HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-05-05 Volume III
INDEX TO WITNESSES
FOR PETITIONER
DIRECT CROSS REDIRECT RECROSS
REBUTTAL
Julia E. Coolidge-Stolz
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99
FOR RESPONDENTS
Thomas E. Coolidge
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84
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INDEX TO EXHIBITS
FOR PETITIONER MARKED ADMITTED
Ex. No. 15 - power of attorney 36 100
Ex. No. 16 - e-mail 47 100
Ex. No. 17 - May 15, 03 letter 52 100
Ex. No. 18 - HIPAA forms 55 100
Ex. No. 19 - 8/20/03 letter 70 100
Ex. No. 20 - letter 87 100
Ex. No. 21 - card 89 100
Ex. No. 22 - card 89 100
Ex. No. 23 - 8/12/01 note 89 100
Ex. No. 24 - 6/5/00 note 89 100
Ex. No. 25 - prescription 94 100
Ex. No. 26 - 3 photographs 96 100
FOR RESPONDENTS
Ex. No. 14 - timeline 4 86
Ex. No. 15 - 9/23/03 letter 6 86
Ex. No. 16 - 9/30/03 letter 9 86
Ex. No. 17 - 10/7/03 letter 10 86
Ex. No. 18 - timeline 13 86
Ex. No. 19 - timeline 16 86
Ex. No. 20 - aerial photo 19 86
Ex. No. 21 - evaluation 22 86
Ex. No. 22 - 2000 tax return 25 86
Ex. No. 23 - checks 27 86
Ex. No. 24 - 10/20/03 letter 31 86
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(Whereupon, Respondents' Exhibit No. 14 was
marked for identification.)
THE COURT: This is the time and place for a
resumption of the hearing in the matter of Eleanor U.
Coolidge. Are counsel prepared to proceed?
MR. FLOWER: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right.
MR. FLOWER: When we concluded Mr. Thomas
Coolidge was on the stand, and I would like to recall him to
the stand.
Whereupon,
THOMAS E. COOLIDGE
having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
THE COURT: Would you give your name again
please for the record?
THE WITNESS: Yes. Thomas, middle initial E
for Edward, Coolidge, C-o-o-l-i-d-g-e.
DIRECT EXAMINATION (CONTINUED)
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q Mr. Coolidge, I'll show you what we've marked
as Respondents' Exhibit 14. One of the things that struck
me as we proceeded with this case is that the timeframes can
be confusing. Is this a timeline that you prepared for
December of 2002 to December of 2003?
A Yes, it is.
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6 A Yes. On December 3rd, 2002, my mother moved
7 to the assisted living unit of Green Ridge Village. On
8 December 20th of 2002, my mother named me as her Power of
9 Attorney. On February 4th, 2003, my mother had some
10 unsteadiness in her walking and actually had what carne to be
11 known as a fall at Green Ridge Village, which was a
12 noticeable health event. On April 30th of 2003, my mother
13 was evaluated by Dr. Jurgensen, who testified earlier in
14 this hearing about that evaluation.
15 On the period between May 24th and May 27th,
16 2003, there were a series of communications, largely by
17 telephone, among my sister and me, and my sister and Bob
18 Frey. On May 27th in a telephone conversation my sister,
19 Julia, told me that she would see me in court. On May 28th,
20 2003, Dr. Brazel, who was my mother's personal care
21 physician, prescribed Aricept for my mother.
22 THE COURT: Would you spell that for the
23 stenographer, please?
24 THE WITNESS: Sure. Aricept is spelled
25 A-r-i-c-e-p, as in Paul, T, as in Tom.
Q And does this have a D1 trnber of significant
events in your mother's life that occurred during that time?
A Yes, it does.
Q Would you just go from left to right and note
the items that you have highlighted un the timeline?
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On July 2nd my sister, Julia, visited my
mother at Green Ridge Village, and on July 3rd my mother
expressed fear about being taken to Massachusetts and asked
me to visit her at Green Ridge Village, which I did. On
July 14th, 2003, Dr. Myers treated my mother at Green Ridge
Village and adjusted some medications. On August 20th our
attorney, Jim Flower, at our request -- our being my brother
Phil and me -- sent a letter to my sister asking that
further communications regarding my mother be handled
through his office.
MR. FLOWER: Let me pause for a moment, and
the next thing I'm going to reference is a letter of
September 23rd, and I'd like to have that marked as Exhibit
15 for Respondents.
(Whereupon, Respondents' Exhibit No. 15 was
marked for identification.)
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q Okay. I'm showing you Exhibit 15, a letter
of September 23rd from you, and who is this letter addressed
to?
A It was addressed to both my brother Philip
and my sister Julia.
Q And what was the purpose of this letter?
A This letter was a result of my mother's
decision to proceed with the sale of her house and our
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ability through a private sale to identify a buyer who was
prepared to buy the house at a price she agreed to, and the
communication provided the information regarding that sale,
including the final value conclusion of the appraiser. We
had to do a private appraisal to make sure that we
understood the market value and the price of which we were
selling the house.
Q And the earlier appraisal was how much?
A The appraisal of Larry Foote of Diversified
Appraisal Services was $176,000. .
Q And what was the sale price?
A $192,000.
Q And was there any real estate commission?
A There was not.
Q You were able to do that privately?
A Yes, we were.
Q Okay. And did this also set forth, on the
reverse side, a procedure for some distribution of personal
property?
A Yes, it did.
Q Through the sale. And what is that procedure
as set forth in the letter?
A My mother was interested in making sure there
was a mechanism in place that would allow her to give to
each of the three children an amount of $10,000 to be used
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in a way which would give us equal ability to buy personal
property that she was electing to auction in a way that
would give us equal chance to get that personal property at
a competitive value.
Q And was the procedure for you individually to
bid on items you wanted?
A Yes, it was. Each of the three of us were
advised of the auction, invited to attend, and invited to
participate the same as anyone else, and my mother's
arrangement was that she would pick up the first $10,000 of
whatever the three of us chose to buy, and that the two who
bid less would be made equal to the one who bid most by a
cash balance.
Q But you would lose something because there
would be a commission for the auctioneer; isn't that right?
That is your mother would have -- let me put it differently.
Why was it that you didn't simply divide up a value of maybe
$10,000 worth of property among yourselves rather than doing
this through this auction procedure?
A Well, my mother was in the very clear view
that the relationships between of the three of us was such
that that would not be possible.
Q Okay. So this provided that you would each
get a gift of $10,000 at that time?
A That is correct.
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Q All three of you.
MR. FLOWER: I'd like this next item to be
marked as Exhibit 16 for Respondents.
(Whereupon, Respondents' Exhibit No. 16 was
marked for identification.)
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q I'm showing you Respondents' Exhibit 16, and
is this a letter to you from your sister's then current
attorney, Jason Kutulakis?
A Yes, it is.
Q Dated September 30, 2003?
A Correct.
Q And instead of going through the whole
letter, the letter indicates in the second line, does it
not, that the firm represents your sister Julia regarding
your mother's estate?
A Yes, it does.
Q And did you share this letter with your
mother?
A Of course, yes.
Q How did she respond to the fact that they
were representing your sister with respect to her estate?
A Well, when my mother saw the word estate she
became visibly very upset and said very clearly, I am not
dead.
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THE COURT: Said what?
THE WITNESS: I am not dead.
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q And in the second paragraph did it request a
complete accounting of all of the personal property
contained in the estate, including but not limited to the
personal property remaining at your mother's house?
A Yes, it does.
Q Did you share that request with your mother?
A She read the entire letter, yes.
THE COURT: She what?
THE WITNESS: I'm sorry. She read the entire
letter, yes.
THE COURT:
All right.
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q How did she respond to the request that she
provide a complete accounting of all of her property?
A Her words were that she found that to be very
presumptuous. She didn't feel she owed an accounting to
anyone.
MR. FLOWER: I'd like this next letter to be
marked as Exhibit 17.
(Whereupon, Respondents' Exhibit No. 17 was
marked for identification.)
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BY MR. FLOWER:
Q I'll show you what's been marked as Exhibit
17 for Respondents. Was this your response to the letter
from Mr. Kutulakis dated September 30th?
A Yes, it is.
Q And in this letter I will ask you to note,
did you see anything about your mother's mental abilities
changing?
A Yes. Just prior to our sending this letter
my recollection is you received a telephone call from
Michael Traxler, who was an associate in the law firm
representing my sister, asking about my mother's mental
health.
Q I want to make sure you're speaking into the
microphone. Okay.
A I'm sorry.
Q Thanks.
A So yes, I did. I tried to respond to that in
addition to the requests that were made in the letter that
Mr. Kutulakis had sent, and I pointed out this is in October
of 2003, and my mother's fall was in February of 2003. So
roughly half a year had passed. By this point in time her
mental abilities were rebounding very nicely, and this again
was after the adjustment of her medications by Dr. Brazel
and Dr. Myers.
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1 Q Did you note that you had -- that she had
2 retained her relationship with her legal adviser,
3 Mr. Frey, and her family physician?
4 A Yes, I did. We were -- my mother had long
5 standing relationships with her attorney, Mr. Frey, her
6 personal care physician, Dr. Brazel, her accountant, Mike
7 Devlin who testified earlier, and our minister at the Second
8 Presbyterian Church, and they all had continuing contact
9 with her throughout this entire period until her death.
10 Q Let me refer you to the last paragraph of the
11 second page in which you indicate that your next two
12 requests seek information my mother considers private, and
13 which she wants you to know she has already shared as
14 broadly as she wishes. Would you explain what -- what you
15 were trying to convey here?
16 A Yes. We provided information in response to
17 several of their requests. There were two that my mother
18 instructed me not to provide. One was the appraisal report
19 by Larry Foote. My mother felt that question -- that
20 request questioned her integrity, and the letter she had me
21 sent stated the result she didn't feel she wanted to provide
22 the report itself.
23 And the fourth request, the second which we
24 did not agree to, was about the complete accounting, which
25 as I said earlier, she found to be presumptuous and
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offensive.
Q And did you also indicate at the end of this
letter a willingness to try and work something out
concerning the banjo clock?
A Yes, I did.
THE COURT: How much is this banjo clock
worth?
THE WITNESS: The banjo clock was appraised
by my mother in 2002 before I became her Power of Attorney,
and the banjo clock, I believe, was appraised at $4,500.00.
THE COURT: Appraised by some appraiser?
THE WITNESS: Yeah. It's a fellow in the
Mechanicsburg area. I believe his name is Edward Lafond.
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q Edward Lafond, who is an expert in clocks?
A Yes.
THE COURT: Okay.
THE WITNESS: And I have an appraisal, if you
wish.
(Whereupon, Respondents' Exhibit No. 18 was
marked for identification.)
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q I'm going to show you what's been marked as
Respondents' Exhibit 18, which is an item that says
Respondents timeline of selected key dates. Does this pick
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up after the other timeline that was prepared as
Exhibit No. 14?
A Yes, it does.
Q And what dates have you highlighted on this
timeline?
A This picks up with the December 8th signing
of the will by my mother, and it shows the period through
her death in March of 2004, with four events in March.
Q Okay. Now, I realize I've done something out
of order. We didn't complete the review of the dates on
Exhibit 14. Would you -- I think we stopped here at the
letter of October 7th. Would you complete the items that
you noted on this exhibit?
A Yes. The October 7th letter is the one we
did just talk about. On October 13th my sister Julia and
Helen Kollas visited my mother at Green Ridge Village, and
as a result of that Helen Kollas, I'm told, called Bob Frey
asking Bob Frey to visit my mother at Green Ridge Village.
On October 14th
MR. FLOWER: May I show the Court the copy of
this? It might be easier to follow along.
THE COURT: It's up to Mr. Thomas if it's not
admitted. Do you have any objection to the Court's looking
at this timeline document?
MR. THOMAS: Could you bring it closer?
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THE COURT:
Do you have any objection,
Mr. Thomas?
MR. THOMAS: No objection.
THE COURT: All right.
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q Okay. I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Coolidge.
I believe we were at October 14?
A Yes. My understanding is on October 14th Bob
Frey, my mother's attorney, visited her at Green Ridge
Village in response to the request by Helen Kollas. On
October 29th there was a letter from Attorney Traxler of the
firm representing my mother with some additional requests
and indicating that if we didn't supply the data requested
that they were willing to seek a court order.
On November 13th my mother was informed by me
of the challenge filed the earlier day by my sister Julia by
petition to the Court. On November 13th my sister served a
subpoena to attend and testify on me and on Renee Kreamer,
the administrator of the assisted living unit at Green Ridge
Village.
On November 14th my mother accompanied me to
the settlement of the sale of her house. On November 17th
my mother herself testified in a mental competency hearing
resulting from my sister's petition. Around Thanksgiving
Bob Frey, my mother's attorney, visited her in response to
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my mother's request that he do so so she could change her
will, and on December 8th my mother, with Bob Frey and
Dr. Myers as witnesses, signed the changed will.
Q You indicated that on November 14th your
mother attended a settlement of the sale of the house to the
Gabig family. Did she have any comments to you on that day
about the settlement?
A Only two that come to mind. She was
extremely pleased with the price. She thought $192,000 was
above what her expectations had been. So she was very happy
with that. And in conversation with the purchasers, Will
and Pattie Gabig, she was really, really happy to hear they
had two children and that there would be again children in
the house.
Q As you reflected on these matters, have you
identified some sequential actions that have, in your mind,
lead to your mother's decision to disinherit your sister?
A Yes, I have.
(Whereupon, Respondents' Exhibit No. 19 was
marked for identification.)
MR. THOMAS: Your Honor, if the witness is
going to be expressing an opinion, I would object to that.
The facts would speak for themselves, and it would be up to
you to determine what the facts mean.
MR. FLOWER: I can ask the question a little
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differently.
THE COURT: All right.
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q Are there actions which your sister took or
didn't take which upset your mother in a way that you could
perceive?
A Yes.
Q I'm going to show you what's marked as
Respondents' Exhibit 19, and this is headed -- well, would
you identify those actions or inactions that you perceived
disappointed or irritated your mother?
A The first that I recall, and is shown on this
document, is May 27th when my sister challenged my mother's
decision to give me the banjo clock as a gift. The second
was on September 30th when my sister, by the letter that we
talked about in the earlier timeline, challenged my mother's
decision to sell her house and to auction much of the
personal property that had been in the house. And it was at
this point that my mother clearly expressed displeasure that
my sister was involving a lawyer in a matter she didn't
believe should be handled in that manner.
On October 7th there was the letter which we
talked about earlier as well with some additional requests,
and that letter, as we mentioned earlier, included an
expression of willingness on my part to have you talk with
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her lawyer to see if there could be an arrangement to return
the banjo clock. That was done at my asking and against my
mother's expression of best judgment.
On October 13th my sister visited my mother
despite the fact that on October lath, as Renee Kreamer
testified, she asked that she not be visited on that date.
My mother said she found that to be disrespectful. On
October 29th there was the further letter from my sister's
lawyers expressing willingness to seek a court order, which
when my mother read that she viewed as a clear escalation of
the ongoing discussions.
And then on November 13th and 14th my mother
learned of the filing of the petition on November 12th that
questioned her mental competency, and that, to my mother,
was crushing and devastating and clearly took this to a
level that left her in a very, very different place with
respect to her views of my sister.
Q Can you tell us what about that was crushing
to your mother?
A I'm sorry?
Q Can you tell us what about that -- why was it
crushing? Did she explain to you why?
A Yes, she did. My mother graduated Phi Beta
Kappa out of Dickinson College. She was a very bright
person in her prime, and in November of 2003 she was not in
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1 her prime. Clearly she had had some decline in mental
2 ability. She was very much aware of that. Obviously, this
3 is after her fall, if you will, in February of that year.
4 She was very cognizant of her mortality, and
5 she was very much aware at the same time that she felt
6 confident she continued to have basic judgment, and she was
7 enormously hurt that somebody would question whether she
8 retained that level of continuing ability.
9 Q You heard the testimony of Dr. Wettstein,
10 Petitioner's expert witness, which relied on certain
11 assumptions. One was that your mother was isolated at Green
12 Ridge Village. Would you please describe the location and
13 layout of Green Ridge Village?
14 A Surely. As was mentioned earlier, Green
15 Ridge Village is about 11 miles from Carlisle in the
16 direction -- as you head up towards Shippensburg, it's
17 actually right outside of Newville. It's 3 miles off of
18 Interstate 81, and just a short stretch off of the Ritner
19 Highway, which I believe is Route 11. It's easily
20 accessible by those major roads. It is a campus of
21 240 acres with a number of buildings, and it's a full
22 fledged retirement community.
23 (Whereupon, Respondents' Exhibit No. 20 was
24 marked for identification.)
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BY MR. FLOWER:
Q I'll show you what's been marked as
Respondents' Exhibit Number 20, and would you tell the Court
what this is?
A Yes. This is an aerial photograph of Green
Ridge Village.
Q You've been to Green Ridge Village a number
of times to visit your mother; is that correct?
A Many times.
Q And have you ever had to travel any dirt
roads to get there?
A There are no dirt roads in between here and
Green Ridge Village.
Q What part of Green Ridge Village did your
mother live in? That is what type of care was she
receiving?
A She lived in the assisted living unit wing of
the main building, which was known as Swaim, and that's
spelled S-w-a-i-m.
Q And is that a maln building with two wings, a
nursing unit and assisted living unit?
A That's correct. One half of the building is
the assisted living unit and the other is a nursing unit.
Q Do you have to go through any security or
process to visit a person who is there?
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A Absolutely not. One of the attractions she
found was that it was a totally open living environment.
People can come and go, as Renee Kreamer testified earlier,
24 hours a day, either directly through the wing end door,
which was only a short distance, perhaps 20 or so yards from
my mother's room, or through the central lobby and down the
hallway.
Q Did your mother see visitors there?
A Routinely.
Q And do you recall any particular visits that
she might have received?
A Well, she was -- she was often visited by
folks from Second Presbyterian Church, especially two of the
pastors with whom she had a particularly good relationship.
Her sister, Jean, who lives in Virginia, came up pretty
routinely. There were occasional visits by former
neighbors. She spent a lot of time with three childhood
friends that lived there. And, of course, there were
members of our family as well who visited her.
Q Were you asked to provide any information,
family information, to any of your mother's caregivers at
Green Ridge Village?
A Only one occasion I can recall, which would
have been in March of 2003 when she elected to be treated by
Dr. Myers, who was the psychiatrist who visited Green Ridge
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Village, and there was an initial evaluation form that
sought some background information that I completed.
(Whereupon, Respondents' Exhibit No. 21 was
marked for identification.)
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q I'll show you what's been marked as Exhibit
Respondents' Exhibit 21.
A Yes.
Q There was some testimony which may have been
confusing earlier that suggested that folks at Green Ridge
Village didn't know that Mrs. Coolidge had a daughter. On
page 2 of this there is a psycho-social history. Did you
fill that out?
A Yes, I did.
Q Okay. And what did you indicate in that
psycho-social history?
A Well, among the facts I provided was one that
states clearly that she had three children, Phil, age 50,
and Julia age 45 in the Boston area, and myself, 48, in
Carlisle.
Q Did anybody ever specifically ask you how
many children your mother had, and did you ever not name all
three if you were asked?
A There are two questions there.
Q I'm sorry.
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sorry.
A I'm just trying to keep track of them. I'm
I don't recall any other time being specifically
asked, and I certainly never, ever mentioned one or two of
us without mentioning all three.
Q You reviewed Dr. Wettstein's report dated
February 16, 2005; is that correct?
A Yes, it is.
Q And he notes a couple of -- he relies upon
several items there, acts which were allegedly committed to
you as reported by Mrs. Kollas; is that correct?
A Yes, it is.
Q There was some suggestion that you sold your
mother's bed out from underneath her at Green Ridge Village.
Was that true?
A That assertion was first raised in the March
hearing, and Renee Kreamer testified that that was not the
case. I was surprised to see it again in her letter. It
certainly 1S not the case. Her bed was never, never sold.
Q And, in fact, at the last hearing we
presented a gift letter establishing it was given to the
home; is that correct?
A It was given to the home after my mother's
death, that's correct.
Q There was some suggestion in that letter that
you had been rejected for a loan, and that was why you were
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trying to get your mother to change bank accounts?
THE COURT: Some suggestion that what?
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q In the letter that you had been rejected for
a loan, and that was why you were telling your mother to
change bank accounts. Have you ever been rejected for a
loan?
A Well, first of all, I think the suggestion
and the basis for that was in Mrs. Kollas' testimony here
and not in the letter.
Q I beg your pardon.
A But I have never applied for a loan, and
obviously, if I've never applied for a loan, I could never
have been rejected for a loan.
Q Did you ever compel your mother to change her
bank accounts?
A Absolutely not.
Q Did your mother change her bank accounts at
any time following your father's death?
A The only thing she did after my father's
death was clean up some accounts which had been in joint
names with my father, and she did, I believe, change from a
non-interest bearing checking account at M & T bank to an
interest bearing checking account at what then was Waypoint
Bank.
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THE COURT:
Was what?
That then was what
bank?
THE WITNESS: Waypoint.
THE COURT: Waypoint?
THE WITNESS: It's now Sovereign Bank.
THE COURT: All right.
THE WITNESS: I had nothing to do with any of
those activities, and they all predate my becoming Power of
Attorney.
(Whereupon, Respondents' Exhibit No. 22 was
marked for identification.)
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q I'm going to show you what's been marked as
Exhibit Number 22, and correct me if I'm wrong. This
appears to be tax returns for 2000, 2001, and 2002 for your
mother, and on at least one year for your father; is that
correct?
A They're partial tax returns, that's correct,
but it includes the portion that clearly identifies taxable
interest.
Q Are these the true and correct tax returns,
to the best of your knowledge?
A Yes, they are.
Q And you indicate that this shows, for those
three years, which bank accounts your mother had?
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A The tax returns themselves do not show that,
but also in this very same stapled pack are actual source
documents from the financial institutions where she had
accounts, and those show the exact --
Q There are
THE COURT: Let him finish his answer or the
record will be confused. The exact what?
THE WITNESS: Account numbers.
THE COURT: And banks?
THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Okay. Anything further,
Mr. Flower?
MR. FLOWER:
Yes, Your Honor.
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q And do these reflect any change in bank
accounts?
A She did not change bank accounts. Although
for anyone looking at the record, let me just say in the
case of the one, the bank account number changes. That's
because of the practice of what now is Citizens Bank. With
my father's passing, when it went to her individual name,
the number changed, I believe.
Q Does your family have a tradition of gifting
from one generation to another?
A Yes, it does.
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Q And following your father's death, did your
mother institute a similar practice?
A Yes. My paternal grandmother, Margarite, who
we would have known as Ma, followed that practice in her
later years, and following my father's death my mother
contemplated and ended up deciding to do the same.
Q And Dr. Wettstein relied in his opinion upon
the information that you had compelled your mother to pay
for your daughter's college tuition. Do you recall that?
A I read that, yes.
(Whereupon, Respondents' Exhibit No. 23 was
marked for identification.)
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q I'll show you what's been marked as
Respondents' Exhibit Number 23, which has 3 pages. Would
you identify each of those pages for the Court?
A Yes. The top page is Harris Savings Bank
check number 1005 ln the amount of $9,722.00 made payable to
the University of Delaware. That was for my daughter's
spring tuition. And when my mother presented that check to
me she made mention of the fact that she recalled my dad
telling me shortly after I married my wife that he had never
known either of his grandparents, and that while we were
under no pressure to have grandchildren, that the moment we
did he would be retiring from teaching at the Carlisle High
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School.
My daughter Devyn is the older of my two
children, and following his death when she presented this to
me she said how much she thought that would be meaningful
not only to her but to my father in that context. It's the
only payment my mother ever made for college tuition.
Q Around the -- would you identify the other
checks in this exhibit?
A Yes. In the same round of gifting, if you
will, the second check on the middle page is from my
mother's Mellon Bank account, check number 1047, which is
made payable to my brother Philip Coolidge in the amount of
$11,000.
Q And the third page?
A The third page is an image of a check from my
mother's Harris account, check number 1009, made payable to
my sister in the amount of $10,000, and that rounded out for
her that round of comparable gifting.
Q Dr. Wettstein also assumed that you had
transferred your mother to a personal care home?
THE COURT: I'm sorry. That you had what?
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q You had transferred your mother to a personal
care home? Was that an action that you took?
A My mother alone decided where she lived.
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Q And how long was she with your mother on that
occasion?
A Perhaps five, ten minutes, something like
that.
Q Do you know if your sister visited your
mother at any time between her admittance to the Hospice
room on March 16 and your mother's death on March 24, 2004?
A None that I'm aware of.
Q And did she attend the memorial service on
March 27th?
A No, she did not.
Q There was some suggestion in earlier
testimony that you wanted the house sold to a particular
friend of your's. Were you -- did you know Will Gabig well
before he bought the house?
A I recognized the name, but I don't believe I
ever met him prior to meeting him when he came
THE COURT: Prior to what? You never met him
prior to what?
THE WITNESS: Prior to his coming to ask
about the availability of the house for sale.
THE COURT: All right.
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q Is there any property of your mother's that
should be a part of her estate that your sister retains in
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her possession?
A My understanding is she has the silver that
she testified to earlier. My mother mentioned that other
things were in her possession, but I don't have any
knowledge of any other specific items.
(Whereupon, Respondents' Exhibit No. 24 was
marked for identification.)
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q I'm going to show you what's marked as
Respondents' Exhibit Number 24.
THE COURT: What was Respondents' Exhibit 23?
THE WITNESS: The canceled checks, Your
Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Mr. Flower.
MR. FLOWER: Thank you, Your Honor.
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q This begins with a letter of October 7, 2003.
Would you indicate the gist of this letter?
A Yes. My mother had a CAT scan done I believe
on February 13th following her fall. Dr. Jurgensen
evaluated my mother on April 30th. In conversations with my
sister after that evaluation, she asked if I would provide
the CAT scans to her.
THE COURT:
I'm sorry. I just can't hear
you. She being who, and what did she do? She asked
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2 THE WITNESS: May I begin over to make sure I
3 get it right?
4 THE COURT: Please.
5 THE WITNESS: My mother had a CAT scan taken
6 on February 13th following her fall at Green Ridge Village
7 that occurred on February 4th. Dr. Jurgensen evaluated my
8 mother on April 30th, and in the course of that
9 Dr. Jurgensen reviewed that CAT scan. I telephoned my
10 sister subsequent to that. We had, I believe, several
11 conversations, and in the course of one of those my sister
12 told me that her son, Joseph, would be having an evaluation
13 by a Dr. Jeffrey Wildbern (phonetic) within the next few
14 weeks and to ask if she could -- my sister asked me if she
15 could borrow my mother's CAT scans so that her son's,
16 Joseph's, doctor could look at them in the course of that
17 evaluation.
18 I hadn't interpreted my mother's instructions
19 of March 24th that said no information was to be shared to
20 not literally include each and every piece of everything,
21 including the CAT scan. So on the assumption I was
22 following her instructions, I sent the CAT scan to my
23 sister. That is shown on the Fed-Ex tracing document which
24 is in this stapled pack.
25
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BY MR. FLOWER:
Q Did you tell your mother you had sent the CAT
scan?
A No, I didn't. I -- well, I subsequently did.
Q Yes. How did she react?
A I was prompted. Well, she was very upset
that I had misinterpreted the literal meaning of her
instructions, and she basically read me the riot act that no
information meant no information, period.
Q All right. Now, referring to this exhibit,
the third page is the confirmation by Federal Express that
you sent this CAT scan to your sister; is that correct?
A Yes, it is.
Q And you several times through counsel
requested that the CAT scan be returned; is that correct?
A At my mother's instruction, that is correct.
Q And page 2 of the exhibit is a letter from
Abom and Kutulakis dated October 20th, 2003. Is that
essentially refusing to return the CAT scan?
A It indicates my sister intends to keep them
so long as she finds it necessary.
Q And to this date have those medical records
been returned to you?
A No, they have not.
Q And do you continue to request that they be
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returned?
A That was my mother's wish.
MR. FLOWER: Cross-examine.
CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q I wasn't going to start here, Mr. Coolidge,
but I'm a little confused. You testified today that the
silver set was property of the estate?
A I'm just recalling back to the March
testimony where my sister indicated it was not intended as a
gift for her. That's the basis for my statement.
Q But your mother had told you that, in fact,
it was a gift for her, right?
A My mother had said my sister had the silver.
I interpreted that to mean it was a gift.
Q So that we don't have to go to court later
on, what's your position today? Is it a gift and does it
belong to Julia or does it belong to the estate? What's
your position?
A My sister had the conversation at the time
the silver was given to her. If she says it wasn't a gift,
that would seem to be the most direct knowledge of whether
it was or it wasn't. I don't have any other more direct
information.
Q Okay. Now, you were given a Power of
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Attorney from your mother on December 20th, 2002, correct?
A That's correct.
Q Previously in February of 2002, without being
requested to do so by your mother, you attempted to get your
mother to sign a Power of Attorney in favor of you; is that
correct?
A That's positively wrong.
Q Well, the records at Chambersburg Hospital
indicate that you went there around 11:00 at night in
February of 2002 to have your mother sign a Power of
Attorney. Do you recall doing that?
A I don't recall the records you're referring
to, but I certainly never went at 11:00 at night to ask my
mother to sign a Power of Attorney. I'm happy to recall for
you the exact events as I recall them. My mother went in
February to Chambersburg Hospital. I went to visit her on
the day of her admission in the emergency room while she was
being admitted. At one point a member of the staff of
Chambersburg Hospital came and had some words with me.
Among the questions that was asked of me was whether or not
I knew if my mother had a Power of Attorney. I did not.
They suggested that that was an appropriate
document for somebody at her point in life to have. And so
in the course of conversations with my mother later I
conveyed that, and she agreed, as we had talked about it
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several times before, not only we in terms of my mother and
me, but also my mother and my brother, that at some point
that was something that she knew that she would have to do,
and through that conversation with my mother, it was agreed
that we would ask Bob Frey, her attorney, for just some
standard boilerplate so that she could familiarize herself
with what that would involve. We did then talk about
whether or not that's something that she ought to do while
she was at Chambersburg, if she wished to do it, or later.
(Whereupon, Petitioner's Exhibit No. 15 was
marked for identification.)
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q I'm showing you what I've just had marked as
Petitioner's Exhibit Number 15. Can you identify what that
document is?
A It's a document that's titled Immediate,
General, Durable, Healthcare Power of Attorney.
Q And does it have your mother's name on it?
A Underneath the signature line it has her
name.
Q And does it indicate who the Power of
Attorney is?
A It has my name, Thomas E. Coolidge.
Q Would you look at the last page, please?
A I'm looking at it.
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Q Look at the top. What's the date on it?
A February of 2002.
Q And your testimony here in court today is
that you deny -- you absolutely state that it is false that
you took that document to the Chambersburg Hospital and
asked your mother to sign it?
A That's not what I said.
Q Oh, well, that's what I thought you said.
A That's not what I said.
Q Did you take it to her in February of 2002
and ask her to sign it?
A Yes, I did.
Let me review for you again.
I did not ask her to sign it.
She asked to understand what
the document would contain.
We asked Mr. Frey to prepare
the document. I took the document to her.
Q All right. Before you go through this speech
again
THE COURT:
Wait. We need to let him finish
his answer. What was the rest of the answer?
THE WITNESS: I did not ask her to sign it.
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q Are you done?
A Yes, sir.
Q Why did you ask the nurse's station if they
had a notary on staff to notarize that document?
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A Well, as I explained, my mother and I were
trying to understand the mechanics, if she wanted to do it,
of whether or not it was possible to do.
Q And your mother had just been admitted that
day on a psychiatric admission, correct?
A No, in the sense that this would not have
been taken up that same day. Again, I was at Chambersburg
Hospital when the staff asked about it. I'm not sure if
this would have been I don't even think this was probably
the next day because it would have taken Mr. Frey's office
some time to actually pullout the boilerplate for me to
take up. So it would have been on a subsequent day.
Q All right. And absolutely not at 11:00 p.m.
at night, right?
A I don't believe it would have been at 11 p.m.
at night.
Q Well, was it or wasn't it?
A To the best of my recollection it was not.
I don't recall ever visiting my mother at 11:00 p.m. at
night.
Q All right. Well, eventually --
A Unless perhaps that was the day -- I don't
know the hour of her admittance in the emergency room, but
certainly on any subsequent day it would not have been
at 11 p.m.
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Q So now you're not sure if it was 11 or not;
is that right?
A I'm not sure which day you're referring to.
Q Okay. But in December she did sign a Power
of Attorney and named you the attorney in fact, right?
A Yes, that is correct.
Q And since your becoming her Power of
Attorney, you have prepared this document, which is
Respondents' Exhibit Number 9?
A Yes, sir.
Q And this document contains all your
performances and records with regard to being her Power of
Attorney; 1S that correct?
A I would probably stop short of all, but it
certainly is intended to provide what I believe would be a
comprehensive reporting of the major activities I undertook
on her behalf.
Q
wouldn't it?
A
Q
thing?
A
Q
correct?
Well, financially it would show everything,
It shows all of her accounts?
I believe it does, yes.
Statements from her accounts, that sort of
That's correct.
You were one of the executors of her estate,
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A With my brother, yes.
Q And you either prepared or had prepared a
form 706 to file an estate tax return with the federal
government?
A That actually was prepared by Bob Frey at our
request, yes.
Q Okay. And on that form 706 under the
schedule that lists accounts receivable, cash, and that sort
of thing, there's mention of an outstanding $43,000 mortgage
that you and Beth owed to your mother Eleanor Coolidge,
correct?
A That is correct.
Q Now
A I'm not sure of the amount, but we certainly
have an outstanding mortgage that dates back some twenty
years that's roughly in that amount.
Q All right. The balance is roughly in that
amount?
A That's correct.
Q Okay. And you were paying the 8 percent
interest on that mortgage?
A That is correct.
Q Before I go onto the next thing, when the
interest rates went down to like 4 1/2 percent, why didn't
you ever get it refinanced?
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A The truth of the matter is I asked my mother
about that or more or less told her we intended to have it
refinanced, and she became upset at the prospect of having
less income. So we decided that we wouldn't pursue the
reduction.
Q
Okay.
So as a favor to her, you didn't
reduce it?
A Well, the truth of the matter is for some
period of the some 20 or so years the interest rates
probably were some percentage points higher than 8 percent,
and she didn't ask to raise it, and so with her concern it
certainly seemed eminently fair to me that we not reduce it.
Q All right.
A And that's correct, we did not.
Q Now, I'm not an accountant, and quite frankly
I didn't read this entire thing because I wouldn't have
understood half of what I was reading, but I did look at a
lot of bank statements and record keeping by you, and I
couldn't find any record of you continuing to make mortgage
payments after you became the Power of Attorney. Could you
find them in here for me?
A Well, they're there, yeah. This is a
conversation I also had with Mike Devlin because of the
there were into my mother's checking accounts routinely hand
deposited two sources of income. One being my mortgage,
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which was a fixed amount of $371.00 per month. The other
was a usually small amount of -- I'm not sure if you would
call it interest or dividend that she got from Evergreen
investments.
Q There's some electronic transfer deposits
from various investments in there?
A No. These were hand deposited. There also
were electronic ones, but two hand deposits.
Q All I'm interested in is the mortgage, if you
can find them for me.
A It would be tab 12.
THE COURT: What exhibit are we looking at?
MR. THOMAS: Exhibit Number 9 of Respondents.
Number 9.
THE WITNESS: Is there a particular month
you're interested in?
MR. THOMAS: Everyone from the time you
became Power of Attorney until the time that she died.
THE WITNESS: The first would be on the
statement of December 29th.
THE COURT: December 29th of what year?
THE WITNESS: 2002.
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q Can you show me there?
A Actually I saw an amount. I don't believe
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that is it. So let me just -- actually it is there. On
December 16th there is an amount of $385.55, which would be
the sum of the mortgage and the deposit from Evergreen
investments.
Q Oh, it isn't there as specific records
showing the mortgage payment?
A Not on this bank statement, no.
Q Well, is there -- do you have any record that
we can look at that would show $371 and whatever the cents
was coming from Tom and Beth Coolidge to Eleanor Coolidge
from December 12th, 2002?
A Yeah, I can supply it. That's not in this
binder. I can do that through canceled checks or something.
Q Well, that's your accounting of what you did
as Power of Attorney. Why aren't the deposits recorded in
there?
A I didn't provide that in here.
Q Didn't you submit that book to prove that you
did everything correctly?
A I didn't submit it with an intention to prove
anything. I intended it to be a good accounting of what I
did.
Q Okay. So the truth of the matter is that we
can't use this exhibit to establish that you made those
mortgage payments, can we?
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A You would not find that in that document.
Q And is there any document to establish that
you've made any of those mortgage payments since your mother
died?
A I can provide canceled checks and that kind
of thing, but there's nothing in that document.
Q Who did you make the payments to since your
mother died?
A They continue to be deposited in that same
account to this day, although it's no longer Waypoint, it's
now Sovereign, and the number has changed, but it's that
same successor account.
Q Okay. Your mother entered the Green Ridge
Village Nursing Home on December the 3rd, 2002, correct?
A That is correct.
Q And your letter of October 7, which has
already been identified. I believe you have it up here.
You have in your hands there Respondents' Exhibit Number?
A Seventeen.
Q Seventeen. That's the letter dated October
7, 2003, and who is that letter addressed to?
A Jason Kutulakis, my mother's attorney -- my
sister's attorney.
Q And who wrote the letter?
A I did.
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Q Now, you mention in that letter that an event
occurred with your mother on February 4th, 2003, that
resulted in a change in your mother's mental status. That
event, was that the fall you were talking about?
A It's called a fall. Let me just, for the
record, be clear about my understanding of what happened
that day. Green Ridge Village has handrails down the
hallway, I believe on both sides, but certainly on my
mother's side of the hallway. Her room is, I believe, two
doors from the assisted living unit dining room. On her way
to dinner that day, as she walked from her room to the
dining room, she experienced some unsteadiness, and whether
she sat down or sort of fell down, she had a hold of the
handrail and basically ended up sitting in the hallway.
We've called that a fall sometimes, but that was this event.
Q Okay. Is that the event that in April
triggered her going to see Dr. Jurgensen?
A It was -- the April visit was a follow-up to
that event, yes. I mean prior to February 4th my mother
didn't have any health situation noticeably of a kind that
would give rise to any concern like that. From February 4th
on she clearly had had something that had happened, and so,
yes, she had a number of visits subsequent to February 4th
with her personal care physician, including an emergency
room visit as a result of that.
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She didn't seem to be progressing as might be
thought towards recovery, and at some point in April it was
Renee Kreamer, I believe, who suggested to me that perhaps a
visit with a neurologist would be helpful in understanding
what happened as well, and upon her advice, she referred
Dr. Jurgensen, who I know is highly thought of in the
community, and I arranged, at her urging, the April 30th
visit with Dr. Jurgensen.
Q Now, between February 4th, the event, and
April 30th when she saw Dr. Jurgensen, you had numerous
telephone calls from Julia inquiring about her mother,
correct?
A Between -- remind me of the dates, please.
Q Between February 4th, the time of the fall,
and April 30th, when your mother went to see Dr. Jurgensen.
A That would be correct.
Q Okay. And Julia was inquiring -- she said I
talked to mom, and, you know, she doesn't sound like she's
all there. I'm not getting -- making any sense.
recall Julia making statements like that to you?
A We had a number of conversations, yes.
Do you
Q Okay. And what was your reply to Julia when
she would say, you know, I can't understand mom?
A I don't recall the specific conversation we
had, but clearly my mother had points during that period of
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time, especially prior to the adjustment of her medication,
where she had some days that were better than others, and
clearly on some days when she was not well, we were
concerned.
THE COURT: I need to break into a recess for
the mid-morning break at this point. We will reconvene in a
few minutes.
(Whereupon, a recess was taken at 10:37 a.m.)
AFTER RECESS
(Whereupon, Petitioner's Exhibit No. 16 was
marked for identification)
(Whereupon, Thomas E. Coolidge resumed the
stand.)
THE COURT: Mr. Thomas.
MR. THOMAS: Thank you, Your Honor.
CROSS EXAMINATION (CONTINUED)
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q Mr. Coolidge, do you still have exhibit --
Respondents' Exhibit 17 there in front of you?
A Yes, I do.
Q Okay. If you look down just a little below
half-way through the second paragraph.
A Okay.
Q It says, I am pleased to say that her mental
abilities are you with me?
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A Yes, I am.
Q I am pleased to say that her mental abilities
have rebounded nicely from the more difficult weeks just
after the event. And we discussed already that the event
was February 4th?
A That's correct.
Q Okay. Now, what did you mean by weeks,
difficult weeks?
about?
What period of time were yoe talking
A I didn't intend the word weeks within a
precise meaning, but clearly after her fall on February 4th
she went through a period of physical decline and
adjustment, and had some periods of time when her thinking
was less clear at some moments than other moments. And as
she passed through that, she returned to a better place. As
I said, there are more days than not thereafter she was more
like herself, if you will.
Q And when she got to the point where you say
that she was more like herself, would you give the Court
some indication of when you would have -- when that would
have been?
A Well, I think throughout the period largely
-- and you had to have more patience with my mother because
her speaking ability after that event clearly declined. So
she wasn't able to express herself either as articulately or
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clearly as she was before the 4th of February when she spoke
in what I think most people would consider to be perfectly
normal articulation. So it was harder for her to speak.
But I think with respect to your question
about time, if I understood you correctly, in the -- in the
May, July period when her medications were adjusted -- they
were working on her medication all throughout this period.
And with certainty after they sort of got the medications
better sorted, she clearly was substantially better on
virtually all days. And in between that period of time
there was a bit more of a mix, depending upon whether the
medications were working well or not or how she was
adjusting.
Q All right. Well, the medications started on
May the 28th of 2003, according to your timeline.
A I believe it was on May 28th that Dr. Brazel
prescribed Aricept, but she was on medications throughout
that period.
Q Well, is the Aricept the medication that
you're referring to as the one that
A It's one of them, yes. I mean in that May,
June, July timeframe as they began to get a better
understanding of what was working well or not, she
stabilized, I suppose, in a sense of the use of the word,
that she achieved a more consistent --
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Q Okay. And that stabilization lasted for how
long?
A I'd say, in my estimation, into 2004.
Q Okay. All right. Now, I want to show you
what I've had marked as Petitioner's Exhibit 16. Do you
recall having received that email from Julia?
A I don't, but I clearly see it.
Q Okay. But in that e-mail she's clearly
seeking some information from you with regard to how her
mother's doing; is that right? The middle paragraph.
A Well, yes, the middle paragraph talks about
my mother recalling her fainting spell and asking about was
the CAT scan normal or at least indicative of no recent
brain event.
Q And right before that she says she's finding
it frustrating communicating with mOID.
A She does.
Q Did you respond to that request from Julia to
answer her questions?
A Not by e-mail.aslrecall. but as we talked
earlier we were in fairly regular telephone communications
through the period.
Q Did you ever advise Julia -- when she would
ask about coming down to see her mom, did you ever advise
her that you didn't think that was necessary?
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A Each and every telephone call we ever had, I
left with her whether she came or not.
THE COURT: Each and every phone call you
ever had you did what?
THE WITNESS: I left with my sister the
decision as to whether she came or not. I mean it wasn't
for me to say nor did I ever say.
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q Now, on March the 24th, according to the
records from Green Ridge Village, that's the date that
Dr. Carvel, who works with Dr. Myers, would have done the
initial evaluation of your mother. Your mother already had
a psychiatrist, a geriatric psychiatrist by the name of
Dr. Hegarty. Is there any reason why Dr. Hegarty was not
chosen as the doctor to come see your mother at Green Ridge
Village?
A Yes.
Q And what is that reason?
A My mother wished to be treated at Green Ridge
Village if she could, and we understood from Green Ridge
Village that Dr. Hegarty didn't see patients there, but they
had a psychiatrist who did, and my mother expressed interest
in seeing if she would be satisfied with that psychiatrist's
services.
Q Did you ever contact Dr. Hegarty's office to
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see if he would make visits at the Green Ridge Village?
A No. We relied on the communication with the
staff at Green Ridge Village, but you will find in the
records that I notified Dr. Hegarty that my mother was being
treated by a different psychiatrist at Green Ridge Village.
(Whereupon, Petitioner's Exhibit No. 17 was
marked for identification.)
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q I'm showing you what I've just had marked as
Petitioner's Exhibit Number 17. Could you like at that?
Can you identify that document?
A It's on the letterhead of Summit Behavioral
Health Services dated May 15th, 2003, from Wanda Flood,
RN/James Hegarty, M.D.
Q It's addressed to your mother, correct?
A That's correct.
Q And it was responded to by you in
handwriting, correct?
A That's correct.
Q Is that your handwriting on there?
A Yes, it is.
Q Is that what you mean by when you say you
notified Dr. Hegarty's office that your mother had another
psychiatrist?
A Yes. The content of the letter is noting
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that my mother hasn't been seen recently and asking if she
was satisfied with their services, and I respond hello, my
mom currently resides at Green Ridge Village in Newville.
Recently she has experienced physical decline, as discussed
in the accompanying visit summary by Dr. Jurgensen, which
would have been his letter of April 30th.
THE COURT: Which would have what?
THE WITNESS: Which would have been the
letter that has been entered into evidence dated April 30th.
THE COURT: All right.
THE WITNESS: And then I continue, for the
time being, my mom does not require your services further.
Should this change, we'll be in touch. Many thanks for all
you've done, Tom Coolidge, Power of Attorney, with my
telephone number.
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q Okay. So you never told them that your
mother had another psychiatrist, and you just told them that
we'll be in touch with you if we need you later; is that
correct?
A It says just what I read.
Q Okay. Did you have any particular reason
yourself why you did not want your mother to continue to
treat with Dr. Hegarty?
A None whatsoever. That was entirely her
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choice.
Q Had you had the opportunity to review
Dr. Hegarty's notes that were contained in the Green Ridge
Village medical records?
A At that point in time, no.
Q You hadn't looked at his notes to see
anything about your mother's psychiatric condition?
A I had not.
Q And the date on that letter, if you would
agree with me, on Exhibit Number 17 for Petitioner's, is May
15, 2003?
A That's correct.
Q All right. Now, so let's get back to
Dr. Carvel. He does his initial evaluation on March 24,
2003, and he makes a diagnosis of -- a provisional diagnosis
of dementia. Do you recall that?
A I believe so.
Q Now, on that same date a new HIPAA form is
executed by your mother. Do you know what a HIPAA form is?
A Yes, I do.
Q Could you explain to me what it is.
to make sure before I ask you this question.
A It's a privacy form. It's an expression of a
person's wishes about who he or she does or doesn't want to
I want
have access to certain information.
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Q And I want to show you petitioner's Exhibit
18. Can you identify that?
A It's a document entitled PHI/Presbyterian
Homes Authorization to Use or Disclose Health Information.
Q And in the first paragraph it identifies
those persons who are entitled to receive information
concerning your mother's condition; is that correct?
A The actual wording is persons authorized to
use or disclose information.
Q All right. And who are the persons who are
identified on that document?
A There are four names, Eleanor Coolidge, Tom
Coolidge, Beth Coolidge, Philip Coolidge.
Q And Julia's name is not listed in there as a
person who's authorized to obtain information; isn't that
correct?
A That is correct.
Q Now, the event happened on February the 4th.
Your mother continued to decline and get worse until they
started changing her medications on May the 28th. Who made
the decision on March the 24th that Julia was not entitled
to receive any medical records concerning your mother?
A First let me clarify one thing you said, that
if it's meant to refer back to what I said, I either didn't
communicate well or you didn't understand me properly. Her
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mental state from the time of her fall through to the time
when she was consistently better wasn't a decline or any
kind of steady state of inability to continue to function.
She had some better days and she had some worse days. It
was generally a troubling period.
With respect to this document, I had nothing
to do with it. My recollection is Renee Kreamer testified
that this was something she in her role as head of the
administrative staff of the assistant living unit had filled
out herself in direct conversation with my mother. I had
nothing to do with this form.
Q Well, do you dispute that Dr. Jurgensen on
April 30th states that your mother has severe -- and let me
find the words here without my glasses. Serious
deterioration in cognitive and intellectual functioning?
MR. FLOWER: I'm going to object, Your Honor.
We have a lot of medical evidence and he's now asking the
witness to give his medical interpretation.
I just think
he's asking for a medical opinion.
THE COURT: Okay. Mr. Thomas.
MR. THOMAS: Well, Your Honor, he's testified
that basically his mother is -- during this time period,
which would include the time period that Dr. Jurgensen saw
her, was -- you know, just one day she wasn't good and
another day she was good, and she was able to make
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decisions, and I believe that conflicts with Dr. Jurgensen's
report.
THE COURT: All right. Now, this is a report
that has already been placed in the record?
MR. THOMAS: Yes, Your Honor. It's
Petitioner's Exhibit Number 7.
THE COURT: All right. And you're asking
this witness whether he agrees with Dr. Jurgensen's opinion?
MR. THOMAS: Yes.
THE COURT: It seems to me that's asking him
for a medical opinion.
I'll let you ask the question, but I
think it's of marginal value at best.
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q Well, let me back up a minute. You gave the
history to Dr. Jurgensen concerning your mother's mental
condition when you met with Dr. Jurgensen, correct?
A He asked a series of questions, and we tried
to help him as best we could with some background.
Q Okay. And do you recall telling him that
your mother had been undergoing a gradual deterioration In
mental and movement function for over a year?
A I don't recall that, but I have seen it in
the letter.
Q Okay.
MR. THOMAS: I'll let Dr. Jurgensen's letter
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speak for itself, Your Honor.
THE COURT:
All right.
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q Now, Julia was the only one in your family
that had a medical degree; is that correct?
A That is correct.
Q And even periodically you would inquire of
Julia to help you with, you know, any medical questions that
you had, you asked her to do research and things like that
for you, correct?
A On occasion I did, yes.
Q As recently as April 2003 she was doing some
research for you; isn't that correct?
A My son had at that point in time a medical
condition known as ITP, and in one telephone conversation
she offered to do some internet research, and she did.
Q And then she -- she even e-mailed you the
information that she recovered as a result of her research,
right?
A It was either bye-mail -- it may well have
been e-mail. She sent it, yes.
Q And at this point, on March the 24th when
that HIPAA form was signed, there had been no disputes
between Julia and your mother while she was in the nursing
home, had there?
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mother.
A You would have to ask my sister and my
I'm not aware of any specific instance that you
might be referring to.
Q So your testimony is that you have no idea
why Julia was omitted from that HIPAA form as being a person
authorized to obtain medical information concerning her
mother?
A I know that my mother's position routinely
consistently was that she did not want my sister listed on
those forms.
Q All right. May 24, 2003, do you recall Julia
and you're going to disclose to her about this banjo clock?
What is your reason for wanting to disclose to her about the
banjo clock?
A Well, the purpose of the call wasn't to talk
about the banjo clock. The banjo clock was one part of a
more wide range of conversation. The banjo clock was only
mentioned anecdotally by me as a point to make clear that we
needed good communication because we were approaching the
sale of my mother's home, and we would be needing to get rid
of for her some personal property, and that good
communication was important so we didn't have
miscommunication, and that banjo clock came to mind as
something that I knew I was aware of. I suspected she was
not aware of it, and that we would be better off having a
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good exchange of information so that there were no
surprises.
Q All right. Now, prior to that telephone call
you knew that Julia's father had, in fact, told Julia that
she could have that clock, and, in fact, he taped her name
on tape stating this is to go to Julia, correct?
A I did not know that at that point in time.
Q But you did find out later?
A I subsequently found out, yes.
Q Okay. And so that you knew that when you
mentioned the banjo clock that that was going to cause some
consternation for Julia?
A Actually no, I didn't, because, you know, my
mother at that point in time was clear that my sister, since
my father's death, had received a variety of things. It
specifically mentions the silver. And, you know, that my
mother thought all of that would be viewed as being fair in
the context of things.
Q Okay. Well, let me stop right there then so
that we don't have to do anything later. Your mother did
say then that the silver was a gift to Julia?
A She did not say it was a gift. She said my
sister had the silver. I interpreted what she said to mean
it was a gift, but she never explicitly said that, I don't
believe.
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Q Okay. Now, Julia got upset about the banjo
clock?
A Not in the initial call, but in the second
call.
Q And when she had an opportunity to think
about it, she called you back?
A Yes.
Q Now, looking at your graph timeline,
Respondents' Exhibit No. 18. You indicate in there the
first thing on May 27th that Julia challenges the gifting
decision. Were you making reference to her telephone call
to --
A That's not on the document that you handed
me.
THE COURT: It's not what?
THE WITNESS: It's not on the document he
handed me.
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q Oh, you have another one of these?
A You're referring to this one, I believe. Is
this the one you're referring to?
Q Okay. That would be Respondents' Exhibit 19?
A Yes.
Q I apologize for that. The first entry on
there, May 27, it says challenges gifting decision. You're
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talking about Julia, correct?
A That is correct.
Q Okay. And the May 27th would have been the
phone call that she had with Tom Frey -- or Bob Frey, the
attorney, correct?
A She had called me as well.
Q On the 27th of May?
A I'm not sure if it was on the 27th, but that
would have been the date, I believe, on which I would have
spoken with my mother about it.
Q Now, here's where I'm having a little
trouble. You've testified that your mother is pretty
competent. She's able to think. She's able to talk.
She's able to communicate, and you go to your mother on May
27th, and you explain to her that Julia's having trouble
with this banjo clock, and she doesn't like it or whatever
you tell her, correct? Is that correct?
A What I would have told her at that point in
time -- I had no conversation with her on that subject until
after the completion of several telephone calls with my
sister, including two in which she hung up with me, her
conversation with Attorney Frey in which she hung up on him,
and in the one conversation with me she ended, well, I'll
see you in court. At that point, you know, I told my mother
that we had had a series of conversations, and recounted the
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gist of those, as well as the one with Mr. Frey.
Q All right. Now, I've got the impression from
your testimony and everybody's testimony about your mother
that she was like the matriarch. She made decisions. She
was firm. She was not a gray issue person, but she was
pretty much black and white in issues. Is that a fair
assessment?
A My mother had more spunk per pound or as much
spunk per pound as any human being that I've ever met.
Q Okay. Why didn't you suggest to your mother
back in May when she was fully competent, in your
estimation, to call Julia and say, Julia, I gave the clock
to Philip? So that's it, end of story?
A Well, I think what you need to understand,
and what I think we in the family understand is nobody told
my mother to do anything. At that point in time my sister
had unfettered access to my mother the same as all the rest
of us, and my mother decides for herself what she does or
doesn't do.
Q Wouldn't that have cleared the entire issue
with regard to the banjo clock, if your mother had called
Julia and told her that she decided to give it to you?
A I don't know.
Q Now, that phone call -- those phone calls
that occurred in the May 24 to May 27th time period of 2003,
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that is the last telephone co~~unications that you had with
Julia; isn't that correct?
A I'm not recalling any others, that's correct.
Q Okay. And you testified that one of your
goals in the May 24th telephone call was to try and
establish good communication between all of the siblings?
A Yes.
Q Yet you never called her once after that to
try and work things out to try and get the communication
onto the footing that you wanted it to be originally?
A My judgment was it was better to have some
time pass. Again, I remind you she had hung up on me twice.
She had hung up on Mr. Frey. She ended my conversation,
before she hung up, with see you in court. You know, in
those circumstances my judgment was that it would be good to
let some time pass.
Q How much time?
A Well, it was July 2nd when she then visited,
and things actually deteriorated rather than got better
subsequently.
Q All right. Now, the July 2nd visit that
Julia had with your mother, you're not present for that
visit, right?
A That's absolutely right.
Q And you've heard both Nurse Kreamer and Julia
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testify that the visit went quite well?
A I have.
Q Then the next morning you get a telephone
call from Nurse Kreamer, and there's a big commotion going
on at Green Ridge Village regarding Julia and your mother,
correct?
A The telephone call I received -- I mean I
don't know if I would characterize it as a big commotion.
Renee Kreamer clearly told me that my mother was in a state
of very high anxiety and was fearful that Julia was coming
back to take her to Massachusetts and she didn't want to go.
THE COURT: I'm sorry. I just can't hear
what you're saying. If you'll just speak up a little bit,
even though the microphone is very poor in the courtroom I
think I can hear.
THE WITNESS: Would you like me to repeat
that?
THE COURT: If you would, please.
THE WITNESS: The telephone call I received
from Renee Kreamer advised me that my mother was in a state
of very high anxiety and that she was fearful that Julia was
returning on July 3rd to take her to Massachusetts and she
did not want to go to Massachusetts.
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q And you immediately made arrangements to go
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to Green Ridge Village that morning and see your mother,
correct?
A Yes.
Q You also telephoned Bob Frey, your mother's
attorney, correct?
A I attempted to reach Bob Frey. I couldn't
reach Bob Frey. I then tried to reach Rob Frey, his son
who's also a member of the firm. I don't believe I got Rob
Frey either. Neither of them were in at that early hour of
the morning on that day.
Q What was your reason for calling them?
A To seek advice.
Q Had you spoken with your sister yet?
A No.
Q Had Green Ridge Village told you that your
sister was there trying to remove her from the nursing home?
A No. The news that I had gotten in that
telephone conversation from Renee Kreamer was that they were
expecting my sister back that day.
Q You also called your attorney, Jim Flower,
correct?
A Well, at that point in time we didn't have an
attorney, if you will.
Q But you called Jim Flower?
A Yes. I first called my brother, and we had a
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brief conversation, and in quick review of things from May
to that point in time, we concluded that it would be
appropriate and timely that we get representation, and not
wanting to do anything that might represent or be construed
as representing a conflict, we decided to get separate
counsel apart from the firm of Frey and Tiley, and so, yes,
at that point we called Jim Flower.
Q And you told him the information you had
about the call you had received from Nurse Kreamer?
A Correct.
Q And then you instructed him to call
Dr. Brazel's office to make sure that Dr. Brazel had a
record of this?
A I don't recall that.
Q Well, it's in Dr. Brazel's records for
July 3. July 3, James Flower, attorney, left message on
voice mail that patient's daughter from Massachusetts tried
to take patient out of Green Ridge Nursing Home to go to
Massachusetts. However, the nursing home would not allow
her to do so. Mr. Flower had just called to give us a
heads-up. Did you tell him to make that telephone call?
A I don't know what time of day that would have
been, and I don't have any particular recollection at this
point in time of that specific request.
Q You weren't trying to build any kind of
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record, were you?
A Believe me, I wasn't smart enough at the time
to do that.
Q Well, you were smart enough at the time -- if
we look at the records from Green Ridge Village Nursing
Home, there was only one person that connected with Eleanor
Coolidge, that has any contact with Green Ridge Village
between the end of Julia's visit and the time that you
received that telephone call. Do you know who that one
person is?
A I do not.
Q It's you, Tom Coolidge.
A I did not connect with my mother in that time
period.
Q The records indicate that you made it a point
to tell the people at the desk to make sure that no medical
records were released to Julia?
A Happy to recreate that for you.
Q I'd be happy to hear it.
A Good. My mother executed that document on
March 24th. I've already explained that on my own
interpretation of her wishes I had given my sister a CAT
scan. My mother instructed me that that was -- my
interpretation was inconsistent with her wish and she didn't
wish my sister Julia to have that information and that I was
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to make sure in my dealings with people that there was no
ambiguity about that. With awareness that my sister was
going to Green Ridge Village, I was asked to make sure that
they were clear about that.
I testified in March, you'll recall perhaps,
that I tore the ACL in my left knee in late June. I was not
at Green Ridge Village from the point of my injuring my knee
until the 3rd of July. I do know in the progress notes
there's mention that I called on July 2nd, and if I called
on July 2nd as opposed to July 1st, I probably was a day
late in making sure that it was clear to them that she
wished that her personal instructions of March 24 were
carried out without any possible misinterpretations such as
I had made.
Q Okay. So I'm -- let me make sure I got this
right. You said that you were asked to make sure -- and I'm
assuming based on what you said last that it was your mother
who asked you to make sure that Julia didn't get any
records?
A That's correct, but that would date back in
time, sir, to something -- some good weeks before July.
Dr. Jurgensen saw my mother in April. The CAT scans went up
in mid-May.
Q The records clearly show that your
communication with Green Ridge Village was after your
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daughter's -- or your sister's visit with your mother July
2nd?
A Could well have been.
Q Back in April your mother didn't know that
Julia was going to come visit her on July 2nd, did she?
A I don't know at what point my sister and my
mother talked about her coming down around July 4th.
Q Okay. Now, you really haven't had much
conversation or any conversation with your sister other than
well, let me strike all that. On July 3rd, when you went
to Green Ridge Village Nursing Home, you arrived there
before Julia, correct?
A Correct.
Q And then you were In the room with your
mother when Julia came in?
A Correct.
Q And Julia denied that she ever said that she
was going to take your mother to Massachusetts, didn't she?
A Yes, she did.
Q Did you believe her, Julia?
A I had no way of knowing.
(Whereupon, Petitioner's Exhibit No. 19 was
marked for identification.)
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q I want to show you what I've just had marked
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as Petitioner's Exhibit 19. Can you identify that document?
A Yes. It's on the letterhead of Saidis,
Shuff, Flower & Lindsay, and it's a letter dated August
20th, 2003, from Jim Flower to ~y sister Julia.
Q And a portion of that letter is basically
instructing Julia not to contact either you or Philip
directly, but to go through Jim Flower's office henceforth;
is that correct?
A Yes. Again, reflecting on how things had
gone from May through the visits in July, and in hopes that
we could find some way of effecting meaningful and civil
communications, we thought it better to do it in writing and
through counsel.
Q Well, you hadn't had any communication with
her since May 27th other than that July 3 encounter at the
nursing home, right?
A That's correct.
Q And Philip had not had any conversations with
her at all, to your knowledge, right?
A Not to my knowledge, but I can't speak for
him.
Q Okay. But that letter of August 20th
effectively cuts off all communication that Julia can have
with either you or your brother concerning her mother?
A I wouldn't characterize it as cut off all.
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It actually in a sense invites it, just through him.
Q If I understand this correctly, she's not
going to get any information from you, she's not going to
get any information --
A That's not correct. That's not correct.
Q And she's not allowed to get any information
from Green Ridge Village?
A With respect to what information she gets
from Green Ridge Village, that's entirely up to my mother.
I had no ability at any point in this process to decide for
my mother what information she chose to share or to whom she
wished to share it, nor did I ever refuse for us to receive
requests, and hopefully be in a position where we might
arrive at some mutual acceptable way to exchange information
that my mother permitted us to exchange. Julia had at that
point in time complete access to my mother personally.
Q Well, you made reference in Respondents'
Exhibit Number 15 -- is that there in front of you?
A I don't believe so. Thank you.
Q That's the letter dated September 23, 2003?
A That's correct.
Q Is that a letter from you?
A Yes, it is.
Q
A
And who is it addressed to?
This is the letter that was addressed to both
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my brother Philip and my sister Julia.
Q Okay. And is that the date on which your
mother decided to sell her home?
A No. My mother -- I'm not sure, to be honest,
exactly at what precise date my mother made that decision.
It clearly was made likely even while my father still was
alive in terms of how things would evolve after she dies.
Q Okay.
A But clearly at some point in, you know, 2002,
she was on a pathway to want to sell her home and had been
encouraging us to move in that direction. At this point, in
September 2003, the genesis of this letter was our arrival
at a point in time when we had a buyer through a private
sale.
Q All right. So it was an agreement of sale
made in September of 2003?
A It actually was -- the settlement was
November 14th. I'm not sure about the legal decision, when
that would be, but the settlement occurred on November 14th.
Q But your letter of September 23 clearly
states that mom is making these decisions, correct?
A That's correct. That's correct. At this
point in time, before I authored this letter, my mother had
received all of the information she wanted, the appraisal on
the home, information about the value of the sale, and was
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confident in her own mind that's what she wanted to do, and
at that point I communicated that to my brother and my
sister.
Q And in your opinion, on September 23, 2003,
your mother was fully capable of making those decisions?
A Without question.
Q Were you aware of the fact that on September
17, 2003, the psychotherapist stopped therapy for your
mother because of her cognitive decline?
A I did not know that at that time.
Q Had you noticed any cognitive decline as of
September?
A Like I said earlier, my mother was Phi Beta
Kappa out at Dickinson. I mean clearly through the years
she had aged the same as we all age, but at this point in
time, for this decision, there was no question in my mind
that she understood fully what she wanted to do, and
understood fully what was happening.
Q There's a letter dated September 30th, which
is Respondents' Exhibit Number 16. Do you have that?
A I'm sorry. What was the number?
Q Here it is. To whom is that letter
addressed?
A
Q
That letter is addressed to me.
And did I hear your testimony correctly that
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you shared that letter with your mother?
A That would be correct.
Q Why did you share that letter with your
mother when it was addressed to you?
A It relates entirely to her affairs. I acted
on her behalf, not for her.
Q Your timeline indicates that on November 13th
Eleanor
2003, Eleanor was informed of the mental
competency challenge request?
Yes, sir.
Are you the one who informed her of that?
I am.
Did you read that to her word for word?
Actually my recollection is she read it for
was there with her when it was point by point
A
Q
A
Q
A
herself, but I
reviewed.
Q
Did you explain to her that Julia was only
trying to find out whether or not her mother's wishes were
being followed?
A I had no basis upon which to know if that was
the case or not the case. I simply reviewed the document
with her.
Q I see on November 14th, the next date, is the
date for the real estate settlement on the house?
A Yes, sir.
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Q
A
Q
And your mother was there, correct?
She was.
In looking through the -- your blue book
here, Petitioner's -- or Respondents' Exhibit Number 9, you
signed the settlement sheet?
A Yes. My mother's right hand was physically
impaired, and with me there, she asked me to sign it on her
behalf, and I did.
Q Did you also sign the deed?
A I would presume so, but I don't have any
specific recollection of that.
Q Then on November 26, 12 days later, your
mother is signing documents at Green Ridge Village by making
an X on those documents. Do you remember that?
A I don't.
Q I want to show you what's previously been
marked as Petitioner's Exhibit Number 14. If you would look
at the bottom of that.
A Yes.
Q Do you see a place for Eleanor's signature,
your mother?
A I do.
Q And what is there?
A It's an X.
Q Did she reach a point where she was
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physically incapable of signing her name?
A Yes.
Q Prior to November 26th, 2003?
A At some point after February 4th, 2003, she
had physical decline, which included a lessened ability to
use her right arm, and she was right handed.
Q Now, when we were last here your brother
Philip was testifying. He testified that when your mother
was aware that there was going to be a court hearing
concerning her competency, that she prepped for that hearing
because she wanted to make sure that she was -- the judge
felt that she was competent. Would you agree with that
statement?
A I'm not sure I would use the word prepped.
Again, at that point in time my brother, being a lawyer,
might have had better insight than I did into what the
hearing would be, but the petition was filed on the 12th and
the hearing was the 17th. She certainly was adamant that
she was going to come personally and speak for herself, and
she had read the petition. So to the extent that she may
have reflected upon the questions, if that's what you mean
by prepped, I'm sure she did because she was positively
focused that she was not going to allow herself to be
declared incompetent.
Q And did you help her in any way?
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A I was there as she went through the
questions, but I wouldn't consider it to be help. I mean
the questions -- I mean the petition, in my recollection, is
there were probably 24 bold points, if I'm not mistaken.
She certainly knew for herself what her answers to those
were.
Q Well, what about the -- what questions are
you talking about, because the petition would have contained
statements?
A I meant bold points or numbered paragraphs,
however you want to refer to them.
Q All right. Were you in the car on the way
back to Green Ridge Village following the hearing?
A I was driving the car.
Q Okay. And do you remember your mother making
the statement, that's it, she's out of the will?
A Vividly.
Q What did you say to your mom when she made
that statement?
A My recollection is there was a short time of
silence. I mean it was sort of unexpected. She continued
herself to speak for a moment or two.
Q Did you encourage her not to do that?
A
I never encouraged her one way or the other
25 or anything like that.
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Q What about when Phil said, do you want me to
call Bob Frey? Did you say anything in response to that?
A I don't believe I did.
Q You are the one that had the Power of
Attorney, correct?
A That's correct.
Q Philip didn't have a Power of Attorney in
addition to your's, did he?
A No, he did not.
Q Why weren't you the person, as the Power of
Attorney and agent for your mother, to call Robert Frey?
A I think -- I don't know the answer to that.
I mean you would have to ask my mother. My brother, being a
lawyer, I didn't find it unusual that for a matter like that
she would ask him to be the communicator of the request.
Q On March the 24th, today's date -- this is
the anniversary date?
A Sadly, it is.
Q Of your mother's death?
A That's correct.
Q Things had reached a point where we filed a
petition on behalf of your sister for an autopsy -- a brain
autopsy. Do you recall that?
A I do.
Q And then after it was decided by the Court
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that there was sufficient evidence to support that request,
arrangements were made for your mother's memorial ceremony?
A It was a memorial service at Second
Presbyterian Church, yes.
Q You had Jim Flower, your attorney, contact me
to notify Julia that she was not welcome at her mother's
funeral or memorial ceremony?
A I don't recall that, no.
Q You don't recall that?
A No. What I vividly remember is my brother and
I trying to provide my sister with an alternative in terms
of whether she wanted to be there for the memorial service,
where she would have been welcomed, or whether she wished to
-- this is more with respect to the actual burial, whether
she wished to have some private time by herself as opposed
to with all three of us being there ourselves.
Q I don't want to have to call your attorney to
the witness stand, Mr. Coolidge, but your attorney told me
that Julia could either have her own ceremony, just her
alone, but she was definitely not welcome, and was not to be
at the ceremony where the rest of the family would have the
ceremony. Do you recall that?
A No, I do not.
Q You are the trustee of your father Warren
Coolidge's trust, are you not?
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A I am a co-trustee.
Q With Philip?
A Correct.
Q And prior to your mother's death, your mother
was receiving monthly income from that trust, correct?
A That is correct.
Q And after her death you, Philip, and Julia
each received income from that trust for a couple of months,
correct?
A At that point In time the trust would have
switched to the arrangements that she had made by will,
that's correct.
MR. FLOWER: I'm going to object at this
point to the relevancy of going into this separate trust.
MR. THOMAS: It shows bias of this individual
toward my client, Your Honor.
THE COURT: You can ask the question. We'll
continue on until noon and then recess.
MR. THOMAS: I'll be done my noon, Your
Honor.
THE COURT:
Okay.
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q You and Philip as co-trustees have stopped
issuing income from that trust, haven't you?
A No.
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Q Well, have you only stopped Julia's right to
receive income from the trust?
A No. My brother is experienced in the
financial services industry.
I mean what we have done is
begun to take up, I understand, to be ordinary arrangements
for trustee fees, and income will be distributed in keeping
with that after trustee fees.
Q So there has been no income distributed from
that trust since June or July of last year, correct?
A I suspect that is correct.
Q And as trustee, weren't you required to issue
a 1099 to Julia as a beneficiary so she could file her tax
return?
A Boyer & Ritter is working on that as we
speak.
Q You're working on it now?
A It's not due at this point, and it's in the
hands of Boyer & Ritter, and we're confident they will
perform as required.
Q Isn't Julia's tax return due on April 15th
like everybody else's?
A
Q
A
about a K-1.
I would presume so.
So are ours.
Are 1099's due to be issued by January 31st?
I think actually Boyer & Ritter's talking
I honestly don't understand. I understand
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what a 1099 is. I don't understand what a K-l is, but it's
in their hands. They're professionals, and I'm confident
they will deliver to all three of us what we require.
Q All right. Now, if I understand you
correctly, you and Philip are getting money out of your
father's trust, and you're calling it trustee's fees, which
doesn't leave anything for the third beneficiary, being
Julia; is that correct?
A I don't think that's -- my understanding of
it is that after the trustee fees -- after the level of
income generated is sufficient to cover the market level
trustee fee, that the balance of income in that period will
be distributed among the three.
Q But your mother received monthly income from
that trust while she was alive, correct?
A Yes, she did.
MR. THOMAS: I have no other cross
examination, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Okay. We'll recess for lunch,
and resume at 1:30.
MR. FLOWER: May we approach the bench, Your
Honor, on a scheduling matter?
THE WITNESS: May I step down?
THE COURT: Yes.
(Whereupon, a discussion was held off the
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record.)
THE COURT: We'll let the record indicate
that the Court is again in session in the case of Coolidge.
Counsel have off the record requested that I start the
proceedings at 2:00 today instead of 1:30, which is
agreeable to me, but I have explained to counsel that I have
another hearing at 3:00 which will require some preparation.
So we have a very limited amount of time today to complete
the case if that is counsel's desire. Court is in recess.
(Whereupon, a lunch recess was taken at
11:56 a.m., and court resumed at 1:55 p.m.)
AFTER LUNCH RECESS
(Whereupon, Thomas E. Coolidge resumed the
stand.)
REDIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q Mr. Coolidge --
THE COURT: Just for the record, would you
state your name again, please?
THE WITNESS: Sure. Thomas, middle initial
E, Coolidge.
THE COURT: Thank you.
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q There's family silver that has been referred
to in testimony that is in your sister's possession; is that
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correct?
A Yes, it is.
Q Was that ever valued?
A Yes, it was.
Q And what's the value of that silver?
A I believe the value of that silver is upwards
of $5,500.00.
Q Do you recall your brother testifying that at
one point he made a suggestion to his mother about giving
him some discretion in dealing with assets that would go to
his children after his death?
A Yes, I do.
Q And was that around November 17, 2003?
A I believe it was on November 17.
Q And were you supportive of his suggestion?
A I thought his request was reasonable, and she
would be well served to consider it.
Q And then did you make your mother aware that
you were supportive of it?
A I was there when he asked her to consider it
and indicated that I thought it was something she should
consider if she wished.
Q And in spite of the fact that both you and
Philip thought this was a good idea, she decided not to
change that; is that correct?
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A That's what Mr. Frey told us, yes.
MR. FLOWER: Nothing further, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Mr. Frey, do you have any
questions?
MR. FREY: I have no questions, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Mr. Thomas.
MR. THOMAS: None, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. You may step down.
Thank you.
MR. FLOWER: At this point, Your Honor, we
would rest. I believe our exhibits -- I believe our
exhibits 1 through 13 have been admitted, and I would move
for the admission of the exhibits which we have offered
today, which I believe are 14 through 24.
THE COURT: Mr. Thomas.
MR. THOMAS: I have no objection to any of
the exhibits.
THE COURT: All right. Respondents' Exhibits
14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24 are admitted.
(Whereupon, Respondents' Exhibits 14, 15, 16,
17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24 were admitted into
evidence. )
THE COURT: Mr. Frey, was there any evidence
you wanted to present?
MR. FREY: I have none, Your Honor.
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THE COURT: All right. And Mr. Thomas.
MR. THOMAS: I have some brief rebuttal, Your
Honor.
THE COURT: All right.
MR. THOMAS: And I would call Julia Coolidge
to the witness stand.
RUBUTTAL
Whereupon,
JULIA ELIZABETH COOLIDGE-STOLZ
having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q Julia--
THE COURT: Would you state your full name,
please, for the record again?
THE WITNESS: Sure. Julia Elizabeth
Coolidge-Stolz, S-t-o-I-z.
THE COURT: Thank you.
(Whereupon, Petitioner's Exhibit No. 20 was
marked for identification.)
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q Julia, I want to show you what I've just had
marked as Petitioner's Exhibit Number 20.
A Sure.
Q And there's an envelope that goes with it.
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Without reading that, can you date that document, and just
give the Court a brief statement of what is contained in
that?
A It was a letter sent to me by my mother in
the autumn of 2001. It's postmarked October 22nd. Daddy
died on July 14th. So it was a few months after daddy died.
The letter refers to the silver tea service that she had had
while we were going up, and she explains that it had come to
them originally through daddy's family in Boston, and then
she asks me when I'm next coming down, could I pick it up
and have it appraised for her so that she would know what
she ought to be doing with it, and it's signed love, mother.
Q All right. And did you have it appraised?
A Yes, I did.
Q And did you advise your mother of the results
of the appraised value?
A Yes, I did.
Q And did your mother tell you what to do with
the silver set after you had it appraised?
A Yes.
Q What did she tell you?
A She said that because -- the silver service
was an 1890 dorm service, which meant it was a commercially
made nice Victorian set. It was not museum quality, which
is what she was hoping I was going to be able to tell her,
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and so she said because it was worth a lot less than she had
thought, she was hoping that I would just keep it.
Q And is it in your possession now?
A Urn-hum. Philip was in the room with her
because I could hear his voice on the line. She said she
had talked to Phil and she had talked to Tom, and they both
felt since I was the one who took it an hour and a half each
way to get it appraised, that I ought to just keep it.
Q All right.
(Whereupon, Petitioner's Exhibits 21, 22, 23,
and 24 were marked for identification.)
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q Okay. Julia, I want to show you what is
marked Petitioner's Exhibit 21. Could you identify the
container there?
A It's an envelope with my name on it in my
mother's handwriting.
Q Dated?
A It's not dated.
Q Okay.
A She gave it to me by hand.
Q What was the occasion for which she gave it
to you?
A It was because my birthday was coming and she
said since I was down visiting with her, she would just give
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me the card instead of mailing it.
Q And what year was that?
A Well, she gave me two checks with it, and
they're both dated 8/26/02.
Q Okay. Now, the two checks, are either one of
the checks marked for any particular purpose?
A Yes. There's a check made out to my husband
for $100.00, and the memo on it is phone.
Q Why would she be paying for a phone?
A Because for years she would regularly send us
checks because we placed the phone calls, and she wanted to
make sure that we didn't incur any of that expense in doing
that because she was worried about our financial health.
Q Were these the phone calls that you spoke
about before?
A Every Sunday evening.
Q Every Sunday evening. Okay. And did she
routinely pay for telephone calls that you made to her on a
regular basis?
A About every other month she would send a note
and a check.
Q Okay. Would you take a look at that next
exhibit and identify that?
THE COURT: What number is that?
THE WITNESS: 22.
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THE COURT: Petitioner's Exhibit 22?
THE WITNESS: Yes.
MR. THOMAS: Yes, Your Honor.
THE WITNESS: All right. It's an envelope
with mother's return address. It's postmarked August 29th,
2002.
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q And what is that?
A That's actually a separate different birthday
card that's signed love, mother and Willie.
Q Okay. And I want to show you what I've had
marked as Petitioner's Exhibit Number 23. Can you identify
what that document is?
A That's a note in my mother's handwriting that
starts Dear Julia and ends love mother and it's dated
8/12/01.
Q Okay. And is there any reference in there
with regard to telephone bills?
A Yes. It says I wrote you a check yesterday,
but then had to void it because I hadn't recorded the last
one in the check register. Hope this helps with your phone
bill. Your help while you were here was so wonderful it
can't be expressed in words.
Q Okay.
MR. THOMAS: And, Your Honor, I'm having the
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copies marked and admitted rather than the original,
although I do have the original here, so that she can keep
the original.
THE COURT: You say I have the original?
MR. THOMAS: No. I'm keeping the original.
I have the original here, but I've marked a photocopy as the
exhibit.
THE COURT: Mr. Flower, do you have any
objection?
MR. FLOWER: No objection.
THE COURT: And Mr. Frey?
MR. FREY: No objection, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right.
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q Okay. And then I want to show you one more,
Petitioner's Exhibit Number --
A I'm sorry. 24.
Q 24. And what is that?
A
5th, 2000.
Q
That's a note that mother mailed to me June
And again, is there a reference made to
the --
A It says, Dear Julia, you can use the enclosed
check towards your phone bill.
Q Okay. Now, also in there is a reference to a
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dinner on the 17th.
It was their 50th wedding anniversary.
And was that on June 17th, 2000?
Well, actually they intended to celebrate it
Their actual anniversary was the 11th.
Of June?
Of June in 2000.
Did you go to their 50th anniversary dinner?
Yes, I did. Well, we never had a dinner
because I was the only one there. I took them out for
dinner, but there was no formal dinner, but yes, I came down
to visit.
A
Q
A
on the 17th.
Q
A
Q
A
Q Was your brother Tom there for their 50th
anniversary?
A No, he was in New Jersey on the shore with
his family.
Q Did Philip come for the celebration of their
50th anniversary?
A No, he didn't.
Q So you were the only child there that showed
up for that?
A Yes, but we had a nice time, the three of us.
Q Did you in the course of your telephone
conversations with your mother ever discuss medical
situations concerning your mother and your father?
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A Yes. Actually fairly frequently.
Q Did your mother ever try to withhold any
medical information from you concerning their medical
conditions over the last four or five years?
A No. I got regular updates whenever they
would see a doctor, and she would ask me questions if there
was something that she didn't understand.
Q In fact, after her one admission at
Chambersburg Hospital, one of her psychiatric admissions,
did you talk to her on the phone immediately after her
discharge?
A It was the first admission, and she called me
right after she had gotten home and said that -- she told me
which medications they had put her on in the hospital, but
she said now that she was home, she was getting upset
because she realized she didn't have prescriptions for some
of them, and they were not medications that she had been on
previous to the admission. And I asked her if they had
arranged a follow-up appointment for her with her doctor,
and she said no.
So I asked her if she wanted me to make a
call on her behalf to her doctor, and she said, yes, she
would be very grateful if I would.
(Whereupon, Petitioner's Exhibit No. 25 was
marked for identification.)
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BY MR. THOMAS:
Q I'll show you Petitioner's Exhibit Number 25.
Can you identify what that document is?
A Yes. That's a page from Dr. Brazel's primary
care record of mother dated 2/19/02, and it's the note
written by the doctor who was covering for him that evening
saying that she received a call from me, and it accurately
reflects what we said in that conversation.
Q About her medications?
A That mom had called me, that she was
concerned that she had medications for which she didn't have
new scripts, and then they wrote down, her daughter wants to
make sure she has an office visit scheduled so we can
resolve some of these medication issues.
Q And does the page also indicate the next time
your mother came in to see the doctor?
A Yes. The note is dated the next day,
February 20th, 2002.
Q And did they address her medication issues,
according to that note?
A He indicated that there was one -- Dr. Brazel
indicated
yes, he did. There was one he didn't want to
continue, and then he gave her the scripts for the others.
Q All right. Did your mother express any
thanks to you for helping her out with that matter?
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A Yeah. Mother loved me very much, and once
daddy had died she was a lot more verbal about saying it.
Q . I just have one more exhibit for you, and it
will be a group one.
(Whereupon, Petitioner's Exhibit No. 26 was
marked for identification.)
BY MR. THOMAS:
Q I'm showing you Petitioner's Exhibit 26,
which contains three photographs. Would you look at those
three photographs, and then, if you can, identify what they
depict for the Court?
A The first one is a photograph that was
developed on December 1998. It was from the Christmas visit
of that year. It's mother and Joseph in her kitchen.
Q Okay. And how did your mother get along with
Joseph?
A Well, that's why I took the picture. She was
really willing to be childlike and engage and play with him,
and it shows her standing at the kitchen table with a big
bag of grapes, and what she did, because he liked them as a
snack, you can see he's laughing, is she would roll them
down the table so that they would stop about the time they'd
get to him, and then his part of the game was to pick them
up and eat them, and so we took the picture.
Q All right. And the next photograph?
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A The next two are from the same Christmas, and
that was the Christmas of 2001, which was the only Christmas
she was in the house after daddy died.
Q Okay. And who visited with her on that
Christmas day?
A Jeff and I and Joseph. The two photographs
show mom with Joseph, my son.
Q Did Tom or Philip visit with her on that
Christmas day?
A We spent part of the day at Tom and Beth's
house, but then they went off to do things with her family
for the rest of the day. Philip wasn't there at all.
Q Over the years, where did you and your family
spend Christmas day?
A At my parents. Out of my entire life, to my
recollection, there are three Christmases I didn't spend
there, my honeymoon, the year I was in my third trimester
with Joseph and they told me not to drive, and the Christmas
of 2002 because I had pneumonia and we never came.
Q The relative in California -- I can't think
of her name.
A Judy.
Q Judy?
A Judy Foster Wali.
Q Okay. She testified by telephone?
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A Urn-hum.
Q When was the last time you had spoken with
her?
A She called me while I was still working for
the New England Journal of Medicine, which would have meant
it had to be in 1987, give or take a year.
Q That's the last time you had spoken with her?
A Yes.
Q What did she ask you to do at that time?
A She said she was working in immigration law
and she was representing a doctor whom she didn't want to be
deported. So she asked me to get a piece of letterhead from
the New England Journal and sign my name as M.D. and write a
brief note that their science was important to the country
and they should be allowed to stay. And I told her I didn't
know anything about the doctor or her work, and I wouldn't
do it, although I did advise her she should get somebody who
would be familiar with that doctor's work, and they could do
it.
Q How did she react to the fact that you
wouldn't help her with that?
A She got really mad and said she was asking
for my help and there was no reason I couldn't do it, and I
told her I was not going to tango with the INS on her
behalf.
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Q And you haven't spoken with her since?
A No.
MR. THOMAS: No further questions.
THE COURT: Mr. Flower.
CROSS EXAMINATION
BY MR. FLOWER:
Q Are any of the notes or photographs which
you've submitted into evidence after the hearing of November
17, 2003?
A I wasn't allowed to see my mother after that
so I don't have anything.
Q But you didn't have any letters or pictures
from that she would have sent to you from any time after
that hearing, correct?
A She couldn't write. Even Tom testified she
could only make an X.
MR. FLOWER: No further questions.
THE COURT: Okay. Mr. Frey.
MR. FREY: No questions, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Mr. Thomas.
MR. THOMAS: Your Honor, I have no other
witnesses. I would ask that the balance of my exhibits up
through Petitioner's Exhibit Number 26 would be admitted
into evidence.
THE COURT: Mr. Flower.
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MR. FLOWER: No objection, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. You may step down.
Thank you.
THE WITNESS: Sure.
THE COURT: Petitioner's Exhibits 15, 16, 17,
18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26 are admitted.
(Whereupon, Petitioner's Exhibits 15, 16, 17,
18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26 were admitted into
evidence. )
THE COURT:
Mr. Flower, any further evidence?
MR. FLOWER:
THE COURT:
Nothing else, Your Honor.
All right. Mr. Frey, do you have
any further evidence?
MR. FREY: No, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you. What are
counsel's wishes with respect to requested findings of fact,
conclusions of law, and briefs?
MR. THOMAS: Your Honor, I would request
30 days. Well, Your Honor, I'm also going to need the
transcript, I believe, in order to do it thoroughly.
THE COURT: That will take a while. That
could take months at this point because we're really backed
up with transcripts. Are you sure you need a transcript?
MR. THOMAS: Well, Your Honor, I really would
prefer it because I mean the testimony was spread out over
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1 three days, spread out over a three week period.
2 THE COURT: Have either counsel requested
3 transcripts before?
4 MR. FLOWER: We have some transcripts. I'm
5 not sure how far they go up. We certainly have -- we have a
6 transcript of the hearing on March 29th, 2004, and of course
7 we have a transcript of the hearing in November 17th of
8 2003. I don't think we have anything after that.
9 MR. THOMAS: Yeah, the only transcripts we're
10 missing would be the last three days of testimony.
11 THE COURT: All right. Well, let's take a
12 recess and you can ask the stenographers who did those cases
13 how long they think it might take to do the transcript.
14 I'm not going to make this a priority because we ha~e many
15 other cases, many on appeal, that are awaiting transcripts
16 also. We'll take a short recess for that purpose.
17 (Whereupon, a recess was taken at 2:18 p.m.)
18 AFTER RECESS
19 THE COURT: We'll enter this order:
20 AND NOW, this 24th day of March, 2005,
21 following another day of hearing in this matter, which has
22 now completed the evidentiary record, the record is declared
23 closed, and the matter is taken under advisement.
24 Pursuant to an agreement of counsel in
25 chambers of the undersigned judge, counsel shall be afforded
101
1 a period of 35 days from today's date in which to file
2 proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law, and in
3 which to submit briefs to the Court on the issues which they
4 perceive to exist in the case.
5 It lS noted that at the conclusion of today's
6 proceeding Respondents' Exhibits 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20,
7 21, 22, 23, and 24 had been admitted, and Petitioner's
8 Exhibits 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26
9 had been admitted. No other exhibits were identified or
10 admitted on today's date.
11 Counsel for the Petitioner and counsel for
12 Respondents have both indicated that they will be requesting
13 the stenographer(s) to transcribe and file the notes of
14 testimony which to this date have not already been
15 transcribed and filed.
16 (End of order.)
17 THE COURT: Mr. Thomas, is there anything
18 more you want to see in that order?
19 MR. THOMAS: No, Your Honor.
20 THE COURT: And Mr. Flower?
21 MR. FLOWER: No, Your Honor.
22 THE COURT: And Mr. Frey?
23 MR. FREY: No, Your Honor.
24 THE COURT: Very good. Thank you. Court is
25 adjourned.
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(Whereupon, the proceedings concluded at 2:35 p.m.)
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CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify that the proceedings are
contained fully and accurately in the notes taken by me on
the above cause, and that this is a correct transcript of
same.
4~d~
Official Court Reporter
The foregoing record of the proceedings on
the hearing of the within matter is hereby approved and
directed to be filed.
1M 2J L L ~ I ) u o,S '"
r:fate I
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