In the case of Anthony F. DeFillipo vs. City of North Miami Beach, witness/Criminal Commissioner was scheduled to be deposed today at 4:00 PM.

He chickened out.

Yesterday he was served with a Notice of Deposition for today, which was apparently confirmed by the City’s alleged lawyers.  Four o’clock came and went and McKenzie never appeared.

Several people on the Zoom starting messaging in the chat room that they saw McKenzie log on at about 4:00 PM and immediately log out.

At 4:07 PM, Mayor DeFillipo’s attorney, Michael Pizzi, Esq., stated that they would wait until 4:15 PM, but then attorney Thomas Ward of Heise Suarez Melville, P.A., the firm illegally hired by City “Attorney” Hans Ottinot, announced that McKenzie contacted him and said he was not going to show, but that he would make himself available “tomorrow, any time, any place” for an in-person deposition.

Obviously, McKenzie does not want his performance to be on Zoom for the entire world to watch him squirm.

Mr. Pizzi was not happy.

He announced on the record that this was the second deposition noticed for McKenzie.  The first time he showed up in-person and left before answering any questions, claiming he had “an appointment.”

Mr. Pizzi then stated that all parties had agreed to today’s Zoom deposition at 4:00 PM and he directed the court reporter to issue a Certificate of Non-Appearance for the Court record.

Mr. Ward got testy and asked Mr. Pizzi if he is stating that he will not accept McKenzie’s offer to appear tomorrow “any time, any place in the County” for an in-person deposition, to which Mr. Pizzi replied that this is his deposition, not the city’s, and that he is the one who sets the time and place for depositions.  Mr. Pizzi said he would consult his co-counsel and then decide what to do.

Bottom line is that McKenzie Fleurimond, who never misses a chance to publicly run off at the mouth, suddenly was afraid to answer questions on the record in front of an audience.

In The High Price of Failing to Appear for Deposition, the deposition service provider, Esquire Deposition Solutions, wrote, “The available sanctions for failure to appear for a deposition are enough to make any attorney think twice about counseling such a course of action without good reason.”

Furthermore, “Missing a properly noticed deposition will expose a party to sanctions even if the party is willing to appear at a later date. Courts have held that when a party fails to appear for a deposition, the opposing party is prejudiced by that failure and later compliance does not cure the effects of the failure to appear.”

Should Mr. Pizzi choose to file a Motion for Contempt of Court, McKenzie could be liable for the attorneys’ fees and costs expended in this aborted deposition.

It’s also not a good look for the defense — in this case the entire City of North Miami Beach, City “Attorney” Hans Ottinot, Sham Lawyer Luis E. Suarez, and especially, the cowardly Criminal Commissioner McKenzie Fleurimond.

To be continued …

Stephanie