caustically dangerous” means?
A. I don’t know what “caustically” means, no.
Q. Okay. Did he explain on that call what caustically dangerous means?
A. No.
Q. And you mentioned — and Ms. Jung, we can take this exhibit down, thank you.
You testified that you had received drugs from a person named Poliseno, correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Tony Poliseno; is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. And you testified that others had told you that they thought his drugs didn’t work, right?
A. Yes.
Q. What had other people told you about Poliseno’s drugs?
A. Some speculation was that he was selling stuff that was not really the drug that it was supposed to be, mislabeled, possibly saline, possibly a different drug other than what it was supposed to be.
Q. And you purchased drugs from Poliseno, right?
A. Yes.
Q. And you used those drugs; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Before you used those drugs, did you believe that they were toxic?
A. No.
Q. And before you used Seth Fishman’s drugs, did you believe that they were toxic?
A. No.
Q. Did you believe that they would improve your horse’s performance?
A. Yes.
Q. And what did you think would happen if you’d been caught by the racing commission giving one of those drugs to your horses?
A. I would have been in big trouble.
Q. You were also asked about claiming races; do you remember testifying about that?
A. Yes.
Q. What are — or have you heard of the term claimers?
A. Yes.
Q. What are claimers?
A. Horses that run for a price tag. They’re technically for sale when they’re entered, or for whatever price that you are entering them for, you know, 15,000, 20,000 there’s a wide variety of levels the horse is for sale.
Q. So a claimer refers to a horse that races in a claiming race?
A. Yes.
Q. And you mentioned that you claimed your first horse?
A. Right.
Q. Is that how you got the first horse that you owned?
A. Yes.
Q. Is the cost to claim a horse tied to how well the horse races?
A. There is different levels. There’s cheap claimers, and there’s high-level claimers.
Q. The horse that you claimed, was it cheap or high level?
A. She was cheap.
Q. And you were also asked questions about Government Exhibit 105-BT.
Ms. Jung, no need to pull up the exhibit.
This was a call in which you discussed with Seth Fishman horses crashing. Do you remember generally talking to Seth Fishman about crashing horses?
A. Yes.
Q. And do you remember testifying about your understanding of what it means when a horse crashes?
A. Yes.
Q. Could you remind us what that means?
A. Kind of like detox, like coming off a program of drugs and falling apart.
Q. And if a horse crashes, is it going to race well?
A. No.
Q. Ms. Jung, if you could please pull up government Exhibit 105-CT and turn to page 2, please.
Next to line 7, Ms. Jung, if we could please expand Seth Fishman’s statements on this call.
Ms. Hall, do you see here in the transcript where Seth Fishman said on this call: “I got clients that are going to race a horse for three months and that horse may never race again. Okay?”
Do you see that on the transcript?
A. Yes.
Q. The two horses that you raced in the first half of 2019, what were the names of those horses?
A. The Spy Who Loves Me.
Q. And?
A. And Las Vegas.
Q. And how long did you own those horses?
MR. SERCARZ: Objection, beyond the scope.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Mr. Sercarz asked questions about this particular transcript, your Honor.
THE COURT: It’s not the transcript. Where are you going about these horses?
MS. MORTAZAVI: I’m trying to determine how long Ms. Hall owned those horses.
THE COURT: I’ll allow that bit.
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
Q. Ms. Hall, the two horses that you referenced, how long did you own them?
A. At the time or currently?
Q. When did you first acquire those horses?
A. Spy, I acquired in 2018, and Vegas, I acquired in 2019.
Q. And how long did you open Spy for?
A. I still own him now.
Q. And your second horse, how long did you own that horse for?
A. I owned him for a year, and now he’s a retired show horse.
Q. Okay. A retired show horse that you own or that someone else owns?
A. No, somebody adopted him in Ohio.
Q. So in both of those cases, you owned those horses for longer than three months?
A. Yes.
Q. Is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. And do you recall, Ms. Hall, speaking to Seth Fishman about your horses, generally?
A. Yes.
Q. And do you remember him referring to your horses as pet horses?
A. Yes.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, we can take down this exhibit, please. Thank you.
Q. Ms. Hall, you also testified about a referral fee that you discussed with Seth Fishman, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. What was that referral fee for?
MR. SERCARZ: Objection. I didn’t go into this on cross-examination.
THE COURT: We had testimony about a referral fee.
MR. SERCARZ: I’m sorry, your Honor?
THE COURT: We had testimony about this. Overruled.
You can answer.
A. I’m sorry, can you repeat the question?
MS. MORTAZAVI: Can we have the court reporter please read that back.
(Record read)
A. If I could bring in any new business for him, I would get a cut of the profit.
Q. And did you discuss with Seth Fishman who you might be referring to him?
A. Yes, he was interested in two trainers.
Q. Who were they?
A. Mainly Tony Alagna.
Q. And had you discussed that trainer with Seth Fishman?
A. Yes.
Q. You were getting drugs without paying for them, correct, from Seth Fishman or Mary, as we discussed?
A. Correct.
Q. Did Seth Fishman ever tell you why he was giving you these drugs for free?
A. No.
Q. Why did you think you were getting them for free?
MR. SERCARZ: Objection.
THE COURT: Rephrase.
Q. In your mind, when you were receiving these drugs, did you have an understanding of what you were going to do in exchange for them?
MR. SERCARZ: Objection, on this issue state of mind is not relevant.
THE COURT: But you asked her specifically, Mr. Sercarz, did she pay for the drugs that she got. This is fair —
MR. SERCARZ: Your Honor, I don’t recall having done so. There’s reference in the transcript, but I didn’t ask it.
THE COURT: Please. You have my ruling. Overruled.
MR. SERCARZ: Yes.
THE COURT: You can answer.
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
Q. Ms. Hall, in your mind, what was the exchange when you were getting the drugs for free?
A. One of the people helping me at the time was an assistant to Tony Alagna; so, I think he thought that I had a connection there, and it helped bring that business in.
Q. Now, you stated in another recorded call —
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, if we could please pull up Government Exhibit 105-DT. This is the transcript of the recorded call. And if we could expand line 4, please. This is Ms. Hall’s statement.
Q. You stated here to Seth Fishman: I gave him on race day — “All I gave him on race day was that VO2;” is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. That was a reference to VO2 Max, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And do you recall being asked whether Seth Fishman sounded surprised when you said this?
A. Yes.
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, could we take down this exhibit and pull up Government Exhibit 1117, and could you please expand the silver portion of the label just underneath the name. Thank you.
Q. And, Ms. Hall, could you read the silver portion of the label?
A. “Administer intravenously 10 cc’s four to six hours prior to strenuous exercise. Proprietary blend of amino acids.”
MS. MORTAZAVI: Ms. Jung, if you could take this down, and please pull up Government Exhibit 1028, which is already in evidence, and if we could rotate that, please, and then expand on one of these labels.
Q. And, Ms. Hall, could you read out the directions only on this label?
A. “Administer intravenously 10 to 20 cc’s one to four hours prior to strenuous exercise.”
Q. And what’s the name of this product that appears on this label?
A. VO2 Max.
Q. Ms. Jung, could you please take that down. And, Ms. Hall, after that conversation with Seth Fishman, did you continue to order VO2 Max either from Lisa Ranger or Seth Fishman?
A. I ordered two bottles from Lisa Ranger.
Q. Ms. Jung, can we please pull up Government Exhibit 608, which is in evidence.
Ms. Hall, looking at the top left portion of the screen, do you see the company name Equestology?
A. Yes.
Q. And that Felton, Delaware, address, is that the same address that appeared on invoices of Equestology that you received from Lisa?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And you see next to the “for,” there’s your name?
A. Yes.
Q. And do you recognize the name under that?
A. Yes.
Q. What’s the first item on this invoice?
A. VO2 Max.
Q. And what’s the date of this invoice?
A. June 3rd, 2019.
Q. Ms. Jung, you can take this down.
Ms. Hall, during the time that you were using Seth Fishman’s drugs, did the Racing Commission pull blood from your horses for testing?
A. Yes.
Q. Have your horses ever tested positive?
A. No.
Q. Sitting here today, how do you feel about having injected Seth Fishman’s drugs into your horses?
MR. SERCARZ: Objection.
THE COURT: Sustained.
MS. MORTAZAVI: No further questions.
THE COURT: Thank you.
Any recross? That’s a yes? Okay. Let’s give Ms. Mortazavi a minute.
All right, Mr. Sercarz.
MR. SERCARZ: Thank you.
RECROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. SERCARZ:
Q. Without bringing it back up on the screen, the label of I believe it was TB-7 and VO2 Max that we looked at made reference to strenuous exercise; did you see that?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you know what breezing a horse means?
A. Yes.
Q. Breezing a horse refers to training in which the horse is made to undergo strenuous exercise; isn’t that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. You were asked questions on the redirect examination about the referral fee; do you recall that?
A. Yes.
Q. Can you remind the ladies and gentlemen of the jury how long it — how long did your relationship with Dr. Fishman last?
A. A few months.
Q. Was it at the beginning of the relationship when this discussion took place regarding Dr. Fishman’s purported interest in Mr. Alagna and Mr. Pelcher as potential customers?
THE COURT: Pletcher.
Q. Pletcher, beg your pardon.
A. I’m sorry, I don’t recall exactly when it came up, but it was most likely at the beginning.
Q. All right. Over the next few months, did you call Mr. Pletcher?
A. No.
Q. Did you call Mr. Alagna?
A. No.
Q. You had represented to Dr. Fishman that you would do so in exchange for receiving the free product; am I correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And yet, you did not do so; am I correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Did Dr. Fishman ever demand money from you?
A. No.
Q. Did he ever send you a bill for the substances that he had provided to you?
A. No.
MR. SERCARZ: Thank you. No further questions.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you.
Anything?
MS. MORTAZAVI: Briefly, your Honor, yes. And I apologize for removing my mask.
THE COURT: I’m sorry?
MS. MORTAZAVI: I apologize, your Honor, for adjusting my mask.
THE COURT: Not a problem.
FURTHER REDIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
Q. Ms. Hall, you were just asked some questions about Mr. Pletcher and Mr. Alagna; do you recall that?
A. Yes.
Q. With respect to Mr. Pletcher, you said that you did not reach out to him regarding Seth Fishman’s drugs, correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Why is that?
MR. SERCARZ: Objection.
THE COURT: Overruled.
BY MS. MORTAZAVI:
Q. You can answer the question, Ms. Hall.
THE COURT: Yes, you may answer.
A. He would never take my advice or opinion seriously; so, I would never approach him about something like that.
Q. And you testified that you never called Tony Alagna, correct?
A. Correct.
Q. Did you call someone else who was in contact with Tony Alagna?
A. I didn’t call somebody, but the person that was helping me at the time had talked to Tony.
Q. And had you mentioned that to Seth Fishman?
A. Yes.
Q. Had you mentioned that to Seth Fishman more than once?
A. I believe so.
MS. MORTAZAVI: No further questions.
THE COURT: Thank you.
Anything, Mr. Sercarz?
MR. SERCARZ: No. Thank you, your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you very much. You’re excused with the thanks of the Court.
(Witness excused)