Rodgers - B Team - Direct
Direct:
Q: Mr./Mrs. Rodgers, would you please state your name and occupation for the record.
A: My name is Reggie Rodgers. I am currently a dive leader with Neptune Underwater Expeditions.
Q: What qualifications, If any, do you have in scuba diving?
A: I’ve been diving my entire life. I decided to make a career of it after college. I am a master instructor and master diver. Both are the highest level of certification. I have been diving for 18 years.
Q: You stated that you are a dive leader. What kind of responsibilities, if any, does a dive leader have?
A: Supervises the instruction of the other divers. Monitors employees and ensures that they are doing their job correctly. I am the first person in the water and I am responsible if anything should go wrong.
Q: What would you do, if anything at all, in a dangerous scuba diving situation?
A: Be a boss. Save the damsel and all that.
Q: And through your experience what knowledge, if any, do you have to perceive and prevent certain dangerous events from happening?
A: I’m telepathic.
Q: I would like to avert your attention to the events of July 3rd through the 10th. What was the agenda for the beginning days of the expedition?
A: On the first three days of the trip we did a series of dives in the Florida Keys and Bahamas.
Q: What were the difficulties, if any at all, of these dives?
A: These dives ranged from 70 to 120 feet.
Q: How did you first come into contact with the Lee Allan?
A: Lee Allan was a diver on the trip. He/she was there with his/her spouse Andy.
Q: How did Lee Allan perform, if at all, on these first dives?
A: He/she did struggle, however Lee Allan completed every dive along with the other divers.
Q: Through your expertise as a diving instructor what, if any, difficulties did Lee Allan display while diving?
A: On the July 6th dive, Lee was suffering from a mild nitrogen narcosis I believe.
Q: Now let me direct your attention to the morning of July 7th. What, if anything, notable happened that morning?
A: Andy Allan reported that he/she had a head cold. Hayden Hathaway and I knew that he/she couldn’t dive that day. Andy understood the precaution.
Q: Even though Andy stated he/she was sick that morning, why was Lee Allan allowed to dive without him/her
A: I reasoned with Hathaway to let Lee dive. In the past I have occasionally paired with customers when the situation warranted it.
Q: Now Mr./Mrs. Rodgers what happened, if anything, when you took the dive to the Hepburn wreck that day?
A: A strong underwater current hit us and Frankie Fernandez became entangled in some wires. I had to stop and help Fernandez get free. I then wrote “go ahead” on my dive slate to indicate to Lee to continue on and to catch up with the group.
(Introduce Defense exhibit #???)
Q: Mr./Mrs. Rodgers, do you recognize what had been marked as Defense Exhibit #??? ?
A: Yes I do. It is the dive slate that I wrote “go ahead” on.
Q: Did you show Lee Allan the dive slate?
A: Yes, Lee was no more than six feet from me. Lee nodded and swam in the direction of the group.
Q: How did you reconnect with Lee Allan, if at all, after separating?
A: After reconnecting with the group I eventually found Lee Allan on the second level of the wreck. I tried to pull Lee out but he/she started to panic and pulled out his/her knife at that point. I was running low on oxygen and was left with no choice but to surface myself.
Q: What reason, if any, did you resurface without Lee Allan?
A: Nothing I could do. Couldn’t save the damsel, if Lee was in fact at all a damsel.
Q:What would happen, if anything at all, if you stayed at the Hepburn with Lee?
A: We both would have died.
Q: What action did you take, if any, when you surfaced?
A: I wanted to grab a new tank and dive back in for Lee, but Hathaway physically stopped me. Hathaway was right, I was in no state to return to the water and the weather and ocean conditions were not safe.
