The following is the continuation of the transcript of the trial, September 29, 1997, in the Bethel Town Justice Court, of the six defendants who were falsely arrested for trespassing at the historic Woodstock site in July, 1997.

Beginning of testimony of Abigail Storm, defendant.

Presiding is Judge Albert Fimognari.

Lawyer for the defendants (Abigail Storm, Daniel Eggink, Cynthis Jewel Eggink, Joe Anderson, Jay and Joy Debberman) is Richard Newberg.

Lawyer representing the plaintiffs (Alan Gerry and Gelish Realty) is Joey Drillings, Assistant District Attorney for Sullivan County.

Newberg- I call my first witness, Abigail Storm.

Judge- Raise your right hand please. Do you swear the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you, God?

Abigail- Yes, your honor.

Judge- State your full name.
 
Abigail- Abigail Storm.

Judge- I have your record for reference, you may be seated.

Newberg- Abigail, are you, do you have anything to do with the Woodstock Foundation?

Abigail- The Woodstock Nation Foundation.

Judge- You'll have to speak up a little so I can get this on tape .

Abigail- The Woodstock Nation Foundation, yes.

Newberg- And can you tell us what that foundation is?

Abigail- It's a not-for-profit corporation which was formed with the express purpose of securing the easement on the Woodstock site. The people's rights to freely assemble on that site as they have been since before, since 1969 and before.

Newberg- And are you the president of that foundation?

Abigail- I'm CEO, yes.

Newberg- And is that foundation an actively, doing anything actively to promote it's purposes?

Abigail- Yes.

Newberg- And what has it done?

Abigail- We have a web site established on the internet to advise people of how these rights might be effected by people who would state that they were the owners of the Woodstock site, and might infringe upon these rights and any court actions or any arrests that takes place, to inform the public.

Newberg- Prior to the date of your arrest up through the date of your arrest, are you of the belief that you have a right, rights with regard to the Woodstock site?

Abigail- Yes I do.

Newberg- And what are those rights?

Abigail- I have the right to be there, to go there, to pray, to dance, to light a fire, to put up a tent to assemble with whoever comes to the site to exercise all of my rights, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion.

Newberg- And why do you feel you have those rights?

Abigail- Because the site has been used publicly, without any permission, by me and many others ever since 1969. I was aware of the fact that Mr. Yasgur when he owned the site really liked the fact that people continued to use it and wanted, tried to turn the site over to the people, I mean over to the town of Bethel, who refused his offer, and people have just continued to use the property until this day.

Newberg- When, after June 1st, of 1997 did you go on the site?

Abigail-Often, many times. We went out often to keep a prayer vigil. We usually have a fire lit at the site. Sometimes we would just go out on weekends or in the afternoon. Visit with friends who go there, I mean we go there all the time.

Newberg- This past summer prior to your arrest, how many times would you say you were at the site?

Abigail- This summer, oh gosh, it was dozens.

Newberg- And during the last few years, how many times have you gone to the site?

Abigail- Over the past few years the same, over the whole period of time? I would say hundreds.

Newberg- In any time this summer, up until the time you were arrested, or had you  any involvement with the people who claim they are Gelish Realty LLC, did anybody prevent you from going on the site?

Abigail- No.

Newberg- Did anybody give you any notice, telling you that you couldn't go on the site?

Abigail- Your speaking since June one? No one? Prior to being arrested?

Newberg- Yes.

A Yes there was a time when Robyn Gerry, Bill Ruth, and Michael DiTullo visited us at the site, and that was after we put up the tent .

Newberg- And when was that?

Abigail- that was I believe on the 23rd.

Newberg- Of July?

Abigail- Yes.

Newberg- So prior to the 23rd of July, you had been on the site many times?

Abigail- Yes .

Newberg- And had anybody given you any indication that you couldn't go on the site?

Abigail- No, there was a newspaper...

Judge- What date counselor?

Newberg- Going , this summer prior to the date that she just gave of July 23rd .

Judge- And you're going from 1997 only?

Newberg- That's correct.

Abigail- Did anybody personally say anything to me? no.

Newberg- Did anybody give you any notices?

Abigail- No.

Newberg- And are, were you aware at the various times that you were on the site who the owner of the property was?

Abigail- No.

Judge- Did you say no?

Abigail- No.

Newberg-Did you have any idea who the owner of the property was?

Abigail- Yes I believed that Louis Nicky was the last record owner and that his widow would be the owner of the woodstock site.

Newberg- So when you entered the site, all the times prior to your arrest, who'd you believe was the owner of the site?

Abigail- Mrs. Necketopolous.

Newberg- And why did you believe that she was the owner of the Woodstock site?

Abigail- Because I had heard, not that I had any evidence, but I had heard the June Gelish had a forged deed and that there was a case in the surrogate court, it had been printed in the newspapers. And that the deed was a forgery and Mrs. Necketopolous was trying to gain her rightful ownership .

Newberg- When you, when July 23rd came, what happened on that day?

Abigail- Robyn Gerry, Michael DiTullo and Bill Ruth, came to visit us, and they were concerned about the tent.

Newberg- And what did they say to you and what did you say to them?

Abigail- They said that we shouldn't have the tent up because it's gonna draw other people there with their tents, and they were concerned, you know, that they wanted everything kept quiet, and that their father, that Robyn Gerry's father did not want anybody on the property except under certain conditions.

Newberg- Did you respond to them at all?

A Yes.

Newberg- What'd you tell them?

Abigail- I told them that Mr. Gerry hadn't proven he had any right to tell me anything, one way or another, he had never proven that he even owned the site.

Newberg- Now, prior , from the date of your arrest, prior there to , this summer, were there ever any signs on the property?

A No.

Newberg- I'm gonna repeat that question your honor,.

Judge Please do.

Newberg- Prior to the time of your arrest, were there any signs on the property whatsoever?

Abigail- No.

Newberg- You heard the other gentleman testify as to certain signs that were on the property.

Abigail- Yes.

Newberg- They weren't, if you recall, I'm just paraphrasing their testimony, they weren't quite sure when the signs were put up. I'm asking you now that you're under oath. Did you know unequivocally that there were no signs on the property prior to the time of your arrest on that property?

Abigail- Absolutely not, I was there when they put the signs in .

Newberg- It was after you were arrested?

Abigail- Yes.I wasn't on the property, I was on the sidelines watching them. They did actually a number of things. They brought in a whole crew of men. And they dug holes, and I even confronted Mr. Ruth. I thought they were digging post holes for a fence. Because at a meeting I had with Mr. Gerry, he stated they were gonna put up a fence, and I said that would be a very bad idea, to put up the fence because that would be very offensive to people, they consider that a holy place. So Mr. Ruth told me oh no Abigail, we actually decided not to put the fence up, and this is just a post hole for a sign. Then we saw after they put the sign in, what it was.

Newberg- While you were at the site, prior to the time that you were arrested, did you have any conversations with Mr. Ruth?

Abigail- Yes.

Newberg- And what did he say to you, and what did you say to him? ...When, withdrawn, when were those conversations?  Did you have more then one conversation?

Abigail- Yes. I had two conversations, specifically,.. actually, I had one. The first conversation I had with Mr. Ruth was when he showed up with Robyn Gerry.  And it wasn't really with Mr. Ruth as much as it was with Robyn Gerry, not Alan. I'm sorry... Robyn Gerry, she showed up at the site with Mr. DiTullo and Mr. Ruth, and it was primarily with Robyn. And Mr. DiTullo and Mr. Ruth were merely watching, and I didn't have any words with them. And then the next day, well what we said to them was, they seemed to be all worked up about the tent, and the fact that Mr. Gerry wanted the tent down and this and that. And I said, I believe that it would be very important for us to speak with Mr. Gerry since he is the one purporting to be the owner, and he's the one that would experience any reverberations as a result of his decisions. So, I think I should speak with him directly. And if your concerned about the tent for right now, we'll just lay the tent down and, and you know, if he's willing to meet with us, you know, and we'll discuss the situation. So they left and they came back the next day and Mr. DiTullo handed me one of those pieces of paper and he said "I have good news". I said what's that? And he said, "We have a meeting with Mr. Gerry tomorrow" So, that was on Thursday he stated that. And then I said, "Good." Then they left. And they'd told us what time the appointment was at Mr. Gerry... at Granite Associates, and that was the following day.
Newberg- So that... Mr. DiTullo and Robyn Gerry came to the site, and you were there?

Abigail- Right.

Newberg- And they met with you on the site, and they left. Did at anytime... did they tell you that you had to get off the site? That you had to leave?

Abigail- Well, they told me I should put the fire out, they told me alot of things I should do, but I told them that they didn't have any authority to tell me these things.

Newberg- And what date was that?

Abigail- That was on that Thursday.

Newberg- Do you remember the date?

Abigail- The 23rd,.. The 23rd of July?

Newberg- Did you have a meeting with Mr. Gerry the following day?

Abigail- Not the following day, the following day they showed up to tell me we had the meeting, and at which time , I said that , you know, the only thing we would do was put the tent down because the fire was a prayer vigil fire, and we intended to keep that going until the Woodstock Festival.

Newberg- Did they tell you you had to leave the property?

Abigail- No.

Newberg, And did you take the tent down?

Abigail-  I Laid it down.

Newberg- Laid it down. And did you remain on that property?

Abigail- Yes.

Newberg- And did you stay on that property everyday from the 23rd until you were arrested?

Abigail- Yes.

Newberg- And did anything happen between the time they came back on the 24th of July and the time you were arrested, with regard to communicating with each other, with them?

Abigail- Yes, after... what we had done during the meeting is we said l... we'll keep the tent down. Mr. Gerry actually asked for another meeting. There was nothing concluded, no agreements made. I told him that I didn't recognize him as the owner, which got him a little bit flustered but he agreed to have another meeting with us because he said he didn't want to make any wrong decisions.

Newberg- And that was at your meeting on the 24th?

Abigail-  Yes.

Newberg- Or shortly thereafter?

Abigail-  Yes. And then, on Sunday, it was supposed to rain, and the owner of the tent, who we had borrowed the tent from, said that because it was a large army tent, if it got wet, it would be ruined because we couldn't lift it once it got wet and it wouldn't dry out. It would mildew. So, I put the tent back up and I sent a message to Mr. DiTullo, on the phone. I tried to reach him on the phone on Sunday, but I just got a message machine, telling him we were putting the tent back up because of this reason. Monday it was sunny, it started to dry out, and Tuesday the tent was still up. We also had found a couple of tears in the tent and we were concerned about the well being of the tent at that point. And I was getting a terrible back ache from lifting up the tent and putting it back down, to try to comply with Mr. Gerry's wishes, just during the time of negotiations and Mr. DiTullo and Mr. Ruth showed up at the camp and they questioned a number of things. They wanted to know what all these cars were doing on the site. I said none of these are my cars are mine. You'll have to speak to these other people. There were about twenty people there.

Newberg- And what date was this ?

Abigail- This was on Tuesday, what would that make it.....the 29th.

Newberg- The 29th?

Abigail- Yeah, Tuesday, the 29th.

Newberg- All right. And they were there talking to you on the 29th?

Abigail- Yeah.

Newberg- Did either of them tell you to get off the property?

Abigail- No.

Newberg- And, did they say anything else to you?

Abigail- They asked me to put the fire out, I said this is our prayer vigil. And I said, you know that was one of the things that we established, that we were going to keep the fire going. And the main thing that they were concerned about was the tent. And I explained to them that the tent was getting torn and everything, and everything that they asked me about they said, okay, okay, okay, and then they left, and they didn't say anything else, and I figured.....

Newberg- What's the next thing that happened?

Abigail- Early in the morning the police showed up with Mr. Ruth.

Newberg- And they arrested you?

Abigail- Yes. They said, "We're going to arrest you and your husband. We're not going to arrest the children". And then they said, "What're you gonna do with the tent?" And I said, "Well, we'll pack up the tent and then we have a friend that will come and get it." So then they said, "Okay. So, then they took us into custody and during the course of time that we were gone, they seized the tent and our sign. The sign that says, "Woodstock Nation Foundation". They seized that, as well.

Newberg- Did you, subsequent to your arrest, bring a legal action, in Supreme Court, Sullivan County, to establish your easement?

Abigail- Yes.

Newberg- Did you also bring an action to set aside the deed?

Abigail- Yes.

Newberg- And is that action still pending.

Abigail- Yes.

Newberg- Now, when you were on the property, were you protesting at all?..Causing any damage to the property?...Were you interfering with anybody else's right of privacy? ..Prior to your arrest and when you entered the property, were you aware of any temporary restraining order prohibiting the transfer of the property?

Drillings- Objection, Judge.

Newberg- Were you aware of any allegation of a forged deed?

Abigail- Yes.

Newberg- Is there anything else you wanna say, prior to, with relevance to the issues in this case?

Drillings- Objection, Judge. You can't ask a question like that.

Judge- We're not going to have opening statements or closing statements by the witness, if you wanna ask a question you may.

Newberg- Would you tell us in your own words what easement or property right you feel you have in this property?

Abigail- Yes. I feel that the property has been established as valuable by the people who have continually used it, that there is a road that has been established on the site, that has only been established by the continual use of the public, no owners created that road. That there is a monument on that site that invites people onto the property itself, that's been there since 1984. And I can see no evidence whatsoever that anybody that had a lawful right to remove us, has never wanted us off the site, and as a matter of fact, I've met with Mrs. Necketopolous herself, who stated that she had no problem with us being on the site itself .

Newberg- The Woodstock site?

Abigail - Yes.

Newberg- No further questions.

Drillings- Judge, I'll be brief.....Mrs. Storm, were you at the site in 1969?

Abigail- No.

Drillings- Now you stated... Do you recall getting arrested in 1993?

Abigail-  Yes. I've been arrested two times for trespassing on the site.

Drillings- Okay, do you recall...

Abigail- I was arrested in 1990, and I was arrested in 1993. The first time I was found not guilty and the second time I was found guilty.

Drillings- Do you recall who the owner of the complaint in 1993 was?

Abigail- Yes, Mrs. Gelish.

Drillings- And you didn't believe that she was the record owner as well?

Abigail No.

Drillings- Do you recall what the outcome was? You were convicted?

Abigail- Yes. I was found guilty.

Drillings- Okay. In this courtroom?

Abigail- Yes.

Drillings- Now, you stated that you have evidence, or that you heard, that the documentation was forged ?

Abigail- Yes.

Drillings- Do you have any proof, any certified proof?

Abigail- Yes, I have seen Mr. Gregory McNally, who supplied evidence to the Surrogate Court for the purpose of getting a restraining order on behalf of Mrs. Necketopolous, based on the evidence of Mr. McNally's..which revealed that... he is the... he works as an examiner for the board of records, and he is the... he examines questioned documents, and he states that it is a forgery, that even a laymen could see that it was a forgery.

Drillings- Okay. Is he here today?

Abigail- No.

Drillings- Do you have any documentation verifying that, with you?

Abigail- Just his..

Drillings- Is this what you showed us before?.....Now you stated that you had a meeting July 23rd and that they asked you to remove the tent, and what else did they tell you, Gerry?

Abigail- That , you know, that we should just wait for a couple of years and Mr. Gerry is gonna have a nice event there.

Drillings- Okay, but they asked you to remove the tent? and leave the property? or what exactly did he say .

Abigail- No, they didn't actually ask me to remove the tent, they just told me that they were concerned that the tent was gonna draw other people there with tents prior to the event, that we were there too early.

Drilling- Okay, and what did they ask you to do with the tent?

Abigail- They didn't ask me to do anything with the tent, I volunteered to take the tent down in order to have a meeting with Mr. Gerry, who I believe should be the person confronted with the questions..

Drillings- So what was the purpose of that first conversation, what was the gist of that conversation?

Abigail- On who's part, mine or...

Drillings- On both parts. What did they say to you and what'd you say to them?

Newberg- Your honor, I object, she already stated..

Drillings- Judge, .........So they didn't ask you to remove the tent?

Abigail- No.

Drillings- And they just told you to stay there and have a good time then?

Abigail- Not stay here and have a good time, they were concerned we were gonna draw a number of people there.

Drillings- And what did they say to show that concern is what I'm asking ...What made you believe that they were concerned?

Abigail- They didn't show any reason to be concerned. I told you what the reason was. They were concerned the tent was gonna draw people there... And I told them that people don't come until the weekend of the event and we were there to have a prayer vigil.......

Drillings- So they didn't want the tent there, is that what you're saying.

Abigail- They were concerned about the tent.

Drillings- So they didn't want the tent there?

Abigail- They never said, "We don't want the tent there."

Drillings- They were concerned about the tent, and yet they never said anything about the tent being up?

Abigail- No.

Judge- We're gonna have to hold on and I'm gonna have to find a tape ..give me a minute to rewind this? .....Alright, Mr. Drillings?

Drillings- Okay, so they were concerned about the tent being up for whatever reasons you already stated in cross-examination... Then you had a meeting July 24th with Mr. Gerry?

Abigail- I believe the 25th, it was Friday.

Drillings- And what was the gist of that conversation and that meeting?

Abigail- Essentially, I was meeting with Mr. Gerry to tell him that, you know, that there was an easement on the property and the people had a right to assemble there, and that he really didn't have a right to keep people off and why would he wanna do that?

Drillings- So, even if he did own the property, which you're disputing, and you believe that you would have a right to be there anyway?

Abigail- Absolutely.

Drillings- Regardless of whatever deed is before the court?

Abigail- Yes.

Drillings- Other than what you state to be a prescriptive easement, you don't have any title to it?

Abigail- I have a property right.

Drillings- Excuse me?

Abigail- The easement is a property right.

Drillings- Well, as I stated, beyond the prescriptive easement, you don't have any specific title to the land?

Abigail- No.

Drillings- And.....Now you stated that you did have a conviction in 19.., you were found guilty of trespass in 1993 correct?

Abigail- Yes.

Drillings- Wouldn't that tell you that you don't have as prescriptive easement to the property? That the people that claim to have title don't actually want you there?

Abigail- No, I don't believe I had... I was unrepresented and I had no way of even questioning myself, I had no attorney to... I have so little knowledge of the law and how to do a case that I essentially just was found guilty. I had no way of defending myself ,actually.

Drillings- Did you ever file an appeal to get that reversed ?

Abigail- I didn't even know to do that, I don't... I'm not a lawyer.

Drillings- You have an attorney.

Abigail- I have one now .

Drillings- Did he ever file documentation to have..?

Abigail- I only met him the day before I went out to the Woodstock site, and I actually spoke with him.

Drillings- July?

Abigail- Yeah, that's when...

Drillings- Three months ago?

Abigail- Right.

Drillings- Judge, no further questions .

Judge- You're ready..

Newberg- Just one...With Regard to the meeting on the site, I believe it was, Mr. DiTullo, Mr. Supak..

Abigail- Mr. Ruth..

Newberg- Mr. Ruth?

Abigail- Yes, Mr. Ruth.

Newberg- Mr.. Drillings was asking you what was the substance of that, how was, any future meeting set up or was there any..?

Abigail- Yes, we had,.. they set up a , first the meeting for the following for Friday morning, and then Mr. Gerry asked for another meeting the following weekend.

Newberg- Did that second meeting ever take place?

Abigail- No.

Newberg- Were you arrested?

Abigail- Yes.

Newberg- Did you know you were going to be arrested ?

Abigail- No .

Newberg- Did anybody ever tell you you were going to be arrested?

Abigail- No.

Newberg- Did anybody ever tell you, "Get off the property. It's mine"?

Abigail- Nope.

Newberg- No further questions.

Drillings- Very briefly, Judge...On the night of .......July 29th, and on the morning of July 30th, 1997, where were you?

Abigail- I was at the Woodstock site.

Drillings- And, did you have a tent up at that site?

Abigail- Yes .

Drillings- And who were you there with?

Abigail- I was there with my family and some other people who were visiting as well.

Drillings- Thank you.

Judge- Anything further, Mr. Newberg?

Newberg- No, Your Honor.

Judge- You may step down. Thank you.

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