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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-14-04IN I/E: : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA ELEANOR U. COOLIDGE : ORPHANS' COURT DIVISION : NO. 21-03-936 MOTION FOR TRIAL CONTINUANCE AND NOW, this /'7 day of ~(~f]~ , 2004, Petitioner, Julia Elizabeth Coolidgc-Stolz, by aad through her counsel, R. Mark Thomas, Esquire, moves this court Ibr relief and in support thereof respccffully represents: 1. On or about March 29, 2004, Respondents herein admitted to probate a certain writing which they declared to be the Last Will and Testament of thc testatrix, said writing being dated December 8, 2003. 2. On or about July 2. 2004, Petitioner filed a Petition for Citation contesting the December 8. 2003 writing as being invalid due to the lack of testamentary ~city ~the . . ro~ed testatrix on ~ts date of execution and/or due to the writing of December 8, 2003r by undue'mlloence exerted by either one or both of the Respondents herein. , 3. On or about July 30. 2004. th~s court issued an scheduhn~re-hea~ng' Order ' coalkrence Ibr September 22, 2004, a lrial date of October 13, 2004 and therein denied Petitioner's reqoest lbr a jnry trial. 4. Petitioner previously fined a Motion For a Continuance and the court granted the Motion and scheduled the trial lbr December 27, 2004 and December 29, 2004. 5. For lhe Ibllox;ing reasons couusel tbr Petitioner hereby requests this court to grant a second continuance of this matter and in support thereof respectfully represents: (a) On September 1,2004, Cetitioner subpoenaed medical records from Green Ridge Village Nursing Home, Chambersburg Hospital, J. Craig Jurgenson, M.D., Joseph M. Brazel, M.D., James Hegarty, M.D. and the Carlisle Hospital, all of which records have not yet been received by Petitioner's cotmsel; (b) Petitioner has yet to receive records fi'om the Chambersburg Itospital, despite the Court Order of September 28, 2004 directing the hospital to release all medical records concerning Eleanor U. Coolidge to }'etitioner's counsel, although the hospital does state that the records are tbrthcoming; (c) 'Ibc records fi'om the Green Ridge Village Nursing Home, perhaps the most relevant of all the medical records, were just received by Petitioner's counsel on Monday, December 13, 2004 and are in tile process of being forwarded to Petitioner's expert; (d) Due to expenses and geographical distance, Petitioner had to employ a new expert, namely, Robert Wettstein, M.D., a forensic psychiatrist located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; (e) Dr. Wettstein will be out of the country duriug the dates currently scheduled for trial: (l) In order to arrive at an opinion and to provide a report, as well as testimony, Dr. Wetlstein needs all thc records, including tile records from the Green P,.idge Village Nursing Home and the Chambersburg Hospital; (g) In additiou, Dr. Wettstein will need to interview xarious lay witnesses who had a relationship with Eleanor U. Coolidge, deceased, prior to her death in March 2004. 6. Due to the delay in being able to acquire medical records from both the Chambersbnrg l lospital and the Green Ridge Village Nursing Home, Dr. Wettstein will not be able to interview lay wimesses and prepare by December 27, 2004 and as previously stated, he will be out of the country at thaI time. 7. In additiou, Dr. Brazel's deposition testimony for trial was held on September 29, 2004, but counsel for Petitioner did not receive Dr. Brazel's medical records until after his deposition. 8. As a result of now having had the opportunity to review Dr. Brazel's records, Petitioner would need to schedule a second deposition of Dr. Brazel prior to a trial Oll the merits of this case. W}IEREFORE, for all the tbregoing reasons, Petitioner requests that this court grant a continuance of the trial date previously scheduled for December 27, 2004 and December 29, 2004. Respecthdly submitted, R. Mark Thomas, Esquire ID# 41301 101 S. Market Street Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 (717) 796-2100 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, R. Mark Thomas, Esquire, hereby certify that I have served a copy of the within document on the lbllowing by this date hand delivering a true and correct copy of the same to: James D. Flower, ,Ir., Esq. 26 West ttigh Street Carlise, PA 17013 R. Mark Thomas, Esq.