Chapter 21. Passing Judgment #2
Kingsley’s lawyer argued on behalf of his client, as he was being paid to do. “All of those cases were legitimate.”
The sour expression on Randolph’s attorney’s face said she believed otherwise.
“Your client has alienated his extended family over this, and for what? You’re going to lose here today.
Regardless, the claims against Tyler Yee are moot.
Mr. Yee died with little in the way of assets.
What he had was used to pay his funeral expenses. ”
Before his attorney could respond, Kingsley said, “What about life insurance? Did Tyler have a policy?”
The woman’s frown deepened as she turned to Kingsley. “There was a policy, but the proceeds don’t become part of Mr. Yee’s estate. An insurance policy is a contract, and the contract stipulated that the proceeds be paid to Mr. Yee’s girlfriend.”
Kingsley glanced over at the defendants’ table. “That’s her, right? See if she’ll offer the insurance money to settle.”
Kingsley’s attorney shot his client an irritated look and said, “I told you to let me do the talking.”
Despite his lawyer’s admonishment, Kingsley said, “I want every penny of the insurance or I’m not settling.”
Next to me, Alonzo shook her head. “What an ass,” she muttered under her breath.
Kingsley’s attorney put a hand on his client’s shoulder, his tight grip telling his client to keep his mouth shut. “We would be happy to entertain a settlement offer.”
Randolph’s attorney said, “That’s not going to happen. In fact, when the judge renders his decision in our favor, we plan to ask him to order Kingsley to pay Randolph’s court costs and legal fees.”
Though I could only see the side of Kingsley’s attorney’s face, I saw a cloud pass over it. He appeared far less confident than his client.
A door in the back wall opened and in walked the judge, a middle-aged Black man with a portly physique, probably from sitting so much on the job each day.
The bailiff bellowed, “All rise!” Everyone in the courtroom stood, though Kingsley took his sweet time getting to his feet. We remained standing until the judge had ascended to his bench and the bailiff called out, “You may be seated.”
The judge consulted the tab on the file at the top of his stack. “Kingsley Atkinson versus Randolph Atkinson and Tyler Yee.” He looked down, his gaze going from the plaintiff’s table to the defendants’ table. “Are the parties and their counsel all here?”
Randolph’s attorney said, “There’s been an unfortunate development, your honor.
” As she proceeded to fill the judge in on Tyler’s murder, Bianca’s breath hitched and the wriggle of her mouth said she was fighting a sob.
The attorney put a supportive hand on Bianca’s back.
“Mr. Yee’s girlfriend is here in case she can be of help. ”
The judge looked down at Bianca. “Thank you for coming. This must be very hard on you.”
Bianca responded with a nod and a sniffle.
“Let’s get started,” the judge said, turning his attention to the plaintiff’s table.
The fact that there was no one in the jury box told me Kingsley had requested a bench trial.
He must think he’d have better luck if a judge rendered the decision rather than a jury.
It was probably a smart move. Regular people might find a former state senator unrelatable and, depending on their political persuasion, might hold his politics against him. “Ready to make your opening arguments?”
Kingsley’s attorney stepped around his table and into the open area before the judge’s bench.
“I am, your honor.” The lawyer paced back and forth as he wove a tale in which Kingsley Atkinson adored and admired his father Freddy for his hard work, altruism, and philanthropy, yet respected the man too much to see him be taken advantage of by the greedy fundraising department at the children’s hospital.
“Freddy Atkinson loved his family. He never would have left his sons out of his will without extreme pressure and coercion. The matter settled out of court. To Mr. Atkinson’s surprise, things didn’t end there.
His brother Randolph began a public campaign to besmirch Kingsley’s good name and derail his reelection to the state senate. ”
Besmirch. There’s another funny word I’d try to use in a sentence soon.
Of course, Randolph’s attorney painted an entirely different picture of the situation in her opening argument.
“Randolph Kingsley told no lies, your honor. Freddy Atkinson operated a chain of profitable shoe stores. He had a long history of making sizable annual contributions to St. Gianna Beretta Molla Children’s Hospital.
He began this ritual three decades ago after one of his employee’s children became sick with leukemia.
He allowed the employee an extended leave of absence and kept the employee on the payroll so the family wouldn’t have to worry about paying their bills.
At that time, Freddy Atkinson made his first donation to St. G’s in the amount of thirty thousand dollars.
Each year afterward, he donated that much or more.
The fact that he’d leave a million dollars to the hospital in his will was no surprise, though it was an extreme disappointment to Kingsley, who’d hoped to get his hands on his father’s fortune.
As the evidence will show, everything Randolph told Mr. Yee about his brother was true. ”
Randolph’s attorney took her seat, and the trial began.
Kingsley’s attorney called Kingsley to the stand.
Kingsley claimed that their father would have ensured his sons got a sizable portion of his estate.
“He always took care of us. He paid for all of our college expenses and gave us each a brand-new car when we graduated. He set up college funds for our children, too. It would have been natural for him to want to leave his family financially secure when he passed on. But his mind wasn’t quite right in his final years, and he was easily influenced.
The fact that he left nothing to his family speaks for itself. ”
To prove that his father was not in his right mind, Kingsley showed several video clips of Freddy Atkinson in his golden years on a large screen brought in for that purpose.
In one, Kingsley raised the issue of his father’s mental condition directly.
“I’m worried about you, Dad,” Kingsley’s voice said off camera.
“I believe you may be non compos mentis.”
Freddy crossed his eyes and said, “I don’t know about that, but I’ll be compost soon enough!” He slapped his knee and laughed so hard he nearly fell out of his chair. Kingsley had to reach out to steady him. But being off-balance physically didn’t necessarily mean the man was off-balance mentally.
Kingsley’s attorney offered into evidence the article Tyler Yee had published online, and played the full podcast for the judge.
He also offered into evidence several letters and e-mail correspondence Kingsley had received from voters, saying they’d heard he’d defrauded the children’s hospital and would never vote for him again.
He also offered e-mails from two clients of his civil engineering firm who’d questioned why Kingsley had challenged his father’s will.
“Neither client hired my firm again,” Kingsley said. “Beforehand, their combined contracts yielded a quarter million dollars annually for my firm. Had my brother and Tyler Yee not ruined my reputation, these business relationships would have continued.”
Randolph’s attorney objected to Kingsley’s statement. “He’s speculating, your honor. The clients may or may not have continued to hire Atkinson Engineering. Only they can testify as to that fact.”
The judge sustained the objection and directed Kingsley’s attorney to continue.
He questioned his client for another minute or two, but that was it.
He didn’t call Kingsley’s former clients to the stand.
He called no family members, either. Nor did he call anyone from the St. G’s fundraising department.
Apparently, nobody would corroborate his version of the events.
Kingsley’s attorney rested his case. It was now time for the defense. Randolph’s attorney called him to the stand. Randolph testified that their father had been open with them about the fact that he was not going to leave the family any money in his will.
“He’d been extremely generous with us during his lifetime,” Randolph explained.
“He paid for me and Kingsley to attend Vanderbilt University. Like my brother mentioned, our father also set up college funds for each of his grandchildren. Every summer, he took the entire extended family on vacation. We went to Disney World, Europe, even on an Alaskan cruise. Both Kingsley and I earn good incomes at our jobs and didn’t need our father’s support.
Dad preferred to do something for the greater community, and he knew they do important work at St. G’s.
His will expressed his wishes exactly, and he was not unduly influenced by anyone in the fundraising department at the hospital.
He was a strong man who wouldn’t have given in to pressure.
He wouldn’t have run such a successful shoe business if he’d been a pushover. ”
Randolph’s attorney followed up with, “What about your brother’s claim that your father lost his faculties later in life?”
“That’s not true,” Randolph said. “Dad was a jokester. He loved comedy shows. He used to imitate Tim Conway’s old man character from the The Carol Burnett Show. The one who talked slow and shuffled around. It was hilarious.”
The attorney introduced more video clips into evidence, showing them on the large screen.
Mr. Atkinson did a bang-up job imitating Tim Conway.
He also did an impressive impersonation of Jed Clampett from The Beverly Hillbillies.
Detective Alonzo and I chuckled along with many others in the courtroom. Freddy Atkinson was a hoot.