Court Records · Clifford v. Mineo
Deposition of Bryan R. Mineo
November 7, 2022 · Case No. 21FL004542N · Superior Court of California, County of San Diego.
Note · The following is a topically organized rendering of verbatim Q&A from the deposition transcript. The full text, including all exchanges and procedural matters, is available in the linked PDFs.
Opening & Oath
Q.Mr. Mineo, please state your full name for the record and spell your last name.
A.Brian Richard Mineo. M-I-N-E-O.
Q.And do you understand the oath that was just administered to you by the court reporter?
A.Yes.
Q.And is there any reason why you cannot give truthful answers today?
A.No.
Credibility Foundation — “Have you told any lies?”
Q.You recall that I took your deposition on November 2nd of 2021 as the person most knowledgeable for One With the Ocean?
A.Yes.
Q.Have you told any lies since then?
A.Not that I can recall.
Q.What does that mean — you may have?
A.I don’t remember.
Q.Why not?
A.I can’t remember everything.
Q.Sorry?
A.I can’t remember everything. I don’t recall. I cannot think of one.
Employment & Income Sources
Q.What’s your current employment?
A.Employed… with One With the Ocean.
Q.What do you do for One With the Ocean?
A.I’m the president.
Q.Are there any other employees of One With the Ocean?
A.No.
Q.You don’t have a director of business development at One With the Ocean?
A.No.
Q.Are you the only paid employee there?
A.Yes.
Q.Where else do you work?
A.I freelance work and I do swim coaching.
Q.Okay. What’s the name of your employer for freelance work?
A.I work under my own name. I don’t have an employer. I also work for the YMCA about 60 hours a month.
Q.And you said YMCA. What about Swim Mechanic? What is that?
A.It’s just a name that I use. It’s not an LLC.
Q.And you have no other sources of employment other than the ones you just mentioned?
A.I’ll get contract work here and there to do a swim clinic, but otherwise no employment.
Palm Heights & Grand Cayman Work
Q.When’s the last time that you got contract work, period?
A.Recently, as of one month ago.
Q.Contract work with whom?
A.It’s a resort in Grand Cayman. It’s called Palm Heights.
Q.And it was a contract for one appearance?
A.Correct.
Q.And when was that date?
A.It was a week long — from November 1 to 6, I believe.
Q.That’s the only time that you’ve done any contract work for Palm Heights?
A.I had a previous one as well… The first one was August.
Q.August what?
A.I just said I don’t remember the dates. I can look it up in the calendar, but I don’t remember the exact dates.
Q.And those are the only two contract work appearances that you’ve done for Palm Heights?
A.Where I was paid, yes.
Q.So you’ve done other contract work for Palm Heights that was unpaid?
A.I had an additional trip to go out there to work on developing what would be the contract. And that was — they paid for accommodations and flight.
Q.When was that?
A.April of 2022.
One With the Ocean — Salary & Board Approval
Q.How many hours per week are you currently working for One With the Ocean?
A.An average of 30 to 40 hours a week.
Q.For how long have you worked an average of 30 to 40 hours per week at One With the Ocean?
A.My full employment… since I started.
Q.And when did you start?
A.January of 2020.
Q.And when I say One With the Ocean, is that different from Smog Incorporated?
A.No.
Q.What is your current compensation from One With the Ocean?
A.The salary depends on what we have in the account, which we’ve talked about before. My salary is at this point to be determined month to month.
Q.So let me ask again. What is your current salary with One With the Ocean? Do you know?
A.No, there’s no way of knowing right now. It’s month to month.
Q.So you don’t know what salary you might get in any given month that you work?
A.Correct.
Q.Who would know that?
A.Nobody would. It’s based off of revenue.
Q.Did you get board approval for the pay stubs you provided this morning?
A.Yes.
Q.How’d you do that?
A.Through a vote for the board through messaging.
Q.It was through messaging. What does that mean?
A.Through text messaging.
Q.There was a text message vote for One With the Ocean as to whether or not you could provide the pay stubs that you provided for today’s deposition?
A.Yes.
Q.Who was part of this text message vote?
A.It would have been Angela Lee and Kari Stoever.
Q.Can you approximate when this text vote occurred?
A.No.
Q.Why not?
A.Because we have ongoing conversations about this often. I can’t recall dates.
Residence & Living Conditions
Q.What’s your current residential address?
A.316 A Street, Encinitas, California, 92024.
Q.And what’s your current monthly rent?
A.$3,600 a month.
Q.Did you fill out a credit application when you leased your current residence?
A.It was through Zillow, so it would have been through their platform… I would have had to have done a credit application through Zillow. It’s required.
Q.You didn’t produce the credit application for your current residential address, right?
A.No.
Q.Why not?
A.I wasn’t aware that that was required.
Q.Did you review the document request that was served upon you for today’s deposition?
A.I did, yeah.
Q.Did you understand it?
A.Yes.
Q.And what did you represent to your current landlord your monthly income was when you filled out that application for your current residential address?
A.I don’t recall.
Q.What’s your landlord’s name?
A.His name is Oliver Baker.
Q.And where do they live, if you know?
A.I don’t know.
Q.How many square feet is your current residence?
A.I’m unsure… 900 square feet, give or take.
Q.How many bedrooms does it have?
A.Two bedrooms.
Q.How many bathrooms?
A.One.
Home Safety & Childproofing
Q.Is your home toddler-proof?
A.Yes. I have plugs in all the outlets. I built a bedroom for them with their own beds and toys and books, everything they need.
Q.Aside then from putting plugs in the outlets, what other toddler-proofing has been done to your residence?
A.I have soft rug and carpeting throughout the entire place. There’s no hard surfaces to fall on. There’s no sharp corners exposed anywhere. I have a small step for them to get up to the toilet and inside the bathroom.
Q.So when did you first undertake the toddler-proofing that you just testified about?
A.The minute I move into the place… so last week.
Q.You were at a hearing for your current custody and visitation orders, but you were in Grand Caymans, correct?
A.Correct.
Q.And the court for the first time made an order, and that was on October 31 of 2022, that you could have a visit per month in San Diego, correct?
A.Correct.
Q.Do you see that gate that’s depicted?
A.Yes.
Q.Does it have a lock on it?
A.Yes… [later] It has a locking mechanism.
Q.Does it actually have a lock?
A.No.
Q.You’d agree that in the photographs I showed you in Exhibit 1, both the gate from the exterior leading into the property and then the gate at the top of your stairs are ajar, correct?
A.Yes.
Q.Is the locking mechanism on that gate accessible to your daughter?
A.Likely they could reach it, yes.
Q.What’s your daughter’s name? Sophia? How tall is Sophia?
A.She’s like three feet tall.
Q.When’s the last time you measured her?
A.I don’t recall. It’s not something I do when I have my limited time with them.
Q.What’s your son’s name?
A.River.
Q.How tall is River currently?
A.I’m not sure. I’ve measured him.
Q.You’ve never measured River?
A.I haven’t. The doctor — but it’s been a long time.
Q.When’s the last time you took him to the doctor?
A.I haven’t had to in my care… The last time would have been when I was with him and we were still together here in San Diego.
Q.That was what, April of 2021?
A.Correct.
Q.So since then you haven’t measured?
A.No.
Sleeping Arrangements
Q.Both children — where are they going to sleep when they’re at your house?
A.They’ll be in bed with me. That’s what they’re used to.
Q.What size bed do you have?
A.It’s a queen-size bed.
Q.So you and two children are going to sleep together?
A.Yes.
Q.What’s in their bedroom?
A.Two small beds, toys, a rug.
Q.Are they bunk beds?
A.No.
Q.So two beds fit in their room?
A.It’s two small kid-size mattresses without any bed frame.
Q.So you have mattresses on the floor?
A.Yes.
Emily Hammond — LinkedIn Misrepresentation
Q.You currently have a girlfriend, Emily Hammond?
A.Yes.
Q.She lives with you at the residence, your current residence?
A.No.
Q.How many days per week does she come to that residence and stay overnight?
A.Hard to say… Two days per week.
Q.Does she pay for any of the expenses in your residence?
A.No.
Q.She’s an employee of One With the Ocean, is she not?
A.No.
Q.She’s not the director of business development of One With the Ocean?
A.No.
Q.Are you aware that she has that on her LinkedIn profile?
A.Yes.
Q.Okay, so you know that to be untrue?
A.She was a volunteer but never an employee.
Q.So is she the director of business development or not?
A.No.
Q.When did you first realize that she had that on her LinkedIn profile?
A.Probably would have been early 2020, February or March.
Q.So she was a volunteer director of business development?
A.It was a title created for what could be a potential job in the future.
Michael Volpe & Press Coverage
Q.What did he [Volpe] do with your previous deposition transcript that you don’t like?
A.Well, he used it in a way to make it sound like I’d taken an exorbitant salary, which was false. And we messaged him and he ended up adjusting the article after it was released and the damage was done.
Q.So do you believe that what Mr. Volpe has printed about you in any of his articles or written about you, I should say in any of his articles, is false?
A.Many things are false, yes.
Q.Okay, list them for me, please.
A.I’d have to see the article so I can’t do that.
Q.Have you ever given an interview to Mr. Volpe?
A.No.
Q.Have you ever left a voicemail for Mr. Volpe?
A.I left a voicemail.
Q.Did you ever threaten to sue him for defamation?
A.No.
Q.Your lawyer did, right? Your lawyer being Mr. Matani?
A.I don’t recall.
Q.Have you ever filed a defamation lawsuit against Mr. Volpe?
A.No.
Q.Why not?
A.Because I have enough things in my life right now that are time-consuming… I don’t have the resources to do so at the moment.
Sophia’s Injury & Arizona DCS
Q.When DCS in Arizona came to your hotel room, did you cooperate with their investigation?
Matani:Objection. We’ve already stated we’re not answering any questions related to the Arizona matter.
Q.Are you refusing to answer my question, Mr. Matani?
Matani:We’re not answering any questions related to the Arizona matter. I’m not representing him in that matter. I can’t advise him as to that matter.
Q.Is there a matter in Arizona?
Matani:There was.
Q.Is there currently a criminal matter in Arizona, Mr. Matani?
Matani:I don’t know what the status of the Arizona matter is.
Q.So there were allegations made against you in the state of Arizona that you molested your daughter, Sophia, in 2022, correct?
Matani:We’re not answering questions related to any of those incidents.
Q.So you don’t want to answer that question?
Matani:He’s not answering any questions related to that without his Arizona counsel present.
Q.Do you happen to know the name of his Arizona counsel?
A.The specific attorney is on maternity leave as I’ve found out right now, but it’s Cantor Law Group in Phoenix, Arizona.
Q.And you paid Cantor Law Group to represent you?
A.Yes… My father paid for the attorney’s loan.
Q.I think you indicated on your income and expense declaration dated August 24th of 2022 that it was $37,500 paid to them?
A.Yes.
Q.So Gregory Mineo is your father?
A.Yes.
Q.And he paid that?
A.Yes.
Q.Your daughter Sophia’s leg was broken on a visit with you on or about January 11th of 2022, correct?
A.Yes.
Q.You broke her leg?
A.No.
Q.You were there when her leg was broken?
A.Yes — in public on a playground.
Q.What playground?
A.It was at Scottsdale Links Resort Playground, and it was on a slide.
Q.And where were you when her leg was broken?
A.She was in my lap.
Q.And where was River when her leg was broken?
A.In my lap.
Q.So you went down a slide with your two children, and her leg was broken, Sophia’s?
A.Yes.
Q.How?
A.I have a video of it… the slide takes a curve, and her foot caught the slide as it curved, and that’s what happened.
Q.Did you hear a sound when her leg broke?
A.No.
Q.How did you know that she’d broken her leg?
A.I didn’t know that. She was crying, and I didn’t know she’d broken her leg.
Q.So you saw her foot get caught on the side of the slide?
A.I did not really see it, no.
Q.Then how do you know it happened that way?
A.Because that’s what — it like slowed us down. That’s the only explanation, that it was her foot there, and then we kept going.
Q.So you had your camera facing which direction?
A.Facing us, our faces.
Q.And does the video show where Sophia’s foot gets caught against the wall of the slide?
A.It shows us going down at the bottom of the slide, and her starting to cry.
Q.Does it show where her foot gets caught against the slide?
A.No.
Response to the Injury
Q.How would you rate her crying in terms of gravity, with one being the slightest and ten being the most extreme?
A.Like an eight or nine, probably.
Q.So you’d agree that it was very extreme?
A.It was a different kind of crying than she normally would about something else.
Q.So then what’d you do?
A.I immediately called Courtney, couldn’t get a hold of her, so got her in the car, I got a bag of ice, put ice on her leg, and started driving directly towards Courtney’s house, called her multiple times, finally got a hold of her, within 30 minutes at most…
Q.Why didn’t you take them to a hospital?
A.Because… she stopped crying and I wanted to decide together with my co-parent.
Q.Why did you make her your first call as opposed to, say, 9-1-1?
A.Because it didn’t seem like a 9-1-1 thing. She’d stopped crying within a couple of minutes.
Q.When did you first come to understand that her leg had been broken?
A.I don’t remember the date, but she knows the date because we were at the doctor there.
Q.She being Ms. Clifford?
A.Yes.