COMMON COUNCIL CITY OF MILWAUKEE * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * In the Matter of: ENVY LOUNGE AND NIGHTCLUB Class "B" Tavern and Tavern Amusement SAMER L. ASAD, "ENVY LOUNGE AND NIGHTCLUB" 715-17 South 5th Street * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The above-entitled cause, taken under and pursuant to all applicable rules, before KAREN RENEE, Court Reporter and Notary Public in and for the State of Wisconsin. 2 1 A P P E A R A N C E S 2 MAISTELMAN & ASSOCIATES, by 3 MR. DAVID HALBROOKS, MR. MATTHEW LERNER, 4 5027 West North Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 5 appeared on behalf of Envy Lounge and Nightclub. 6 MR. ADAM STEPHENS, 809 North Broadway, 7 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202, appeared on behalf of the City of Milwaukee. 8 MS. JARELY RUIZ, 9 200 East Wells Street, Room 800, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202. 10 * * * * * 11 I N D E X 12 13 Speakers: Page 14 Mr. Schroeder..................................... 28 Mr. Camocho....................................... 31 15 Mr. Zarate........................................ 37 Mr. Santos........................................ 41 16 Ms. Hedge......................................... 44 Captain Gaglione.................................. 54 17 Mr. Asad.......................................... 95 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: This is the resumption 3 of the Common Council Licenses Committee. We are 4 on our 11:00 a.m. agenda. It is approximately 5 1:00 in the afternoon on Monday, March 7th. 6 I'll call forward the matter of Samer 7 Asad, agent for Lounging Around Incorporated, 8 Class B Tavern License renewal application and new 9 Tavern Amusement License application as agent for 10 Lounging Around Incorporated for Envy Lounge and 11 Nightclub at 1715 through 17 South 5th Street. 12 Good afternoon to all of you here. And 13 we have two attorneys present here. If you could 14 state your appearance here for the record? 15 MR. HALBROOKS: Good afternoon, 16 Chairman, members. I am Attorney David Halbrooks, 17 with me is Attorney Matthew Lerner from the firm 18 of Maistelman & Associates. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And in addition to 20 Alderman Witkowiak, we have representatives from 21 the city attorney's office. Ms. Ruiz, do you want 22 to just state your appearance, please? 23 MS. RUIZ: Assistant City Attorney 24 Jarely Ruiz. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: We are also joined by -- 4 1 MS. RUIZ: Also joined by Captain 2 Gaglione, the district commander for the Second 3 District Police Station. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. All right. 5 I will need to -- minus the legal counsel here 6 present, swear individuals in including our 7 applicant. Raise your right hand at this point. 8 Captain Gaglione, you as well. 9 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Anybody in the 10 audience too? 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: We'll get to other 12 individuals present here. 13 THE CLERK: Do you solemnly affirm under 14 the pains and penalties of perjury of the State of 15 Wisconsin that the testimony you are about to give 16 is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the 17 truth? 18 ALL: I do. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: For our applicant, I'll 20 need a name and a mailing address for the record, 21 please. 22 MR. ASAD: Samer Asad, 715 South 5th 23 Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53204. 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Mr. Asad, do 25 you acknowledge receiving notice of today's 5 1 meeting with the possibility that your application 2 could be denied? 3 MR. ASAD: Yes. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Sergeant, we'll go to 5 you then for the police report, please. 6 SGT. MACGILLIS: Very well. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Chairman, I'm sorry. 8 I do have a motion that addresses the police 9 report beforehand. If I could just -- it may take 10 a second? 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: What I'm going to ask at 12 this point, Mr. Halbrooks, do you have a hard copy 13 that -- 14 MR. HALBROOKS: Yes. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: -- I know that you had 16 e-mailed it out, do you have a hard copy that you 17 can provide us here? 18 MR. HALBROOKS: Yes. 19 MR. LERNER: How many copies do you 20 want? 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Just one. 22 Mr. Halbrooks, what I'd like you to do 23 at this point here is, if instead of going on item 24 by item, do you want to be specific to the item 25 that you want to address in the police report? I 6 1 would just ask you to do that at this point here. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: Okay. And just in the 3 interest of time, in the motion it addresses, 4 starts with Item 11, 11 and 12 were self-reported. 5 And I believe this is the kind of thing, the 6 committee has not really considered it, and so, 7 you may want to hear them, we move to dismiss 8 those, and I think that's probably what your 9 preference is. The concern is, there were three 10 items, items that are 15, 17 and 18. Those are 11 police report items in which charges were issued 12 against Mr. Asad, and all of them were dropped, 13 and -- including, one of the issues is -- 14 Sergeant MacGillis is a witness on the one 15 particular matter. We have subpoenaed him, and I 16 believe he has valid testimony on the one item. 17 I'm hoping that -- I don't think there is a 18 dispute as to the facts between us and Sergeant 19 MacGillis or any of the other police officers, but 20 I do think that with regard to the city attorney's 21 review, and in one instance the district 22 attorney's review, they were all dropped. So I 23 would move to do that. 24 Also, two other quick things: Item 20 25 was -- the document appears that it was done at 7 1 20, and then five more items were written in. 2 Item 20 is an extension of Item 25. And I think 3 it would make better sense to read it after 25 4 instead of before. 5 And lastly, Item 19, you'll glean, as we 6 go forward, that there was a rush to get this 7 document out on February 23rd. Item 19, the -- I 8 don't know how they did that particular one 9 because the PA-33 wasn't done yet; it wasn't 10 available. It wasn't finished being signed off 11 until after that time. So on that particular one, 12 we would actually ask that that be bumped to next 13 year. 14 But other than that, the rest of the 15 items in the motion, the self-reported ones, we 16 can get to as we go forward. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: What I'll do at this 18 time here, you've provided a motion to this 19 particular body with a list of items outlined for 20 objection here. We'll have Alderman Kovac move to 21 make the entire motion provided by Mr. Halbrooks 22 part of our official record in this proceeding, 23 and hearing no objections to that, so ordered. 24 In terms of the matters that you've 25 outlined here, at this point, what I would do is, 8 1 I will note your objection at this time and just 2 ask the committee to keep this under advisement as 3 we have the individual reading of the police 4 report. I may desire to make an additional ruling 5 on individual matters that will be in 6 corroboration perhaps; perhaps not, with your 7 individual motion. But what I will do is ask the 8 committee to take under advisement your particular 9 concerns as they have been expressed. 10 Sergeant. 11 SGT. MACGILLIS: Okay. Gentlemen, I'll 12 start -- and ladies. 13 I'll start with item, Page 300, Item 11 14 on the police attachment. On 1/6/2010 at 11:18 15 p.m., Milwaukee police were dispatched to 715 16 South 5th Street for an altered currency 17 complaint. Police spoke to Samer Asad who stated 18 he received a fake $100 bill from an unknown 19 patron at 10:41 p.m. Asad stated the patron 20 attempted to purchase drinks with it but he had 21 recognized it to be counterfeit right away. Asad 22 stated he informed the patron right away and 23 stated that he was going to report the incident 24 and turn the fake bill over to the police. Asad 25 was able to provide officers with a description of 9 1 the actor as well as a picture and name of the 2 actor since his security staff scans IDs. Police 3 conducted follow-up but was unable to locate the 4 subject. Police did leave a contact number with 5 the subject's mother to have him call police 6 regarding the investigation. 7 Item 12: On 1/21/2010 at 7:47 p.m., 8 Milwaukee police were dispatched to 715 South 5th 9 Street for a theft complaint. Police spoke to 10 Samer Asad who stated his employee Armando Acosta 11 was observed on video pocketing money from alcohol 12 sales as well as placing alcohol sales money into 13 the tip jar instead of the register. The video 14 was played for police as well as Acosta. The 15 subject was arrested and issued a citation. 16 Item 13: On 3/5/2010 at 1:36 a.m., 17 Milwaukee police were monitoring the crowd letting 18 out of Club Envy located at 715 South 5th Street. 19 Police drove down the alley and observed several 20 Envy security staff holding back several subjects. 21 Investigation revealed a fight occurred inside the 22 club between patrons, and security broke up the 23 fight and escorted the patrons out of the club. 24 One patron sought medical attention for a minor 25 injury. 10 1 Item 14: On 5/14/2010, Milwaukee police 2 conducted a follow-up regarding a complaint of 3 music and dancing inside the club. Officers 4 contacted the license investigation unit who 5 advised officers that the club did not possess a 6 cabaret or dance license and that both would be 7 needed if music and dancing were taking place. 8 Officers advised the licensee of such and the club 9 closed for the night. 10 Item 15: On 7/2/2010 at 12:30 a.m., 11 Milwaukee police conducted a license premise check 12 at 715 South 5th Street. Prior to police arrival, 13 officers received a confirmation e-mail from 14 Sergeant Paul MacGillis at the license 15 investigation unit that the temporary restraining 16 order that was against the City of Milwaukee was 17 dismissed by Judge Brash as of Thursday June 24, 18 2010. While officers were on scene at 715 South 19 5th Street, they requested a supervisor to the 20 location due to the fact that the club did not 21 have a license for music, disc jockey and dancing 22 that was occurring inside the tavern. A 23 supervisor responded and agreed with officers that 24 the location should be closed for the night. 25 Police identified the bartender as Wisam Asad, and 11 1 Wisam was advised the business needed to be closed 2 due to the violations. Wisam refused to comply, 3 and due to this behavior towards officers, was 4 being held back by staff employees. Officers then 5 spoke with Samer Asad who was asked to close the 6 club. Samer stated, "No, give me the citations. 7 I know I don't have a license, but we still have a 8 temporary restraining order." Samer further 9 stated, "You can not be on the premises. I won't 10 let you close me down." After further 11 discussions, Samer agreed he would close the 12 location. Samer did provide officers with a court 13 order for a temporary restraining order with a 14 past court date of 6/19/2010. An announcement was 15 made shortly after using a microphone stating 16 that, "If you were white, there was nothing to 17 worry about, but if you're black, you have to look 18 out," which caused the crowd to become upset; 19 customers in the club were predominately black. 20 When police questioned Wisam as to who made the 21 statement, Wisam stated a customer did and that a 22 microphone was not used. Wisam became disorderly 23 with police and was arrested. Police observed 24 there to be about 50 patrons inside the club. As 25 patrons were exiting, an officer heard a patron 12 1 state that he just paid $10 to enter the tavern 2 and that the sign posted near the entrance door 3 indicated the cost was $5. Samer Asad became 4 disorderly when he learned that his brother was 5 arrested and was removed by his own security 6 personnel in order to prevent Samer from being 7 arrested. Police, during the investigation, did 8 observe patrons dancing as well as a disc jockey 9 and loud music being played, not via Internet 10 streaming. The charge of loitering or prowling, 11 prerecorded music machine license required and 12 Tavern Dance License required were set for trial 13 on the 28th. All charges were dismissed without 14 prejudice, 10/23/2011 (sic). 15 Item 16: On 8/15/2010, Milwaukee police 16 were dispatched to 1556 South 38th Street for a 17 battery complaint. Police were met by three 18 citizens who claimed they had been battered after 19 patronizing the Envy Lounge located at 715 South 20 5th Street. Police observed visible injuries to 21 all three victims with the victims claiming that 22 their injuries were sustained when a large fight 23 broke out on the street following the release of 24 patrons from the club. Reports were filed for a 25 substantial battery, battery and a property damage 13 1 complaint in which the victim's car window was 2 broken during the melee. 3 Item 17: On 10/2/2010 at 11:20 p.m., a 4 police detective advised officers that a known 5 subject wanted on felony charges could possibly be 6 at Club Envy in the VIP section. Officers 7 attempted to enter the club but were refused entry 8 by a security guard identified as Robert Mitchell. 9 Mitchell grabbed a microphone from his portable 10 radio and announced that the police were here. 11 Mitchell then was physically moved by officers who 12 proceeded to the VIP area. No patrons were found 13 upstairs; however, Samer Asad and a female were 14 found in an office located on that floor. 15 Officers spoke with Asad and asked to review 16 surveillance in attempts to see if the wanted 17 felon was in the club. Asad refused, stating that 18 the police have no right to look at the monitors. 19 Asad then proceeded to walk over to the monitor 20 and turn it off, obstructing officers' attempts to 21 locate and arrest a felony suspect. Asad then 22 stated to police, "Get the 'expletive deleted' out 23 of my office. If I don't want you to look at the 24 security cameras, then you can't look." Asad 25 further stated that if officers didn't leave his 14 1 office, he would file a police report stating that 2 the officers had stolen $10,000. Asad then 3 proceeded to pull out an official Milwaukee Police 4 Department citizen complaint form from his desk 5 and stated to officers that if they left now, he 6 wouldn't file a report. Officers asked Asad if it 7 was his intention to file a police report, to 8 which Asad replied, "Yes." Asad was advised he 9 would be arrested if he filed a false police 10 report to which replied, "Prove it." 11 Officers asked the DJ to stop playing 12 music until the investigation was completed, and 13 the DJ complied, turning off the music. This 14 enraged Asad who ordered that the music be turned 15 back on, which it was. Asad was then arrested and 16 conveyed to District 2 for processing. Due to the 17 uncooperativeness of both Mitchell and Asad, 18 police were unable to investigate the 19 subject-wanted complaint. No charges were found 20 on CCAP for Asad, and a citation that was issued 21 to Mitchell for refusing police entry was not 22 found in the municipal court system. 23 Item 18: On 10/8/2010 at 1:46 a.m., 24 Milwaukee police were monitoring closing time at 25 Club Envy located at 715 South 5th Street. This 15 1 was the only establishment open on the block at 2 this time. In attempts to prevent cruising, 3 police conducted traffic control at 740 South 5th 4 Street. A fight broke out and officers attempted 5 to investigate when they observed a subject with 6 injuries. This subject, when approached by 7 police, was uncooperative and began to fight with 8 police. Once the situation was under control, the 9 subject admitted that she was involved in a fight 10 but didn't know who hit her and that her reaction 11 was to fight back. She also admitted that she was 12 very intoxicated and ashamed of her actions. The 13 subject was cited for disorderly conduct and 14 resisting/obstructing an officer. An officer who 15 witnessed the fight and assisted in breaking it up 16 watched the incident with 25 to 30 patrons from 17 Club Envy standing in front of the club. They 18 were advised by officers to leave the area, in 19 which they complied. Samer Asad was also observed 20 to be on the sidewalk videotaping. Police also 21 asked Asad to leave the sidewalk area to which he 22 stepped inside the front door of his club. Asad 23 kept the door ajar and would step back out onto 24 the sidewalk taunting police. Asad was arrested 25 for obstructing and processed at District 2. The 16 1 charge of resisting/obstructing an officer, set 2 for trial on the 28th. However, that was 3 dismissed without prejudice on the 23rd of 4 February. 5 Item 19: On 2/18/2011 at 1:32 a.m., 6 Milwaukee police were monitoring the closing time 7 at Envy and observed patrons yelling and screaming 8 as they exited the club. As more patrons left the 9 club, traffic congestion was observed due to 10 patrons who were walking in the roadway. Officers 11 observed security personnel standing in front of 12 the club and not attempting to move patrons along. 13 Congestion became so bad that an officer called 14 for additional units to help and assist with 15 moving traffic and pedestrian traffic along. 16 Within 20 minutes, the area was cleared. Officers 17 then observed Samer -- correction, officers then 18 observed the licensee, Samer Asad, come out onto 19 the sidewalk and video record police while he was 20 attempting to provoke negative interaction. An 21 officer advised Asad that a report would be filed 22 but Asad refused to acknowledge police. Officers 23 were conversing with citizens and a few of them 24 shook hands with citizens. Asad said, "Don't 25 shake their hands. You better go wash your 17 1 hands." Asad continued his statements as the 2 officer attempted to tell him that a license 3 premise report would be filed. 4 Item 20: On 2/21/2011, Lieutenant 5 MacGillis of District 2 went to Milwaukee County 6 Courthouse to obtain a court order for Club Envy 7 to release the video of a substantial battery that 8 occurred inside the club on 2/19/11. The owner, 9 Samer Asad, has not cooperated with police from 10 the start of the investigation. Asad refused to 11 release the video when asked by police. Officers 12 obtained a court order and went to Asad's home 13 address to serve him with the court order. Asad 14 was not home but spoke with Lieutenant MacGillis 15 by phone. Asad agreed to meet officers at the 16 club at 9:30 p.m. Police met Asad and his 17 attorney at the stated time and served Asad with a 18 court order. The order stated that Asad must turn 19 over the videotape to police by 2/28/11. 20 Items 21 through 25 were typed by 21 Sergeant Paul MacGillis of the license 22 investigation unit. 23 Item 21: On 1/23/2010, a theft of 24 wallet was reported at Club Envy located at 715 25 South 5th Street. A report was filed. 18 1 Item 22: On 5/29/2010, a theft of phone 2 was reported at Club Envy located at 715 South 5th 3 Street. A report was filed. 4 Item 23: On 11/19/2010, a report of 5 property damage was reported at Club Envy located 6 at 715 South 5th Street. Investigation and review 7 of video revealed two subjects were fighting in 8 the tavern when they broke a table. A PA-33 was 9 filed. 10 Item 24: On 1/16/2011, a theft of purse 11 was reported at Club Envy located at 715 South 5th 12 Street. A report was filed. 13 Item 25: On 2/19/2011 at 1:54 a.m., a 14 report of a battery was reported at Club Envy 15 located at 715 South 5th Street. Investigation 16 revealed that a security guard and a patron at the 17 tavern had been struck in the head with a glass 18 object. Upon arrival of investigating officers, 19 Samer Asad, the licensee, stated to police an 20 ambulance weren't needed because the security 21 guard had stopped bleeding and had left. Asad 22 provided the name of his security guard; however, 23 it was the incorrect name. One victim was 24 battered in the tavern, and one, the security 25 guard, outside. Both victims were located at Mt. 19 1 Sinai Hospital. One required 8 stitches and one 2 required 11. Photographs were taken at the 3 hospital. Asad told the investigating officer 4 that he didn't have time to review the video from 5 inside the club with her because he had to close 6 out the register and 40 employees were still on 7 the clock. He also stated that he didn't know 8 that his employee had been hit with a bottle. He 9 said the security guard told him he had slipped on 10 the floor and was injured. A Milwaukee police 11 squad that was monitoring the area captured the 12 end of the incident on video when the suspect ran 13 away. Per the incident report, that's incident 14 report 11-051-0015, information relating to this 15 offense, specifically the video of the incident 16 and data from the identification card scanner, was 17 not turned over to the police department as of 18 Monday, 2/21/11. Mr. Asad told officers they 19 would have to contact his attorney for those 20 items. See Item 20. The felony battery 21 investigation is continuing. 22 And Mr. Chair, if I may add one thing. 23 It's my understanding, and it wasn't added onto 24 this attachment, that the tapes have been turned 25 over and the investigation of the battery is 20 1 continuing. I think other parties can comment on 2 that. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. In terms of 4 motions to consider, what I will just put on the 5 record here now, if committee members want to make 6 note of this as well, I will rule that Item Nos. 7 11, 12, 21, 22, and 24 specifically should not be 8 considered by the committee. 9 ALDERMAN KOVAC: What were those numbers 10 again? 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: 11, 12, 21, 22, and 24. 12 These are items where a purse was stolen. These 13 were items such as where internally the bar had 14 someone who was stealing money from them and 15 reported that. 16 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Well, I was going to 17 say, 11 and 12 I wouldn't consider anyway. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Right. I just wanted to 19 state that on the record. 20 Now, with regards to two other items in 21 which there were requests in a motion for the 22 committee to dismiss Item Nos. 15 and 18, what I 23 would point out to the committee is, the committee 24 could not consider a portion of that. What I will 25 try to do is bifurcate this. There were actually, 21 1 in both No. 15 and 18, charges that were, 2 citations that were issued in which charges were 3 dismissed. So in light of those, anything 4 relating to loitering and prowling in Item No. 15, 5 and in No. 18, a resisting or obstructing a police 6 officer, should not be considered. What I will 7 rule, however, is that the incidents themselves, 8 the items part of the incident report can be 9 considered by the committee. So ultimately, that 10 is No. 15 and No. 18. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: And 17, is in that 12 group too. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: All other items 14 including 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20 and 23, I will 15 rule additionally are matters that can be 16 considered. 17 ALDERMAN KOVAC: What about 21 through 18 24? 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: 21, 22 and 24, I 20 indicated should not be considered. I'll leave 21 open 23 because that matter, even though it was a 22 property damage, the -- it was as part of the 23 incident report, a review that there was a fight 24 that led to that. So that would be under 25 consideration. 22 1 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Chairman, I'd like 2 to maybe -- just to clear the record. On 17, 17 3 was the one that the DA reviewed and dismissed. 4 So I don't know, I have extensive amount of 5 materials on those items. You'll have to rule -- 6 we're prepared to show that nothing occurred the 7 way that the reports indicate. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And you will be allowed 9 that opportunity. 10 MR. HALBROOKS: Right. I just don't -- 11 I provided you all the links as part of your 12 preparation so that you could have seen for 13 yourself that it didn't happen the way they said. 14 But those three will take some time, and I'll go 15 as quick as I can. 16 I do have some questions on the police 17 report. If I could just -- 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: What I wanted to do here 19 now, Mr. Halbrooks, first, I will actually provide 20 you an opportunity here shortly to raise any 21 disputes or any objections that you have to items 22 in the police report. I want to just go into 23 objection testimony first. And we'll do that all 24 in one orderly procession here, allowing you to 25 address, and then call forward with witnesses, is 23 1 that okay? Is that acceptable? I've had 2 conversations with the assistant city attorney 3 regarding our procession of the meetings. And 4 through our discussions, we've made a 5 determination that based on the way the ordinance 6 is written as well, that we needed to change the 7 situation that we normally had. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: I understand. 9 Obviously, this -- 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: We'll still provide 11 adequate time and same redress to address those 12 particular objections. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: Right, and I was just 14 relying on the opportunity to ask Sergeant 15 MacGillis questions on his report. So I don't -- 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I'll provide you that 17 opportunity -- 18 MR. HALBROOKS: At that time? 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: -- at that time. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: All right. This matter 22 is cited for objection. I will see a show of 23 hands from individuals, and I will ask both 24 individuals who may provide testimony in favor as 25 well as opposition, anyone who is here, present, 24 1 who may provide testimony, who wish to provide 2 testimony, if I could have your right hand raised 3 at this time? We will swear you all in. So 4 anyone who is wishing to provide testimony either 5 in favor or opposed to the license; if you're here 6 either in favor or opposed, this is the 7 opportunity to raise your right hand. I will not 8 ask again. Anyone providing testimony either if 9 you are in favor or opposed, even if you are 10 neutral and want to just provide observations, if 11 you intend to provide testimony, please raise your 12 right hand and be sworn in now. 13 THE CLERK: Do you solemnly affirm under 14 the pains and penalties of perjury of the State of 15 Wisconsin that the testimony you are about to give 16 is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the 17 truth? 18 ALL: Yes. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Of the individuals who 20 have now been sworn in and wish to provide 21 testimony, can I see a show of hands of those who 22 are here to be -- to speak in objection or in 23 opposition to the license? One, two, three, four, 24 five; five, okay. What we're going to do is, I'm 25 going to proceed on a timer basis. We have the 25 1 ability to restrict testimony to two minutes per 2 individual. I'm going to give you some 3 flexibility on both sides beyond that within your 4 own -- within certain reasonable parameters. I 5 want you to testify to items strictly that you 6 have personal knowledge of; not hearsay evidence 7 that you heard from someone else. 8 We're going to first bring you up and 9 ask you to provide your name and your address for 10 the record. If there is any question as to the 11 spelling of your name, if you could please, for 12 the edification of our clerk as well as our court 13 reporter, please, spell out your name and then 14 briefly outline your testimony. When you are 15 completed with your testimony, I will ask you to 16 remain present at the microphone. And what we 17 will do is go through a series of questions first 18 by committee and then by counsel, if there are any 19 questions, to elicit additional testimony from 20 you. After we are done with you, I will then 21 dismiss you. So I would ask that you remain. 22 If there is someone who cannot remain 23 standing for a couple minutes at a time at the 24 standing microphone, please, indicate to me and we 25 will ask an individual to leave a chair, and we 26 1 will allow you to come and be seated to provide 2 your testimony. 3 If I could, for the benefit of moving 4 this proceeding forward here on a timely basis, 5 ask that individuals who are going to first 6 provide testimony in opposition, take seats in the 7 front row so that we can proceed in an orderly 8 procession; that would be helpful. So if we could 9 just get all of the individuals who are here to 10 testify in opposition to take a seat in the front 11 row, and then the first individual who is present 12 to provide testimony can then take the microphone 13 if you are able to here. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Chairman, just one 15 brief thing before we start with the new lineup. 16 We'll be making a request to the committee, and I 17 think it would be fair that the people testifying 18 now hear my request before they go, and that would 19 be that, as part of the renewal process, Mr. Asad 20 filed of the renewal for his Class B and also for 21 a renewal for the cabaret. Now, that was denied 22 from the license office because they said, "Well, 23 he doesn't have a cabaret license; it's still in 24 court." I just want to make certain that my, our 25 legal position is that the court overturned that 27 1 denial of the cabaret license and sent it back. 2 And so there doesn't appear to be any language in 3 8513 and 15 that addresses the circumstances were 4 indirectly. So I'm going to be asking the 5 committee -- I know based on the report, you're 6 probably thinking, "What's he talking about?" But 7 believe me, by the end, you'll think something 8 different, that we are also requesting the renewal 9 of the cabaret license. And then, hopefully, that 10 would allow us to put everything to bed in court. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Stephens, based on 12 what has transpired in court since the last time 13 this came forward here, are we dealing with a 14 renewal of the Tavern Amusement License, or should 15 the committee reflect this here as a new license? 16 ATTORNEY STEPHENS: That is a good 17 question, Mr. Chair, and one that is still, 18 frankly, pending in court. Because there has been 19 a motion for some time pending in the circuit 20 court regarding the legal status of the council's 21 previous decision last year to non-renew that 22 portion of the applicant's license for the Tavern 23 Dance, it would seem to me that we can have this 24 hearing. And he would -- clearly the applicant 25 has the right to ask for the Tavern Dance License, 28 1 and he has done so. And I think it would be 2 relevant, any relevant information as to making 3 that decision whether or not to approve the Tavern 4 Dance License is before the committee. And you 5 can use your sound discretion in whether or not 6 you're going to approve that Tavern Dance License 7 going forward. So I don't know how procedurally 8 that would change the character of any testimony 9 other than the application for the Tavern License. 10 The Class B Tavern License is before the committee 11 as well as the Tavern Dance. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: We'll note your 14 objection here, and we'll ask the committee to 15 take it under advisement here, and we'll see how 16 it sort of rolls. 17 All right. With that, we'll hear from 18 our first witness, please. 19 MR. SCHROEDER: My name is James 20 Schroeder. I live at 703 South 5th. And the 21 reason I'm here, there were some things that were 22 cleared up as far as garbage going around, and 23 stuff like that, but I approached them the other 24 night, I think it was the second Friday of 25 February, and I told him that some of his patrons 29 1 were sitting on the porch smoking pot. His 2 response to me is, "That's a culture thing." So 3 my response to him, "The police got a culture 4 thing; it's called law enforcement." That's all I 5 have to say. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Schroeder, just 7 remain there for a moment. 8 Questions by committee? 9 Questions? 10 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 11 Who did you talk to? 12 MR. SCHROEDER: Sam. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: And are you sure in that 14 conversation you didn't tell him -- 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks, I'm 16 sorry, if you could just -- you know, you're 17 supposed to address your questions to the chair. 18 If you could make certain you are doing that, and 19 then also, use the microphone. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you, Mr. Chair. 21 Mr. Schroeder, didn't in that 22 conversation, tell Mr. Asad that things were 23 actually going quite well at his establishment? 24 MR. SCHROEDER: As far as garbage is 25 concerned. 30 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Schroeder, you're 2 going to need also to go back to the microphone 3 here. 4 MR. SCHROEDER: As far as the garbage, 5 you know, that security, yeah. But, you know, to 6 sit on somebody's stairs is quite illegal. I 7 asked them to leave, but the reason I didn't call 8 the police is because by the time they would have 9 gotten there, they would have been gone. 10 MR. HALBROOKS: And how do you know they 11 were patrons of Mr. Asad's club? 12 MR. SCHROEDER: Because I'd seen them 13 walk that way, and I'd seen some of them come out. 14 Then I went back in the house. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: You saw some of them 16 come out, and you went back in the house, then how 17 did you catch up with Mr. Asad? 18 MR. SCHROEDER: I believe that was the 19 next day. And he said that was just a culture 20 thing with the bars. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: So you didn't talk to 22 him that night? 23 MR. SCHROEDER: Not that night, no. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: And which day was this? 25 MR. SCHROEDER: I believe it was a 31 1 Friday night, the second Friday in February. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: At what time? 3 MR. SCHROEDER: I believe it was in the 4 afternoon. I don't know exactly what time. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: But you saw individuals 6 coming out of the club on Friday afternoon? 7 MR. SCHROEDER: No, I seen them walk 8 this way. Sometimes he comes, you know -- 9 MR. HALBROOKS: No, when did the 10 individuals come out of the club? 11 MR. SCHROEDER: That was Friday night. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: What time? 13 MR. SCHROEDER: I'd say about 1:00. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: And what porch did they 15 go sit on? 16 MR. SCHROEDER: 703 South 5th, which is 17 where I manage the building. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: Nothing further -- wait. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you for your 20 testimony. 21 MR. SCHROEDER: I'm done? 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Yes. 23 Next witness please. Name and address, 24 please, for the record. 25 MR. CAMOCHO: Mr. Chairman, my name is 32 1 Francisco Camocho. My address -- I have two 2 addresses: 3721 West Mt. Vernon Avenue where I 3 make my home, and 626 South 5th Street where I'm 4 trying to do my writings of my life. My title is 5 "Francisco Camocho, JD, PhD, Felon." In order to 6 bear all those titles, I have to sit down and 7 recount my stories. So in doing this, of course, 8 I realize that it was very hard to concentrate 9 because of the noise coming from the direction of 10 Envy. 11 I did know about the injunction, I was 12 aware of the record because that is part of my 13 research. And I was -- I decided I also wanted to 14 interject myself into the building at 703, I 15 think, 704. That is the building that is owned by 16 La Fuente restaurant. And they have an incubator, 17 enterprise incubator, and I wanted to explore it, 18 and I want to share my concepts with them. But in 19 light what I saw at Envy directly across, and all 20 of the problems it has created there, I have 21 decided that might not be a very good idea for me 22 to stay there. And it may not be a very good idea 23 to be at 626 because of the extreme noise. So I'm 24 here in opposition to the license. 25 This is a family-oriented community, and 33 1 it seems to me from my research that what we are 2 doing is turning it into a gentlemen's club area. 3 And I very resent that much, especially when I see 4 such efforts by other institutions there; such as 5 La Perla; such as Botanas. They're trying to 6 create a safe atmosphere for people who come and 7 join us. And that's the best fight that we can 8 have for crime. 9 So if you -- now, I don't have anything 10 against any of these gentlemen. I don't even know 11 them. I know they are good enterprisers, good 12 businessmen, but -- and it's not them that have 13 been doing this ruckus outside; such as urinating; 14 such as yelling profanity; such as -- you know, no 15 family would survive that type of environment. 16 Why do we have -- what I have something against 17 is, if those people, that they get drunk, spill 18 over in the street, and that's where the problems 19 begin. If they could find a way to keep them 20 inside until they detox, you know, then that would 21 be great. Thank you very much. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, Mr. Camocho. 23 Are there questions by committee? 24 Mr. Camocho, you provided for some 25 generalization, and then you specified urinating, 34 1 and, I believe, violence. 2 MR. CAMOCHO: Yes. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Is this something that 4 you have personally witnessed? 5 MR. CAMOCHO: Yes. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And personally witnessed 7 from patrons of this establishment? 8 MR. CAMOCHO: Yes. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And where were you that 10 you witnessed those? 11 MR. CAMOCHO: Well, sometimes across 12 from that building, that's called the Bucketworks, 13 I believe, which is directly in front of Envy. 14 Sometimes I take walks to La Perla, to Botanas, 15 and then I observe the people from Envy. 16 And I'm just very concerned. I'm 70 17 years old, believe it or not, and I do take a 18 little more precaution when I get out at night to 19 take a walk. And the atmosphere that is created 20 in that area is not conducive for little old 21 people like me to take a walk. We have to be 22 inside. I'm reevaluating my whole concept whether 23 to be at 626 South 5th Street. 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. 25 Any additional questions by committee? 35 1 Mr. Halbrooks, any questions? 2 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 3 Sir, what nights did you see the 4 activity that you're complaining about? 5 MR. CAMOCHO: I don't have dates, 6 senior, and I don't -- I did not write -- I did 7 not go out for a walk with the intent of 8 canvassing and taking notes who was doing what. 9 You just, if you go there at night with Envy is 10 open, you can see what I'm talking about. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: The 600 block, what's 12 located on the 600 block? 13 MR. CAMOCHO: What is located on the 600 14 block? Buildings. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: What other clubs? 16 MR. CAMOCHO: There seems to be one that 17 opens very -- I don't know the hours, it's the old 18 Cabana Club, which is right on top, right on the 19 bottom of 626. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: And that's the block you 21 live on? 22 MR. CAMOCHO: Yes, that's the building 23 I'm in: 626. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: And you have seen -- 25 have the individuals that you've seen come from 36 1 Tropical or Club Envy? 2 MR. CAMOCHO: The individuals from the 3 Club Tropical downstairs present no threat of 4 violence or nothing illegal; it's all good fun. 5 It's good. The people treat each other with 6 respect, and it doesn't spill into the street, 7 fighting and stealing from people, as the captain 8 has indicated. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: What are you talking 10 about? The captain hasn't spoke. 11 MR. CAMOCHO: I said, as the captain has 12 indicated. We're talking about counterfeit, we're 13 talking about theft on behalf of somebody against 14 Mr. Asad. 15 Again, I have no animosity towards 16 anybody. It's just the natural and probable 17 consequence of those, that type of clientele that 18 spills in the street that no family would dare be 19 present. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: So you live in the 21 Tropical building? 22 MR. CAMOCHO: Yes. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: And who is your 24 landlord? 25 MR. CAMOCHO: Mr.-- well, I really don't 37 1 know. I think Mr. Zarate. Because it's in the 2 name of a corporation. 3 MR. HALBROOKS: How did you get here 4 today? 5 MR. CAMOCHO: Excuse me? 6 MR. HALBROOKS: How did you get here 7 today? 8 MR. CAMOCHO: I drove an automobile. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: And is your testimony 10 that there is never any problems at Mr. Zarate's 11 club? 12 MR. CAMOCHO: That is correct. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: No one in the street 14 ever -- 15 MR. CAMOCHO: I have never observed 16 anything. And believe me, if I did, I'd be the 17 first one to object because I'm directly above 18 them. And I don't know if the floors can stop a 19 bullet, so I would be the first one to object to 20 anything. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: Nothing further. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Next 23 witness, please. 24 MR. ZARATE: My name is Jose Zarate, and 25 I run La Fuente restaurant on South 5th Street. 38 1 I've been there, running that place for 20 years 2 now. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Zarate, I will need 4 an address for you, please. 5 MR. ZARATE: 625 South 5th Street, 6 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53204. 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Please proceed. 8 MR. ZARATE: First, I want to 9 congratulate Mr. Asad. He is a very successful 10 businessman. He has a lot of customers. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: Nothing further. 12 MR. ZARATE: He's operating right now. 13 Even under the stress of an injunction, he's 14 operating. He's very busy. However, his success 15 is damaging the neighborhood. His customers' 16 unruly behavior disturb the peace of the area. 17 Nothing has changed since the last rejection, 18 since last year. Nothing is going to change if 19 the committee grants him his license again. 20 I really don't like confrontation. I 21 think he is a good businessman. But our 22 businesses are kind of incompatible. Sometimes I 23 think it's time to move out of the area. Because 24 my business just doesn't -- it's not working the 25 way it's supposed to. I have to hire security 39 1 guards to run a restaurant. I don't think that is 2 the way I should be running a business there. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Questions by 4 committee? 5 Mr. Halbrooks, questions? 6 MR. HALBROOKS: Just one second. 7 Mr. Zarate, were you at La Fuente or the Tropical 8 place on the night of February 18th that turned 9 into February 19th at all? 10 MR. ZARATE: I don't recall. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: And do you recall 12 whether the Tropical Club was open that particular 13 night? 14 MR. ZARATE: I can't recall. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: And so do you take any 16 responsibility for the events that occurred in 17 front of your club that night as reported by 18 police here today? 19 MR. ZARATE: What was this? 20 MR. HALBROOKS: Do you take any 21 responsibility for any of the events that occurred 22 in front of your club as reported by the police 23 here today? 24 MR. ZARATE: No. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: You don't? 40 1 MR. ZARATE: No. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Nothing 3 further. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, Mr. Zarate. 5 Next witness. Were there others from 6 the police department, who were -- 7 MS. RUIZ: Mr. Chair, we do have people 8 here from the DA's office and the police 9 department that may be called later to rebut any 10 of Mr. Halbrooks' -- 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Well, what I'll do is, 12 is there anyone that wants to provide testimony 13 here at this point? Someone else in opposition, 14 individuals in opposition at this point; in 15 opposition. 16 MR. SANTOS: Yes. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay, come forward. 18 Were you sworn in here? 19 MR. SANTOS: No, sir, I wasn't. 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Swear him in. 21 THE CLERK: Do you solemnly affirm under 22 the pains and penalties of perjury of the State of 23 Wisconsin that the testimony you are about to give 24 is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the 25 truth? 41 1 MR. SANTOS: Yes. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I'll need your name and 3 a mailing address for the record, please. 4 MR. SANTOS: My name is Randy Santos, 5 and my mailing address is 3714 West Branting Lane. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: West -- 7 MR. SANTOS: Branting Lane, 8 B-R-A-N-T-I-N-G. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. And your 10 testimony, sir. 11 MR. SANTOS: I'm sorry, I'm out of 12 breath. 13 My son was one of the victims that you 14 mentioned in the complaints about getting 15 assaulted at Club Envy. He was there with my 16 other daughter. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: Objection, hearsay. 18 MR. SANTOS: And -- 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I'm going to -- sir, the 20 unfortunate circumstance is, we are going to have 21 to either hear of something that you personally 22 witnessed or that you have personal experience 23 with. I'm not going to dispute anything in the 24 report, and what is -- the police report is, can 25 be considered by this body, but even if it's your 42 1 son, if your son tells you something and you come 2 here and tell us, that is something that cannot be 3 accepted by this committee. That is secondhand 4 testimony; we are required to have firsthand 5 testimony. Okay, is there anything that you can 6 provide to us that is firsthand testimony, the 7 things that you have personally witnessed 8 yourself? 9 MR. SANTOS: The only thing I witnessed 10 was taking him to the hospital after what happened 11 at the club. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: Objection, move to 13 strike. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I'm going to concur, and 15 we will have to strike that part of your 16 testimony. I appreciate your coming down here, 17 Mr. Santos. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Chair, just a point 19 of order, I want to inquire as to the ordinance 20 that the counsel is referring to, thinking that 21 the city attorney has the right to rebut. I don't 22 believe there is a provision in the ordinance. I 23 don't believe they have the burden of proof to 24 generate a right to rebut. And I don't want them 25 planning on talking after we talk if that's not 43 1 the case. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I will concur with that. 3 I think the presentation needs to made and the 4 burden of proof is to present it to the applicant 5 for us as opposed to a rebuttal. 6 MS. RUIZ: I guess, my position on that 7 would be that there has been a lot of the evidence 8 already established based on what Sergeant 9 MacGillis read into the record. And, you know, 10 based on anything that Mr. Halbrooks were to bring 11 up later, there are witnesses here that may speak 12 to further questions or clarifications that the 13 committee may have. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I would ask, if the 15 police department has additional knowledge of 16 items that have been personally witnessed at this 17 particular location, like, which occurred with one 18 of two the establishments that were before us 19 earlier this morning, downtown, that those 20 individual officers come forward and provide 21 firsthand testimony of items and things that they 22 are personally aware of that they personally 23 witnessed with regard to the establishment. 24 MS. RUIZ: Okay. Then we will just have 25 two of the people that are here from the police 44 1 department -- well, one is here from the police 2 department; one from the DA's office. When we 3 start with our testimony, then I can ask, I can 4 bring them up and do the direct examination. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: That's fine. Who do you 6 wish to call forward, Ms. Ruiz, at this time? 7 MS. RUIZ: At this time if I could just 8 call forward Assistant District Attorney Kelly 9 Hedge. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You have been sworn in. 11 Could you provide your name and at least 12 employment address? 13 MS. HEDGE: My name is Kelly Hedge. I'm 14 an assistant district attorney of Milwaukee 15 County. My address downtown is 821 West State 16 Street; my address at District No. 2 Police 17 Station is 245 West Lincoln Avenue. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Are you one of the 19 community prosecutors then? 20 MS. HEDGE: Yes, I am. There are two of 21 us at that district. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. 23 MS. RUIZ: Ms. Hedge, are you familiar 24 with Envy Lounge and Nightclub? 25 MS. HEDGE: Yes, I am. 45 1 MS. RUIZ: And how are you familiar with 2 that club? 3 MS. HEDGE: I am familiar with that club 4 because I helped the officers draft an affidavit, 5 and I have also had communications with the two 6 attorneys representing the owner. 7 MS. RUIZ: And the affidavit that was 8 drafted was in regards to what? 9 MS. HEDGE: In regards to the 10 substantial battery that occurred at that 11 nightclub, I believe it was February 19, 2011. 12 There was one individual who received 11 stitches, 13 and there was another individual that received 8 14 stitches. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: Objection, hearsay. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Even from the district 17 attorney's office, I will actually -- I will move 18 to sustain that and ask you to redirect or 19 provide -- 20 MS. RUIZ: But just so the chair knows, 21 the affidavit that had to be drafted by the DA's 22 office is based on the police reports, and -- 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Notwithstanding, we have 24 the police reports before us. If you wish to 25 desire to make the affidavit part of the record, 46 1 it should have been previously sent to the 2 applicant with his official notice. So we'll 3 accept the police report. If there is other 4 individual direct evidence that she has based on 5 her personal knowledge, which she saw or observed, 6 we'll allow her to proceed forward. And you can 7 additionally redirect the questions in that 8 regard. 9 MS. RUIZ: Okay. I just have a couple 10 more questions for her. 11 With regard to the subpoena, what 12 information did you need that you asked for in the 13 subpoena? 14 MS. HEDGE: In the subpoena, I asked for 15 all video surveillance from inside and outside of 16 the nightclub on that date. 17 MS. RUIZ: Okay. And why did you ask 18 for this information? 19 MS. HEDGE: Because I was interested in 20 whether a crime occurred, and I wanted to charge 21 any perpetrator with substantial battery, against 22 the two victims, because there were two victims. 23 MS. RUIZ: Eventually, when did you get 24 these items? 25 MS. HEDGE: The video surveillance was 47 1 provided to an officer at District 2, I believe it 2 was Officer Randezo (phonetic), on a Sunday night 3 before the order was to be returned to 4 Commissioner Stagel (phonetic) on Monday. I was 5 told that it would be provided to me -- 6 MR. HALBROOKS: Objection. 7 MS. HEDGE: -- on Friday. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And who informed you of 9 this? 10 MS. HEDGE: Attorney Matt Lerner. I 11 believe his last name is Lerner. He is the 12 attorney that represents the owner of the 13 nightclub. 14 He spoke with me on the phone with 15 Attorney Halbrooks. He then showed up at the 16 district to review the affidavit, which I did not 17 have to provide him, but I did to explain to him 18 who the target of the investigation was in order 19 for him to cooperate, which I also did not need to 20 do because it was a subpoena that was served 21 lawfully. And he was to return this information 22 by Monday. So Friday he was asking questions. He 23 was concerned that the owner of the nightclub was 24 a target of the investigation. I told him that 25 I'm a prosecutor, lawyer, and my concern was 48 1 whether there was a felony committed at the club. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: All right. I will note 3 the objection, but I will allow that individual 4 testimony to move forward here. 5 MS. RUIZ: And just one last question. 6 Was there any other information that later you 7 requested that you felt was pertinent? 8 MS. HEDGE: Yes, I also requested the 9 identification information. When a person enters 10 the bar, they are to provide a license which shows 11 their name. I requested that information. I was 12 told that is not part of the subpoena. I informed 13 the attorneys that I could get that as part of the 14 subpoena, but in the spirit of cooperation, I 15 would hope that they would turn that information 16 over to the police department as well. 17 MS. RUIZ: Were you eventually provided 18 with that information? 19 MS. HEDGE: Yes, on Sunday night, before 20 the other subpoena. The subpoena for the video 21 surveillance was required to be before 22 Commissioner Stagel on Monday. They provided that 23 information as well on Sunday night. 24 MS. RUIZ: Okay. I have no further 25 questions. Thank you. 49 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Questions by committee? 2 Mr. Halbrooks. 3 MS. HEDGE: I'd like to make a 4 clarification. I wasn't -- 5 MR. HALBROOKS: Objection. 6 MS. HEDGE: I just want to say, I wasn't 7 provided; Officer Randezo was provided with the 8 video surveillance. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: The subpoena did not 10 request the information from the ID scanner, 11 correct? 12 MS. HEDGE: That is correct. And even 13 when -- 14 MR. HALBROOKS: And you did not -- 15 MS. HEDGE: -- I was not aware of it. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: Yet -- what did you say? 17 You weren't aware of it? 18 MS. HEDGE: Correct. I was not aware -- 19 MR. HALBROOKS: Then how did you know -- 20 I'm sorry. How did you -- 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks, allow her 22 to -- if you did -- if you ask her a question and 23 it requires some clarification, I will allow her 24 to clarify, okay? 25 Go ahead. 50 1 MS. HEDGE: I was not aware of an ID 2 scanner at the bar. 3 MR. HALBROOKS: So how did you -- you 4 just testified under oath that you requested it. 5 How did you know to ask for something you didn't 6 know about? 7 MS. HEDGE: I became aware of it through 8 other avenues. I'm not sure if you told me on the 9 phone or Attorney Lerner or if the officers told 10 me about it, but I became aware that there was 11 such equipment at the bar. And that's why I 12 talked to you about it on the phone, as well as 13 Attorney Lerner, asking that that also be 14 provided. Because then I could identify the 15 perpetrator of the substantial batteries. That 16 was my whole concern, about what occurred; not 17 about the license, but it was my concern about 18 protecting the community from somebody who is 19 beating up people at the bar. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: Then why are you here 21 today? 22 MS. HEDGE: I am here today to explain 23 this further, if there is any issue regarding the 24 affidavit. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: Were you subpoenaed? 51 1 MS. HEDGE: I was not subpoenaed. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: So the district attorney 3 is appearing in objection to a tavern license in 4 the City of Milwaukee? 5 MS. HEDGE: I am appearing on behalf of 6 the reason why I requested the video surveillance. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: I asked you, you're not 8 under subpoena, so you came here of your own free 9 will? 10 MS. HEDGE: Yes. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: And since you're not 12 under subpoena and you're volunteering this 13 testimony, the distinct attorney is involving 14 itself in a City of Milwaukee license issue? 15 MS. RUIZ: Mr. Chair, if I may? 16 The subpoena and the affidavit are two 17 items that have been read into the record by 18 Sergeant MacGillis. And it is my understanding 19 that Mr. Halbrooks has had -- that was the whole 20 reason why Ms. Hedge was -- 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I understand she's here 22 on an informational basis -- 23 MS. RUIZ: Right. 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: -- to provide additional 25 information to that particular item. I just think 52 1 that, I'll allow the question, because I just want 2 to officially go on the record just to allow you 3 to state whether or not you, in your position, are 4 here to provide additional information. I want to 5 gather whether or not officially for the record 6 whether you are here as objecting as part of the 7 DA's office. 8 MS. HEDGE: I am here to provide 9 additional information. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Is the DA's office 11 making any formal objection to this license? 12 MS. HEDGE: I did not speak with Mr. 13 Chisholm about that formally. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. So the answer to 15 that is no? 16 MS. HEDGE: I'm not going to comment. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: Well, then I move to 18 strike the testimony because this is the time for 19 the objectors. 20 I also object to the statement that the 21 subpoena and the affidavit were read into the 22 record; I didn't hear them. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Yeah, I don't know that 24 the subpoena was read into the record either here 25 at this point. I'm going to note your objection; 53 1 I would overrule that. I'm going to overrule that 2 in one regard: I believe the testimony can stand 3 for its own sake and its own merit, and her 4 providing additional clarification to these items, 5 I have no objection to. Either the district 6 attorney is or it isn't. Up until this point, if 7 the district attorney's office is not staked out a 8 formal objection then it is, quote/unquote, not 9 objecting. 10 MS. HEDGE: I would object. I am 11 objecting as an assistant district attorney to the 12 renewal of this license based upon all of that 13 facts and circumstances that have been presented 14 to this council. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. Any additional 16 questions from you here? 17 MR. HALBROOKS: No. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: All right. Thank you, 19 thank you for your testimony. 20 Ms. Ruiz. 21 MS. RUIZ: The only other person here 22 today is Captain Gaglione from the district police 23 station. He was just going to make a statement as 24 to what he's had to deal with as district 25 commander with regard to this club. 54 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Captain Gaglione, if you 2 want to just turn the microphone and make sure 3 that we get you audibly on the record here? And 4 if you could state your name and your position 5 with the Milwaukee Police Department first? 6 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Captain Donald 7 Gaglione, G-A-G-L-I-O-N-E. I'm the district 8 commander at District No. 2. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. Please proceed. 10 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: I'm here on behalf of 11 the Milwaukee Police Department to object to the 12 renewal of Envy's license. 13 If you look at the facts that have been 14 presented by Sergeant MacGillis in the record, 15 there has been multiple felony crimes, substantial 16 batteries that have occurred at this establishment 17 including the most recent one where an actual 18 employee was one of the victims of it and suffered 19 multiple sutures, for him to have multiple sutures 20 due to the incident. 21 I also believe that it should be 22 objected to because, as the record has shown, that 23 there has been uncooperativeness by Mr. Asad 24 during our investigations including the latest 25 incident that the subpoena was issued for the 55 1 recovery of video surveillance for a double felony 2 that occurred that night at his establishment. I 3 find that, as a district commander since 2004, in 4 dealing with different establishments, I know for 5 a fact that there is the ability to get that 6 information to us in a timely manner. There is no 7 reason, in my opinion, that he could not have 8 gotten that information to us that night. I know 9 Mr. Asad is very familiar with this information 10 because, actually, almost two years ago now, I met 11 with Mr. Asad -- 12 MR. HALBROOKS: Objection. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I'm going to allow him 14 to proceed forward. I'll note your objection. 15 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: -- I met with Mr. 16 Asad at District No. 2, with other members of my 17 staff, when he advised me that he has a very 18 excellent camera system, that he is very well, or 19 that he can provide us with any information that 20 we ever need if an incident occurs at his 21 establishment. 22 On this given night, we asked for it, he 23 stated to the officer, as stated in the official 24 offense report for the substantial battery, which 25 is written in a normal course of action for the 56 1 Milwaukee Police Department, that he didn't have 2 time for it because he had 40 employees to pay and 3 he had to close out his registers. I just find it 4 unbelievable that you have an injured -- one of 5 your own employees injured, plus one of your 6 members or one of your customers injured, and you 7 do not want to provide that information so we can 8 get immediate apprehension of a suspect. 9 Also, Mr. Asad, obviously, is very 10 familiar, that he has his ID system, which I am 11 also knowledgeable from talking with him in the 12 past. We could have had the information on the 13 suspect that very night. Since that night, a week 14 later, the suspect wasn't in custody because we 15 didn't have that information, and that actual 16 suspect committed another battery at another club 17 in the Walker's Point area. That offense, in all 18 likelihood, could have been prevented if we would 19 have had that information regarding the suspect 20 immediately the night of the incident. I find no 21 reason why he couldn't have provided it. I 22 understand he may've had 40 employees working that 23 night and he had to close out registers, but I 24 think if there's a felony investigation and the 25 cooperation to Milwaukee Police Department should 57 1 have taken a higher level than closing out the 2 registers. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, Captain. 4 Questions by committee? 5 Mr. Halbrooks. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 7 Captain, why didn't your officers -- I'm 8 going to just start with this 25, why didn't your 9 officers just arrest the guy when they saw him do 10 it and he ran into the vehicle they were in? 11 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: During the night of 12 the substantial battery, I have seen video of -- 13 we had two officers working the Walker's Point 14 area on a weekly safe-street initiative that we 15 have to conduct down there due to issues that 16 occur in Walker's Point. Two of my officers were 17 working in an undercover capacity in an undercover 18 vehicle with no immediate back-up present as a 19 take-down car. They did obtain video footage of 20 what was learned to be the suspect in this offense 21 coming out of the bar and run past their squad. 22 Actually, it's in there, Mr. Halbrooks is correct; 23 it does appear that he almost bumps into the 24 squad. But they were in a UC car, plain clothes, 25 with no immediate back up. And then they -- but 58 1 they did broadcast the description of the suspect 2 running, I believe it was westbound, from the 3 scene. And, obviously, other officers in the area 4 responded to investigate the incident. He wasn't 5 taken into custody immediately. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: Your officer was -- so 7 they were there when the incident happened, 8 correct? 9 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: From the video that 10 I've observed, it does appear that they were there 11 at the immediate time that the incident happened. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: And they knew what 13 happened at the time? 14 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Yes, there's audio in 15 there that they observed that incident happen. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: And so their cover was 17 so important that they had to let the guy go? 18 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: No. First off, they 19 -- I don't believe that the officers knew that it 20 was a felony incident at that time. Obviously, we 21 didn't know the injuries at that time. And I do 22 not have the officers here, unfortunately, exactly 23 what they saw or what they thought the actual 24 incident was going to be: was it going to be a 25 fight, was it going to be a disorderly subject, 59 1 was it going to be a battery, was it going to be a 2 substantial battery. So the actual incident, I 3 don't think raised to a felony investigation in 4 their mind at that point. But on my behalf of 5 speaking on their behalf without talking to them 6 further, and I don't think that would be 7 admissible. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you, I appreciate 9 that. Now, have you spoken to Officer Percelli? 10 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Since the night of 11 the incident, no, I haven't. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: You have not spoken to 13 Officer Percelli? 14 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: No. Other members of 15 my staff have, and I've read her reports that are 16 in the police report. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: You've read the reports? 18 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Yes, sir. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. So Officer 20 Percelli showed up at what time? 21 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: She was dispatched at 22 1:49 a.m. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: So the PA-33 -- the 24 synopsis is not correct? The synopsis is not 25 correct? 60 1 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Actually, No. 25 on 2 the police report states 2:19, which I'm assuming 3 is a typo; it should be 2:20, after midnight, and 4 we have -- the synopsis has 1:54, and she has it 5 as 1:49. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: So the police synopsis 7 is incorrect that was read here? The document 8 read by Sergeant MacGillis was not correct? 9 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: It says 1:54 a.m. 10 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Now, what 11 did -- 12 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: I believe -- excuse 13 me, I believe that the 1:54 comes, she was 14 dispatched at 1:49 a.m., upon her arrival at 1:54 15 a.m., according to the supplementary reports that 16 Officer Percelli filed. So I guess it would be 17 correct that she arrived at 1:54 a.m. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: Okay, so the arrival. 19 So then what did she do immediately upon arrival? 20 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Chair, would you like 21 me to read the entire supplementary report that 22 she filed? 23 MR. HALBROOKS: No, it was already read. 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks, if you're 25 going to use that, if you're going to be writing 61 1 there, you can even use the standing microphone if 2 it helps if you want to move it there. We need to 3 get you on the record here. 4 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Mr. Chair, the actual 5 supplementary report filed as a result of the 6 double substantial battery felony crime that 7 occurred that evening was not read. What was read 8 was the police report, which is filed by the 9 Milwaukee Police Department, which is a brief 10 summary of the entire incident. If you would 11 like, I would be happy to read the entire 12 supplementary report for you. I'm not sure if 13 that's necessary. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: No, I'm not going to ask 15 you to read the entire PA-33. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 17 Upon arriving, Officer Percelli located 18 Mr. Asad? 19 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Yes, according to the 20 police report. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: And at that time -- 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Use the microphone, 23 again. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: I usually think I speak 25 loud. Thank you. 62 1 At that time, the PA-33 indicates that, 2 according to what Sergeant MacGillis read, that 3 Mr. Asad indicated that he called for an ambulance 4 because one of his security guards was hit in the 5 head and was bleeding. 6 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: That is part of the 7 supplementary report, yes. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: So in the PA-33, where 9 later it's written that he thought his security 10 guard slipped on the floor, why is the department 11 providing that information if he initially said 12 what had happened? 13 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Based on the 14 incident, or I'm sorry, the license premise 15 report, it appeared that the officer that wrote 16 this was not present. Unfortunately, because she 17 was not subpoenaed and she is out of town on 18 vacation, otherwise she would be here. At some 19 point Mr. Asad must have stated that he thought he 20 slipped, but I can't testify to that. I can only 21 testify that that's what the report says. 22 SGT. MACGILLIS: Mr. Chairman. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Sergeant MacGillis. 24 SGT. MACGILLIS: May I interject? I may 25 be able to answer Mr. Halbrooks' question. I have 63 1 the PA-33 here, a copy of it, and it's basically 2 divided into two paragraphs. And what it states, 3 right at the bottom on the first paragraph, "At 4 that time, Asad then stated he didn't know his 5 security guard had been hit with a glass bottle. 6 He stated the security guard told him that he 7 slipped and fell on the ground and that's how he 8 sustained his injury." So that's why I put that 9 -- if that's the question you were asking, sir, 10 that's why I put that in the synopsis. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: Right. And that's why I 12 was intending on going through -- it would have 13 gone faster if I would have gone through it with 14 Sergeant MacGillis, but I kind of had to do this 15 first, so. 16 But, Captain, you must admit, it doesn't 17 make -- those two sentences read in conjunction 18 don't make any sense. 19 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Actually, as a result 20 of this investigation and having knowledge of this 21 investigation and learning of the victim, I do 22 believe, in my opinion, that there is a reason why 23 the victim of this substantial battery may have 24 lied to the owner of Envy: to avoid having police 25 contact. 64 1 MR. HALBROOKS: I'm referring to the 2 police officer's conversation with Mr. Asad, where 3 at the beginning of the paragraph he reported he 4 was hit in the head and bleeding, and at the end, 5 the same conversation, he slipped on the floor. 6 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: I cannot say why 7 Officer Percelli would have put that second in her 8 report. But by reading it, I would have to say at 9 some point during the conversation with Mr. Asad 10 that he stated that. And without her being here, 11 I couldn't say why she has that second instead of 12 first, which one would assume that that probably 13 happened first. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: And we did try to 15 subpoena her, right? She was subpoenaed, but she 16 is not in the state. 17 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Yes, sir, you brought 18 the subpoena to District 2, I believe it was on 19 Friday, but she had left for vacation on Thursday 20 or Friday; or Wednesday or Thursday. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 22 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: You're welcome. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: I want to know, what did 24 Officer Percelli do next? 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I'm going to ask that 65 1 you either provide some direction. Because the 2 reports are the reports, and, you know, as soon as 3 I get a copy back with our clerk, Mr. Lee, that is 4 going to be part of the official record in this 5 proceeding here, so, I mean, if you have a 6 specific question -- and Mr. Halbrooks, the other 7 thing that I just want to ask, and I'm just going 8 to direct you to follow through on -- right now at 9 this point, Alderman Kovac would move to make the 10 PA-33 for the incident relating to the evening of 11 2/20/2011 a part of our official record in this 12 proceeding, and hearing no objection, so ordered. 13 Mr. Halbrooks, if you ask Captain 14 Gaglione to just say, "What happened that night," 15 then he is going to look and read the report. I 16 mean, I might as well just read the report myself, 17 and we'll just surmise that the officer is correct 18 in her filling of the report and this is what 19 happened, period. If you have a specific 20 objection -- now, you were also asking the captain 21 for something to which this is secondhand even to 22 him. He may be the custodian, the supervisor of 23 the individual officer who filed this report, and 24 perhaps in the guise of the police department, he 25 is the custodian of record at that particular 66 1 district station, but if it's something that he 2 has specific testimony, and first and foremost 3 I'll ask you to direct him. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Secondly -- hold on, if 6 I may finish. I'm going to ask you to direct your 7 testimony to items specifically that he addressed 8 as well too. And this applies to anyone else, 9 because there are times where you utilize 10 witnesses, the witness says, "I want to talk about 11 and I'm going to say I know about 'A,'" and then 12 all of a sudden, you pull out and you start having 13 him talk about "B" and "C." "I want to question 14 you about 'B' and 'C.'" Well, if they don't talk 15 about "A" -- then if they talk about "A," you have 16 to ask questions about "A" to elicit more about 17 "A." I don't want you to delve into your own 18 right field when they're in left, when they talk 19 only about left. So specifically to anything that 20 he discussed and be very, very narrow and specific 21 in your form of questions, please. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: I will. And possibly 23 Sergeant MacGillis could help us with this. This 24 is the reason why I suggested that 20 be read 25 after 25, because 25 provides the background for 67 1 20. And it is 20 that the captain was talking 2 about: the failure to cooperate. It is that that 3 I'm trying to -- and I did make copies of the 4 PA-33. And, again, I got thrown off a little bit 5 when Sergeant MacGillis. So I can go much faster 6 now if you all have copies. 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: No, there is one copy 8 that is officially part of the record. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: Would you like more? 10 No, okay. 11 Captain, Officer Percelli went to the 12 hospital and met with the two victims? 13 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Yes, I believe, yes. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: And while she was at the 15 hospital, she received a call from Nathan Pavlick, 16 who is one of your officers. 17 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Are you reading from 18 the PA-33? The PA-33 states that Officer Percelli 19 en route to District No. 2 at 5:00 a.m. received a 20 phone message from the assigned desk sergeant, 21 Officer Nathan Pavlick, who stated, Pavlick 22 stated, "That Asad had come to District No. 2 23 while Percelli was at Mt. Sinai interviewing the 24 victims. Asad stated to him that the assailant at 25 his club wrote down -- I'm sorry, Asad stated to 68 1 him that his assistant at the club wrote down the 2 wrong security guard's name, birthday and phone 3 number on the Post-it that he had given to her. 4 He stated the correct security guard's name was 5 Marcus Leonard. He then stated I could call him 6 with any other questions or requests." 7 MR. HALBROOKS: All right, and then 8 there is another highlighted -- 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks -- 10 MS. RUIZ: Mr. Chair, does Mr. Halbrooks 11 actually have any questions for the captain, or is 12 he just going to make him read the entire PA-33? 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I concur. 14 Mr. Halbrooks. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: So at that point -- 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks, this will 17 be the last time I will ask you if you have any 18 questions. You know, with the previous license 19 hearing where I said, "Who, what, where, when, 20 why," and, specifically, I'll ask again, last 21 time, please ask something specific other than 22 asking the captain to read the police report. 23 You're asking the captain to read the police 24 report. It better be something specific to his 25 testimony. And if it's not specific to his 69 1 testimony, if it's extrapolating out, it better be 2 direct. Last time. Otherwise, please, I will cut 3 you off. So any court that actually reads the 4 transcripts, which will possibly happen here, will 5 know that I've been pleading over and over again 6 and directing you in one way, and it's sort of -- 7 you're going off on a tangent. So, please, either 8 direct -- and I don't want the captain to read any 9 more of the police report. He reads very well. I 10 can read it. It's part of the official record in 11 this proceeding. As you can see, I'm getting 12 frustrated. Please, direct it to a specific 13 question as opposed to asking him to read what the 14 police report says. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: All right, your Honor. 16 Mr. Chairman, I'm trying to ask him about his 17 statements about whether Mr. Asad cooperated. And 18 I want to ask him about that sentence that he just 19 read as to how he jives that sentence to Mr. Asad 20 going on in the middle of the night. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Why don't you ask him 22 that? 23 Captain Gaglione, why don't you answer 24 that here? 25 MR. HALBROOKS: Is that cooperation or 70 1 not? 2 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Mr. Halbrooks, when I 3 made my statement to the committee, I stated that 4 I believe that in the interest of justice, law 5 enforcement taking a felony subject into custody, 6 that Mr. Asad did have the ability to give me 7 that, or to turn over that video to the officers 8 as well as the ID reader information on the night 9 in question. I stated in my testimony that based 10 on meeting with him previously, I know he has the 11 knowledge of his equipment and he knows how to 12 work it very well, just as he was setting it up in 13 the hallway prior to this hearing, he is very 14 competent in it, from what he has stated to me. 15 For those reasons, I believe we should have had 16 that information that night. Not only do I 17 believe we would have gotten the suspect in 18 custody faster, we would have also prevented 19 another crime that happened a week later, in my 20 opinion. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Chair, could you ask 22 the captain to answer the question about whether 23 that was cooperation or not? 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Was that cooperation in 25 your estimation? 71 1 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: That portion that I 2 read appears that he was cooperating at that 3 point, at 5:30 a.m., several hours after the 4 incident had occurred. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: Well, I think that was 6 in the 4:00-hour. The 5:00 is when your officer 7 got the call, correct? 8 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: The officer called 9 him at 5:00, correct. 10 MR. HALBROOKS: No. 11 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Excuse me, it states 12 she was en route back to District 2 at 5:00 a.m. 13 when she talked to Officer Pavlick. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: Right, so it must have 15 been somewhere in the 4:00 hour. 16 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Yes, one would have 17 to assume, if the call came in at 5:00. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: Officer Percelli then 19 contacted Mr. Asad at 5:30, correct? 20 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Yes, sir. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: And you haven't talked 22 to Officer Percelli, but the report does indicate 23 they made arrangements to be in contact later that 24 day, correct? 25 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Yes. 72 1 MR. HALBROOKS: And Officer Percelli was 2 off that night? 3 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Actually, by what you 4 told me, yes, because I'm not sure if she was off 5 that night. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: And you do have an 7 additional report you brought with you today -- 8 I'm sorry, let me go over one other thing. 9 So you were overruling your officer who 10 wrote in her report, the PA-33 she wrote, and the 11 police report that, "He was completely cooperative 12 throughout the night." So your officer that was 13 on the scene talking to Mr. Asad, you are 14 disagreeing with her, correct? 15 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: The PA-33 states that 16 Mr. Asad stated to Officer Percelli that, "He knew 17 I had to file a tavern report regarding this 18 incident. And he," referring to Mr. Asad, "wanted 19 to make sure that I wrote in it that he was 20 completely cooperative throughout the night." The 21 incident that is a substantial battery occurred at 22 approximately 1 -- sometime about 1:49 a.m., 23 that's when the squads were dispatched. I would 24 have to assume it happened a few minutes before 25 that. 73 1 And I still, as I stated earlier, 2 believe that that video and the ID of the suspect 3 involved should have been turned over to police in 4 a more timely manner. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Now, you 6 brought a police report with you from Sergeant 7 Zarno. 8 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Yes. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: Could we have that given 10 to the committee, please? 11 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Pardon me, sir? 12 MR. HALBROOKS: Pass it up to the 13 committee. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Please inform the 15 committee of what is this report? 16 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. The chair 17 may recall signing a subpoena for Sergeant Zarno. 18 The chair may recall, we tried to get ahold of the 19 chair on Thursday. Finally, on Friday, we got 20 ahold, we got the subpoenas signed and then got 21 them delivered. At that time, Sergeant Zarno was 22 off and not on until last night at 11:30. Upon 23 being served at 11:30, I asked that he contact me 24 so that we could work something out so that a 25 sergeant getting off duty at 8:00 didn't have to 74 1 be here for an 11:00 hearing. So we -- the 2 sergeant wrote a report, and by stipulation with 3 the captain, we've released the sergeant in lieu 4 of this report, which occurred, I believe, at 5 11:30 that night. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: All right. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: So the report indicates 8 that -- 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Why don't I have 10 Alderman Zielinski move to make this Milwaukee 11 Police Department memorandum, dated 3/7/11 from 12 Sergeant Greg Zarno to Captain Gaglione, part of 13 our official record in this proceeding. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Hearing no objection to 16 that, so ordered. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: And, Captain, the report 18 indicates that Sergeant Zarno took a call from 19 Mr. Asad at approximately, is it 11:30, wondering 20 where Officer Percelli was, correct? 21 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: On Sunday, officer -- 22 I'm sorry, Sergeant Zarno stated in his report 23 that, "Sunday the 20th, between 11:00, 11:30 p.m., 24 he received a call at District No. 2 sergeant's 25 office from Mr. Asad who stated that he was the 75 1 owner of Envy. Asad stated that he had a copy of 2 some surveillance video from an incident at the 3 business the previous night, and then asked if 4 Officer Percelli was working so he could drop it 5 off. Sergeant Zarno replied, no, she was not 6 working, but he could still come into the district 7 and give the property to him, Sergeant Zarno. He 8 informed Mr. Asad that he would ensure that 9 Officer Percelli would get the disc. Asad stated 10 that that would be fine and he would come in." It 11 states that officer, Sergeant Zarno's duty 12 assignment for Monday the 21st, which would have 13 been the night of Sunday, February 20th, he worked 14 from 12:00 midnight to 8:00 a.m., and that Asad 15 did not come into the district and did not call. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. So you 17 didn't know about that attempt at cooperation 18 until this morning, correct? 19 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: I received this 20 report this morning, yes. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: You didn't know about 22 the contents of the report before this morning, 23 did you? 24 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Correct. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: And the next time that 76 1 you were aware that the Milwaukee Police 2 Department had contact with Mr. Asad is when 3 Lieutenant MacGillis was at his parents' house 4 trying to serve the subpoena? 5 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Yes. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: And Officer Percelli 7 knew nothing about the subpoena at that time, 8 correct? 9 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: I don't have personal 10 knowledge about that, but that's what you told me 11 earlier today. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: Well, isn't that -- 13 don't you have a police report there saying that 14 at 11:30 on Monday night she contacted officer, or 15 contacted Mr. Asad after the officers had already 16 served the subpoena, and she didn't -- at that 17 point, it was being handled by the other officers? 18 Did you read that report she wrote? 19 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Are you talking about 20 the PA-33, or the actual -- 21 MR. HALBROOKS: No, the report from the 22 Monday night at 11:30. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Do you have a date on 24 Monday night? 25 MR. HALBROOKS: It would be Monday 77 1 night, February 21st, at 11:30 p.m. 2 And -- so the case she was working on, 3 the first time she was back on duty she called Mr. 4 Asad, and at that point, this other subpoena issue 5 had gone on, correct? 6 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Her sup states that, 7 yes, on sup number -- Supplementary Report No. 3 8 of the substantial battery states that you are 9 correct, "On Monday, February 21st, at 11:30 p.m., 10 Officer Percelli contacted," or -- to brief it, 11 "conducted a follow-up investigation regarding the 12 video surveillance and the results of the ID 13 scanner regarding the incident. She called 14 Mr. Asad and inquired whether he had either of 15 these pieces of evidence for me to pick up. Asad 16 stated he could not provide me with either of 17 these items and that I would have to contact his 18 attorney for any special requests I had." 19 And I -- 20 MR. HALBROOKS: So who -- I'm sorry. 21 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Go ahead, sir. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: Who decided to go get 23 the subpoena? 24 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Captain Donald 25 Gaglione. 78 1 MR. HALBROOKS: And you made all of 2 those decisions without consulting with Officer 3 Percelli, correct? 4 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Officer Percelli was 5 not available at that time. I read the -- 6 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 7 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: I read the -- 8 MR. HALBROOKS: When the subpoena -- 9 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Can I finish? 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Go ahead, Captain. 11 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: I read the 12 supplementary report, the original supplementary 13 report, where he stated, quote or -- where he 14 stated that he didn't have time to give us the 15 video due to the fact that he had 40 employees 16 working who had to be paid, and he had to close 17 out the registers. In my experience as a district 18 commander, as a lieutenant, as a sergeant and as a 19 tavern-car officer, I find it, I found it, based 20 on two felonies being committed, including a 21 felony against one of his employees and a citizen 22 of the City of Milwaukee, not acceptable that we 23 did not get that information immediately. I felt 24 that because I know Mr. Asad has great knowledge, 25 and by his own admission in a meeting with me 79 1 previous, that he has knowledge of how to handle 2 that, and that should have been a priority. The 3 safety of our citizens of the City of Milwaukee 4 and his own employees should have taken 5 preference; not closing out the registers. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, so did you make the 7 decision to send five squads to serve a subpoena? 8 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: I did not -- I sent 9 -- I had the officers get the subpoena, and they 10 were advised to serve the subpoena. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: Were you aware they sent 12 five squads to voluntarily meet with Mr. Asad and 13 Mr. Lerner? 14 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: I believe it was 15 three squads, but stand by. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: Do you have any photos 17 of the three squads? 18 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: I don't have photos. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: All right. Now, so the 20 sole basis for the non-cooperation was what 21 happened in the time when Mr. Asad made the one 22 statement that he was trying to get the place 23 closed up. That is the sole basis why you believe 24 he was uncooperative. 25 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: I believe he was 80 1 uncooperative based on the report that I read, and 2 yes, where he stated that he could not get the 3 video surveillance due to the fact that he had to 4 close the registers and pay his 40 employees. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: Right. Now you -- 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I'm going to hold you 7 off. We're going to recess for one minute, one 8 minute. Anybody leaves, and they are going to 9 risk any questions. 10 (Recess taken.) 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: In consultation with the 12 assistant city attorney, I'm going to ask at this 13 time here, Mr. Halbrooks, that if you have any 14 more specific questions that are not addressing 15 this police report, that you ask them; otherwise, 16 I'm going to ask and rule that you move on here. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: Well, it's a significant 18 event. But I though I'd -- we're done. 19 Captain, in the beginning of your 20 testimony, you indicated that you were objecting, 21 and you were objecting on the basis of this report 22 that was read that there were multiple felony 23 crimes, correct? Is that what you said? 24 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Yes, I believe it was 25 three substantial batteries in the police report. 81 1 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. So which 2 ones are you referring to? 3 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: The substantial 4 battery that occurred on January 3, 2010. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: I'm sorry. 6 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: The battery that 7 occurred -- 8 MR. HALBROOKS: Hold on, objection. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Objection? 10 MR. HALBROOKS: There is none on January 11 3rd. I don't know what he is talking about. 12 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Chair, I actually 13 took one that was above the line starting on Item 14 No. 10, which was a substantial battery. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: But that would have -- 16 for the purpose, for your purposes as a commander, 17 you can consider that. In terms of his overall 18 totality -- for our consideration as a body, which 19 is actually what matters ultimately, that is 20 something that we cannot reconsider. 21 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Yes, sir. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: From his position as a 23 Milwaukee police captain, that is within his 24 purview for showing up, Mr. Halbrooks, I'll just 25 state that. Not that we're going to. 82 1 MR. HALBROOKS: Which ones that were 2 read by Sergeant MacGillis are you referring to 3 happened? 4 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: No. 16, 8/15/2010, 5 and No. 25, the incident that we've been talking 6 about that Officer Percelli is the investigating 7 officer of. Also there is a non-felony battery 8 that occurred on March 10th. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: I don't have March -- 10 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: I'm sorry, March 7th, 11 excuse me. That would be number -- 12 MR. HALBROOKS: I don't have March 7th. 13 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: March 5th, March 5th. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 15 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: I believe the PA-33 16 was written on March 7th. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. So let's 18 look at No. 16. In the synopsis that was read by 19 Sergeant MacGillis, it says, "On August 15, 2010, 20 police were dispatched --" do you know what day of 21 the week August 15th was? 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: The chair is going to 23 rule that question out of order. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: The chair is going to 83 1 ask -- again, we've read the police report 2 already. He's provided you an answer, Mr. 3 Halbrooks, saying that he believes that there were 4 a substantial number of batteries. I don't need 5 for you to direct him to say, "On Item 16, can you 6 please read again whether there was a battery that 7 was in part of the police report?" That's what 8 you're doing, Mr. Halbrooks. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: No, I'm not. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Are you completed with 11 your -- 12 MR. HALBROOKS: No, I have to ask him 13 about these things that he has testified about. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I disagree. I believe 15 that you right now are asking him to reread the 16 police report. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: No, I'm not. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You know what, what day 19 of the week it is, is irrelevant. Ask your 20 question here now, and if I find you going out of 21 line again, you're done with your questioning of 22 the captain. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: Is Envy open on Sunday 24 nights to your knowledge? 25 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: I do not believe they 84 1 are open on Sunday nights. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: Regarding Item No. 13 -- 3 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Sir, I'm sorry, can 4 you repeat that? 5 MR. HALBROOKS: Item 13. Is it your 6 knowledge about whether or not Mr. Asad was 7 cooperative that night with that investigation? 8 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: I will have to say 9 that based on what I read and the officer stated 10 in his PA-33 report, that the security staff was 11 cooperative, which I would have to assume would be 12 a branch of Mr. Asad's, so I would have to say, 13 yes, he was cooperative. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: So that was in the PA -- 15 that was in the police report, but not in the 16 PA-33. I'm sorry, that was in the PA-33; not in 17 the synopsis. That was left out. 18 MS. RUIZ: Mr. Chair, the captain does 19 not do the summaries. So if Mr. Halbrooks is 20 going to direct any of the questioning to the 21 police report that Mr., or that Captain Gaglione 22 actually has here, but he was not the one that 23 actually wrote the summary that was read into the 24 record earlier. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I'll concur. 85 1 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Captain, you 2 do have the report, not the -- you do have the 3 PA-33, correct? 4 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Yes, somewhere in 5 this binder is the PA-33. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: And in that 7 circumstance, the PA-33 indicates that the person 8 that was in the fight was an individual named 9 Camille Wooden. Are you familiar with that 10 individual? 11 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: I have no personal 12 knowledge of Camille Wooden. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: Are you familiar with a 14 Detective Wooden on the Milwaukee Police 15 Department? 16 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: The name sounds 17 familiar. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: Is there a policy by 19 which when a relative of a detective gets into a 20 fight that the police officers call the off-duty 21 detective and have him come down? 22 MS. RUIZ: Is that relevant to today's 23 hearing? 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I don't believe it is 25 either. 86 1 Thank you. The questioning is done. 2 And here's why: again, the police records stand 3 for what the records stand for. The captain 4 provided some additional basis for an opinion of 5 saying that he objects. He objects for reasons A 6 and B. You have the ability to elicit questions 7 to his direct testimony. You have chosen to ask 8 for a sideshow of additional police topics and to 9 ask him to read reports and to extrapolate his 10 personal opinion upon additional reports. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: I'd like -- 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: No, no, you're done. 13 You're done. There is no response. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: I can't redirect? 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Thank you, 16 Captain. 17 Were there any other persons to provide 18 testimony? 19 MS. RUIZ: No, Mr. Chair, unless the 20 alderman would like to. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman? 22 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: Are you ready for 23 me? 24 MR. HALBROOKS: Point of order, Mr. 25 Chair. Is it the chair's expectation that the 87 1 alderman is under oath? 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: The alderman is sworn 3 in. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: He is not sworn in. He 5 does not take the oath in these settings. I've 6 watched him previously, and I've watched him 7 today. He does not take the oath. 8 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: You are -- 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Hold on. 10 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: You are lying, Mr. 11 Halbrooks. You are lying. Mr. Halbrooks, you are 12 lying. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Witkowiak. 14 First off, Mr. Halbrooks, that is out of 15 order. If you provide one more type of comment to 16 that regard, I will ask that you be excused from 17 this proceeding. First and foremost, I was 18 present here on the previous matter. We do not 19 swear -- when an alderman is sworn in and they 20 have four items in a row, they are sworn in on the 21 first, and they are sworn in for the duration of 22 that day. Alderman Witkowiak showed up here on a 23 previous matter and was sworn in. Because your 24 eyes weren't open, sir, doesn't mean that mine 25 weren't. That is out of line, that comment. That 88 1 is out of order, and you are not permitted to 2 speak right now. You know, any judge that sees 3 that ought to watch the proceeding and not just 4 read the transcript. That is absolutely 5 despicable, that comment. That is an 6 embarrassment. 7 Alderman Witkowiak. 8 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: Thank you, Mr. 9 Chairman and members. 10 I ask ourselves the question today: 11 when is enough enough? You're all sometimes 12 worried about legal maneuvering that attorneys do 13 when they represent their clients in matters like 14 this. You're worried that it's going to end up in 15 front of some judge, some judge is going to come 16 here and say, "What are you guys doing in your 17 quasi-judicial body, or whatever you call it 18 here?" And the judge seems to know better and 19 says, "No, we can, you know, we can provide an 20 injunction because perhaps the committee made a 21 wrong decision." I don't want anybody to be 22 afraid about the decision that they make today. 23 When is enough enough? We went through 24 20 years' worth of hard work to redevelop that 25 neighborhood. And it was doing great until 89 1 certain things happened to start to ruin all of 2 the progress that we made in that neighborhood. 3 Specifically of Club Envy. You look at this: 4 Item No. 13, the fight in the club that spilled 5 out into the alley; Item No. 15, disorderly; Item 6 No. 16, another substantial battery; Item No. 17, 7 Item No. 17, how do you feel about that? How do 8 you feel about Item No. 17 when you know that the 9 police officers have the authority to go anyplace 10 on the licensed premises during the course of 11 their normal business? And how do you feel when 12 the applicant says, "Get the 'blank' out of my 13 office," and the applicant says to the officer, 14 "I'm going to say that your guys stole $10,000 and 15 write a complaint against you"? And you go to 16 Item 19, again, yelling, screaming, disturbances 17 on the street; Item No. 25, at least two 18 substantial batteries, lack of cooperation by the 19 applicant. 20 Mr. Chairman and members, regardless of 21 the fact that this place still has its Tavern 22 Dance License based on an injunction by the court, 23 I'm asking you today to please, please, help me 24 save our neighborhood. Do not renew this Class B 25 Tavern License, and do not, however the city 90 1 attorney is referring to whether this is a new 2 application or a renewal, do not approve the 3 Tavern Dance License and associated licenses with 4 this. 5 This is draining the life -- this is 6 draining the life out of a neighborhood that we 7 put 20 years' worth of rebuilding into. The most 8 well-established businesses on the street are now 9 considering or are in the process of moving 10 because of the damage done by the actions of 11 patrons of this club. I'm asking you, please, for 12 non-renewal of the Class B Tavern License and 13 non-renewal or denial of the Tavern Dance and 14 associated licenses. Thank you. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. 16 Are there questions by committee? 17 Questions by counsel of Alderman Witkowiak? 18 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 19 Alderman, you don't have any personal 20 knowledge of any of the items you just testified 21 about, correct? 22 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: I've been there 23 when there have been disturbances outside, yes. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: Could you ask the 25 witness to answer the question? 91 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: In specific to any of 2 the events in the police report, other than 3 general occasions? 4 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: I have been there 5 when I've had calls about disturbances outside of 6 the club. I can't say specifically if it were any 7 of those nights quoted in the police report. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: And so the statements 9 that you just made about the incidents, you were 10 simply just reading from the police synopsis that 11 was provided by Sergeant MacGillis, correct? 12 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: Yes, but I also 13 have personal knowledge because I get calls when 14 there is a big disturbance on the street. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: Do you have any personal 16 knowledge of any of the items before the committee 17 today? 18 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: I went over there 19 twice within the last year when there were large 20 disturbances on the street because somebody called 21 me, and it was probably two of those where the 22 street was jammed with cars and people. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: Which one -- what day -- 24 what are you talking about? Probably which two? 25 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: What's your point? 92 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: If I may, Mr. Halbrooks, 2 I mean, I understand -- Alderman Witkowiak is not 3 here as a personal witness. All aldermen provide 4 representation of an area. And based upon 5 contacts with the police department, with 6 individuals, they provide an overall assessment, 7 and they additionally provide a recommendation to 8 the body, which he has done. I understand where 9 you're going at. 10 MR. HALBROOKS: Then I'm done. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: He's not stipulating 12 beyond what he stated here, so, I mean -- 13 MR. HALBROOKS: Okay. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: -- please, redirect the 15 question. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: I'm done. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You'll never find a time 18 where an individual alderman won't gather their 19 own information and make a recommendation based on 20 what they see fit in the area that they represent. 21 That's what he has done. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: Right. I think we all 23 recall at another club hearing where he did 24 provide the testimony that resulted in a motion. 25 I just wanted to make sure that that's not what 93 1 we're talking about here. Okay. Thank you. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Do you have any 3 additional questions of him then? 4 MR. HALBROOKS: No. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. All right. 6 There being no additional testimony from those in 7 objection, Mr. Halbrooks, Mr. Lerner, you are 8 provided time to address the police report as well 9 as, if you so desire, an opportunity to call 10 forward additional witnesses here. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Now, in 12 terms of the police report, do you want me to do 13 that verbally, or do you want -- 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: However you wish to 15 proceed within your time constraint here. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: I have the -- I just 17 want to make sure -- it might go faster if I ask 18 Mr. Asad questions counting it to timewise. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Yes, but I'll allow 20 you -- if you wish to direct it in specific 21 questions to try to move things forward, I'll 22 allow you to proceed that way. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: Then look at the police 24 report quickly. 25 Apparently, there is one individual 94 1 here. 2 Let me quickly do what I do, not on the 3 clock, go through the report and give you like the 4 headlines, and then we can start the clock. 5 That's what I've done in the past. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Stephens, in terms 7 of your reading of the ordinance, is there any 8 specification as to whether or not separate time 9 must be provided for the police report? 10 ATTORNEY STEPHENS: The court provides, 11 in a contested hearing, when the chair calls a 12 contested hearing, the licensed applicant receives 13 30 minutes and the objectors receive 30 minutes. 14 The times can be extended by the chair and the 15 committee as they see fit if the circumstances 16 warrant, but there is no specific mention whether 17 or not time should be delved relative to whether 18 the licensed applicant is dealing with the police 19 report or anything of that. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Chair. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: I don't believe that 23 this was called as a contested hearing. I have to 24 put it on the record. But it never was called. 25 I'll go as fast as I can, but I presume that if it 95 1 was called as a contested, it is put on the notice 2 and it's also put down a time. So presuming that 3 the city attorney said the time limits don't 4 apply, I will still attempt to go as fast as I 5 can. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Go. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. So I'll just 8 start going through with Mr. Asad then, if that's 9 the pleasure. Now, I do have the videos for each 10 of the incidents, and then -- 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I'm still going to ask 12 that you're going to -- and I may tell you that 13 we're winding down on time. I'm just going to let 14 you know that. In as orderly procession as you 15 can, go ahead. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Asad. 17 MR. ASAD: Yes. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: Item 13 on the synopsis. 19 MR. ASAD: Yes. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: You remember my question 21 about that you and the guest services individuals 22 were as cooperative, were very cooperative? 23 MR. ASAD: Right. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: What is the reason for 25 that? 96 1 MR. ASAD: Because we always cooperate 2 with MPD. The reason I have the surveillance is 3 to protect the crowd, protect the city and protect 4 myself to make sure of that. And when they came 5 in to ask for it, I gave it to them. I gave them 6 above and beyond that, with the ID card scanner, 7 always. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, when you indicated 9 -- first of all, are you aware that anyone was 10 charged in that particular incident? 11 MR. ASAD: I am not. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: And which police 13 officers did you meet with that night? 14 MR. ASAD: I believe it was Officer 15 Cordobas, and I can't remember the other one. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: Did you meet with a 17 detective? 18 MR. ASAD: Yes, Detective Wooden was 19 also there. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: And do you have an 21 understanding of why Detective Wooden was there? 22 MR. ASAD: It was his sister that was in 23 that incident. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: Where was he during the 25 investigation? 97 1 MR. ASAD: He was off duty. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: Where was he in the 3 club? 4 MR. ASAD: He was in my office, in one 5 of my chairs in my office, watching surveillance 6 video with me. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: And when the alderman 8 was testifying about this fight, that this is a 9 reason you should not be renewed, how long did 10 this fight go on for? 11 MR. ASAD: Ten; five, ten seconds, if 12 that. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: And after five, ten 14 seconds, what happened next? 15 MR. ASAD: My brother, actually the 16 other owner of the club, was the closest to her, 17 and he grabbed one of the girls and put them, 18 positioned himself in between her and the other 19 one so they couldn't fight. And then the rest of 20 my guest safety administrators responded. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: And how did you feel 22 that you needed to deal with Detective Wooden when 23 he was in your office? 24 MR. ASAD: Respectfully and, you know, 25 honestly, and give him anything he asked for, 98 1 basically. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: And to make certain, you 3 have no complaints about Detective Wooden, of how 4 he handled it, he didn't ask for any special 5 privileges? 6 MR. ASAD: No, sir. Detective Wooden is 7 a gentleman and a scholar. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Now Item 14, 9 May 14, 2010, my understanding is that Officer 10 Agnew showed up around 9:30. 11 MR. ASAD: It was Officer Agnew and 12 Miller. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: At 9:30, were you open? 14 MR. ASAD: We had been open for a 15 half-hour. However, there were no customers in 16 the building. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: What time do your 18 customers normally arrive? 19 MR. ASAD: 11:00, 11:30. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: So was there any -- when 21 I read this report, I'm trying to understand, it 22 doesn't appear to me that any dancing or music was 23 going on at that particular moment. 24 MR. ASAD: There was music on. We did 25 not have a DJ due to not having the license or an 99 1 injunction at that point. The only reason we were 2 operating the way we were is, at the meeting with 3 Alderman Witkowiak and -- I forgot the other 4 gentleman's name. I'm sure Jim can -- 5 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Pfaff? 6 MR. ASAD: Is that it, Jim? Is that his 7 name, when we met at City Hall? 8 MR. HALBROOKS: The individual from 9 licensing? 10 MR. ASAD: Yes. 11 The only reason we were operating the 12 way we were was based on we had a prearranged list 13 of questions that we went and asked. And every 14 single question was answered. And according to 15 Mr. Pfaff, we could operate the way we were: with 16 me controlling the music and having no DJ. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: So despite the way the 18 synopsis or the PA-33 reads, there were no 19 customers in there? 20 MR. ASAD: There were no customers. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: And there as no -- you 22 essentially closed at 9:30 and didn't remain open? 23 MR. ASAD: Correct. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: At that point, you then 25 determined that it was legal in the City of 100 1 Milwaukee to play radio? 2 MR. ASAD: Correct. The next -- I went 3 home and read the ordinances or statutes, I don't 4 remember which one, and I looked for an exception 5 to the rule, and I found the exception that said 6 other than radio or coin-operated phonograph, 7 which, then I set up Internet radio to play, and 8 we were playing live streaming Internet radio 9 inside the club over the audio system. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And that occurred until 11 June, when you actually got the restraining order? 12 MR. ASAD: Correct. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: And the only reason you 14 didn't have a restraining order was kind of an 15 agreement with your attorney and the city attorney 16 and the judge? 17 MR. ASAD: Correct. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: There wasn't actually a 19 formal request for one based on the agreement of 20 sending it back? 21 MR. ASAD: Correct. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Now, so you 23 did get an injunction somewhere along the line in 24 the beginning of June 2010? 25 MR. ASAD: Correct. 101 1 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, what happened on 2 the night of July 2, 2010? 3 MR. ASAD: July 2nd, MPD Officers Agnew 4 and Miller, a woman officer, I don't remember her 5 name, and another gentleman, another officer, I 6 don't remember his name -- Agnew and Miller, I had 7 prior run-ins with. They came in. They walked 8 straight back to where -- they know exactly where 9 my office is. I met them at the bottom of the 10 steps, and, basically, they were trying to say 11 something to me at the steps. So I invited, I 12 ushered them upstairs. And Officer Miller and I 13 were in the office, and he was telling me that he 14 had the statutes with him saying that we could not 15 operate with a DJ because our TRO had expired per 16 -- the TRO had expired. And I said, "No, sir, it 17 had not expired. Our court date had been moved." 18 I tried convincing him of this. 19 It says in here that they requested a 20 supervisor; however, they requested a supervisor 21 based on my request, which is when I got Sergeant 22 Zarno to respond. I waited for Sergeant Zarno to 23 respond. I went outside. Basically, Sergeant 24 Zarno refused to listen to anything I said, 25 telling him it was already 12:45, there is only a 102 1 half-hour left in the night; 40 minutes left of 2 the night, let us close. "If this is a mistake on 3 our part, you know, you guys can cite us tomorrow, 4 but just don't close us down in front of our 5 customers." I was being cooperative. I was very 6 calm. He decided to put me in handcuffs to get me 7 to comply. And I said, "Fine, I'll comply," after 8 I was put in handcuffs in front of my own 9 business. I walked inside and I turned the lights 10 on immediately and I started closing down. He 11 told me he would give me ten minutes to close; 12 however, he did not. Within a minute of me going 13 back inside to shut the club down, he disbursed 14 eight to ten officers in front of my establishment 15 and were waving off customers and kind of almost 16 shooing them away like cats. And it was just a 17 very sad sight to see. But I was -- I cooperated 18 that night and shut down, even though I knew the 19 police were wrong. And eventually, they ended up 20 arresting my brother. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: If I may, just in the 22 interest of doing this quicker, and just have 23 Sergeant MacGillis questioned on this item? 24 Sergeant, you were the one that sent the 25 fax indicating that the TRO had expired? 103 1 SGT. MACGILLIS: I sent a fax, but it 2 didn't indicate that the TRO expired. 3 MR. HALBROOKS: What -- did you bring 4 what you sent? 5 SGT. MACGILLIS: Yes, sir, I did. You 6 subpoenaed these documents. I have a set for you, 7 and, of course, a set for myself. And I don't 8 know how you want to go through these, whatever 9 you choose and whatever the chair chooses. I can 10 explain it as we go along, or I can sit next to 11 you if Matt wants to move. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: We'll come back -- I 13 just want to -- you did communicate with No. 2, 14 District 2, regarding the status of the temporary 15 restraining order? 16 SGT. MACGILLIS: There was -- I can 17 answer this in about three minutes if the 18 commission would like to hear it. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: I'm sorry, I thought it 20 was a quick -- okay. 21 SGT. MACGILLIS: I did communicate with 22 them, but there was a series of communications 23 that you need to understand that might set the 24 groundwork for what happened on July 2nd. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: What is the chair's 104 1 preference? Would you rather get, do it on point 2 by point or circle that out? 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: However you wish to 4 proceed. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: That's all right. We'll 6 come back. I didn't realize; I thought it would 7 be quick. 8 And you have video of this entire 9 incident? 10 MR. ASAD: Correct. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: And you have -- that was 12 a part provided to the committee in the motion 13 that we filed? 14 MR. ASAD: The July 2nd? 15 MR. HALBROOKS: July 2nd. 16 MR. ASAD: I don't believe so -- it was. 17 I don't remember. The link was uploaded this 18 morning. I have the disc. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: Right. You do have the 20 disc for July 2nd? 21 MR. ASAD: I do have the disc. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: And that's -- how long 23 is that? 24 MR. ASAD: I have it cut to where it's 25 just the specific incident and interactions with 105 1 officers. Maybe five minutes total. We can 2 fast-forward it and kind of get through it as fast 3 as possible and maybe cut it down to two or a 4 minute-and-a-half. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: Okay. Do you want to -- 6 you have the disc? 7 MR. ASAD: Yeah, I can set it up. 8 MS. RUIZ: Mr. Chair. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Ms. Ruiz. 10 MS. RUIZ: I just want to raise an 11 objection. If this video has been cut and only 12 shows particular parts that the licensee has 13 picked out himself, then I would object to having 14 this video shown. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Your objection will be 16 duly noted. We'll allow it to proceed forward, 17 and we'll see what it shows here first. 18 MR. ASAD: This is not cut in any way. 19 We still have all of the videos. I just showed 20 the interactions. I'd be more than happy to give 21 these videos to the DA at any point in time, just 22 to be clear. 23 And we're going to go to -- there are 24 several different camera angles, so this is going 25 to be the first one. Well, we'll go to the one 106 1 where officers first come to the club. I'm going 2 to just fast-forward through it. Right here, this 3 is the other owner, Wisam Asad, this is Sergeant 4 O'Donnell, Officers Miller and Agnew and a few 5 other ones. I'm going to fast-forward through 6 this. Basically, this just goes to show those 7 that -- you can see my brother smiling right there 8 and Sergeant O'Donnell tells him, "You better wipe 9 that smirk off your face," is what his response 10 is. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Well, we will strike 12 that as hearsay. 13 MR. ASAD: I apologize. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Chair, just so we're 15 clear, Sergeant O'Donnell was subpoenaed. We're 16 trying to -- I spoke to the captain about that. 17 There is a circumstance that has made it difficult 18 for him to be here, a family matter, so I just 19 said, fine, we'll use the video. 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And if nothing else too, 21 you have the ability to have Mr. Asad's brother, 22 he could provide testimony in his due time. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: Okay. Fine. 24 MR. ASAD: Now here's outside of the 25 club, after I already agreed to close down. 107 1 Officer Miller, Sergeant O'Donnell, I don't know 2 the other officer. 3 ALDERMWOMAN COGGS: Which one is 4 Sergeant O'Donnell? 5 MR. ASAD: This is Sergeant O'Donnell, 6 this gentleman. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, can I ask you, the 8 woman just walked in -- 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks, you need 10 to use the microphone. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: Sorry. 12 Who was the woman that the police just 13 let go in the club? 14 MR. ASAD: She was just a customer. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: And they were stopping 16 other individuals from going in? 17 MR. ASAD: Correct. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: And who was it that they 19 were stopping? 20 MR. ASAD: Specifically, right when this 21 incident happened, Sergeant O'Donnell stopped a 22 minority female. 23 MS. RUIZ: I object to this. If this is 24 going to be -- 25 MR. ASAD: I have it on video. 108 1 MS. RUIZ: -- showing video and alleging 2 to supposed racist -- 3 MR. ASAD: Would you like to see it? 4 MS. RUIZ: -- remarks, I object to this. 5 MR. ASAD: No, no, not racist remarks; 6 racist actions. I have it on video. I'll show it 7 to you. Hold on one second, please. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I'm going to sustain 9 that objection. 10 MR. ASAD: This is where my brother gets 11 arrested right here. It's very difficult to 12 convert CCTV to DVD like this because it's not the 13 same format. I did my very best to do this, just 14 so you guys know. I'm going to just let this play 15 if I could. I'll try to fast-forward a little 16 here. This is going to be a good angle. This 17 will only take a second. This is my brother 18 exiting the premises. This is Sergeant O'Donnell 19 right here. Obviously, I don't know what's being 20 said. And that is my brother resisting and 21 obstructing. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Pause it. 23 All right. So why don't you get -- all right, so 24 why don't you just stand there? So all of these 25 police actions were taken while you had a 109 1 temporary restraining order allowing you to be 2 open? 3 MR. ASAD: Correct. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: And were you doing 5 anything in violation of the restraining order 6 that night? 7 MR. ASAD: No, we were not. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: And as we testified, all 9 citations against you and your brother were 10 dismissed? 11 MR. ASAD: Correct. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, August 15th, do you 13 have any knowledge of the incident, Item No. 16, 14 that occurred on August 15th? 15 MR. ASAD: That is -- no, I don't know. 16 I have no knowledge of this incident. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: Does neither the 18 synopsis -- you reviewed the synopsis and the 19 PA-33? 20 MR. ASAD: Correct, definitely the 21 synopsis; I skimmed through the PA-33. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: And you don't have any 23 knowledge, no police officer ever talked to you 24 about this event. 25 MR. ASAD: No, a police officer did, 110 1 like, I don't remember, maybe it was a few days 2 later or within that week, but he asked me if I 3 had surveillance video, and I checked the 4 surveillance video, and there was nothing on the 5 surveillance video. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: So there was no record 7 that these individuals were there either at the ID 8 scanner or at the -- or in club that night. 9 MR. ASAD: Correct, I also, 10 unfortunately -- looked to see if I had video 11 still, but unfortunately, it's from August, so I 12 did not have that video. I specifically backed 13 this up because I knew there was an incident that 14 happened. That's the only way I can save long 15 videos like this. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: So the report, the 17 synopsis, which indicates August 15th, isn't 18 correct. That's the day he came and talked to you 19 for an incident that occurred on August 13th. 20 MR. ASAD: I don't know of an incident. 21 I don't remember an incident happening on the 22 13th, but according to the officer, yes. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: But you worked with 24 Officer Zielinski to look at the videos, and there 25 was nothing? 111 1 MR. ASAD: I know I looked at the video. 2 I don't recall if Officer Zielinski was there or 3 not. I know I talked to him numerous times about 4 it. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Now, October 6 2nd -- maybe you can get the DVD rolling. 7 MR. ASAD: Would you like the camcorder, 8 or the CCTV? 9 MR. HALBROOKS: The CCTV. 10 MS. RUIZ: Mr. Chair, for any of the 11 additional videos that are going to be shown, I 12 would ask that Mr. Asad keep his additional 13 commentary or narration, if anything, to a very 14 minimal. The additional narration that he is 15 providing is just irrelevant. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I'm going to allow him 17 to proceed forward. 18 I will note, Mr. Halbrooks, you've 19 objected in the past where others have provided in 20 the opposite vein, but I'll allow it because I've 21 allowed it in those other circumstances and will 22 do it consistently on this side of the table. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: Okay. Thank you. 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: But it should be things 25 that he has direct knowledge of, not -- 112 1 MR. HALBROOKS: Sure. All right. 2 You were at the club working on October 3 2, 2010? 4 MR. ASAD: Correct. 5 I'm going to let one of my employees, 6 also my IT guy, I'm going to just let him take 7 over. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. So which is 9 the video you want to show from that night? 10 MR. ASAD: I would like -- I think we 11 should start by the -- scroll down to "outside 12 door cam." 13 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, what do you recall 14 happened that night? 15 MR. ASAD: Keep going. Keep going. Go 16 inside, go back up to the "inside door view." 17 This would be the inside of the door view. 18 Basically, attempt to -- I was upstairs 19 in my office doing paperwork and other items that 20 I do in there, and -- 21 MR. HALBROOKS: Hold on. Let me ask you 22 a question. There is an individual there, what's 23 he doing? What's the individual in the white 24 shirt doing right now? Pause it. 25 MR. ASAD: He was just speaking into his 113 1 microphone. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. And who is 3 that individual in the white shirt? 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks, please 5 use the microphone. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: Who is the individual in 7 the white shirt? 8 MR. ASAD: That is Robert Mitchell, my 9 doorman. 10 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. And that's 11 the individual that Sergeant MacGillis read that 12 he was blocking the door and keeping the 13 individuals out. 14 MR. ASAD: Correct. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: Okay. Go ahead. 16 MR. ASAD: This is an MPD officer 17 entering the building. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Now, can you 19 back it up to when the door opens? 20 MR. ASAD: Play it after ten seconds. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: Pause it at 11. All 22 right. 23 So Mr. Asad, you were here when Sergeant 24 MacGillis read the synopsis -- 25 MR. ASAD: Correct. 114 1 MR. HALBROOKS: -- for this item? 2 MR. ASAD: Yes, sir. 3 MR. HALBROOKS: And in that, he 4 indicated that officers attempted to enter, but 5 were refused entry. 6 MR. ASAD: That is not true. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: Right. And then in the 8 report, it actually says that, "After refusing to 9 step aside so uniformed officers could conduct a 10 licensed premises, Mitchell grabbed the microphone 11 that was attached to his shirt and announced, 12 'Police here.' Mitchell was again asked to move 13 and refused. Mitchell, who is a larger 14 individual, simply stared blankly at officers in 15 an attempt that his size would be intimidating. 16 After his refusal to move, PO Pedrigass physically 17 moved Mitchell aside controlling his arms and 18 stepping him inside." All right. So how long did 19 all of that take? 20 MR. ASAD: Less than three seconds, four 21 seconds. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Play. 23 MR. ASAD: I would also like to mention 24 that these officers did not come from north or 25 south on 5th Street; they exited out of the 115 1 building directly next door to us, jumped over the 2 stanchions in front of the club, and rushed in 3 through -- in front of a slew of waiting 4 customers. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. So then what 6 did the police officers do, or -- I'm sorry, then 7 the police officers proceeded up to your office? 8 MR. ASAD: Correct. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, is there a video 10 that shows the VIP room on the first floor? 11 MR. ASAD: Yes. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: Can you get that up 13 quick? All right. So the officers came up the 14 stairs, and what happened when they got to the top 15 of the stairs? 16 All right. So just pause, that's fine. 17 So on the right side is the door area we just saw. 18 MR. ASAD: Correct. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: And what's on the left 20 side? 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Can you use the 22 microphone, Mr. Halbrooks? 23 MR. HALBROOKS: What's on the left side? 24 MR. ASAD: That would be the VIP 25 section. 116 1 MR. HALBROOKS: And how many individuals 2 are in there? 3 MR. ASAD: Zero. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: And how many individuals 5 -- the police identified the VIP upstairs. There 6 is a VIP upstairs, correct? 7 MR. ASAD: Correct, but it's not the 8 whole floor like the synopsis says. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: Right. It's just a 10 part. And were any customers upstairs at all? 11 MR. ASAD: Negative. We were not open 12 yet. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. So what 14 happened when the police got to the top of the 15 stairs? And direct him to which video. 16 MR. ASAD: Office area or top of the 17 steps. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: What happened? 19 MR. ASAD: Basically, I received a call 20 over the radio that -- can you fast-forward a 21 little bit? Go back. Right there, stop. 22 Fast-forward again. Go to like 23:21. 23 It will be coming, the officers, shortly 24 after this. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, so the police 117 1 officers came up to your office. 2 MR. ASAD: They came upstairs, and they 3 walked right into my office and pushed right past 4 me. Right here. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: Did they ask you for 6 anything? 7 MR. ASAD: They did not ask me for 8 anything. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: Did they tell you why 10 they were there? 11 MR. ASAD: They did not tell me a single 12 thing about why they were there. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: They never said they 14 were looking for an individual in the VIP? 15 MR. ASAD: No, they did not. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: And they went into your 17 office without you in there? 18 MR. ASAD: Correct. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: And did they ask to look 20 at the video screen, or did they demand it? 21 MR. ASAD: They definitely didn't ask. 22 I don't know if he demanded it, but I just felt a 23 lot of disrespect from that officer. He didn't 24 ask for anything. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: And you heard the 118 1 captain testify that there is a law requiring 2 access for the police. Is it your understanding 3 that that access allows them to come in and 4 literally take over your video surveillance 5 equipment? 6 MR. ASAD: Not to my knowledge. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: Is there any more video 8 from inside? 9 MR. ASAD: Yes, there is also the 10 upstairs VIP video. Right there. This should be 11 coming up shortly after this. This is -- the 12 other one: office area. That sign on the door 13 says "employees only." 14 MR. HALBROOKS: He goes into your office 15 without you. 16 MR. ASAD: Correct. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: And just goes walking 18 in. 19 MR. ASAD: Correct. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: And they never made any 21 requests to? As for cooperation, they just said 22 what they wanted, and they didn't explain a lot? 23 MR. ASAD: They didn't say they wanted 24 anything. They just were in my office. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: And you never accused 119 1 them of stealing $10,000, did you? 2 MR. ASAD: No. 3 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Now, you 4 eventually were arrested. 5 MR. ASAD: Correct. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: And you were arrested 7 for what? 8 MR. ASAD: Resisting, obstructing, 9 because I told the DJ to turn the music back on. 10 MR. HALBROOKS: Then the district 11 attorney actually refused that case as well? 12 MR. ASAD: Correct. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Now, what 14 happened on October 8th? 15 MR. ASAD: October 8th, pull up the 16 video here. 17 It was approximately 1:46 a.m. It has 18 been my experience in trying to protect myself 19 with video surveillance of this interior kind and 20 a personal hand-held camcorder that I carry with 21 me wherever I go -- basically, there was an 22 incident that was on Fifth Street, I was outside 23 videotaping, and -- 24 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, with regard to that 25 incident, I don't see anything in the police 120 1 report that indicates that incident had anything 2 to do with your establishment. 3 MR. ASAD: Correct. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: There is nothing about 5 Envy about that, so the sole basis for this PA-33 6 was what you did. 7 MR. ASAD: Correct. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. So what 9 happened? 10 MR. ASAD: Officers instructed -- I was 11 outside videotaping. Officers instructed me to -- 12 not just me, but maybe five to ten other people, 13 all of the staff of mine, all of the staff of mine 14 and instructed me to exit the sidewalk, which I 15 responded to. And I went and stood inside my 16 doorway and continued to film, which Sergeant 17 O'Donnell didn't find to be cooperative. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: The report indicated, I 19 heard him say that you were taunting the officers. 20 MR. ASAD: That is not true. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: And were you on the 22 sidewalk, or were you in your establishment? 23 MR. ASAD: I was inside of my 24 establishment. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: And how are we going to 121 1 show the committee those two things? 2 MR. ASAD: In this video right here. 3 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Do you have 4 the other video? 5 MR. ASAD: Yes. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: I do remember what we 7 were -- I objected when there was video with sound 8 on it. That's why I stopped Mr. Asad. 9 So did you have something you wanted to 10 say while he is queuing that up regarding the 11 video that we saw? 12 MR. ASAD: I was just going to say, that 13 entire time, I was standing inside of the 14 building. When I was told to get off the 15 sidewalk, I went and I purposely made note of 16 where my feet were to make sure that I was inside 17 of my building and not anywhere over that 18 threshold to follow the sergeant's orders. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: And yet he arrested you 20 again. 21 MR. ASAD: That was twice within six 22 days of each other. And the first time I went to 23 county. I had never been to county before in my 24 life. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. You can 122 1 fast-forward this. 2 MR. ASAD: I have all of the angles, 3 camera one, two and three, I believe. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Is that the last video 5 that you have? 6 MR. HALBROOKS: I believe I have one 7 more that is two minutes. We're going to do it, 8 just fast-forward. Then I have -- 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I'm giving leeway. And 10 I'm going to ask after those two videos then that 11 you will sort of wrap things up. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: There is the police 13 video that they provided, so I thought you should 14 probably see that, but that's seconds. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Just move forward. 16 You're already at 31 minutes. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Now, here is 18 Mr. -- that's you. 19 MR. ASAD: Mm mm. This is after I was 20 told to step back inside or get off the sidewalk. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Why do you 22 think the city attorney dropped that particular 23 case? 24 MR. ASAD: Probably because I don't 25 think she could have actually won the case, I 123 1 assume. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Now, 3 February 19th -- and again, Mr. Chair, this was, 4 this PA-33 was not available at the time when this 5 item was typed up, so I don't know how they did 6 this. And so we object to that not being 7 available, but I'll go through it quickly for you. 8 What is your recollection of -- in that, 9 the officer indicates he was there at 1:32. 10 MR. ASAD: Correct. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: And it took 20 minutes 12 to clear the area. 13 MR. ASAD: Correct. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: And was he there at 15 1:32? 16 MR. ASAD: No, he was not. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. What -- can 18 you kind of set the scene while we're queuing this 19 up here? 20 MS. RUIZ: Mr. Chair, I have a quick 21 question. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And I just want to rule 23 on that last comment. I am going to overrule the 24 objection, duly noted. My rationale is, you were 25 provided this, you were provided a copy of the 124 1 synopsis here notwithstanding whatever order it 2 came in here. You were duly noted in the proper 3 time of these individual police reports. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. So what 5 happened -- 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Ms. Ruiz. 7 Mr. Halbrooks. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: Pardon? 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Ms. Ruiz. 10 MS. RUIZ: In the video before with the 11 hand-held, with the audio, it seemed like that 12 went for a lot longer time than the stint that we 13 just saw; that was very short. It doesn't seem 14 like it showed the entirety of the situation. 15 MR. ASAD: Do you want a copy of it? 16 I'll give you a copy of it when you leave, how 17 about that? 18 MS. RUIZ: Just so that the committee is 19 aware that it didn't seem like it showed the 20 entirety. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Go ahead, Mr. Halbrooks. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. So what 23 happens? How do you let out your club and what 24 happens when people exit your club? 25 MR. ASAD: I have a very kind of 125 1 elaborate intricate method that I follow. It kind 2 of starts around 1:25 and 1:30. What I will do 3 is, I will start by turning off all of the lights, 4 turning off the fog machine, turning the music 5 down just a little bit, turning up the dimmer 6 lights. As we proceed, people will start to 7 trickle out, and we'll call first call for coat 8 check, and we'll call last call for alcohol. I'll 9 call second call and third call for coat check, 10 hold out your bar tabs, et cetera, et cetera, 11 things like that. And then I'll -- and we have 12 three separate closing lights: we have our 13 preliminary, our secondary and our final "okay, 14 this is an emergency, everyone has got to go" type 15 lights. And my guards are not allowed to push 16 people out unless it's absolutely necessary. We 17 want people to trickle into the street so we don't 18 cause a traffic jam. And basically, this method 19 has worked extremely well for us over the past 20 year. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: And what happens when a 22 car pulls out from one of these angle spots? 23 MR. ASAD: Causes a traffic jam. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: So a single car can back 25 up the traffic. 126 1 MR. ASAD: Right. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, this is -- you 3 prepared a video for us of the night that is Item 4 No. 19, correct? 5 MR. ASAD: Correct. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: And on the lower right 7 is the inside of your club. 8 MR. ASAD: Correct. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: It looks jammed to me. 10 MR. ASAD: It is packed. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: Not above capacity. 12 MR. ASAD: Not above capacity. It's 13 only half of the club. Actually, it's only one 14 floor. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. And then we 16 have the -- I can't see the times as well as I 17 could. 18 MR. ASAD: Yeah, you could see them 19 better. Unfortunately, I have to a use hand-held 20 camcorder to record this. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: So this is at what time? 22 MR. ASAD: 1:32 is when this is going to 23 start. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: And is there a squad car 25 in this picture? 127 1 MR. ASAD: The squad car will appear in 2 two minutes on the top left picture. 3 MR. HALBROOKS: Up here in the top left 4 at the corner. 5 MR. ASAD: Correct. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: And that's at 1 -- 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks, I've 8 asked you on numerous occasions to please use the 9 microphone. 10 MR. HALBROOKS: I'm sorry. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And I said please, 12 please, pretty please, pretty please with hot 13 pepper sauce on it, over and over and over again, 14 and every two minutes, you proceed to start 15 walking away. Please use the microphone. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 17 All right. So there's the squad -- and 18 what you recorded here is 20 minutes. 19 MR. ASAD: Correct. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: And in watching it in 21 fast motion, it's your testimony we can see 22 everything we need to see. 23 MR. ASAD: Correct. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. So start. 25 Can you start running it? 128 1 MR. ASAD: This is at 16 times play 2 speed. 3 MR. HALBROOKS: It's already fast 4 forwarded. 5 MR. ASAD: It is already fast forwarded. 6 You can see in the bottom right picture that the 7 first set of lights are on. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: Pause it. All right. 9 And what's important here is the officer said it 10 took 20 minutes to clear the area, correct? 11 MR. ASAD: Correct. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: And he didn't show up 13 until 1:34. Now, is there any -- is the club just 14 starting to clear out, or not? 15 MR. ASAD: Correct, we are starting to 16 close down. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: And is there any 18 traffic, any people in the street? 19 MR. ASAD: No. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Let it play. 21 Stop right there. All right. Was there two cars 22 stopped in the street? What just happened? 23 MR. ASAD: If you look at the bottom 24 left frame, you can see that there is a car with 25 its headlights on that is trying to reverse out, 129 1 and this is going to start causing congestion. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: And can you see the 3 time, it's 1:40? 4 MR. ASAD: Correct. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Let it play. 6 Stop. Now, any congestion now? 7 MR. ASAD: No. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: What time is it, 1:44? 9 MR. ASAD: 1:44. All right. Let it 10 play. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: Stop it. All right. 12 What's going on the inside of the club? 13 MR. ASAD: It's completely empty. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: How many people just 15 exited? 16 MR. ASAD: I believe it was 160, 170. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: And the clock is at 18 1:47. 19 MR. ASAD: Yeah. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Let it play. 21 Stop it right there, 1:52. That's 20 minutes. 22 From when -- the police officer who reported this 23 incident, made a PA-33, wrote 20 minutes, and the 24 actual congestion was how long? 25 MR. ASAD: Probably three or four 130 1 minutes. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: And was there some 3 actors that actually made this more congested and 4 made it worse? 5 MR. ASAD: Yes, the Milwaukee police 6 did. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: And what was going on 8 down at either end of -- did you observe what was 9 going on down in front of Mr. Zarate's club? 10 MR. ASAD: I did. There was also 11 congestion in front of his club, also by Milwaukee 12 police and traffic leaving. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Now, I saw 14 two individuals in the -- that are your employees 15 as people were leaving. 16 MR. ASAD: Correct. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: One was Mr. Mitchell. 18 MR. ASAD: Correct. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: Who we saw earlier. 20 What was he doing? 21 MR. ASAD: Saying good night to 22 everybody and kind of hurrying them to their cars. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: And he actually shook 24 everyone's hand as they left. 25 MR. ASAD: Correct. 131 1 MR. HALBROOKS: Yet the police report 2 indicates he wasn't doing anything. 3 MR. ASAD: Correct. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: And the other 5 individual, what was he doing? 6 MR. ASAD: He was making sure nobody is 7 leaving with drinks or alcohol. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. So, and in 9 that short time, the place is cleared, the crowd 10 is gone, and that's it. 11 MR. ASAD: Correct. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: So do you agree with 13 what this police officer wrote, and it followed 14 all the way through the chain of command in the 15 police department, February 19th? 16 MR. ASAD: No, I don't. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Item 23, did 18 you -- were you the one that called the police 19 over the broken table? 20 MR. ASAD: I did. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: And did anyone -- was 22 anyone arrested? 23 MR. ASAD: No. Not to my knowledge at 24 least. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: And you don't really 132 1 have any idea what happened in that particular 2 incident? 3 MR. ASAD: No, no, I do not. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: The table broke 5 upstairs. 6 MR. ASAD: It was downstairs. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: It was downstairs. And 8 so did you -- what did you do as a result of that? 9 MR. ASAD: I bought a new table. 10 MR. HALBROOKS: But I mean, in terms of, 11 there isn't any changes you can make with regard 12 to that particular problem. 13 MR. ASAD: No. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, Item 25, can you 15 tell the committee in your words what happened 16 that night? 17 MR. ASAD: Item 25, basically, it was a 18 Saturday night. We were extremely busy, but under 19 capacity, just like to point that out. I actually 20 was starting my closing procedures at about 1:40 21 or so that night, just starting them. I heard a 22 call over the radio that there was an incident or 23 something happened by the front door, but I was in 24 the complete opposite end of the club, and it 25 takes time to respond to that. By the time I got 133 1 there, all I could see was one of my staff holding 2 his head, and he was bleeding profusely. And 3 there was another woman that was involved in the 4 incident. I didn't know what her involvement in 5 the incident at this point was. My staff told me 6 that he had slipped and hit his head. He was a 7 new employee; he was only with us, I think that 8 was his second night. So I immediately called 911 9 because I was worried for his health and 10 wellbeing. Eventually, Officer Percelli 11 responded. And when she asked for surveillance, 12 or when she asked where he was, he had decided to 13 leave because the ambulance had taken an extreme 14 amount of time to get there. When she got there, 15 she asked where he was, he said, or I told her, I 16 said, "He left, he's gone. He said it wasn't 17 bleeding anymore." But I was told that secondhand 18 because I was still trying to close. I was 19 dealing with that incident and still trying to 20 close two floors of a nightclub. So my undivided 21 attention wasn't to that incident as of yet. And 22 I was monitoring what was going on, called the 23 ambulance, and did what I was supposed to do to 24 make sure everybody was safe and nobody was 25 injured. But Marcus left, from what I was told. 134 1 And then when the officer -- I'm sorry, it's been 2 a long day -- Officer Percelli arrived and asked 3 where he went. I said he decided to leave. He 4 told somebody that he was no longer bleeding and 5 that he did not want an ambulance anymore. He 6 ended up going to the hospital. Officer Percelli 7 asked for the surveillance video and his info, 8 which we gave, I gave her in all good faith. And 9 as far as the surveillance video goes, it -- 10 MR. HALBROOKS: Hold on. Let me ask you 11 this, what are you talking about "you gave in all 12 good faith?" What happened when you gave her the 13 name? 14 MR. ASAD: I ask my assistant to pull 15 Mr. Leonard's file. At that time, I didn't even 16 know his last name. I didn't hire him; my other 17 partner did. My assistant pulled the wrong info 18 and gave him basically the wrong Marcus. We had 19 two Marcuses working; we had a Marcus Fletcher and 20 a Marcus Leonard. And she gave them Marcus 21 Fletcher. At some point throughout the night, we 22 were discussing the incident, and I was reviewing 23 the video, and I realized she had given them the 24 wrong info. As soon as I realized that, I drove 25 immediately to Second District Police Department 135 1 and gave them the proper info and said, "Hey, 2 there was a mixup. It was my assistant. She gave 3 me this Post-it," and that's that. I clarified 4 the incident. And I wanted to make sure that they 5 didn't think that I was trying to do anything, 6 because I have no reason to lie about it. One of 7 my employees was harmed in this incident. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: So you -- so the first 9 -- there is also issue of about where you said 10 you -- you said he slipped and you determined 11 shortly thereafter that he actually had been hit. 12 MR. ASAD: Correct, after I watched the 13 video. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Now, the 15 captain doesn't believe that you had 40 people 16 working that night. Based on your statement, how 17 many people did you actually have working? 18 MR. ASAD: He's right; I had 33. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: 33 employees. And now, 20 you just testified that you were looking through 21 the videos that night? 22 MR. ASAD: Correct. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: So after everybody left, 24 you got to work on looking at the videos. 25 MR. ASAD: Correct. 136 1 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. The captain 2 says you're very technologically savvy and you 3 should have been able to get that done. 4 MR. ASAD: Correct. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: Why couldn't you get 6 that done instantly like he said? 7 MR. ASAD: Well, in order to find the 8 suspect from this instance, we have an ID scanner; 9 it is not a computerized ID scanner. Basically, 10 when you put an ID into it, all it does is take a 11 snapshot of it, but you can't go back and line 12 item these things. It's just like looking at a 13 regular surveillance video. So basically, I have 14 to sit through hours and hours of surveillance, 15 throughout that night from 9:00 to 2:00 and 16 hundreds of IDs, and sift through them and try to 17 find when this one individual came in that caused 18 the incident. It's not something that can be done 19 in 15 minutes. It takes, it took me six to eight 20 hours to put together the disc today that I put 21 together for the police department. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, since the name is 23 on the ID from the ID scanner -- 24 MR. ASAD: Correct. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: -- but then you have to 137 1 match up the person to how they look now versus 2 their picture. 3 MR. ASAD: Correct. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: So you have to kind of 5 find them in the crowd and then match it up. And 6 ultimately, after the six to eight hours, you were 7 able to do all of that. 8 MR. ASAD: Correct. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: And Officer Percelli 10 asked you for the ID scanner information, correct? 11 MR. ASAD: Correct, she did. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: And so that's what you 13 took, that's what you were working on through the 14 night. 15 MR. ASAD: Correct. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, at about what time 17 did you realize you had given her the name of the 18 wrong Marcus? 19 MR. ASAD: It was probably 2:50, 2:55. 20 It was right around 2:53, right around there, 21 2:30ish. I'm sorry, it was a long night, I can't 22 remember everything, and I don't always look at my 23 watch. 24 MR. HALBROOKS. So what did you do at 25 that point in time? 138 1 MR. ASAD: As soon as I realized I'd 2 given the wrong incident, I grabbed the right info 3 and I jumped in my truck and I took it right to 4 Second District Police Department. And I actually 5 reported the entire thing at Second District. 6 That's the wrong one. We're going to do 7 the TV mixup video. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: So you then eventually 9 heard from Officer Percelli. 10 MR. ASAD: I heard from her at close to 11 six in the morning. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: Or around 5:30. 13 MR. ASAD: 5:30, 6:00 in the morning. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: Where were you at 5:30? 15 MR. ASAD: I just pulled up to my 16 girlfriend's house. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: And what did you tell 18 her? What did you two work out? 19 MR. ASAD: I discussed with her that I 20 did review the surveillance videos, that I will 21 definitely give it to her, and that she can come 22 and pick it up, or, you know, I can drop it off 23 tomorrow. She said, okay, just give me a call 24 tomorrow and we'll arrange something. I called. 25 She wasn't working. I don't really trust -- 139 1 MR. HALBROOKS: Hold on. Did she ever 2 tell you she wasn't working that night? 3 MR. ASAD: No. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: So you didn't hear from 5 her on Sunday night. 6 MR. ASAD: Correct. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: And what did you do 8 then? 9 MR. ASAD: I waited until I heard from 10 -- I waited until I was going to hear from her 11 because I don't really -- I get along with Officer 12 Percelli, she's a very nice lady, and I respect 13 her and I trust her. That's why I wanted to deal 14 with her. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. So you went 16 looking for her. 17 MR. ASAD: I called her on Sunday. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: At about 11:30 at night. 19 MR. ASAD: Correct. I know she works 20 third shift. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: And that is when you 22 talked to Sergeant Zarno. 23 MR. ASAD: Correct. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: Did you have the DVD 25 done at that point? 140 1 MR. ASAD: Yes. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: Or were you still 3 looking for the ID information? 4 MR. ASAD: I had the video done but not 5 the ID information, which was the one that was 6 most important because you can't figure out who 7 the guy is with just low-quality video image, low 8 resolution. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. So then 10 after 11:30 at night, the discussion with Sergeant 11 Zarno, the next time you heard a police officer's 12 voice was Lieutenant MacGillis. 13 MR. ASAD: Correct. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: On Monday evening. 15 MR. ASAD: Correct. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: Who did you think you 17 were talking to? 18 MR. ASAD: I thought I was talking to 19 Sergeant MacGillis. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: And how did you react to 21 thinking that Sergeant MacGillis was at your house 22 with a subpoena? 23 MR. ASAD: I hung up and called my 24 attorneys. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: What did you think? 141 1 What was going through your mind? 2 MR. ASAD: I thought it was some sort of 3 devious plot to just attack the club, and as far 4 as the licence, and there was -- I just didn't 5 know what to think, which is why I called my 6 attorneys to make sure that I didn't do anything 7 wrong, or that -- I just wanted to make sure I was 8 safe. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: And so then you, at some 10 point, you made arrangements to meet them, but 11 then you were called away. 12 MR. ASAD: Correct. We own multiple 13 businesses. We were short-staffed at one of them, 14 and I had to cover our furniture store. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: So then you went to 16 arrange to meet the police officers at what time? 17 MR. ASAD: At 9:30. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: Before when I said five 19 squads, the captain corrected me and said, no, it 20 was only three. 21 MR. ASAD: No, it was five. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: There were how many 23 officers? 24 MR. ASAD: I think it was six to seven 25 officers. 142 1 MR. HALBROOKS: And this was for a 2 document that you said you would receive. 3 MR. ASAD: Correct. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: And there was a squad at 5 the back door. 6 MR. ASAD: Correct. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: And so which officer 8 came to try to serve you the subpoena? 9 MR. ASAD: Officer Agnew; Sergeant 10 O'Donnell. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: Well, who came to the 12 door? 13 MR. ASAD: Agnew, I believe that came to 14 the door. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. So you read 16 the subpoena, and then what questions were asked? 17 MR. ASAD: Actually, I never read it. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: You never read it. All 19 right. 20 MR. ASAD: I let Matt read it. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: Did that officer go back 22 to the squad? 23 MR. ASAD: He did, because Matt had 24 asked him for the affidavit. He said, "Yeah, I 25 have it in the car." He went to his dashboard, 143 1 did this, and came back. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: And did he come back, or 3 did Sergeant O'Donnell? 4 MR. ASAD: Sergeant O'Donnell came back 5 with it. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: And what did -- and who 7 took over the conversation? 8 MR. ASAD: Sergeant O'Donnell did. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: This is the same 10 Sergeant O'Donnell that came barging into your 11 office and arrested you a couple times. 12 MR. ASAD: Sergeant O'Donnell had 13 arrested me at the front door from that video 14 earlier. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. So he -- 16 what did he tell you about the affidavit? 17 MR. ASAD: He said that this is a court 18 order, and we have to give him the video right 19 away. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: So, and the subpoena 21 didn't ask for the ID scanner. 22 MR. ASAD: Mm mm. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. And so you 24 didn't have any trouble giving it to them, but you 25 still didn't know what this was about. 144 1 MR. ASAD: Correct. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: And then what happened 3 at 11:30 that night? 4 MR. ASAD: At 11:30, Officer Percelli 5 called me, because I had left her a message to get 6 that video with Sergeant Zarno, and said he had 7 given it to her. She called me to come get the 8 video, and I told her I said, "I don't know what's 9 going on." I said, "I don't know if this is some 10 sort of trick or what it is." I said, "I'm sorry, 11 Officer," I said, "you're going to have to contact 12 my attorneys at this point." Otherwise, had this 13 not been pulled, they would have had the 14 surveillance that night. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Are we 16 ready? 17 MR. ASAD: Is this the right -- 18 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. So that was 19 how many hours before Lieutenant MacGillis was at 20 your front, your parents' front door? 21 MR. ASAD: That was the Sunday morning 22 at, say, 3:30. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: So 14 hours before they 24 showed up with a court-ordered subpoena. 25 MR. ASAD: Right. 145 1 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Now, then 2 when you got your file -- and you just got served 3 this file on Wednesday night, correct? 4 MR. ASAD: Correct. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: And when you got the 6 file, there was a DVD in it. 7 MR. ASAD: Correct. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: And what was your first 9 thought? 10 MR. ASAD: I thought it was the DVD I 11 had given them. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: And then what did it 13 turn out to be? 14 MR. ASAD: A DVD of the van that was out 15 there. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: It's very short. 17 MR. ASAD: They're rubber-banded 18 together. 19 The Milwaukee police version does not 20 play on the DVD. I had to recreate it, a non-DVD, 21 and by "recreate it," I mean re-encode it to where 22 it would play on a DVD player; not change any of 23 the audio or video on it. This is the exact video 24 they have. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: So after all of that, it 146 1 turns out not only were the Milwaukee police 2 officers there, but the guy ran into their car as 3 he was running away, and they sat and let him go. 4 MR. ASAD: Correct. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: It also sounds like 6 they, almost with a chuckle in their voice, they 7 correctly figured out the situation, they figured 8 out the security guy got popped. 9 MR. ASAD: Correct. 10 MR. HALBROOKS: This was a glass jar, or 11 something. 12 MR. ASAD: Correct. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: And what did you do as a 14 result of this incident? 15 MR. ASAD: I immediately stopped using 16 those and I purchased all brand new ones. They 17 are all plastic. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. So that will 19 never happen again. 20 MR. ASAD: It will never happen again. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Nothing 22 further of this witness. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Questions by committee? 24 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Mr. Chair. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Kovac. 147 1 ALDERMAN KOVAC: So we've seen a lot of, 2 we've heard a lot of your version of the events 3 and explained the police report, and we've seen a 4 lot of video on it. What do think -- and I'll ask 5 the police the same question, but this incident by 6 you, the $10,000, you were saying you were going 7 to file a false report claiming they stole money, 8 is that, from your perspective, completely out of 9 thin air, or is there something that arose from 10 this, a misunderstanding? 11 MR. ASAD: That incident -- I never -- 12 they kept on -- police officers are very well 13 trained to try to get you to say whatever it is 14 they want you to say. They kept on repeating 15 themselves over and over again, "So are you the 16 one that's going to file -- are you the one that 17 said you're going to file a false police report?" 18 I said, "No. I said I was going to file a formal 19 complaint against you," which is what I keep in my 20 desk drawer, formal complaints for Captain 21 Gaglione, captain's guys here. Because it just 22 gets to the point where they come in, they, you 23 know, we've always -- I've had nothing but a great 24 relationship. And the captain can tell you from 25 out meeting in 2009, he ended with how much he 148 1 thought I was doing a great job. And all of a 2 sudden, his guys are coming in. They did not ask 3 anything, they did not -- they just demanded 4 everything they wanted, and there were no demands. 5 They demanded, but there was no demand. 6 ALDERMAN KOVAC: So you never said that 7 you were going to accuse them of stealing money, 8 and you never said you were going to file a false 9 report? 10 MR. ASAD: Correct. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Other questions by 12 committee? 13 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Mr. Chair. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Zielinski. 15 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: From the point in 16 time when the police asked for the videos, how 17 many days did it take for you to get them the 18 videos? 19 MR. ASAD: After the subpoena was 20 issued -- 21 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: I'm saying before 22 the subpoena. 23 MR. ASAD: I had it -- it was Saturday 24 night when the incident happened. I had the first 25 portion of the surveillance, except for the ID 149 1 scanner done, ready for them to basically hand it 2 over, but Officer Percelli was not there. And I 3 just didn't want to drop it off to any of the 4 other officers because I didn't know them. 5 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: So why did they get 6 a subpoena then? 7 MR. ASAD: That's a good question. 8 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Okay, thank you. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Any other questions by 10 committee? 11 Mr. Halbrooks, we are now at three hours 12 and five minutes on this particular hearing. I 13 think I've provided due diligence for time to 14 address everything. I realize that if I provided 15 you 24 hours, you probably could prepare a case 16 for 24 hours. But given that, I'm going to ask 17 that you wind that down. Was there Mr. Asad's 18 brother that wanted -- if you provide him to 19 provide testimony in a minute or two, I will allow 20 that minute or two from that one individual, and 21 then I'll ask for a brief closing. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: All I was going to do is 23 just ask Sergeant MacGillis, I think he can 24 summarize what happened that one night, and -- 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Sergeant MacGillis. 150 1 MR. HALBROOKS: And then there is one 2 neighbor here. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: We're not going to -- 4 and for fortuity, I'm not going to allow that 5 because I think I've been overly generous in terms 6 of providing you sufficient time to bring 7 everything forward. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: I'm not complaining. I 9 just think the police department, obviously, the 10 notice of injury filed, I think he should get a 11 chance. 12 All right. So Sergeant MacGillis, what 13 happened on that night as far as you understand, 14 July 2nd? 15 SGT. MACGILLIS: As far as I understand, 16 what happened is what happened on my summaries, 17 what's indicated on the PA-33. What precipitated 18 that event, could have easily been a good-faith 19 miscommunication between younger officers working 20 out of the district and myself. And I'd like to 21 explain just a couple of things. 22 Mr. Halbrooks, I've provided you with a 23 packet. The first thing is an old license 24 application. That is just a copy, and you can 25 really disregard that. But that's from the 151 1 committee meeting of July 2, 2010. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Sergeant, could you move 3 closer to the microphone? 4 SGT. MACGILLIS: I'm sorry, trying to 5 adjust my vision here. 6 At any rate, the first document is a fax 7 cover sheet dated June 4, 2010. It's addressed to 8 the shift commander, District 2. And the message 9 is very clear, this is June 4th, "Club Envy can 10 operate as normal. Please inform the officers who 11 patrol the area." Faxed on that day, I scribbled 12 down Sergeant PM. I faxed this shortly after 13 receiving an e-mail from Bruce Schrimpf, then city 14 attorney. There are multiple addresses on this. 15 And the e-mail I received was dated the same day 16 6/4/2010, 2:45 p.m., "Judge Brash at this moment 17 has signed a restraining order to prevent the City 18 of Milwaukee from stopping the cabaret license at 19 Club Envy. A hearing is set for June 14th at 1:30 20 p.m., the day before the council meets. Mac, 21 please notify District 2." 22 Now, on Friday the 16th, the next e-mail 23 it's from MacGillis, Paul, to Miller, PL, 24 "Subject: Sugar and Envy," and there is an 25 attachment on there, "Common Council 6/15 actions, 152 1 from the office of the city clerk." Generally, 2 it's Ron Lienhardt who gets the council actions. 3 I forwarded those attachments to District 2, and I 4 wrote down, "Miller, attached are the Council 5 letters." "The second -- " correction, "the last 6 or second-to-last paragraph are the most 7 important. I've sent all four. Ignore Frenchie's 8 and Porter's. You'll figure it out. A reminder, 9 don't let your guard down in taverns. Stay on 10 your toes, expect and be prepared for the 11 unexpected. Sergeant PM." That was on the 18th. 12 Also on the 18th, "That's a homer on me. There is 13 an order generated by Judge Brash," and this is 14 from me to Miller, probably six hours later. The 15 first one I sent was at 8:32. The correction was 16 sent at 1:55 to Officer Keith Miller. "That's a 17 homer on me. There was an order generated by 18 Judge Brash that is in effect until at least 6/24. 19 So Envy can dance. For your information, Texture 20 goes in front of the License Committee on Monday 21 afternoon. Sergeant PM." 22 So we're leading up to this, a little 23 bit of confusion, I put in there that it's in 24 effect, the TRO at least, until the 24th. And 25 then on the 2nd, I send -- I don't have a cover 153 1 sheet for this, but I faxed this document to Mr. 2 Asad and Attorney Gimbel, and it's basically the 3 nonrenewal for Envy's cabaret license. I faxed 4 this to District 2. And that's probably where the 5 confusion came in. 6 So if there was confusion on the night 7 of the 2nd, I'll take partial responsibility. 8 However, I want to just mention a couple of 9 points, and I'll finish up here real quick, Mr. 10 Chair. There's about 950 taverns it the City, 11 probably 140 in District 2. This didn't happen 12 four times. We weren't sent there by mistake 13 three times. We weren't sent there by mistake two 14 times. A mistake happened one time, and it's 15 partially my fault. However, our learning curve 16 is still there. Once you remove humans out of the 17 organization and let machines in everything will 18 be perfect. 19 Now, looking at the track record of the 20 club, there is a very good probability that the 21 police would have been there anyway. Also -- no, 22 wait, please, Mr. Halbrooks, because I want to 23 mention that it's still a Class B Tavern, and we 24 still have the legal right to inspect. And you 25 know what we inspect for, you're a former city 154 1 attorney, and everybody else in here knows what we 2 inspect for: we want to make sure there is proper 3 egress; we want to make sure there is a 4 responsibile person on premises; we want to make 5 sure there are no underagers there; and most 6 importantly, at least in my feeling for that 7 building, we want to make sure there is no 8 capacity problems. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Sergeant, that's -- from 10 my perspective, you've provided sufficient 11 testimony here, okay. 12 SGT. MACGILLIS: All right, sir. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: From now forward here, 14 in providing additional fodder on side measures 15 for Mr. Halbrooks to raise 140 different 16 questions. 17 SGT. MACGILLIS: All right. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. I learn too, 19 okay. Questions by committee? 20 Mr. Halbrooks, a brief summary, 21 follow-up questions. Please proceed. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: Do you want to hear from 23 the neighbor? 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: No. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: Okay. All right. So 155 1 what I want to do is make certain that the 2 committee understands we have an objection to each 3 and every item in the police report. They were 4 all provided as hearsay, and as you know now, 5 nobody came forward with any direct knowledge of 6 the incident except the individuals who are 7 proponents of the license. So there is nothing in 8 the record that -- your attorney obviously can 9 explain the case law with regard to hearsay, when 10 it is challenged -- and there is no, nothing to 11 make it clear that it happened on behalf of the 12 proponent at that point, then it cannot be used as 13 substantial evidence. So there isn't anything 14 that was put forward today by the police 15 department that hasn't been challenged and dealt 16 with. There is certainly no reason not to 17 non-renew or even a suspension. And there is 18 certainly a reason to regrant the cabaret license 19 based on what has happened. 20 You saw very clearly how the place 21 closes, how quickly it closes. And except for 22 Sergeant O'Donnell, there is generally a very good 23 working relationship with the police department. 24 The -- I hope you do not believe that Mr. Asad was 25 trying to avoid having that, producing that video. 156 1 I can tell you that the questions about 2 the concerns about why there was a subpoena and 3 what's going on were real. The conversations with 4 the DA, you will see our letter to the district 5 attorney laying it out. We could not get 6 information about what was going on. And so with 7 that licensing hearing coming up, we were 8 preparing. And so, consequently, when the DA gave 9 us her word that Mr. Asad was not being looked at, 10 that they were just trying to do this, and we're 11 like, look, you didn't even get the information. 12 We'll give you everything you ask for and more 13 with the scanners. Now, that took a long time. 14 But I think that I'm particularly 15 disturbed, and I hope some of you are at least, by 16 the comment that an employee that got hit and got 17 his head cut open is a bad guy and can't be 18 believed. There is nothing in the record that he 19 can't be believed, by the way, and yet the 20 relative of the police officer is scooted out the 21 back and that's it. 22 So I think that there are certainly a 23 lot of reasons for concern about the way Sergeant 24 O'Donnell and his group operated. I don't know 25 that any of us can describe a scenario where five 157 1 squads need to come, but that is the kind of 2 tactics that Sergeant O'Donnell used. 3 There are not multiple felonies. There 4 was the crime that was committed on the security 5 guard. There is no actual proof in the record 6 that the other person was cut. There is nothing 7 in the video, the police report doesn't indicate 8 anything that can be determined on the video. And 9 so there isn't anything other than the guard 10 getting hit in the head, so, and then the police 11 watching him run away. 12 So I think that if you take the other 13 incidents, the three incidents where they were 14 arrested, hopefully, we have explained those to 15 the point where it was the police who caused those 16 arrests. It was the police, by coming and closing 17 down the club with a valid court order, by coming 18 in, storming into his office demanding to see the 19 video, when they never went in the VIP; there was 20 never anybody in any of the VIPs, and so there 21 wasn't anybody to see, and then finally, dragging 22 him out of his building when he videotaped, when 23 he was videotaping what was going on in the 24 street. And the day that an individual can't do 25 that in this country is a problem. 158 1 So I think with regard to those 2 incidents, I do appreciate -- oh, and the other 3 incident I want to indicate, on May 15th, 4 Sergeant, or Officer Agnew showed up and said, 5 "You can't be doing what you're doing," they said, 6 "Fine. We'll close." There was no action on that 7 other than -- there was no proof that what he was 8 concerned about was actually going on. Over the 9 course of the next day, they resolved it legally 10 and were able to function legally until finally 11 the injunction was granted. 12 And I think that the only other incident 13 that is a concern as the way it's written is the 14 August 15th incident, and again, we have 15 challenged that complaint about a battery. We 16 have no proof the individuals were ever in the 17 club or that any of it happened or anything 18 further at all from follow-up from the police 19 officers. So none of the items that they complain 20 about -- and I think that -- obviously, you 21 haven't seen this, and I think the chair may have 22 understood, but the license file indicates there 23 was a rush to get these in. And the filing of 24 eight PA-33s or seven PA-33s in the last 24 hours 25 of the deadline before the 45 days runs for 159 1 objections shows how they were trying to jam it 2 in, and what they jammed in was these things that 3 you've discounted. 4 So the objections that you've heard from 5 the DA's office were not timely, within the 45 6 days. And the objections from the police were not 7 timely; they did not object. And I know Sergeant 8 MacGillis knows how to do this timely. I know 9 Rebecca Grill knows this because she informed the 10 captain in your file that February 23rd was the 11 last day. And my experience with her analysis is 12 she knows what that 45-day-objection deadline is. 13 So the objections that were heard here by those 14 entities are not valid, legal objections. I 15 understand the committee listening to them, but 16 they do not provide a basis to close this club 17 down. 18 Because Mr. Zarate wants this place 19 closed, because he has persuaded the powers that 20 be in this building to try to get this closed, the 21 other clubs closed, there is nothing. 22 You saw very clearly "20 minutes it 23 took, I had to call multiple squads to come," and 24 when we saw what actually happened, the truth is, 25 it was three or four minutes. And that's how much 160 1 they've puffed. They've puffed that Mr. Asad was 2 taunting them when he was in his building saying 3 nothing. They said that his brother had to be 4 held back on July 2nd when all it was is just them 5 standing there. And none of it happened. And 6 that's why we had the video here. 7 I am very grateful for the committee for 8 watching the video because it bears out. And had 9 Sergeant O'Donnell been here, you would have heard 10 the whole story that his, the things he wrote and 11 the things he said and did were not true. They 12 were all a calculated effort to get this place 13 closed. What you saw were a couple of fights over 14 the course of the year for thousands and thousands 15 of people and how they were handled: quickly and 16 efficiently by his guest services people. 17 So we would hope that you would consider 18 renewing the Class B, and that you will restore 19 the dance, the cabaret license so that we can move 20 past all of the legal squabbles and get back to 21 providing entertainment. Thank you. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: With that, we're in 23 committee on the matter. 24 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Mr. Chair. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Kovac. 161 1 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Before I'm ready to 2 make a motion or vote, I wanted to ask if -- 3 Attorney Ruiz mentioned that there was quite a bit 4 of context there, potentially left wanting, and I 5 agree wholeheartedly, so if there is context, 6 firsthand testimony that any officers here can 7 provide, in particular about incidents where each 8 brother was arrested: one on the sidewalk, both 9 -- one was standing on the sidewalk, or maybe 10 something was said -- obviously, there was no 11 audio on that video -- and then the sidewalk 12 incident where we did have audio and two different 13 angles. But there again, there may have been a 14 context that if you just see the video they chose 15 to show us, we wouldn't be aware of. So, Captain, 16 do you have anyone here that can give us more 17 context? 18 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Nobody that is 19 present, sir. 20 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Mr. Chair. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Zielinski. 22 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Captain, as a 23 follow-up to that, do you have any personal 24 knowledge or information with respect to the 25 context of some of the activity such as the 162 1 traffic outside of the bar? 2 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Yes. 3 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: And what is -- 4 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: When you look at that 5 video, it's angled to one side of the street, and 6 I'm not -- that the front of the club was clear 7 within those minutes that they talk about. But 8 you also see all of these -- I forgot how many 9 individuals were there that night according to 10 Mr. Asad, it's not just what's in front of the 11 club at that moment; it's also the people you see 12 wandering in the street. There is one portion 13 where you see a few people standing in the street. 14 The one car that is coming up, or this direction 15 on the video, which was either north or south, we 16 don't only have to worry about what's right in 17 front of the club, but we also have to worry about 18 the people that are wandering, going into the 19 neighborhoods back to their cars. So the 20 20 minutes or within 20 minutes, which would say 21 less, means less than 20 minutes, within 20 22 minutes or up to 20 minutes, that's when the 23 officers are watching not only in the front of the 24 club and dispersement in front of the club, but 25 also to make sure they get in their cars and get 163 1 out of the neighborhood, to see if there are any 2 incidents occurring around at that time. This is 3 one night, one incident. There is no video from 4 the other establishments, so we can't say what 5 happened during that time. 6 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Captain, in your 7 capacity as captain of the 6th District, how would 8 you rank this bar in relation to other bars in 9 terms of problems that you've had? 10 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: 2nd District. With 11 these incidents occurring, this is one of the 12 establishments right now, one of a couple that I 13 have concerns about because of the type of 14 incidents that are happening. The substantial 15 batteries, obviously, are of concern to me. I 16 don't think we need to wait until somebody gets 17 shot and killed at an establishment to see that 18 there is a problem. These are substantial 19 batteries, a felony violation that I think we need 20 to keep an eye on and address. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Chair, there was not 22 -- no weapon. And I want to move the videos -- 23 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: I'm not finished 24 with my questions. 25 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: I never said there 164 1 was a weapon. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Zielinski, 3 please continue. 4 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Captain, do you 5 quantify, or have you been able to quantify the 6 amount of police resource time that has been 7 invested in this location in the past year? 8 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: To this, I do not 9 have the exact number of hours that we have spent 10 there. I can say that on a weekly basis, in the 11 Walker's Point area, we do have a safe street 12 initiative that we run every Friday, Saturday and 13 Sunday night due to incidents that have occurred 14 at different clubs, also due to citizen requests 15 of problems in the neighborhood, and also due to 16 aldermanic requests that there's incidents 17 occurring at these clubs that we need to address. 18 So every weekend I have a contingency of officers 19 who are specifically monitoring the Walker's Point 20 area to include Envy. 21 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Last question. As 22 far as the Walker's Point is concerned, is there 23 any establishment that requires more resources 24 than this particular location if you had to choose 25 one? 165 1 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: There are three clubs 2 in the Walker's Point area that give me concern 3 that we monitor on a weekly basis. I would have 4 to actually go back and break down how many hours. 5 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: So it's in the top 6 three? 7 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: It's in the top 8 three. 9 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Okay. That's all. 10 Thank you. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Are there additional 12 questions by committee before we take it to 13 committee? 14 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Chair, can I move 15 the video? 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You want the videos as 17 part of our record? 18 MR. HALBROOKS: The ones we showed, yes. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Do you have those? 20 MR. HALBROOKS: I will have them. He'll 21 straighten them out. 22 MR. ASAD: I'll try to straighten them 23 out. 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: We'll have Alderman 25 Zielinski move to make the videos that were 166 1 utilized as part of our proceeding, to make them 2 part of our official record in this proceeding, 3 and hearing no objection to that, so ordered. 4 With that, we're in committee on the 5 matter. 6 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Mr. Chair. 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Zielinski. 8 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: There's been 9 ongoing problems with this bar year after year. I 10 don't think that the alderman of the area is 11 making up what kind of a problem this is to the 12 district, I don't think that the police captain of 13 2nd District is making this up because he doesn't 14 have anything else better to do with his time, I 15 don't think that the business people that have had 16 firsthand experience with the reduction of 17 business in their area are just making this up 18 because they just don't have anything else better 19 to do with their time. This has been an ongoing 20 problem, like I said, you know, time after time 21 again. And I know that there's been an enormous 22 amount of police resources invested in this 23 location as well. The cost to the taxpayers, if 24 we quantified that, I'm sure it would just be 25 incredible. 167 1 There has been some testimony to the 2 effect that, no, this is, this bar is just fine, 3 there are no real issues here, there's complete 4 cooperation, and so forth. And just based on the 5 preponderance of the evidence, I don't buy it. 6 And it all boils down to the fact when you weigh 7 all of the information from all of the testimony 8 and all of the players involved, I think that it's 9 clear that this establishment is a nuisance to the 10 neighborhood and it hinders the continual 11 revitalization efforts that Alderman Witkowiak and 12 other people have been engaging in. 13 And so based on neighborhood testimony, 14 testimony from the police department, the alderman 15 of the area, the police report, I would move 16 nonrenewal of the Class B License and denial of 17 the Tavern Amusement License. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman, I'm going to 19 ask you, when it comes to the police report, do 20 you wish to specifically outline which items? 21 otherwise, unless you want to take the entirety of 22 every single item other than the aforementioned 23 items that I excluded: 11, 12, 21, 22 and 24. 24 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: It would be the 25 items -- exclusive of the items that you -- 168 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. The other items 2 in the recent license year, excluding Items 11, 12 3 21, 22 and 24. 4 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: That is correct. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: The motion by Alderman 6 Zielinski is to recommend -- and, Alderman, that 7 is denial of the Class B Tavern as well as the 8 denial of the Tavern Dance? 9 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Correct. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Motion by Alderman -- is 11 that a cabaret license, Ms. Grill? 12 MS. GRILL: It's a Tavern Amusement. 13 We're trying to get away from cabaret. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Utilizing cabaret. All 15 right. 16 Motion by Alderman Zielinski is to 17 recommend the nonrenewal of the Class B Tavern 18 License, and then it would be denial of the Tavern 19 Amusement License application based on the, in the 20 police report, all of the items, 11 through 25, 21 but excluding 11, 12, 21, 22 and 24, as well as 22 additional police and neighborhood testimony. Are 23 there discussions, any discussion on the motion? 24 I'll just, in the event that it does not 25 pass, provide a brief discussion. My discussion 169 1 point would be that I cannot support the motion as 2 provided here today. I have questions about a 3 number of additional police report items based on 4 the testimony and could not allow for all of the 5 items provided for that have not been previously 6 excluded to be considered. I do not believe at 7 this point -- I've supported in the past a 8 nonrenewal of the Tavern Amusement License, I 9 would not support the approval of it, but given 10 the Class B Tavern License and the police report 11 and the evidence that's been provided in its 12 entirety, I do not believe that it substantiates 13 with this individual hearing a nonrenewal of the 14 license for the Class B. That is my two cents. 15 The motion by Alderman Zielinski is to 16 recommend denial, the nonrenewal of the Class B 17 Tavern and the denial of the Tavern Amusement 18 License application. Are there any objections to 19 that motion other than my own? 20 ALDERWOMAN COGGS: Abstain. 21 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Object. 22 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Object. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Hearing three 24 objections, the motion will fail on a 1 to 3 vote. 25 Alderwoman Coggs, just so we're aware, are you 170 1 going to abstain on the remaining -- 2 ALDERMWOMAN COGGS: For this issue. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: -- for this item? All 4 right. We're in committee. 5 Now, for the two others, other than the 6 chair here, I will ask that somebody else make a 7 motion other than Alderman Zielinski because at 8 this point, I think he is probably going to stand 9 firm on this motion, so rather than play the game, 10 let's go on the other side here and play teeter 11 totter. We're in committee. 12 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Mr. Chair. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Kovac. 14 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Last year I supported 15 the motion for the Tavern Dance that was actually 16 based, if my memory serves me right it was the 17 police report, of course, but primarily I think it 18 was the neighborhood testimony, neighboring 19 businesses and residents that led to that decision 20 itself. Things had gotten out of hand in the 21 street, and there was pretty overwhelming 22 testimony of that last year. We really haven't 23 focused -- we pretty much focused exclusively on 24 the police report in this lengthy hearing. And I 25 agree with the chair that while there are several 171 1 incidents, there is certainly enough here to 2 warrant suspension, with or without -- without the 3 incidents that have been called into question by 4 the videotapes. I'm left with an unknown about 5 those because we have videotape that is 6 inconclusive, and the officers with firsthand 7 knowledge aren't here. So I certainly wish we 8 could have asked the officers with firsthand 9 knowledge for the fuller version of events. We 10 don't have that. But enough question has been 11 raised about that that I don't think I can base 12 these two arrests of the Asad brothers, I can't 13 make that part of my motion based on what I saw on 14 this video. It could be that there is more there, 15 but I just haven't heard it directly testified to 16 what's in hearsay proof, where hearsay in the 17 report isn't enough to refute the evidence they've 18 shown. I mean, because, frankly, if they really 19 were thumbing their nose at the police willfully 20 as the reports make it sound, that would have been 21 enough to deny. I just -- and that may be the 22 case, and we just don't have the evidence in front 23 of us today, but I'm not sitting here right now 24 convinced of that fact. I'm convinced that 25 there's a severely deteriorated relationship 172 1 between this applicant and the police, and that's 2 unfortunate for both sides. And I don't know the 3 whole story. So I hope next year we're not in a 4 position where we are left wondering what's really 5 going on. I'm sure there is blame to go around. 6 But what I'd like to focus on in my 7 motion is: Item 13, where there was a fight with 8 minor injuries; Item 14, noise complaint, music, 9 dance, there is a question here as to whether they 10 were allowed to have dancing or not, I guess I'll 11 leave that issue aside, okay; so Item 13; Item 15 12 certainly, okay, on Item 15, we took out the 13 loitering problem, ticket, leave the rest of it in 14 there for what it's worth; Item 16, we'll include 15 that, Item 16 was the battery; Item 17, we saw the 16 video, what happened, which roughly corresponds 17 with the text here, so certainly there was a lack 18 of, a failure of -- a failure to fully cooperate 19 and the police saw fit there, take that for what 20 it's worth on Item 17; Item 18, I believe that one 21 we also can't -- the charge, there was no charge 22 made, but certainly, I think -- is that the one -- 23 that was also a fight, certainly, the fight 24 happened and injuries occurred on 18; Item 19, we 25 have got a congestion issue, you know; and Item 173 1 20, well, let's leave out Item 20; but we'll 2 include Item 23 and 25, I believe. And so 3 particularly the items that talk about noise on 4 the street and the congestion, and based on 5 previous testimony, neighborhood testimony, I will 6 move to deny the Tavern Dance, and based on 7 similar -- based on all of those same items, I 8 will move for renewal of the Class B Tavern 9 License based on the evidence in the police 10 record, based on aldermanic testimony, based on 11 police testimony, I'll move for a renewal of the 12 tavern, Class B Tavern with a 30-day suspension. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Do you have the list of 14 items that you included? 15 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Basically, numerically 16 I think I went through, I just took out a couple 17 that Alderman Zielinski had. I think I took out 18 20. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You indicated 13, 15, 20 16, 17, 19, 23 and 25. 21 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Yeah. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: All right. Motion by 23 Alderman Kovac is to recommend approval of renewal 24 of the Class B Tavern with the issuance of a 25 30-day suspension based on those matters in the 174 1 police report that I've already mentioned, as well 2 as the additional neighborhood, aldermanic and 3 police testimony and a denial of the Class B -- 4 I'm sorry, of the Tavern Amusement License of the 5 application. Is there discussion on the motion? 6 My only discussion point is I have an issue with 7 one, two of the items that you're -- 8 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Do you want me to take 9 a couple items -- 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Well, I mean that's your 11 motion. 12 ALDERMAN KOVAC: But if you want me -- 13 if you have a good reason, I'll take them out. 14 Which ones do you want to take out? 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I have an issue with No. 16 15, only inasmuch as I believe that is the one 17 that is a point of discussion between -- 18 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Right. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: -- between the sergeant 20 here on the -- 21 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Yeah, take it out. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: -- mischaracterization 23 here. And Item 17, I just, I'm not convinced 24 based on the video. 25 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Yeah, actually, 17, 175 1 there was no violence other than the interaction 2 with the police being negative. So I'm not -- you 3 can take that out as well, take out 17. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: All right. So then, 5 what I have then is Item Nos. 13, 16, 19, 23 and 6 25. Alderman, was there a reason that you chose 7 to exclude Item 18? I'm not talking about the 8 constructing force of it. It's the synopsis. 9 ALDERMAN KOVAC: No, I meant to include 10 it, but exclude the -- we had -- 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. But you exclude 12 the -- 13 ALDERMAN KOVAC: I wanted to include the 14 others. Yeah, not the resisting, obstructing. I 15 wanted to exclude -- 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: The synopsis. Include 17 18, but exclude the synopsis and the dismissed 18 item. All right. I'll try to restate that again. 19 The motion by Alderman Kovac is for approval of 20 renewal of the Class B Tavern with a 30-day 21 suspension, and it is based upon Item Nos. 13, 16, 22 a portion of 18, to exclude the charge that was 23 dismissed -- are you including 19, Alderman? That 24 was the 20-minute video, of the allegation of the 25 20 minutes. 176 1 ALDERMAN KOVAC: And we saw the video. 2 I'll take that out. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: So excluding 19. So I 4 have 13, 16, 18, 23 and 25, along with additional 5 police testimony, along with the aldermanic 6 testimony and a denial of the Tavern Dance 7 License. Is there additional testimony? 8 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Mr. Chair. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: On the motion, Alderman 10 Zielinski. 11 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: I have a question 12 of the maker of the motion. Given the fact that 13 there were some items that were not able to be 14 addressed by the officer that was not here, would 15 the maker of the motion be amenable to holding 16 those items to be considered next cycle, to chair 17 that, that the officer would be here so we can get 18 a more definitive answer of what transpired? 19 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Yes. 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Well, let's see when 21 this particular -- when does this item expire, Ms. 22 Grill? 23 MS. GRILL: April 8th. 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: April 8th. All right. 25 You're talking about holding items open until next 177 1 year? 2 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Yeah, for 3 clarification, rather than saying, well, the 4 officer isn't here, we'll just not consider it at 5 all. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You can make that part 7 of your motion if you want to do that. Will that 8 change -- you want to -- what I'll ask for you to 9 do, if you're going to do that, is specify what 10 those items are rather than generically -- you 11 can't leave it open-ended. 12 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Well, normally we just 13 hold items open that are pending in criminal 14 court, right? And there is no pending charges 15 here; they've all been dropped, so. 16 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Just to keep things 17 simple, just hold those items that weren't 18 considered today, and if we have an officer here 19 next time -- 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Well, you're making a 21 request for a friendly amendment; either he agrees 22 to it or doesn't agree, you can use that as a 23 means for objecting. 24 ALDERMAN KOVAC: I want to ask -- 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: He's asking that as a 178 1 friendly amendment, I'll just -- I'll say -- 2 either yes or no, I mean -- and, if yes -- 3 ALDERMAN KOVAC: I don't have a problem 4 with that friendly amendment, I just want to make 5 sure we're not -- if Adam Stephens has an 6 objection to it, I don't want to do it. 7 ATTORNEY STEPHENS: This would be the 8 opportunity to hear the evidence on a given case. 9 Now, however, this committee has the option on 10 reviewing past licensing behavior going back 11 several years to find a context overall. So 12 clearly if the committee, if next year it wants to 13 consider some of the events that occurred this 14 year, can do so. However, keeping something open 15 in the event to prove the case next time, I think 16 it somewhat problematic. 17 ALDERMAN KOVAC: So then I'll say no. 18 I'll say no as a practical matter. 19 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: I just want to make 20 sure we have clarification from the city 21 attorney's office. Are you saying that it would 22 be problematic for us to hold these open, or not? 23 ATTORNEY STEPHENS: If you're 24 considering certain -- the purpose of this 25 committee is to hear allegations and the objectors 179 1 in this case. The police department reports 2 evidence to say something has happened, the 3 committee is now deciding which factors happened, 4 as is its role. Based on those facts that it's 5 found has happened, it's going to impose, and in 6 this case, there is a motion before the committee, 7 a certain suspension for a certain denial of the 8 Tavern Dance. If the committee doesn't rely on 9 certain facts this time around, there is still a 10 way to look at the overall context going back over 11 the police synopsis for several years. However, 12 if this body continually just kind of holds open 13 facts because it wasn't proved this time around, 14 it could find itself in a very problematic 15 situation years down the road, because you 16 wouldn't know what was considered and what wasn't. 17 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: That makes sense. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Any additional 19 commentary on the motion? All right. I will 20 state one more time, the motion by Alderman Kovac 21 is to recommend approval of the renewal of the 22 Class B License based on police report Item Nos. 23 13, 16, a portion of 18, 23 and 25 as well 24 additional neighborhood, police and aldermanic 25 testimony and to recommend the denial of the 180 1 Tavern Amusement License based on the very same 2 reasons. Are there any objections to that motion? 3 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Object. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Hearing one objection -- 5 ALDERMWOMAN COGGS: Abstain. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: -- and one abstention, 7 the motion will carry on a 3 to 1 vote. 8 Mr. Stephens. 9 ATTORNEY STEPHENS: Thank you, Mr. 10 Chair. 11 Mr. Asad, the committee will be doing a 12 report of its finding of facts and conclusions of 13 law when it recommends to the Milwaukee Common 14 Council that your Tavern License be suspended, be 15 renewed with a suspension of 30 days, and that 16 your application for a Tavern Dance License be 17 denied. You will receive a copy of that report. 18 You'll have an opportunity to file written 19 exceptions. If you do, they must be received by 20 the city clerk by 4:45 p.m., March 18, 2011. If 21 you submit written objections, then you also have 22 the opportunity to appear before the Milwaukee 23 Common Council when it considers this matter on 24 March 23, 2011, in the Common Council chambers of 25 this building located on the same floor you're on 181 1 now but on the other end. 2 Please be advised that this report is a 3 recommendation to the full Common Council. The 4 Common Council makes the final decision whether 5 your licenses are renewed, renewed with a 6 suspension between 10 and 90 days, non-renewed 7 where your application is denied. Do you 8 understand this? 9 MR. ASAD: Yes. 10 ATTORNEY STEPHENS: Mr. Halbrooks, will 11 you accept service on behalf of your client? 12 MR. HALBROOKS: He understands, but he 13 does not agree what you just said, that his 14 license -- with regard to the renewal, the 15 recommendation. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Will you receive 17 service, Mr. Halbrooks? 18 MR. HALBROOKS: Yes, give it to Mr. 19 Lerner. 20 MR. LERNER: Yeah, you can just send it 21 to my office. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: All right. 23 24 25 182 1 STATE OF WISCONSIN ) ) SS: 2 COUNTY OF WALWORTH ) 3 4 5 I, KAREN RENEE, Court Reporter and 6 Notary Public in and for the State of Wisconsin, do 7 hereby certify that the above hearing was recorded by 8 me on March 7, 2011 and reduced to writing under my 9 personal direction. 10 I further certify that I am not a 11 relative or employee or attorney or counsel of any of 12 the parties, or a relative or employee of such attorney 13 or counsel, or financially interested directly or 14 indirectly in this action. 15 In witness whereof I have hereunder set 16 my hand and affixed my seal of office at Burlington, 17 Wisconsin, this 21st day of March, 2011. 18 19 ___________________________ 20 Karen Renee Court Reporter and Notary Public 21 In and for the State of Wisconsin 22 23 My Commission Expires: March 11, 2012. 24 25