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People v. Ellis5/28/2003
s and others to handle her finances.
With the assistance of her friend Pamela Mace, Michelis hired defendant on April 23, 1999, to share 24-hour caretaking duties with Victoria Martell. At the start, defendant worked four days a week, and Martell worked three days a week. Mace specifically instructed defendant that she was not to use Michelis's credit cards or get involved in Michelis's finances. Michelis fired Martell a couple of weeks after defendant came to work for her. At that point, defendant became Michelis's primary caretaker with assistance from her daughter, Amy O'Reiley, and cousin, Kelle Hopkins. Alice Dorsey worked for Michelis for about a month, beginning in late May, to pay bills and organize tax records.
On June 2, 1999, Michelis withdrew $34,500 from her account at Union Bank, and gave it to defendant to pay back taxes that defendant owed. Bank officials telephoned Koons to express their concern about the transaction. Koons met with Michelis two days later. He urged her to be more careful with her funds, and she promised to talk to him before giving away any large amounts of money. At the same time, Michelis refused to sign documents authorizing Koons to hire someone to assist her with her finances.
Koons met with Michelis a week later with defendant and Dorsey present. Michelis told Koons she wanted to make defendant a "significant beneficiary" and trustee of a large portion of her estate. When Koons asked to meet privately with Michelis to discuss the plan, defendant and Dorsey refused to leave the room. He explained diplomatically that he could not continue as her attorney if he could not talk to her privately outside defendant's presence. Michelis responded that she planned to get a new lawyer, and left with defendant and Dorsey.
On June 18, 1999, defendant, Dorsey and Michelis met with attorney Barbara Bender for two hours to discuss changes in Michelis's estate plan. Michelis told Bender she wanted to bequest her home to defendant. Michelis became visibly distracted as the meeting continued. Defendant began answering questions for Michelis and, at one point, brought her an alcoholic drink. Although Bender suspected defendant was exerting undue influence on Michelis, she began drafting the revisions that Michelis requested.
Meanwhile, defendant's daughter O'Reiley arranged for a notary public to come to Michelis's home on June 24, 1999. When the notary arrived, O'Reiley instructed her to complete and notarize Michelis's signature on a form grant deed that transferred ownership of her home to Michelis and defendant as joint tenants. The notary also witnessed Michelis's signature on other documents granting defendant power of attorney and providing for increased pay to defendant. The notary heard defendant tell Michelis that the forms were necessary to avoid her being placed in a nursing home. Michelis acted "disoriented" and whined like a child. When Michelis wanted to invite her grandson, the gardener, inside for a drink of water, defendant said, "No, no, no, we can't let them know what we're doing or else they'll put you in a home."
Bender returned to Michelis's home on July 7, 1999, to finalize the documents she had prepared. She was surprised that another attorney, William Dunbar, was already there. Defendant had contacted Dunbar on July 3, and he agreed to meet with Michelis to discuss revisions to her will and trusts. Although Dunbar knew that defendant's name had been placed on the deed, he was unaware of the power of attorney and other documents notarized or witnessed by the notary a few days before.
Defendant gained access to Michelis's liquid assets during the same period. She accompanied Michelis
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