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 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

 CASE NO. 0:20-CV-61241-RUIZ

APRIL HICKS,

 Plaintiff,

 v.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

 Defendant.

 /

 Via Zoom

 Tuesday, June 15, 2021

 10:07 a.m. - 3:08 p.m.

 VIDEOTAPE DEPOSITION OF APRIL HICKS

 Taken before Mary Ann Collier, a Court Reporter

and Notary Public for the State of Florida at Large,

pursuant to Notice of Taking Deposition filed in the

above cause.

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1 APPEARANCES: (Via Zoom)

2 MATTHEW SEAN TUCKER, ESQ.

 Tucker Law

3 200 SE 6th Street, Suite 405

 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301

4 954-204-04444

 matt@tuckerup.com

5 On behalf of the Plaintiff

6 MONICA L. HADDAD, AUSA

 United States Attorney's Office

7 500 S. Australian Avenue, Suite 400

 West Palm Beach, FL 33401

8 561-209-1004

 monica.forbes@usdoj.gov

9 and

 MARY BETH RICKE, AUSA

10 United States Attorney's Office

 500 East Broward Boulevard, 7th Floor

11 Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33394

 On behalf of the Defendant

12

ALSO PRESENT:

13

 BRANDON MENDIOLA, Videographer

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

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1 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: In the case styled April

2 Hicks versus United States of America, this is

3 the video deposition of April Hicks on June 15th,

4 2021. The time is now 10:07 a.m.

5 Would counsel please state their appearances

6 for the record.

7 MR. TUCKER: Matthew Tucker on behalf of the

8 plaintiff, April Hicks.

9 MS. HADDAD: Monica Haddad Forbes, Assistant

10 U.S. Attorney, for the Defendant United States of

11 America. I also have Mary Beth Ricke appearing

12 at the deposition as well.

13 Thereupon,

14 APRIL HICKS

15 was called as a witness and, having been duly sworn,

16 testified as follows:

17 DIRECT EXAMINATION

18 BY MS. HADDAD:

19 Q. Good morning, Ms. Hicks. Just for the record

20 again, could you state your full name and also spell

21 your last name.

22 A. My name is April Shanta Hicks. And my name

23 is spelled A-p-r-i-l, my first name, S-h-a-n-t-a,

24 middle, H-i-c-k-s, Hicks.

25 Q. Thank you. And what is your current address?

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1 A. Definitely. Even the title. The title had

2 to be transferred over, so I don't think I got any of

3 that yet.

4 Q. Okay. That's fair. So turning to the

5 accident again, do you remember the events of that day

6 clearly?

7 A. Yes, ma'am, I do.

8 Q. And just to confirm, what road were you

9 driving on when the accident happened?

10 A. I was riding on 31st.

11 Q. Is that 31st Avenue?

12 A. Yes, ma'am. That's where my grandmother

13 lives at.

14 Q. She lives on 31st Avenue or 5th Court?

15 A. Fifth and 31st. 31st is the long road that

16 you're going to take and 5th Street is the right that

17 you're going to take to get there. She lives

18 literally on 31st and 5th Street.

19 Q. And do you -- so is it fair to say you were

20 driving north on 31st Avenue to get to 5th?

21 A. I was almost to the building. I was

22 literally on that side of the road getting ready to

23 make the right turn to my grandmother's house and he

24 did what they do. That's what they do in our area,

25 make U-turns on Broward, the ghetto, the hood, you

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1 know.

2 Q. So you mentioned that you lived on and off in

3 your grandmother's house over the years. So would you

4 say you've driven on 31st Avenue frequently?

5 A. All the time. Ma'am, all my life. I mean, I

6 never really been nowhere else. I mean, that's all

7 I -- that's the only area, you know. My grandma is

8 90. I'm always there. I'm always.

9 Q. It's home. Correct?

10 A. My grandma is 90. I'm always there, like,

11 you know.

12 Q. So would you say you visit her frequently

13 then?

14 A. All the time. My grandmother is my heart.

15 That's my everything, you know. She's my everything.

16 Q. Sure. On the day of the accident while you

17 were driving, were you listening to anything?

18 A. I didn't have the radio on, because, like I

19 said, it was early in the morning. It was early.

20 This is my thing. It was Sunday. I don't really like

21 to -- if I'm not hearing the church music. I don't

22 really like playing hood music. It's too early for

23 that.

24 Don't get me wrong. Later on in the daytime,

25 not while my grandmother and my cousin in the car, it

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1 not going to happen. They are not going to allow it.

2 Q. So even when you -- I'm sorry. I didn't mean

3 to cut you off.

4 A. I didn't have on no music.

5 Q. If you were alone and it wasn't Sunday you

6 would probably be listening to music?

7 A. Of course. That's what music in the car for.

8 It's fun.

9 Q. I understand that feeling. Were you talking

10 on the phone by any chance?

11 A. No.

12 Q. Did you have your phone in the car with you?

13 A. I don't think I had my phone with me. I'm

14 not really sure, but I don't remember. I don't think

15 I had my phone. I had on a robe. I just had on a

16 robe like, you know. My intention was just to drop

17 them off to get back to those kids, you know. I had

18 the nightgown on with the robe over it. That's how I

19 was dressed, basically.

20 Q. So if you had been wearing your clothes, do

21 you normally keep your phone in your pocket while

22 you're driving or where do you keep it?

23 A. Yeah. You stick the phone in the cup holder,

24 stick the phone on the chair. Right now we have those

25 phones, even if I'm using my own, I would have been

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1 using it on the radio thing, because it just connects

2 as soon as you jump in the car.

3 Q. Did you have that feature on the Audi that it

4 would have connected?

5 A. The Audi was not an old car. I'm sure I had

6 that feature, but I didn't have my phone at the

7 moment, because, like I say, you know, I don't think I

8 had my phone at the moment. Again, don't quote me on

9 that. I'm not for sure.

10 Q. Do you recall if maybe you sent or received

11 any text messages while you were driving that morning?

12 A. I didn't have my phone.

13 Q. And I know you mentioned earlier that you

14 maybe smoked cigarettes. By any chance were you

15 smoking while you were driving?

16 A. Of course not. Not leaving the church,

17 ma'am.

18 Q. But do you smoke other times when you're not

19 leaving a church while driving?

20 A. I got respect for God, so at that moment we

21 got to only talk about what we put on at that moment.

22 I not smoking cigarettes.

23 Q. So you do smoke in your car, just not on

24 Sundays?

25 A. I don't think I would smoke on Sunday in the

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1 car. I say I was just leaving church at that moment,

2 so I know for a fact I didn't have a cigarette in the

3 church yard. That's not happening.

4 Q. I understand that. I'm asking in general,

5 though, do you usually smoke in your car?

6 A. I don't -- I'm not a -- when I do smoke a

7 cigarette, I have only single cigarettes. So I don't

8 smoke the whole cigarette. Anybody that knows me

9 knows I break the cigarette in half, because I stopped

10 smoking cigarettes like years ago. So like I break a

11 cigarette in half. I don't really smoke a whole

12 cigarette.

13 I would smoke a cigarette, you know, every

14 now and then in the car. But I'm not a full cigarette

15 smoker like that. I used to be. But I stopped that

16 maybe over ten years ago. So now I will literally

17 break a whole cigarette in half, and I been doing that

18 for over ten years now.

19 Q. Were your eyes open the entire time while you

20 were driving before the accident happened?

21 A. Yes, ma'am. Yeah.

22 Q. Do you recall what the weather conditions

23 were like the day of the accident?

24 A. I mean, it was sunny. It was definitely

25 sunny, you know. We live in Florida, so the weather

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1 is really always the same here, unless it's a rainy

2 day, and that was not happening. It was not raining.

3 We don't really change weather here so much, so our

4 weather is always the same here.

5 Q. You mentioned that you were in your lane to

6 turn right, correct, on to 5th Court?

7 A. Yes, ma'am.

8 Q. Were you riding in the right lane the whole

9 time you were driving?

10 A. Yes, ma'am. The thing is, both lanes goes --

11 both lanes should have been going that way

12 (indicating). So, either way, both lanes should have

13 been going that way. He had no right going this way

14 (indicating). There's no way for him to say he can go

15 this way. You have no way to go this way. You're

16 supposed to go this way (indicating). The way that my

17 car is going traveling is the right way. I don't even

18 understand what he could have been doing.

19 Then, another thing, the way that car that he

20 was parked cannot see, because on the other side where

21 he was driving, they drive on the opposite side, so

22 even if he was going this way, he wouldn't have been

23 able to see me, because on this side of the window,

24 he's not driving on this right side, he's driving on

25 the opposite side, because it's a mail truck. So he

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1 wouldn't have been able to see anything.

2 First of all, it was the wrong way and the

3 opposite side. It would have been definitely

4 difficult for him to see anything.

5 Q. So just because we're doing video and also

6 our court reporter is writing things down, you seem to

7 indicate initially with your hands that both lanes of

8 traffic travel in the same direction.

9 A. Absolutely.

10 Q. So there's two lanes, right, there's two

11 lanes on each side of the road, on each side of the

12 yellow lines?

13 A. Yes, ma'am. There's a median in the middle

14 and two lanes on the other side of the road. The

15 median in the middle allows -- coming off 5th Street,

16 that allows you to go that way, south.

17 And the other, you know, like he wasn't at a

18 street to do that. You are literally probably parked

19 on the side of the road on Sunday, which I don't

20 understand. When he came out, he had to come out, he

21 was going back towards Broward. He was literally

22 making a U-turn going back the other way, period.

23 You could see that in the pictures. Like

24 there's no way, there's no way if he was going my way.

25 If we were going the same way, I would have hit him

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1 from behind, ma'am. I would have literally hit him

2 from the back if me and him was going the same way.

3 That's it.

4 If he was parked on the side of the road like

5 he say he was and I hit him, I would have hit him from

6 the back, ma'am. Because both of those lanes go this

7 way (indicating). He have no reason going this way

8 (indicating).

9 Q. Sure. Just so I understand, because I'm not

10 as familiar with 31st Avenue as you, is the median

11 wide enough for like another car to cut across and

12 then wait there to make the U-turn?

13 A. The median, even if you're in the median,

14 you're still supposed to be coming from that same way

15 to get in the median. You can't just go across and

16 jump in the median. You have to be going south or

17 going north to use the median. The median is for

18 people that coming south to turn this way and the

19 people going north to turn this way (indicating).

20 So even if you're in the median, you still

21 would have been having to go the same direction.

22 Every car is supposed to go the same way. That's the

23 kind of work I do right now, traffic control.

24 His truck, the way that his truck was facing,

25 there's no way, no way that you could say -- he didn't

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1 Q. I just saw a flash. It just said Mr. Tucker

2 was now the host, not the videographer.

3 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Sorry about that. My Zoom

4 crashed.

5 MS. HADDAD: Did you miss a lot?

6 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: No. It just happened.

7 We'll be okay, as long as the Zoom recording is

8 still on. We're still on the record.

9 BY MS. HADDAD:

10 Q. Ms. Hicks, I understand you were just

11 discussing how, you know, you didn't have an

12 expectation of someone jumping out in front of you

13 when you're driving straight ahead.

14 A. Of course not. Of course not. I'm sorry.

15 Go ahead now.

16 Q. I'm still trying to think of how to ask you,

17 because I know it's kind of confusing to talk over

18 Zoom about how something happened. So are you saying

19 that he -- it was too quick for you to stop in time

20 before you hit?

21 A. Yeah, of course. He pull out. He just pull

22 out. Again, I don't have a stop sign and I don't have

23 a light. It doesn't make you -- I'm getting ready

24 to -- I'm on 4th. So by the time I reach 5th Street,

25 I have to make a complete stop anyway to go to my

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1 grandma's house. So, of course, I was already not

2 driving fast. Thank God.

3 That is why the accident happened the way it

4 is and I'm here. But he shot out. Like he shot out.

5 Even I have the right of way. I have the right of

6 way. I don't have no stop sign to make me stop. I

7 don't have no light to make me stop.

8 The car is doing what it's supposed to do.

9 I'm driving and I'm driving just like the DOT traffic

10 supposed to do. He's the one that was not supposed to

11 fly out there in the middle of the road like that.

12 That's why he got T-boned and not hit in the back,

13 because he was going this way (indicating). If he was

14 going this way (indicating) I would have probably hit

15 him from the back. But because he was going this way

16 (indicating), he got swiped, because that is -- he

17 just flew out in front of me.

18 Q. You're indicating with your hand he turned

19 perpendicular to you driving north.

20 A. I'm sorry. My hands, that's all I know how

21 to do.

22 Q. I understand. I'm just saying it for the

23 record, because they are also writing down what you

24 are saying.

25 A. Both of my hands are two different lanes.

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1 This is one lane and this is the other (indicating).

2 So the street goes this way (indicating), the way that

3 my car is facing, the way that my car is facing.

4 Now, the street goes this way (indicating).

5 You see my hands, right?

6 Q. Yeah.

7 A. If the street goes this way (indicating), why

8 are you going like this (indicating). And what is the

9 car that going this way supposed to do (indicating)?

10 Q. Was he in the right lane?

11 A. He was in no lane. He was making a U-turn.

12 He was across. He was in both lanes, put it like

13 that. He was in both of those lanes that the cars

14 were both going this way (indicating). His car is

15 sitting this way in both lanes (indicating). While

16 the vehicles is going this way, the man's truck is

17 heading this way (indicating).

18 Q. Did you see him pull out from a driveway or

19 some other road?

20 A. Of course not. He just came out. Again, he

21 came out, because he couldn't see. He couldn't see,

22 because his truck is already on the right side. He

23 drives on the right side. If his truck would have

24 drove on the left side, he would have been able to see

25 what he was doing. He would have been able to see,

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1 because the steering wheel would have been on that

2 side.

3 But because the steering wheel was on that

4 side, you cannot see. You're trying to fit and see if

5 you can get out and he just took a shot. That's it.

6 That's obvious.

7 I had the right of way, ma'am, at the time.

8 I had the right of way. I avoided this guy's vehicle.

9 He took both of the lanes. Put it like that. Thank

10 God no other vehicle was coming in the median, because

11 I had nowhere to go but into somebody's house, because

12 he literally sitting in his vehicle, his vehicle was

13 sitting in both lanes like this (indicating).

14 Q. So he was blocking your far right lane and

15 also the one to the left of you?

16 A. Yes, sir -- yes, ma'am. Literally like he

17 was almost in the median.

18 Q. Did you see any cars coming behind you when

19 it happened?

20 A. Thank God, ma'am. Listen, it would have been

21 worse. Thank God it was Sunday and eleven o'clock.

22 I'm being honest with you, ma'am. Thank God it was a

23 very light day. Sundays are a light day. People at

24 church. People still sleeping. Sunday is a light day

25 for people.

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1 I just thank God the kids wasn't with me and

2 I thank God that I was not driving fast, because he

3 would have took my life. He would have took my life,

4 because he was in the ghetto and making a U-turn.

5 Q. Sorry. I didn't mean to cut you off.

6 A. I think the same way that my vehicle went,

7 that's the thing, if he was going this way

8 (indicating), we would have never had a problem. He

9 was going that way while I'm going this way

10 (indicating).

11 If you can see that hand, that does not work.

12 If me and you get into that right now, that does not

13 work. He can explain why his vehicle was here. He

14 said I hit him that way. We know I couldn't have done

15 that, because if I hit him that way, I would have hit

16 him from the back.

17 Q. Just so I'm clear, was he moving at the time

18 you hit him or did he look like he was stopped ready

19 to keep crossing lanes of traffic?

20 A. He looked like he was trying to get across

21 the street, make the U-turn. He was in his truck, he

22 was in his vehicle, so he had to be on the go. He had

23 to be on the go. But he just, he almost took my life

24 by making that U-turn, ma'am, on a Sunday.

25 Q. My question is actually a little more

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1 specific. Did he looked like he was moving when you

2 hit him or was it stopped?

3 A. I cannot answer that, ma'am, because, again,

4 I got hit. I mean, all I know is it just happened

5 like that, because this vehicle is like this, this is

6 what happened, this is how (indicating).

7 I can't see that. All I know is it happened

8 just like that, ma'am. That's it. That is all I know

9 is that he almost took my life. That's really -- and

10 I thank God.

11 Let me show you how God works. None of the

12 kids was with me. None of those kids was with me.

13 This man almost took my life and he didn't even

14 apologize. All he cared about was his job.

15 Q. When you said, you know, how his driver's

16 seat and his steering wheel is on the far side, on the

17 right side, not on the left side like a normal car,

18 when he was -- when you say he was perpendicular to

19 you, could you see his face?

20 A. No. You cannot see anything, because he's

21 already on the north side of me. He's on the north

22 side of me. The accident was on the south side. I'm

23 headed north. I'm traveling north.

24 You got to understand. I'm traveling south

25 to north and his vehicle sits on the north side

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1 instead of the south side. If his vehicle would have

2 been sitting the south side, he would have been able

3 to see the traffic that is coming that way. He would

4 have been able to see it and then make that turn.

5 Even though he was not supposed to make the U-turn, he

6 still would have been able to see the traffic that's

7 coming.

8 Q. Sure. My question's a little bit more

9 specific. I wanted -- what I was asking was did you

10 see his face? Like did he turn and look towards your

11 direction?

12 A. How can I see his face if my vehicle is going

13 on the south side and his steering wheel is on the

14 north side? I didn't see this guy's face until I got

15 out of the vehicle and the accident was over.

16 He's a light skin guy with dreads in his

17 head, a Black American guy. I did see that. A black

18 American guy with dreads in his hair. That's all I

19 seen. And I didn't see this guy until we both exited

20 the vehicles.

21 Q. So it's fair to say that you didn't see him

22 like looking south to see if cars were coming?

23 A. You can't see that, ma'am. It's impossible

24 for him to see that if his vehicle is sitting north

25 and the driver's steering wheel is north, because he's

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1 making a U-turn.

2 If his truck was going the way it's supposed

3 to be going, yes, I would have been able to see it.

4 He would have been in one lane and I would have been

5 in the other lane. I would have been looking and see

6 his face.

7 But there is no way, if I'm traveling the

8 right way and he's going this way, but his steering

9 wheel is on the side. That's impossible. He passed

10 me and I cannot see him. It's impossible. You could

11 have been driving, you wouldn't have been able to see

12 me, because you already driving on the opposite side

13 of the road -- I mean on the opposite side of the

14 steering wheel.

15 Q. I know you mentioned that it was really

16 sudden and, you know, the collision happened quickly.

17 But do you recall if you applied the brakes once you

18 saw the mail truck?

19 A. Of course, I'm going -- once I see it, I got

20 to try to stop. I mean, you got to. What do you

21 mean? You going to die? You going to go through it?

22 I'm not trying lose my life. Of course not.

23 I didn't see him. That's the thing. I

24 didn't see him. He shot out, so I didn't see him. We

25 wouldn't be here today if I were seeing him and was

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1 able to stop.

2 Even if I would have been able to stop for

3 him, I would have done that. I'm not trying to hurt

4 myself. But there was nothing. He shot in front of

5 me, so the accident happened just like that. There is

6 no stopping.

7 I don't want to lie to you. I don't want you

8 to try to confuse my mind and ask me different

9 questions. There was no stopping, ma'am. How? How?

10 I don't have a stop sign and I did not have a light.

11 I had the right of way. That's the only thing I had,

12 was the right of way, ma'am.

13 Q. Sure. What I'm asking, though, is if you had

14 time to press the brakes if he pulled out in front of

15 you?

16 A. Ma'am, I didn't even see this man pulling out

17 in front of me. This man came from trying to do a

18 U-turn, getting ready to do a U-turn and I can't

19 remember that.

20 All I know is, I don't know if you ever been

21 into an accident before, ma'am, but an accident is

22 going to happen. That's it. That's it. There was no

23 squirts in the road. They didn't see none of that.

24 That's because it was an accident that he just pulled

25 out in front of me.

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1 If I would have had time to actually slow

2 down, I would have slowed down a long time ago. If I

3 would have seen this man coming out, I would have

4 slowed down from 2nd Street or 3rd Street. But I

5 could not see this man. This man shot out in front of

6 me making a U-turn. There's no way I could see this

7 man.

8 Q. So what I'm hearing is, I think you've said

9 it several times, I just want to make sure, is that

10 you didn't have any time to react.

11 A. It's impossible. I would be lying if I tell

12 you I could stop. I did not see him coming. This man

13 just shot out in front of me. Again, I have no stop

14 sign and I have no light. The light isn't until

15 Sistrunk. The light isn't until Sistrunk. And

16 there's no stop sign on that 45 mile or 35 mile per

17 hour road.

18 So, ma'am, in reality, I was not supposed to

19 stop until I hit Sistrunk, and that's only if the

20 light is red. If the light was green, I was going to

21 keep going through it as well. I was getting ready to

22 make a right on 5th Street to go to my grandmother's

23 house, so I would have had to slow down once I got to

24 5th Street. I was already getting ready to turn when

25 I get to 5th Street. That's why I'm here in one piece

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1 today.

2 MR. TUCKER: Let's take five minutes, if

3 that's okay.

4 MS. HADDAD: Yeah, that's fine.

5 MR. TUCKER: Thank you.

6 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: We're go going off the

7 record at 12:04 p.m.

8 (Thereupon, a brief recess was taken, after

9 which the following proceedings were had:)

10 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: We're going back on the

11 record at 12:13 p.m.

12 BY MS. HADDAD:

13 Q. Ms. Hicks, what part of your vehicle impacted

14 the mail truck?

15 A. On the front part.

16 Q. And do you recall what part of the mail truck

17 was struck?

18 A. Yes. It was like the T -- it was T-boned,

19 like not almost in the middle, but not quite to the

20 end, not quite to the back. But like right almost in

21 the middle, but a little bit past the middle, like

22 right there.

23 Like was my second lane, like where I would

24 have been in my lane. I would have been driving in my

25 lane and he was coming out, he was shooting out. You

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1 could tell he was already shooting out, because I hit

2 like towards the -- like I say, not quite in the

3 middle, but towards the end by the tire.

4 You could already tell he was already

5 shooting out, because I was in the far lane. So if I

6 hit him just like that, he was already trying to get

7 there. He was already trying to get there.

8 Q. So was it more of the left side of the front

9 of the your car or the right side that hit him, hit

10 the truck?

11 A. I don't know. I tried to, you know, when you

12 see something at the time, I just tried to swerve,

13 because I cannot like stop. Like, you know. So when

14 I finally seen it, I just tried to swerve off. So I

15 swerved, having me swerving, trying to avoid the

16 accident. That's what happened.

17 Q. Which direction did you swerve?

18 A. I swerved -- I'm already in the right lane.

19 So if I would have served in the left, if I would have

20 swerved to my left, I would have hit other cars in the

21 front of the vehicle.

22 The only thing for me to swerve is into the

23 houses, if you get what I'm saying. Because I'm

24 already -- it's two lanes. I'm not in the first one,

25 I'm in the one that's getting ready to turn in the

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1 right. I'm already in that lane. So I'm in the

2 second lane already and the only place I go beside in

3 his truck is into somebody's house or into somebody's

4 yard.

5 So to avoid the accident, I guess I'm just

6 trying to swerve into -- definitely not trying to

7 swerve into oncoming traffic. I'm going to try to

8 swerve on the grass, anywhere I can get to try to

9 avoid this vehicle.

10 Q. So did your car move into the left lane of

11 traffic that was going in the same direction?

12 A. There was no traffic, thank God, in the lane.

13 But, no. My vehicle, like I say, my vehicle was

14 already to the right. My vehicle was already to the

15 right. So I swerved going into the houses, like I

16 said. If I would have swerved going this side, I

17 would have killed myself.

18 There is no way I would have swerved going

19 this way. There is even the other side of the traffic

20 going this side. I'm not going to take my car this

21 way. I'm going to take my car where there is no

22 traffic to avoid any accident (indicating).

23 Q. So the record is clear, what you're

24 indicating with your hands is you wouldn't have

25 swerved to the left.

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1 A. I can't swerve to the left. If I was to

2 swerve to the left -- I can't swerve to the left. I'm

3 already in that last lane. Why would I go into this

4 lane to hit other cars? Why would I go -- why would

5 you go into this lane where all the traffic can go

6 here?

7 There's no traffic on this side (indicating).

8 The only thing here is poles and houses and grass and

9 dirt. So of course I'm going to go into the grass.

10 I'm not going to go this way where all the traffic is

11 going to go here (indicating). That's not going to

12 happen.

13 Q. So to your right, just so I'm clear, was like

14 the sidewalk with the power pole?

15 A. There you go. When I'm getting ready to turn

16 anyway on my grandmother's street. Where he should

17 have been at. Like, you know, if you're delivering

18 mail, you should not be this way. You were leaving

19 going to Broward, going to deliver some more mail.

20 That's what they do in our areas, ma'am.

21 They don't care. Right now, no offense, nothing to do

22 with this case, but I can record a mail person right

23 now doing the same thing right now and bring it into

24 court and that don't have nothing to do with my case.

25 But, literally, right now I can see one of them right

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1 now and they going to do the same thing, and I can

2 bring that same recording to you all and show you all

3 this is what they do.

4 Q. You're saying that the mail trucks frequently

5 on 31st Avenue make illegal U-turns?

6 A. You got traffic, you got to understand, you

7 got Broward behind you and you got Sunrise above you.

8 Yeah, if you want to go back on the other side of the

9 street, there are houses on the other side of the

10 road. Maybe he wants to do on that side now.

11 In order to do traffic on that side of the

12 road, you got to do a U-turn. He didn't honestly have

13 no traffic if he was going to go this way

14 (indicating). We wouldn't have had this issue. If he

15 was driving the right of way, ma'am, we would not be

16 here today, period.

17 There is two streets, one for him and one for

18 me. He was driving this way (indicating) and not this

19 way (indicating), we wouldn't be here today. If he

20 could explain to me why he was going this way

21 (indicating).

22 Q. When you say this way, perpendicular to

23 traffic?

24 A. Come on, ma'am. Come on.

25 Q. So do you recall the last time you saw a

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1 postal truck do a U-turn on 31st Avenue, aside from

2 this one?

3 A. I see them all the time. I see them all the

4 time. It's the hood. It's the ghetto. That's what

5 they do. They know nobody going to stop them.

6 I mean, you got to understand, on the side of

7 31st they have houses sitting there. So if he wants

8 to do mail, how is he going to -- ma'am, tell me how

9 is he going to get to the other side to do his mail.

10 He going to make a U-turn and come back to the house

11 sitting on that side? He's going to make a U-turn to

12 do the houses on that side of the road.

13 Q. In your experience, having lived in that area

14 and your grandmother living close by, for her regular

15 mail delivery, where do the postal trucks usually

16 stop?

17 A. My grandmother live on the road. You have to

18 turn on 31st to get to her house. Our mail lady have

19 been the same for years. The mail lady use rubber

20 bands and she used to give us Diet Cokes. We had a

21 Caucasian mail lady and she been the same for years.

22 She just come.

23 She don't even have to drive her vehicle to

24 go on those roads, on this little residential roads,

25 because she on a residential road. She only have one

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1 Q. I think I just saw you raise your right hand.

2 Are you saying that you were nervous when you had to

3 get surgery on your right hand?

4 A. Correct.

5 Q. And you were scared to get surgery on your

6 right hand?

7 A. Yes, yes. Because I had to have an

8 appointment to walk into the hospital at five

9 something in the morning, and knowing that they were

10 going to put me down, put me to sleep, I don't want to

11 not wake up.

12 MR. TUCKER: I don't have anything further.

13 MS. HADDAD: I don't have anything either.

14 Thank you, Ms. Hicks, for your participation

15 today. I really appreciate it.

16 THE WITNESS: You're so welcome.

17 MR. TUCKER: We'll read.

18 THE VIDEOGRAPHER: We're going off the record

19 at 3:08 p.m.

20 THE COURT REPORTER: If the transcript is

21 ordered, do you want a copy?

22 MR. TUCKER: I'm sure at some point I will.

23 (Reading and signing not waived.)

24 (Deposition concluded at 3:08 p.m.)

25

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1 CERTIFICATE OF OATH

2

3 STATE OF FLORIDA

4 COUNTY OF BROWARD

5

6 I, the undersigned authority, certify that

7 April Hicks appeared before me via Zoom on June 15,

8 2021, and was duly sworn.

9 WITNESS my hand and official seal this

10 22nd day of June 2021.

11

12

13

14

 Mary Ann Collier

15 Commission #HH 078151

 Expires 2/21/25

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1 REPORTER'S DEPOSITION CERTIFICATE

2

3 I, MARY ANN COLLIER, Court Reporter, certify

4 that I was authorized to and did stenographically

5 report the videotaped deposition of April Hicks, that

6 a review of the transcript was requested, and that the

7 foregoing transcript, pages 1 through 187, is a true

8 and complete record of my stenographic notes.

9

10 I further certify that I am not a relative,

11 employee, attorney or counsel of any of the parties,

12 nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties'

13 attorney or counsel connected with the action, nor am

14 I financially interested in the action.

15

16 Dated June 22, 2021.

17

18

19

 MARY ANN COLLIER

20

21

22

23

24

25

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1 ERRATA SHEET

2 DO NOT WRITE ON TRANSCRIPT. ENTER CHANGES HERE.

3 NAME: April Hicks

RE: Hicks v. USA

4 DATE OF DEPOSITION: 6/15/21

Page/Line Change Reason

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Under penalty of perjury, I declare that I have read

23 my deposition and that it is true and correct,

subject to any changes in form or substance entered

24 above.

25 Deponent's signature Date (Print Name)

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1 Fernandez & Associates, Inc.

 444 Brickell Avenue, Suite 714

2 Miami, FL 33131

 305-374-8868

3

4 June 22, 2021

5 Matthew Sean Tucker, Esq.

Tucker Law

6 matt@tuckerup.com

7 Re: Hicks v. USA

8 Dear Mr. Tucker:

9 Please be advised that the deposition of

April Hicks has been prepared and is awaiting

10 signature. Please call our office at the above number

to make arrangements for your client to read and sign

11 his deposition.

12 The deponent has 30 days from this date to read and

sign the deposition. If we do not hear from you, it

13 shall then be concluded that the reading and signing

has been waived.

14

 Yours very truly,

15

16 Fernandez & Associates

17 cc: Monica L. Haddad, AUSA

 monica.forbes@usdoj.gov

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