ATTENTION: I’m thrilled that you may want to excerpt small portions of my work and link to my site with proper credit. Thanks so much! But if you are here to steal my work, only bad things await you, ranging from karmic paper cuts to the wrath of my legal team. You could wind up with cysts and diseases. You don’t want that, do you?

Chapter Two: A Tale Told by An Idiot Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing

It’s interesting that that the genteel Phaedra who starts off with “yes sir, no sir” quickly devolves into visions of neck rolling, eye rolling and doodling. It’s also interesting that Radford manages to get her insolence on the record. If you missed Chapter One, you should go read that first. It will answer your constant question of “Can she do this? Is this legal?” It’s all in the motion.

Here is another excerpt from the Brief in Support by James Radford:

Sidenote: Trial junkies will love his blog. Lot’s of interesting cases from everywhere.

“This refusal to answer questions is the latest instance of Parks’ abusive and bad faith conduct in this litigation. She has filed a frivolous lawsuit against Defendant Stanton, used her wealth to stifle the publication of Stanton’s truthful narrative, and then refused the basic obligation of any litigant to fully participate in the discovery process. Parks apparently believes she is above the law, even in her own lawsuit. She must be compelled to fully cooperate in her deposition, and her conduct must be sanctioned. The credibility of the civil discovery process is very much at stake here.”

And now, more from the deposition, the Apollo questions.

Q: Is you legal name Phaedra Parks?

A: Yes Sir. It’s Phaedra Parks Nida.

Q: Did you have it legally changed upon your marriage to Mr. Nida?

A:Yes

Q:And when did you marry Mr. Nida?

A: November the first, 2009.

Q. Your lawsuit sounds in defamation, is that right?

A. I believe so. (Um, this is a yes or not question to an attorney. She already equivocating! )

[lots of thing happened in between here and the next questions but, for the purposes of this story, I am going to focus this chapter on the Apollo line of questioning. There will be other chapters of course.]

Q: Your husband recently pled guilty to a number of federal financial crimes. Is that correct?

A: I wil not be discussing my husband.

Q. Well you don’t have to discuss him. But is that true, that your husband recently pled guilty to a number of financial crimes?

A. I will not be answering any questions regarding my husband.

Q. Okay so you are going to refuse to answer the question?

A. That is correct.

Q. All right. Do you believe that your husband’s criminal activity has an effect on your reputation?

And I’ll note again that you are doodling . You appear to be ignoring me. Are you refusing to answer that question as well?

A: As I have answered earlier, I will not be having any answers having any discussion regarding my husband.

Q: Okay, I am going to continue to ask you questions, and if you refuse to answer, I’m going to ask that you state that you’re refusing to answer because if you just ignore me, I don’t know whether you are thinking about the answer or refusing to answer and we are going to be here all day, okay? Who is your husband? What is his name?

A. Apollo Nida.

Q. And when did you first meet Mr. Nida?

A. In the ’90’s (LOL NO SHE DID NOT JUST SAY THAT!)

Q. Okay, That’s a ten year period. When in the ’90s?

A. ’95, ’96, ….well ’96, ’97 maybe… (Seriously? Who doesn’t know when they met their husband? This is a harbinger of her future testimony. Evasive, and uncooperative I mean perhaps she is not sentimental, but most people know to the day…she can’t even get within three years? And these are the easy questions)

Q.And did you know at that time he was involved with criminal activities?

A. I did not. (Apollo was incarcerated from 7/28/2004 – 5/27/2009 she married him less than six months after he got out of prison. Seems like an obvious assumption she knew he was a criminal and married him as soon as he was out of jail. I guess she means she didn’t know on the day they met?)

Q. He was incarcerated sometime after you met him, is that right?

A. I will not be answering any questions about my husband.

Q. Okay, so you are refusing to answer that question. Is that right? Is that right?

A: That is correct.

Q. Okay. And you knew when you married him that he had been involved in a number of criminal activities is that correct?

Again, if you’re refusing to answer, just say it because if you ignore me I’m going to wait all day for you to answer.

A. I will not be answering that question.

Q. And you knew that the criminal activities he was convicted of and incarcerated for related to financial fraud, it that correct?

A. I will not be answering that question.

Q. Okay. And you married him in spite of your knowledge of his involvement in financial fraud, correct?

A. I will not be answering that question

Q. Mr, Nida is also a cast member of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, is that correct?

A. That is incorrect.

Q. Well he appears on that television show along side you, is that correct?

A. I will not be answering that question

Q. Okay. And you have been part of a number of business ventures with Mr. Nida is that correct?

A. I will not be answering that question

Q. Okay, For example, if I went on your twitter page, I would see a picture of you and your husband standing together as part of something called Nida Fitness, is that correct?

A. That is incorrect

Q. Okay, at some point was that displayed on your twitter page?

A. I am not sure. (SERIOUSLY? I thought you had to answer the questions during a deposition??)

Q. Okay, Do you think your association with Mr. Nida has any effect on your reputation?

A. I will not be answering that question

Q. Why not?

A. Because I will not be answering any questions related to my husband.

Q. And do you not think your relationship with your husband is relevant to the instant litigation?

A. No, it is not.

Q. You don’t think it’s relevant to your claim of reputational damages?

A. No it is not.

Q. Okay, you don’t think that your husband’s involvement in numerous financial crimes is relevant to the question of whether a reasonable person could believe that you are also involved in those crimes?

A. No it is not.

Q. So in your opinion, it has no relevance, is that right?

A. Correct.

Q. Okay. Have you had awareness that your husband was involved in criminal activities while those activities were going on?

A. Again, I will not be answering that question

Q. Are you pleading the fifth amendment? (If she says yes to the question, she would be invoking her right to not incriminate herself.)

A. I will not be answering any questions as it relates to my husband.

Q. Okay. What is Nida Fitness Incorporated? What is that? What is Nida Fitness Incorporated?

A. It sounds as if it is a company. (Seriously? Can you believe she is doing this?)

Q. Is that a company that you are involved in in any way?

A. No sir. (WHAT???)

Q. Have you ever been involved in it?

A. Not that I know of. (And here we go with her denying knowledge that she was included in any of Apollo’s business deals.)

Q. I’m going to show you Defendant’s exhibit 2. This is something that I got from the Georgia Secretary of State’s website. It’s a record of 2013 corporation annual registration of Nida Fitness Incorporated. And the CEO and the CFO are listed as Apollo and Phaedra Nida. And there’s a section that says “authorized signature”. Beside that it says Phaedra Nida. Are you in fact a CEO or a CFO of this organization?

A. Oh! You’re talking about my exercise company! Okay. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I was mistaken when you were saying something else. I apologize. (SERIOUSLY? She was mistaken when he asked what Nida Fitness was and it didn’t ring any bells for her? She answered “No Sir” when asked if she had any involvement in the company that she is the CEO of? She was mistaken? Oh deal Lord this woman is insane.)

Q. What did you think I was saying? (Excellent question!)

A. I didn’t know because your line of questioning has been so suspect, shall I say. So yeah, this is my exercise company. (HIS LINE OF QUESTIONING IS SUSPECT? DID THAT ACTUALLY COME OUT OF HER MOUTH?)

Q. Okay. And you and Mr. Apollo Nida are jointly the CEO of this company?

A. On paper yes.

Q. Well, tell me, is there some difference between what’s on paper and reality?

A. I mean I obviously have a workout company and you know, he is on the workout videos with me.

Q. Okay but does he have a formal relationship to the business? In other words, do you pay him to appear in the videos or does he have some interest in the business?

(Phaedra’s attorney says that is two questions so Radford asks them separately.)

Q. Does he have an interest in the business?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Okay and you and him jointly own this business, is that to correct?

A. Yes. Yes Sir.

Q. What is this business? What is the business that this entity is engaged in?

A. Exercise workout videos.

Q. And Anything else? I guess the production and sale of videos, is that a fair description of what the company does?

A. Yes sir.

Q. Does this company do anything beyond that? Seminars? Personal Training? Anything like that?

A. No that I’m aware of. ( You are not aware if the company you are CEO of does seminars, personal training or other services?)

Q. Okay. And you derive some income from this business?

A. Yes sir.

Q. Okay. About how much income in 2013 do you derive from this business.

A. I would have to look. I wouldn’t know offhand.

Q. Just estimate.

A. I would not know, just to be honest with you.

Q. More than a thousand dollars?

A. I would not know. Just to be very honest with you, I wouldn’t know. (She has no idea how much she makes at any of her jobs, btw.)

Q. Do you think it might be possible that it might not be more than a thousand dollars?

A. I wouldn’t want to make an estimate without actually speaking to an accountant who handles this.

At this point Radford has to ask Phaedra several different times who the accountant is. She provides a name of an accounting office but she doesn’t know the name of her personal accountant who handles her finances. Eventually she comes up with a name and says he has been handling her finances for five years. Perhaps she is going through the change or experiencing early onset dementia.

Q. Okay. With respect to Nida Fitness, I would imagine that you had some capital that you used to start this business, is that correct?

A. Yes sir.

Q. Okay. And did you and Mr. Nida both contribute to that capital?

A. I don’t believe that’s relevant.

Q. That’s not what I asked you. Did you and Mr. Apollo Nida —

A. I don’t know.

Q. both contribute to the capital

A. I don’t know.

At this point there is a bunch of back and forth where Radford is trying to determine who would know this answer. Phaedra continues to be forgetful, unsure and evasive. She says the start-up capital would not have come from anyone other that her or Apollo but is not sure who contributed or if she did at all, or if he did at all. She will not admit to any commingling of funds regarding Nida Fitness. The questions move on to other names mentioned on the company registration. Stephen Want is listed as Secretary. Phaedra really doesn’t know anything about him. He used to work for Nida Fitness. He was in marketing. He just sent in an unsolicited resume. They hired him. Radford wants a copy of his resume. Phaedra isn’t sure she still has it. She has a production company in California that hands the distribution of the videos. They just send a check. Who gets the check? Do Apollo and Phaedra split the profits? Phaedra has no idea. She also doesn’t know the name of her contact with the company. This entire line of questions goes no where…

In Chapter 3 we move on to her involvement with National Recovery Group Inc…and where she presumed Apollo’s income came from.

Share this:

Tweet

