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Well, that means that the bases were at 100 to 200 feet. The tops were
not stated in the ruling. So he was at best 500 feet away from clouds
upon
entering Class E airspace, and most likely much less.


I took the witnesses' statement to mean the cloud layer was 100 feet thick,
100 to 200 AGL. That fits with the respondent's statement that there were
clouds at 200 feet and he was in VFR conditions well before he reached
controlled airspace at 700 feet.

The actual altitude and thickness of the cloud layer really doesn't matter.
If the floor of controlled airspace is at 700 AGL and there's a solid cloud
layer between the surface and the start of controlled airspace, then it's
impossible to climb through that layer and be in VFR conditions when you
reach controlled airspace.