2.Angela Schuster — Direct/Cross/Redirect
506 linesMR. KRATZ: There is, Judge, although there were no stipulations to note yesterday in our first testimony, there will be witnesses that are scheduled to begin today that may be the subject of agreements between the parties. I thought, unless the Court wants to get going, I thought this might be an opportunity to provide the Court with those agreements.
We alerted the Court that we had made some agreements regarding stipulations. And I wish to take a few minutes to put those on the record, if I can, at this time. If Mr. -- Mr. Strang has recommended that perhaps at this time, since our first witness may not be the subject of any of these stipulations, but later witnesses today might, perhaps we can give you our written list of stipulations.
Some of them just won't be objections by the defense and may not need to be in writing. And if that satisfies the Court, then perhaps after our next break or sometime before the close of the day we can put the rest of those on the record.
THE COURT: I think that would be helpful.
MR. STRANG: If we could take just a moment to photocopy, this is an email that I sent to Mr. Kratz going paragraph by paragraph through proposed stipulations. If we could have just a moment to let Mr. Kratz photocopy that and we'll keep a copy here at our table so that, you know, I don't, you know, inadvertently forget --
THE COURT: All right.
MR. STRANG: -- we agreed not to object.
THE COURT: I believe the copying is being done as we speak. We'll bring the jury in now and then take our first witness today.
(Jury present.)
THE COURT: You may be seated. Good morning, members of the jury. Before we get started today, I want to apologize for the fact that I understand the bus was late yesterday. Doesn't do much good to release you at 4:30 if you have got to wait for the bus until 5:00. We'll be addressing that situation to make sure that the bus is here on a timely basis.
BAILIFF: The bus was here on time, your Honor; it was at 4:30.
THE COURT: Oh, it was. Because when I called the courthouse back, they told me it was not. At any rate, that's good news. I was also told there was some concern about the temperature on the bus on the way over; is that being addressed?
BAILIFF: It was fine last night and it was fine this morning.
THE COURT: Okay. Finally, I note that one of the jurors in the back row does not appear to be as tall as the rest of them and I don't think that's because of your stature. We're having the courthouse folks address that to put you up on a riser so that all the jurors in the back row will be seated on the same level.
With that, I believe we're ready to begin. Mr. Kratz, you may call your first witness.
MR. KRATZ: Thank you. We'll call Angela Schuster to the stand.
COURT CLERK: Please raise your right hand.
ANGELA SCHUSTER, called as a witness herein, having been first duly sworn, was examined and testified as follows:
COURT CLERK: Please be seated. Please state your name and spell your last name for the record.
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Angela Schuster, S-c-h-u-s-t-e-r.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY KRATZ:
MR. KRATZ: Ms Schuster, could you tell the jury how you are employed, please.
ANGELA SCHUSTER: I'm employed with Auto Trader Magazine.
MR. KRATZ: You will either have to speak up or perhaps, Judge, the microphone ...
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Auto Trader Magazines.
MR. KRATZ: What are your duties with Auto Trader?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Well, right now, I'm the district circulation manager. At the time, I was the operations.
MR. KRATZ: When you talk about "at the time", are you talking about during the fall of 2005?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Ms Schuster, if you could tell the jury, please, what were your duties during the fall of 2005?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Took care of the daily office functions, complaints, reports, all office staff, all photographers.
MR. KRATZ: As a -- You were in a supervisory capacity?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: As a supervisor, did you supervise a young woman by the name of Teresa Halbach?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Can you tell the jury, please, how did you know Ms Halbach?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Well, I brought Ms Halbach on as a photographer through a reference from one of our circulation outlets. She applied for the job that we had open into the Green Bay area.
MR. KRATZ: How long had Ms Halbach been working for Auto Trader?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: About a year.
MR. KRATZ: Could you tell the jury, please, how photographers for Auto Trader got compensated for their work?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: They were paid per shot. Most of their appointments were prescheduled. We have a telemarketing service that telemarkets to get prospects or what we call leads for our photographers and otherwise people that schedule appointments over the internet or phone in the office.
MR. KRATZ: You said that Ms Halbach had been working for you for about a year, did she have a particular district that she was responsible for?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: When she was brought on, she was responsible for Green Bay. And then mid-year, 2005, she had taken over the Manitowoc/Sheboygan area, one day a week, on Mondays, for us.
MR. KRATZ: Now, Ms Schuster, as manager of the Auto Trader office, at least for this region, are you familiar with the records, the business records within that office?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: As a custodian of the business records, were you also asked to review previous photographs, or previous images that Teresa Halbach had taken?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: And were you asked, Ms Schuster, specifically, to review previous visits or images that Ms Halbach had taken at a property known as the Avery Salvage Yard?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: And have you done that?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Mm-hmm.
MR. KRATZ: I'm going to ask you to look at the six different images that are in front of you. And I believe -- Ms Schuster, just so that we can get through these images, I believe they are -- they are without -- they are without objection.
I'm first going to have you look at Exhibit No. 11. This is an image taken on June 20th at the Avery Salvage property; do you see Exhibit No. 11 there?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Mm-hmm.
MR. KRATZ: And, in fact, all of those six exhibits, Exhibits 11 through 16; is it your understanding that all of them were taken at the Avery salvage property?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: I'm first going to show you Exhibit No. 11, which I believe was taken on June 20th at the Avery salvage property. Please look at the large screen that is noted to your right; is that a accurate depiction of Exhibit No. 11, as well?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Second image, image No. 12 --
MR. BUTING: Counsel, do you want to indicate the year, you said June 20th.
MR. KRATZ: I'm sorry, June 20th of 2005.
MR. KRATZ: (By Attorney Kratz)~ That's the year that she was taking these photos; is that right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Second image, image No. 12, taken on August 22nd, once again, I will have you look at the large screen to your right; is that a true and accurate depiction of what is noted as Exhibit No. 12?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: And, again, August 22nd of this year, that's 2005; is that correct?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Right.
MR. KRATZ: Third image, that will be image No. 13, taken on August 29th, 2005; is that correct?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: And, again, looking to your right, showing on the screen, is that a photo taken by Teresa Halbach, again, at the Avery salvage property on the 29th of August?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Fourth image, that is image No. 14, taken on September 19th, 2005 at the Avery salvage property. Again, Exhibit No. 14 on the large screen; is that a true and accurate depiction of the image that's in front of you?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Image No. 15, again, a photo taken also on September 19th, the Avery salvage property; is that an image that is that on the large screen, a true and accurate depiction of image No. 15 that's in front of you?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: And, finally, image No. 16, taken on October 10th, 2005, again, at the Avery -- actually, Steven Avery's residence, right outside of his garage. Exhibit No. 16 appear to be a true and accurate depiction of what's being shown on the screen to your right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: I would, at this time, Judge, move the admission of Exhibits 11 through 16.
MR. BUTING: No objection.
THE COURT: Those exhibits are admitted.
MR. KRATZ: (By Attorney Kratz)~ Ms Schuster, you had mentioned that Ms Halbach had a territorial responsibility for up this way. And I'm not sure if you mentioned the Manitowoc and Sheboygan area; did you testify about that before?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Just so we're clear, during late October of 2005, did Ms Halbach remain responsible for that particular district?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Were you aware that Ms Halbach had outside photography employment other than for Auto Trader?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Mm-hmm, yes.
MR. KRATZ: Is that typical or is that usual for photographers that you employ?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: To have a second job, yes.
MR. KRATZ: They are not discouraged or anything from working at their own studio, are they?
MR. KRATZ: Ms Schuster, was Ms Halbach provided with any equipment from Auto Trader itself to perform these shots?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes, she was provided with everything that she needed to do her business right from her home.
MR. KRATZ: Did that include being provided with a camera?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Do you know what kind of camera Ms Halbach was provided by Auto Trader?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: I don't recall specifically offhand, but we usually use Kodak or Canon.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Let me ask you, were you asked, Ms Schuster, to determine in this case what camera Ms Halbach was given?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: And as you sit here, can you remember it?
MR. KRATZ: Would there be anything that could refresh your recollection, perhaps being shown a photograph of the box that she was given, or something like that, or what might refresh your memory about that?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: A box. When we determined, when Mr. Fassbender came to the office and was going through items, the camera that we had purchased versus the camera used to take these pictures, were used on a camera that we had purchased.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Ms Schuster, I'm showing you what has been marked as Exhibit No. 9 can you tell us what that is, please?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: It's a Canon PowerShot A310 digital camera.
MR. KRATZ: And does that now refresh your recollection as to the camera provided to her by Auto Trader Magazine for her use?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: In fact, was she provided with --
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: -- that box, that camera?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: All right. So the jury can see a picture of that box, I will put that up on the screen; does that photograph to your right appear to be a photograph of what's included in Exhibit No. 9?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Now, Ms Schuster, can you tell the jury, after a digital image is taken by one of your photographers, one of your employees, how does that physically get into the magazine? Can you just tell us about that process.
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Sure. The photographers hand in their discs along with their paperwork. The discs are then downloaded at the office onto our software system and then sent over to our production department that places the ads into the book.
MR. KRATZ: When a photographer like Teresa was scheduled to take a shot or a photo for Auto Trader, how would that typically be set up?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: How would the picture be set up?
MR. KRATZ: Yeah, how would the appointment be set up?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: By phone, by email, mail.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Was there an employee, somebody in your office, other than you, who would typically make those appointments or set up those photo shoots?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes, the staff in the office handle most of the phone calls that come into the office.
MR. KRATZ: Would it be fair that the support staff, the receptionist or secretaries, would have more contact with the photographers than you would?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Do you know a woman by the name of Dawn Pliszka?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Who is Dawn Pliszka?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Dawn Pliszka was our receptionist in 2005.
MR. KRATZ: As custodian of the records for Auto Trader, were you able to determine Ms Halbach's first trip to the Avery Auto Salvage property?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: No, not by photo. We had the actual appointment information, but the photo had been purged from our system.
(Court reporter couldn't hear.)
ANGELA SCHUSTER: The photo was purged from our system.
MR. KRATZ: I understand that, but what I'm asking is, do you also keep records, or calendars, or things of that nature to recreate appointments or things like that with your photographers?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Our customer's information is kept in our data base, by phone number.
MR. KRATZ: Were you aware that Steven Avery, or another, or under another name, was one of Auto Trader's customers?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Not before this, no.
MR. KRATZ: That's what I'm asking you, after this, were you asked to find that out?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes. Yes.
MR. KRATZ: And did you find that out?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: And could you tell us about Steven Avery's contacts with Auto Trader?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Well, he would phone in his requests for the photographer to come out to his property to take pictures. All of our customers are given the option to prepay, or pay with the photographer when he or she gets there. They would normally pay when the photographer got to this property.
MR. KRATZ: By the way, how much does each photo shoot cost?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: We have several different packages, so anywhere about from twenty-four ninety-five to fifty-nine ninety-five.
MR. KRATZ: You said Mr. Avery typically paid the photographer, paid in cash when he was there?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Mm-hmm.
MR. KRATZ: You have to say yes or no?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: All right. And, again, back to my earlier question, Ms Schuster, were you able, then, to determine the first time that Ms Halbach had gone to the Avery property, through those records, or is that something that you couldn't recreate?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes, we were.
MR. KRATZ: And what was that date?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: In June.
MR. KRATZ: Was that the June 20th photo that we saw?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Do you know how many times Ms Halbach was asked to go out to the -- Steven Avery's property?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: With the June, there was five times she was out there -- four times she was out to his property.
MR. KRATZ: That's not counting the 31st of October; is that right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Right.
MR. KRATZ: And, again, Exhibits 11 through 16 are the photos or the product from those trips; is that correct?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Now, you said that your photographers generally would either contact you by phone or perhaps by fax or email. Do you know, specifically, how Ms Halbach made her connections or contacts with Auto Trader?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Through fax and phone.
MR. KRATZ: And so if a customer had made an appointment, even a last minute appointment; how would that typically be relayed to Ms Halbach?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: If it was a last minute appointment, then the staff would write up the customer's information on a -- we have what was called a shoot or reshoot form, gather as much of the information from the customer and let the customer know that the photographer may or may not be out that same day, depending on his or her schedule.
Once they gather the information, then they call the photographer and ask if they had been to the area, or if they can possibly fit that shoot into their day. And, then, depending on if they get a hold of them or what they say, either a photographer will call the customer directly, or the office will call and let them know if they can make the shoot.
MR. KRATZ: Ms Schuster, I have now placed in front of you what's marked as Exhibit No. 17, you talked about some shoot or reshoot form. What is Exhibit 17?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: The photo shoot/reshoot form.
MR. KRATZ: Now, did you fill out Exhibit No. 17 or did somebody else do that?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Somebody else did.
MR. KRATZ: And will we hear from that person later on this morning; is that right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Ms Schuster, was their typically a time frame or a amount of time that you, as the manager, and the photographers, specifically wanted by way of lead time before they would go out to shoot any of these photos?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Typically it's a 24 hour lead time, if the customer wants an appointment. However, we do have areas such as the Manitowoc/Sheboygan that is typically not a busier area for us, so it is open one day per week. So if we do get customers that will call from our shorter service area, so to speak, we will try to get the photographer there that day, if they call on that day that they are there. So ...
MR. KRATZ: Do you know, back in late October -- You are talking about this being Teresa's district, back in late October of '05; do you know the one day of the week that Auto Trader would service that county?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Mondays.
MR. KRATZ: So if somebody would call on Monday, let's say Monday, October 31st, would it be possible that if called during that same day that the photo could be taken that same day?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Ms Schuster, when were you first informed or when were you asked about the whereabouts of Ms Halbach?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Thursday evening, her mother had called the office.
MR. KRATZ: And any time after the 31st of October, had you heard from Teresa Halbach?
MR. KRATZ: Let's talk about the 31st, then, of October. And I'm going to ask you, specifically, whether you had any contact with Teresa Halbach, whether you did, any time that day?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Can you tell us when, please?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Teresa called in shortly after 11:00.
MR. KRATZ: 11:00 a.m.?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: 11:00 a.m.
MR. KRATZ: What was the purpose of that?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: The purpose was, she was returning Dawn's call from this morning; Dawn had left her a message to see if she was able to take a shoot. And Dawn had already left for lunch and I had answered the phone. And Teresa had said -- asked if Dawn was there. I said, no, she was at lunch. And she said, can you just let her know that I will be able to get that shoot; she can fax the information over to me.
MR. KRATZ: Verifying that she would be able to take the photo; is that right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Was that the -- Again, based upon your records, was that the photo shoot that you later determined to be at the Steven Avery residence?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Or property. We'll hear from Dawn a little bit later this morning, but other than that call, sometime just after 11:00 a.m.; did you have any other contact with Teresa?
MR. KRATZ: Finally, Ms Schuster, after law enforcement became involved in the search efforts, did you provide those digital images that we have referred to, as well as the information regarding the activities on the 31st and the information regarding the Canon PowerShot A310?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: That's all I have of Ms Schuster, Judge. Thank you.
THE COURT: Mr. Buting.
MR. BUTING: Thank you. See if I can get this thing working; can you hear me?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY BUTING:
MR. BUTING: Good morning, ma'am.
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Good morning.
MR. BUTING: We haven't actually met before, have we?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: No, we have not.
MR. BUTING: I want to step back a little bit and clarify just how some of these procedures work, if we may. Auto Trader headquarters is actually in Hales Corners, in the Milwaukee area, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: We're a satellite office, yes --
MR. BUTING: Okay.
ANGELA SCHUSTER: -- in Hales Corners.
MR. BUTING: Okay. And out of that office, you run photographers all over the state, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Correct. Yes.
MR. BUTING: And the state is kind of divided up in regions. And one of these regions is the northeastern area of Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Brown County area, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And most of the contact with the photographers in those more distant regions, not right in the Milwaukee area, are done by emails, fax and phone?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes. And they also have overnight packages that they send.
MR. BUTING: Okay. So in Ms Halbach's case, for instance, did she come down and interview for the job in Hales Corners?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: No, I actually went to Green Bay and interviewed her.
MR. BUTING: Okay. And that was about a year or so before October, 2005?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And was that the only time you actually met her?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: From that point on, for the next year, to your knowledge did she ever come down to Hales Corners?
MR. BUTING: So all of her -- Well, for instance, let me ask you this, do you know whether she ever met Dawn Pliszka, the receptionist?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Not that I'm aware.
MR. BUTING: Okay. So, really, her communication was with your office by phone, fax; did she use email with you?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: She did.
MR. BUTING: Okay. And most of those communications were fairly brief, I take it?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: We got -- We got a call for you, or we got a job for you, here's the information, name, address, phone number; that's pretty much it?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: I think -- I think the staff had more conversation with her. How was your weekend, that sort of thing, but for the most part, probably brief.
MR. BUTING: Small talk kind of things?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Mm-hmm, yes.
MR. BUTING: And your communication with Teresa Halbach was probably less even than the staff who were answering the phone?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: Okay. Now, what you would typically do, when somebody would call in, or when the telemarketers -- Telemarketers were based in Florida, I think; is that right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes, they were at the time.
MR. BUTING: And what they would do is, they would comb newspapers or other publications for people who already put ads in and call them and say, hey, you know, why don't you put an ad in our publication as well?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Correct. Yes.
MR. BUTING: Sort of cold calls --
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: -- right? And in fact, that's -- if you know, isn't that how Auto Trader made the contact with this George Zipperer later the same day, on October 31st?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: It was a telemarketing call, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: Okay. Now, so what your office would do is, it would either get the information from your telemarketers saying here's an address, phone number, we want you to go take a photograph of; or that person -- customer would call in or use the internet to call in themselves and say, we want this appointment, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And then your office -- Someone in your office would prepare some kind of a form to fax to the photographers their appointments?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: Who did that; was that you?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: That was Dawn.
MR. BUTING: So Dawn would do that. Did you bring any of those records with you today; any of those kind of appointment sheets?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: No, I did not.
MR. BUTING: I'm going to show you one so we know what we're talking about.
MR. BUTING: Mark this.
(Exhibit 18 marked for identification.)
MR. BUTING: Now, this one, if I understand it, is from a couple months earlier. We'll talk about some more recent ones in a minute. But if you could just identify for us what this is?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: That is the photographer's detailed appointment report for that day.
MR. BUTING: And it's been marked as Exhibit 18 now, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: Your Honor, could I use the ELMO?
THE COURT: Sure.
MR. BUTING: (By Attorney Buting)~ A little hard to see because this is a white sheet, but showing you what's up on the screen now; is -- that's what we just referred to as Exhibit 18?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And at the top there is a fax line that says from Auto Trader. It's got the fax number that you would fax it to the photographer, in this case Teresa, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And, then, it's also got a faxed back one from Teresa, correct?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Right.
MR. BUTING: Now, this one has a lot of handwriting on it. It doesn't come to the photographer, in this case Teresa, like that, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: No, it does not.
MR. BUTING: It would initially come with just the typed out information of date, name, address and phone number on the right column, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Correct. Yes.
MR. BUTING: And, then, over -- You would get these from, not just Teresa, but from all the photographers, and you would go through them in terms of figuring out what to pay them, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: So these were regular records that you use in your business to determine how to -- not only keep track of appointments, but pay the photographers?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And what Teresa would do, you became familiar with her custom and practice, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: Which was that she would take these forms and then in handwriting she would put along the side, done, done, done, no pay, done pay, those kinds of things?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And then at the top, if we could see the very top of it a little bit. In this instance, she circled 8 and she put 6 completed and 2 no payment, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And then she has, plus one hustle?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And then P form, what's that?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: The P form is a form that photographers use when they get a shot that might be a referral, or a second shot at a customer's home. And so how they are numbered, it starts with a P; that's why we call it a P form.
MR. BUTING: Okay. All right. And so from this, then, you would figure that you would pay her 8 -- for 8 shots plus this hustle one?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Correct.
MR. BUTING: And we'll talk about the hustle in just a minute. Now, normally, Teresa's practice, as all of the photographers' practice would be, that you would not get this form back from them until after the day's appointments had been completed; is that right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Correct.
MR. BUTING: So that, for instance, let's take October 31st. Or, actually, let me clarify something. The deadline for getting your ads into the magazine, is what?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Mondays and Tuesdays.
MR. BUTING: Okay. So Teresa's day for that part of the state, which was Monday, she would be expected to get that information to Auto Trader by the very next day in order to make it into the deadline?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: The way she would do that, in fact, you provided discs, little digital camera discs for each photographer, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And she would -- she would go around, take all the pictures for that day, collect the paperwork from the customer, put it all in an overnight Fed Ex, UPS, something like that, and overnight it to Auto Trader in Milwaukee for the next day?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: Okay. And along with the money?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: Okay. So from the customer, Teresa would collect -- She would take the photograph. She would also fill out a form that included, what, a copy, written part, should be the description of the vehicle?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And the money and all of that would go to you, overnight?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: But even before that arrived at your office, she would fax this kind of a sheet to you at the end of the day?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Right. Yes.
MR. BUTING: But now, there's something kind of unusual about October 31st of 2005, and the way that works, wasn't there?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes. We actually received a fax from Teresa earlier in the day.
MR. BUTING: Okay. And, in fact, you received it, if I recall, it was shortly after midnight on the 30th; that is, very early, you know, 12:30 or 12:18 a.m., early morning hours of the 31st?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Right. Yes. Correct.
MR. BUTING: And that was faxed from her?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Correct.
MR. BUTING: And it involved the shoots for that upcoming day?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: That hadn't even -- Appointments hadn't even been made yet, or kept yet, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: No, if it was faxed back to us, it would be anything that she had completed.
MR. BUTING: Okay. But the one that you received on the 31st, correct me if I'm wrong, actually contained the appointments for the day of the 31st; did it not?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: No. No, we don't print their appointment reports or their actual leads until 7:00 a.m. in the morning. So on the 31st, on that Monday, her leads would not have been printed until after 7:00 a.m.
MR. BUTING: Okay.
ANGELA SCHUSTER: So she couldn't have had them at 12:30.
MR. BUTING: So the one that she sent back to you at 12:30 a.m. was --
ANGELA SCHUSTER: It was from Friday, or Saturday or Thursday.
MR. BUTING: Okay. But in it, it included some information about appointments that had been actually rescheduled for the coming week?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes, photographers do reschedule appointments as well.
MR. BUTING: Okay. Now, you mentioned that most of the leads for photographers come from Auto Trader itself, either the telemarketing or customers who called in?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: About 90 percent of the shoots that the photographers do, come from -- from Auto Trader to the photographer?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: But there's something else where maybe 10 percent on average of a photographer's shoots are called hustle shots, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And those are where leads come, not from Auto Trader, but from the photographer him or herself?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And there is an incentive for photographers to do that because they get paid more on hustle shots, don't they?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: What was the pay for a Auto Trader lead, typically?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Typically, eight seventy-five.
MR. BUTING: $8.75 for one photo.
ANGELA SCHUSTER: One photo.
MR. BUTING: Okay. And what about a hustle shot?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Eighteen seventy-five.
MR. BUTING: Okay. And when the photographer would -- would schedule a hustle shot, it would not be on your list of appointments that were faxed to the photographer the morning of each day, whatever you said, 7:00 a.m., right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Correct.
MR. BUTING: In fact, your office would not even know about any hustle shots, unless and until the photographer sent that information back to you at the end of the day; isn't that right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And like, for instance, let's take this one that's up there. She specifically says 8 of the appointments that you gave her -- your office gave her, were completed, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: But there was an additional one that's not listed anywhere on that sheet, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Right. It's probably handwritten on the bottom.
MR. BUTING: Well, let's look and see. Okay. That would be considered the hustle, the one that's handwritten?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes. Actually, we would not have considered that a hustle, a hustle shot she confirmed with the office. That was a rescheduled appointment that she had taken that day.
MR. BUTING: Okay. So the hustle shot is not even on this form yet?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: It's a three us (phonetic). It does not.
MR. BUTING: Okay. In fact, that was often Teresa's practice, is that you didn't know -- For instance, you didn't really care on this particular form, when you get this back, you didn't care about the information from those hustle shots yet, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Correct.
MR. BUTING: What you cared about is making sure that when the Fed Ex came the next day, that's when you needed to know the information of the name, address, photo, copy information for these hustle shots, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: We like to have them on the forms, but they don't often write them on there.
MR. BUTING: Very often, yes. And in Teresa's case, she often didn't, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: I would have to look at her sheets to be sure if it was often or not.
MR. BUTING: Okay. I'm going to let you do that in just a couple minutes, but I wanted to get a few other things about the way this business works down first. Repeat customers are very common for Auto Trader, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: In fact, you like those kinds of customers, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: The first time someone calls in you set up an account for them, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And then, they can either be billed or they pay as you go kind of approach, from that point on, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Right. We don't bill. They will pay when the photographer comes out or they can prepay.
MR. BUTING: Okay. And Mr. Avery was one of those repeat customers, was he not?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: You mentioned -- It was a little unclear, you mentioned four times that he had been there, then you mentioned five. Counting, starting with June and going up through October 31st, that was actually six times that he had used your business; isn't that right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: October 31st would have been her 5th visit to his property.
MR. BUTING: Well, let's -- Do you have those exhibits still up there in front of you, photographs? Exhibit 11, you said was a June 20th shot; do you see that?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: I have to find 11. Yes, that was June.
MR. BUTING: Exhibit 12 was August 22nd?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: Exhibit 13 was August 29th?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Okay.
MR. BUTING: Exhibit 14 and 15 were from the 19th -- I'm sorry, September 19th; is that right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And then the last one you have up there is October 10th of '05, that's Exhibit 16?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Okay.
MR. BUTING: So that's five that you have up there, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Five through -- Yes.
MR. BUTING: So the 31st of October would have been the 6th visit?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Okay.
MR. BUTING: Okay. And your records had Mr. Avery's address, correct, your office records?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: As an account, an open account that you have, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: It had his phone number, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And, in fact, you had more than one phone number associated with that particular account, correct?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: I do believe so, yes.
MR. BUTING: Now, the name Janda, J-a-n-d-a, that also was a name that was used on a prior visit to Teresa to the Avery salvage property was it not?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: I'm not sure.
(Exhibit No. 19 marked for identification.)
MR. BUTING: I'm going to show you Exhibit 19, see if you can identify that.
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Exhibit 19, okay.
MR. BUTING: It's another one of her fax?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Reports.
MR. BUTING: Appointment sheets?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: Okay. If you look at the first, very first name on the list there.
(Court reporter couldn't hear.)
MR. BUTING: Say it again.
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Tom Janda.
MR. BUTING: J-a-n-d-a, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: Can everybody see that, the first name there? And right next to that name is a phone number, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And an address, 12930A Avery Road, correct?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And that's the very same address and phone number that was given by Mr. Avery when he called in your office on October 31st, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And so your office knew that this Janda, B. Janda, was associated with the Avery salvage property?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: I'm not sure if Dawn had recognized that at all. The phone numbers are different, so that's why another account was created under B. Janda.
MR. BUTING: But the very name of the road is Avery, correct?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Correct.
MR. BUTING: So that's a little bit of a hint that it's associated with Mr. Avery, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Sure.
MR. BUTING: Okay. This one by the way is?
MR. BUTING: Maybe you could unzoom it.
MR. BUTING: (By Attorney Buting)~ This is the appointment, I believe, for September 19th. And if you could just read the bottom of that note.
MR. BUTING: Push it up a bit, Dean.
MR. BUTING: (By Attorney Buting)~ It says 9/19 at the top. She says, I also did one hustle shot. It's the first one on the disc, but I forgot to send the sheet with the info. Is that right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: Okay. Now, when Mr. -- Mr. Fassbender, Investigator Fassbender from the DCI, met with you, he had you go through a number of the records that you had on Mr. Avery's involvement and Teresa Halbach's entire photo shoot history, correct?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And you actually printed out a list of all of these -- or copies of each one of these forms that -- like Exhibit 18 and 19 that we're referring to here today, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes. Anything that we had in our files, yes.
MR. BUTING: Any of these that Teresa had done, you printed out?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And you looked through them when you talked with him, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: We didn't look through everything.
MR. BUTING: Okay. Well, would it be fair to say that from your review of the records, it was clear to you that Teresa did have a history of these hustle shots, of using these hustle shots for some extra income?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Sure. Yes.
MR. BUTING: And maybe you will need to take a moment to look at these, but I believe in the last 16 or 17 visits -- I'm sorry, 16 or 17 days that Teresa did any of these shoots of any kind, she did 12 hustle shots; does that ring a bell?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: I would have to look.
MR. BUTING: All right.
MR. BUTING: Mark this whole stack of reports.
MR. BUTING: (By Attorney Buting)~ But if you could just take a moment. Just ignore my post-its, but count through how many days of shoots that is. It's starting with September 19th of 2005, and then count up how many actual hustle shots she reports?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Okay.
MR. BUTING: Count the days first.
ANGELA SCHUSTER: All right. Fifteen days.
MR. BUTING: Fifteen days, okay. Count up how many hustle shots she did during that 15 day period.
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Okay. It appears five.
MR. BUTING: Let's look at this again, please. There's one there, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Okay, but listed here, this does not -- this does not tell me that there's a hustle on this sheet.
MR. BUTING: That's right.
ANGELA SCHUSTER: So I did not count that.
MR. BUTING: Well, she puts down that she did a hustle?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Right. When these sheets would come back, if she would mark down that there's a hustle shot on here, before payroll, after they hand in their papers, I would go through the sheet and if I wouldn't see a hustle on here, I would have to call them.
MR. BUTING: Right.
ANGELA SCHUSTER: And say on this date you have a hustle; I don't see anything for a hustle. You know, unless they would specify, that's how they would be paid for the hustle.
MR. BUTING: But she wouldn't -- On these forms that she faxes back to you, she doesn't always put the names of the hustles, that comes in later?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Right.
MR. BUTING: But here she's just telling you that she did do another hustle, it's just not reflected on these records.
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Right. Yes.
MR. BUTING: So she says she did one hustle on this form, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Right.
MR. BUTING: Okay.
ANGELA SCHUSTER: And this one she does a hustle.
MR. BUTING: Okay. So that's two.
MR. KRATZ: Judge, could I ask what the relevance of this is --
MR. BUTING: I will get to that.
MR. KRATZ: -- about this homicide; if she did 9, or 11, or 13 hustle shots.
MR. BUTING: I will get to that.
THE COURT: I will give him a little latitude.
MR. BUTING: (By Attorney Buting)~ So there's 3, you saw that one there, right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes.
MR. BUTING: So there's 8 on that one, right? That's 11, another one there, that's 12; do you agree?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Yes. If you count what she wrote up on top.
MR. FALLON: I couldn't hear the witness' response.
MR. BUTING: If you count what she wrote up top.
MR. BUTING: (By Attorney Buting)~ So what Teresa told you on these forms, is that she did 12 hustles in these 15 days?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Correct.
MR. BUTING: And, again, she wouldn't -- you wouldn't know about those hustles that she did in advance, correct?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Correct.
MR. BUTING: And so, on October 31st of 2005, if Teresa Halbach had done a hustle shot, you would not have known it in advance, would you?
MR. BUTING: So if Teresa Halbach, after 3, 3:30, 4, whatever, later in the day on October 31st, went to do one of these hustle shots, you wouldn't know it?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Correct.
MR. BUTING: Because you never got a completed fax like this back after October 31st?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Correct.
MR. BUTING: Or anything in the mail with the information from that hustle shot, correct?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Correct.
MR. BUTING: So the bottom line is, from your records, you don't know and cannot tell this jury, whether or not Teresa Halbach left Mr. Avery's property on October 31st and went somewhere else to do a hustle shot; isn't that right?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: That's correct.
MR. BUTING: Thank you.
THE COURT: Mr. --
REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY KRATZ:
MR. KRATZ: One follow up question, Ms Schuster, the real bottom line is, if Ms Halbach was killed by Mr. Avery, she couldn't have done any hustle shots after that, could she?
ANGELA SCHUSTER: That would be correct.
MR. KRATZ: That's all.
MR. BUTING: Nothing.
THE COURT: All right. The witness is excused.
Members of the jury, we'll take our morning break at this time. The attorneys, I believe, have something to take up outside the presence of the jury, so I can't tell you exactly when you will be coming back. But as soon as we're ready, we'll call you back.
MR. BUTING: Judge, I would move Exhibit 18 and 19 in.
THE COURT: Any objection?
MR. KRATZ: No.
THE COURT: Those are admitted.
MR. KRATZ: When would you like us back, Judge.
THE COURT: Let's report back at 25 to 11.
MR. KRATZ: That's fine. Thank you.
(Recess taken.)
(Jury not present.)
THE COURT: Mr. Kratz, do I understand that the State wishes to address a matter outside the presence of the jury before the next witness?
MR. KRATZ: I do, Judge. We do have Dawn Pliszka, who is our next witness. The Court had previously ruled on an admissibility issue. I believe the Court contemplated a very brief offer of proof that would require some brief testimony. I'm prepared to call Ms Pliszka. And I think it probably best we excuse Ms Pliszka from the courtroom so that counsel can argue admissibility on that one.
THE COURT: Does the defense agree?
MR. STRANG: Sure.
THE COURT: Okay. Very well. You may call your next witness.
MR. KRATZ: Dawn Pliszka.
COURT CLERK: Please raise your right hand.
DAWN PLISZKA, called as a witness herein, having been first duly sworn, was examined and testified as follows:
COURT CLERK: Please be seated. Please state your name and spell your last name for the record.
ANGELA SCHUSTER: Dawn Pliszka, P-l-i-s-z-k-a.