HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-21-08 (3)
INDEX TO WITNESSES
FOR THE AREA AGENCY ON AGING
1. Dr. John Mitchell Hume
2. Priscilla M. Whitman
3. Janet Paull
DIRECT
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CROSS
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INDEX TO EXHIBITS
FOR THE AREA AGENCY ON AGING IDENTIFIED ADMITTE[
l. Bender Motor Gestalt Test 10 22
2 . Partnership Agreement 12 22
3. Photographs 18 22
4. Notice of Judgment 21 22
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1 March 5, 2008, 9:00 a.m.
2 Carlisle, Pennsylvania
3 (Whereupon, the following proceedings
4 were held:)
5 THE COURT: Parties ready to proceed?
6 MR. DELUCA: Yes, Your Honor.
7 MR. MORGENTHAL: Yes, Your Honor.
8 MR. DELUCA: Good morning, Your Honor. Your
9 Honor, I think by stipulation both parties agree to
10 incorporate by reference the testimony entered on January
11 10th of this year at the emergency guardianship hearing.
12 THE COURT: So stipulated?
13 MR. MORGENTHAL: Yes, Your Honor.
14 THE COURT: The stipulation is made a part of
15 the record, and the testimony taken at the previous hearing
16 is incorporated and made part of this hearing.
17 MR. DELUCA: Thank you, Your Honor. For our
18 first witness, we would call Dr. Hume.
19 Whereupon,
20 DR. JOHN MITCHELL HUME,
21 having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
22 MR. MORGENTHAL: Your Honor, we will
23 stipulate to Dr. Hume's qualifications as an expert.
24 THE COURT: A clinical psychiatrist, correct?
25 MR. MORGENTHAL: Yes, Your Honor.
4
1 THE COURT: He has testified here many times.
2 DIRECT EXAMINATION
3 BY MR. DELUCA:
4 Q What is your full name, sir?
5 A John Mitchell Hume, H-u-m-e.
6 Q And your occupation?
7 A I'm a physician, and I specialize In the
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practice of psychiatry.
Q Doctor, are you familiar with an individual
by the name of Janette Neely?
A Yes, I am.
Q And have you had an opportunity to meet with
her, sir?
A I visited her at her home on January 30th.
I
observed her in the courtroom on February 6th, and I did a
more comprehensive evaluation on February 8th at Arden
Court.
18 Q And, Doctor, did you also -- prior to coming
19 here, did you have an opportunity to review any other
20 records relating to Janette Neely?
21 A Yes, I did. I reviewed the petition for
22 the appointment of emergency and permanent plenary guardian
23 of the person and the estate of Janette Neely, the
24 partnership agreement between Janette Neely and Neil Hall,
25 War College -- Carlisle War College prescription records of
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Janette Neely.
I had conversation with Janet Paull, who was
the temporary guardian of Janette Neely, regarding some of
her behaviors in the recent past, review of the Carlisle War
College medical records of Miss Neely, intake records of
Arden Court; and in preparation for this hearing, I had also
reviewed a prior report that I had made after my first
contact with Miss Neely.
Q So, Doctor, you have issued two reports?
A Yes.
Q And the first report was dated when, sir?
A February 1st, 2008.
Q And that took place after you met her, lS
that correct?
A Yes. I went to her home.
Q And, Doctor, could you please summarize your
observations at that time?
A Briefly, I went with Miss Paull and David
Moore from the Office of Aging. Initially there was no
response to knocks on the door. So we were able to get into
the house because Janet had a key.
An effort was made then to interview Miss
Neely, and that was interfered with by Mr. Hall in spite of
my request to him to please not interrupt. And David told
him multiple times please to leave the room, but he stated
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that the interview was over because she was entitled to have
a lawyer there at the present time. So it was obviously not
something we could proceed with.
There was a marked change in Miss Neely's
demeanor and attitude. Initially she was fairly pleasant
and reasonable. But when Mr. Hall became involved, her
attitude changed very significantly, and she became negative
and quite angry.
It was related by Miss Paull that Miss Neely
had tried to kick her before the interview started when she
went upstairs to try to encourage her to come down for the
meeting in the first floor of the dwelling.
Q Doctor, during the course of the interview,
were you able to come to any conclusions regarding any issue
of impairment?
A It was difficult to tell much because the
initial effort was quite limited. Mr. Hall stated that he
was aware that she had memory problems. The most
significant thing was the rapid change in affect and
responsiveness from being fairly reasonable to becoming
quite irritable and angry.
Q Doctor, after that interview, you were
present here on February 10th, is that correct?
A February 8th, I believe it was.
Q February 6th?
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Q
Or 6th. I'm sorry.
What were your observations of her at that
time?
A The principal observation was that Mr. Hall
seemed to take over total control, ordering her to sit to
the back next to where he's sitting, and stating in a loud
voice that her counsel was fired.
He jumped up about every 30 seconds to give
information or remarks to Miss Neely. For the first 15
minutes or so and thereafter, about every minute he got up
to give her advice.
Then there was some question as to who had
written letters that Miss Neely was proposing to read to the
Court regarding the matter. At that point Mr. Hall got
quite provoked and irritated and left the courtroom after
yelling at the Judge.
The proceedings then were, for all practical
purposes, terminated with setting a new hearing for now and
arrangements for a more comprehensive evaluation.
Q Doctor, did you thereafter conduct a more
comprehensive evaluation?
A Yes, I did. I saw Miss Neely at Arden Court
on February 8th.
Q And can you describe how she appeared at that
time?
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A Initially she was fairly pleasant and
generally cooperative. There were multiple indications that
she had significant problems with her memory. She changed
her story when asked specific questions.
She talked about a reverse mortgage, saying
she didn't want a reverse mortgage, that she lived in her
house since 1937, there was no way she wanted to do that.
Later she said it was a deal that she had with Mr. Hall.
She was totally confused about the length of
time she had been at Arden Court, on one point saying she
had been there two weeks and another time one week, when in
fact it had been only two days.
On tests of memory, she could only remember
one and a half out of three items on a five minute recall of
things. On Bender Motor Gestalt tests, which are a function
of organic impairment, she could copy the original designs
without too much trouble; but after ten minutes, she could
only reproduce four of the figures, and none of them was
like the original out of the nine figures, indicative of
severe impairment as far as memory is concerned. That type
of recent memory problem is consistent with Alzheimer's
disease.
MR. DELUCA: May I approach the witness, Your
Honor?
THE COURT: You may.
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BY MR. DELUCA:
Q Dr. Burne, I show you what's been marked as
Petitioner's Exhibit 1 and ask whether you can identify
that, sir?
A Page 1 is the figures, the Bender Motor
Gestalt figures. Page 2 is the copies that she made, and
page 3 is what she did on recall after ten minutes.
Q Is that what you were just referring to in
the testimony?
A Yes, that is what I was just talking about.
Q And does page 3 show what she's able to
recall after ten minutes?
A Yes. It shows four figures that are drawn,
none of which lS an accurate representation of the initial
figures that she copied.
Q What would be normal, Dr. Burne?
A Ordinarily one should be able to reproduce
six to seven of the figures correctly. One of the figures
was modestly close, but the other three that she did were
not even related to the originals that she had looked at.
Q Doctor, did you also review her medical
records regarding her physical condition?
A Yes. The War College records indicated that
she was suffering with hypertension. She acknowledged
herself that at times she did not take her medicine
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faithfully.
Systolic blood pressures on one occasion were
184 and another occasion 200, which puts her at high risk
for stroke or heart attack.
She was supposed to be on medications, but
she could not name or understand what any of the medications
were for; and the Carlisle War records, medical records,
indicate noncompliance with medication on a number of
occasions.
As a consequence of that, she was also
experiencing renal problems with increased blood urea
nitrogen and creatinine at some point at very alarming
levels.
Q Doctor, did you ask her if she had any
medical problems, and if so, what was her response?
A Her response was to deny any significant
medical problems.
Q Doctor, with respect to the -- was any other
test conducted regarding mental examination?
A I asked her a number of questions regarding
her financial circumstances. I asked her if she knew what
her income was, and she guessed that she was getting about
$800.00 In social security a month; but she didn't know
because it went directly into the bank. The records
indicated, in fact, $618.00. She was unaware of additional
money corning from a debt.
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She could not describe any of the rental
monies that she got or was supposed to be getting from her
properties. She acknowledged that when Mr. Hall is not
working he doesn't pay rent. She could not describe with
any specificity when was the last time he had any regular
work.
She did know that her daughter would be the
object of her estate, the person to whom her money would go;
but at the same time the issue was that a whole host of
unusual terms were involved in a contract which she signed
with Mr. Hall on the 17th of November of last year, all of
which favored Mr. Hall with no particular benefit to Miss
Neely. She could not recall the specific terms of that
contract when I asked her about that.
I asked her if she had a will, and she
indicated that she did not have a will.
(Whereupon, Petitioner's Exhibit No.2
was marked for identification.)
BY MR. DELUCA:
Q Doctor, I show you what's been marked as
Petitioner's Exhibit No.2 and ask if you can identify that?
A This is a partnership agreement from November
19th. I said the 17th before. I'm sorry. It was the 19th
of November of 2007 between Neil Hall and Janette Neely.
Q Doctor, I'm going to ask you a question about
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this in a few moments. As a result of the evaluation you
have conducted, were you able to form a diagnosis of her
problems?
A Yes.
Q And what were they, Doctor?
A My opinion is that she's suffering from
senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type in early stages.
She also suffers from hypertension and asthma medically and
renal disease.
Q Doctor, I'm going to read you a legal
definition of an incapacitated person, and I have a couple
questions for you. An incapacitated person means an adult
whose ability to receive and evaluate information
effectively and communicate decisions in any way is impaired
to such a significant extent that he or she is partially or
totally unable to manage his or her financial resources or
to meet essential requirements for his or her physical
health and safety.
Doctor, do you have an opinion based upon a
reasonable degree of medical certainty as to whether she lS
an incapacitated person with respect to being able to take
care of her own physical health and safety?
A Yes, I do.
Q What is that opinion?
A My opinion is that without assistance she lS
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not capable of carlng for her physical and mental well-being
nor lS she capable financially of managing her affairs.
Q And, Doctor, what is the prognosis for this
type of illness?
A Alzheimer's is a progressive disease, and the
difficulties she is experiencing will gradually increase
over time.
Q And would it be your opinion that she
requires 24-hour care?
A Yes.
Q You were at the facility where she's at now.
In your opinion, is that an appropriate place for her to be?
A In my opinion it is, yes.
Q Doctor, with respect to Petitioner's Exhibit
No.2, the partnership agreement, based upon what you have
said would she have been -- would she have had the capacity
to execute this partnership agreement knowing the full
contents of the alleged agreement on November 19th of 2007?
A In my opinion, she would not. The only thing
that she could state about the contract was that we have a
real estate business. Review of the medical records from
Carlisle War College indicate that on 10/10 of 2007 she was
described by the doctor as confused, disoriented as to date
and situation, was using confabulation; that is, she was
making up things to fill in gaps in her memory, and her
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thought process was confused. So there's clear evidence
that at least six weeks before this contract was entered
into she was demonstrating symptoms of early Alzheimer's
disease.
MR. DELUCA: Thank you. That's all I have,
Your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Morgenthal.
CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. MORGENTHAL:
Q Doctor, just a few clarifications. First of
all, do you recall the address where you visited Mrs. Neely
at the time of the first visit on January 30th since she
does own several different properties?
A Yes. We went to her house on South East
Street, I think. I'm not sure. But it's about four blocks
from the courthouse.
Q As far as you know, that was her principal
residence?
A That was her principal residence, yes. She
has another place on Bedford Street, but she could not glve,
again, information about what rent was there; and she had a
mistaken idea about being able to rent the third floor of
her principal residence.
Q And when you refer to Arden Court, is that a
facility located in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, that
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specializes in Alzheimer's treatments?
A Yes, it is an Alzheimer's treatment unit that
specializes specifically in that type of disorder.
Q Is it possible to estimate the date when she
actually became a victim of dementia to the point that
incapacitation started? I know you've said that it was
prior to that alleged partnership agreement. But can you go
back further than that and estimate when that was?
A I don't have other information, and of course
I did not see her then. But it's quite clear that In
October of last year, about six weeks before this contract
was entered into, she very clearly was showing signs of
dementia at that point.
The other question one has to ask is in a
down real estate time which was already acknowledged by
November, what is an 84-year-old lady going into the real
estate business for in a market that's going downhill?
Absolutely on the face of it makes no sense whatsoever.
Q Doctor, are there also behavioral aspects to
Alzheimer's such as physical aggression or that sort of
thing?
A Yes. Rapid mood change and physical
aggression is common. She had attempted to kick Miss Paull
when we went to her primary residence. She struggled to
leave the facility when I was there to see her, and she
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tried to kick me also at the time.
Prior to that, there had been indications of
jumping out of a car on two different occasions at risk to
her health and safety, which again went back time. There
was also an assault in the neighborhood when she was living
with her daughter.
Q So that obviously lS a factor in wherever
she's cared for, is it not?
A Yes. Those are parts of the behaviors that
one sees with Alzheimer's.
Q In your total experience and evaluation of
Janette Neely, do you believe that she could be maintained
in her home with 24/7 care?
A If there were somebody there to supervise
what goes on all the time, that might be a prospect. It
would be inordinately expensive compared to the care that
she's getting currently.
Q And that would require not just attendance
but highly trained personnel?
A Yes.
Q Would it be your recommendation then that
Arden Court is a good facility for her to reside in at this
point?
A In my opinion, that would be one of the best
places that she could be.
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1 MR. MORGENTHAL: Thank you, Doctor. That's
2 all I have, Your Honor.
3 THE COURT: Anything else?
4 MR. DELUCA: No, Your Honor.
5 THE COURT: Sir, you are excused.
6 THE WITNESS: Thank you.
7 Whereupon,
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PRISCILLA M. WHITMAN,
having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
(Whereupon, Petitioner's Exhibit No.3
was marked for identification.)
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. DELUCA:
Q What is your name, please?
A My name is Priscilla M. Whitman.
Q And how are you employed?
A I'm employed at the Cumberland County Office
of Aging located at 16 West High Street, Carlisle.
Q You're familiar with Janette Neely?
A Yes, I am.
Q Did you have occasion to go to her home and
take pictures of her home?
A Yes, I did.
Q When did you do that?
A I did that on February 8th, 2008.
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Q
I show you what's been marked as Petitioner's
2 Exhibit No. 3 consisting of a number of photos and ask
3 whether you can identify them, please?
4 A Yes. The first picture I call at the office
5 at Janette Neely's home at 59 North East Street in Carlisle.
6 It has a typewriter, amounts -- some of the clutter. The
7 second picture is the front room before the office, what I
8 labeled as the office at her home.
9 The third picture and the fourth picture
10 are the living room area. The fifth picture is the dining
11 area or dining room, and I have three pictures of the
12 kitchen area.
13 I have a picture of -- there was two
14 bedrooms. I have two of the one room, bedroom, located I
15 think as you went to the top of the stairs, and then there
16 was a middle bedroom or a front bedroom I labeled number
17 two.
18 I have a picture of the bathroom, one of the
19 attic, and then I have three pictures of the third floor
20 apartment, the kitchen area, the living area, and the
21 bedroom. And finally I have two pictures of the yard.
22 Q Generally what do they depict?
23 A A lot of clutter, trash, not a place where
24 someone could manage. I mean, the kitchen area, by looking
25 at it, you know that cooking couldn't have been done there.
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You know, it just shows hoarding.
Q A potential safety risk?
A Yes.
MR. DELUCA: That's all I have, Your Honor.
MR. MORGENTHAL: I have no questions, Your
Honor.
THE COURT: Ma'am, you may step down. Put
the pictures right up here.
Whereupon,
JANET PAULL,
having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. DELUCA:
Q What is your name, please?
A Janet Paull.
Q And how are you employed?
A I'm a protective services investigator and
guardianship age and care manager for the Cumberland County
Office of Aging.
Q And are you the case agent for this matter
involving Janette Neely?
A I am.
Q Did you as guardian for Janette Neely file
a landlord/tenant action before District Justice Jessica
Brewbaker?
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5 vacate?
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Yes, we did. Yes, I did.
When was that filed?
That was filed on the 19th of February.
Q
Was that subsequent to giving notice to
A
Yes, it was.
Q
And was a hearing
did a hearing take place
8 before Judge Brewbaker on March 3rd of this year?
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11 Janette Neely?
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Yes, it did.
Q
And was a judgment entered in favor of
A
Yes, it was.
Q
And who was the defendant in that action?
A
The defendant would be -- okay, the defendant
15 would be Neil Hall.
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Q
And so possession was given
A
Yes, it was.
Q
-- to Janette Neely?
A
Yes, it was.
20 (Whereupon, Petitioner's Exhibit No.4
21 was marked for identification.)
22 BY MR. DELUCA:
23
Q
I show you what's been marked as Petitioner's
24 Exhibit No. 4 and ask if you can identify that?
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A
This is the notice of judgment at that
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1 hearing. It states that judgment was for the plaintiff,
2 Janette Neely.
3
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And against Mr. Hall?
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Yes.
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MR. DELUCA: That's all I have, Your Honor.
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MR. MORGENTHAL: No questions, Your Honor.
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THE COURT: Ma'am, you may step down. Leave
8 the document right here.
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MR. DELUCA: Your Honor, I move for the
10 admission of Petitioner's Exhibits.
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MR. MORGENTHAL: No objection.
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THE COURT: They are all admitted.
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MR. DELUCA: We rest.
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THE COURT: Mr. Morgenthal, you are private
15 counsel?
IE
MR. MORGENTHAL: Yes, I am, Your Honor. I
17 was retained by Mrs. Neely several weeks ago. I would also
18 note for the record I have represented Janette Neely off and
19 on for perhaps the last 25 years or so.
20 Mrs. Neely, having known her for a long
21 period of time and after speaking with her recently,
22 reviewing the reports and everything, I'm of the position,
23 Your Honor, today to recommend on her behalf that she is in
24 need of a guardian of the person and of the estate; and I
25 would ask that that appointment be made to Keystone
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1 Guardianship Services.
2 I believe her residency presently In Arden
:3 Court is the least restrictive facility that she could be
4 in. I don't believe that she could manage at horne, and
:3 having experience in Elder Law, trying to find qualified
6 people to care for her there at any price I think would be
7 impossible.
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THE COURT: You recommend Keystone be made
9 the guardian
MR. MORGENTHAL: Of the estate --
THE COURT: Both the plenary guardian of both
the person and the estate?
MR. MORGENTHAL: That's correct, Your Honor.
THE COURT: And do you wish to present any
15 evidence?
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MR. MORGENTHAL: No, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Anything further?
MR. DELUCA: Your Honor, the only other thing
19 would be to request that the existing powers of attorney be
20 revoked.
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MR. MORGENTHAL: I believe that's
22 appropriate, Your Honor, upon the guardianship.
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24 guardianship?
THE COURT: To revoke the temporary
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MR. DELUCA: No, to revoke the powers of
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1 attorney.
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THE COURT: Which there was testimony at the
3 last hearing, right?
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MR. DELUCA: Yes.
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THE COURT: Powers of attorney to?
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MR. DELUCA: Betty Schlusser and Harold
7 Casner.
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THE COURT: B-e-t-t-y. Spelling of the last
9 name?
MR. DELUCA: S-c-h-l-u-s-s-e-r.
THE COURT: S-c-h-l-u-s-s-e-r. And the
1:2 second name?
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MR. DELUCA: Harold Casner.
THE COURT: Harold?
MR. DELUCA: Yes.
MR. MORGENTHAL: C-a-s-n-e-r, Your Honor.
THE COURT: C-a-s-
MR. MORGENTHAL: N-e-r.
THE COURT: They're existing powers of
20 attorney?
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MR. DELUCA: Yes, Your Honor. And both of
2:2 them are present here this morning.
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THE COURT: Okay. And that concludes this
24 hearing, right?
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MR. DELUCA: Yes, Your Honor.
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MR. MORGENTHAL: That's right.
THE COURT: We are adjourned. I will take
3 the matter under advisement. I will have something down
4 shortly.
5 (Whereupon, the hearing was concluded
6 at 9:30 a.m.)
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CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify that the proceedings are
3 contained fully and accurately in the notes taken by me on
4 the above cause and that this is a correct transcript of
5 same.
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9 -----------------------------
10 The foregoing record of the proceedings on
11 the hearing of the within matter is hereby approved and
12 directed to be filed.
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