1

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT

STATE OF HAWAII

THE MATTER OF ) T. NO. 05-1-0101 ) THE ELVIN R. MEEK FAMILY ) TRUST, DATED JUNE 14, ) 1996 AS AMENDED. ) ) _________________________)

DEPOSITION OF ELIZABETH MEEK

Taken on behalf of the Petitioner in Pro Se

pursuant to Notice, on Friday, May 28, 2010,

commencing at 10:00 a.m., at the Law Offices of

Cades Schutte, LLP, 1000 Bishop Street, Suite 1200,

Honolulu, Hawaii 96813.

Ali'i Court Reporting 956 Uwao Street Honolulu, Hawaii 96825 (808) 394-Alii (2544)

2

1 APPEARANCES: 2 For Petitioner in Pro Se: 3 NANCI MEEK 4 3308 Ariba Street Las Vegas, Nevada 89129 5 (760) 413-5660 6 For Elizabeth Meek: 7 JAMES ASHFORD, ESQ. Cades Schutte, LLP 8 1000 Bishop Street, Suite 1200 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 9 (808) 521-9200 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 REPORTED BY: Laura Savo, CSR No. 347 Notary Public, State of Hawaii 19 20 -o0o- 21

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23

24

25

3

1 I N D E X

2 EXAMINATION: PAGE

3 By Ms. Meek 5

4 EXHIBITS FOR IDENTIFICATION: 5 Exhibit 1 18 (1-page excerpt from account at Bank of 6 Santa Maria, Paso Robles, California) 7 Exhibit 2 27 (1-page excerpt from declaration of Trust) 8 Exhibit 3 32 9 (3-page First Amendment to the Elvin R. Meek and Elizabeth A. Meek Living Trust, dated 10 1-10-92) 11 Exhibit 4 35 (1-page excerpt from First Amended 12 Declaration of Trust) 13 Exhibit 5 38 (1-page letter dated 8-15-03) 14 Exhibit 6 55 15 (2-page patient discharge instructions) 16 Exhibit 7 58 (1-page Straub Advance Directive Checklist) 17 Exhibit 8 67 18 (5-page certificate of trust) 19 Exhibit 9 69 (1-page photocopy of canceled check) 20 Exhibit 10 72 21 (1-page letter dated 8-26-04)

22 Exhibit 11 73 (1-page letter dated 9-8-04) 23 Exhibit 12 86 24 (5-page transaction detail by account of the Estate of Elvin R. Meek) 25

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1 I N D E X (Cont'd) 2 EXHIBITS FOR IDENTIFICATION: PAGE 3 Exhibit 13 94 (3-page endorsement for change) 4 Exhibit 14 97 5 (2-page power of attorney) 6 Exhibit 15 106 (3-page letter dated 2-22-07) 7 Exhibit 16 107 8 (3-page letter dated 4-27-07) 9 Exhibit 17 111 (22-page tax forms for the estate of 10 Elvin R. Meek) 11 Exhibit 18 112 (2-page Supplemental Schedule A) 12 Exhibit 19 114 13 (1-page series of emails for 11/09) 14 Exhibit 20 115 (1-page series of emails for 10/09) 15 Exhibit 21 117 16 (1-page letter dated 6-28-05) 17 Exhibit 22 118 (1-page email dated 10-4-07) 18 Exhibit 23 120 19 (1-page series of emails dated 10-23-04) 20 Exhibit 24 126 (31-page Report of Forensic Psychological 21 Evaluation)

22 Exhibit 25 137 (18-page series of letters and emails) 23 UNANSWERED QUESTIONS AS REQUESTED BY COUNSEL: 24 PAGE LINE 25 116 15

5

1 (Pursuant to Rule 14 of the Rules Governing Court

2 Reporting in Hawaii, the reporter's disclosure was

3 made available.)

4 ELIZABETH MEEK,

5 having been called as a witness and being first

6 duly sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth and

7 nothing but the truth, was examined and testified

8 as follows:

9 EXAMINATION

10 BY MS. MEEK:

11 Q Okay. Could you state your name?

12 A Elizabeth A. Meek.

13 Q Are there any other names that you go by?

14 A Well, I have a name Ile Brerang, I-l-e

15 B-e-r-a-n-g (sic).

16 Q And your date of birth?

17 A 4-23-53.

18 Q And where were you born?

19 A Koror, Palau.

20 Q Can you spell that, please?

21 A K-o-r-o-r, P-a-l-a-u.

22 Q And you have how many brothers and

23 sisters?

24 A I have seven brothers and five sisters.

25 Q And where were you raised?

6

1 A Koror, Palau.

2 Q And what is your marital history?

3 A My marital history?

4 Q Correct.

5 A Okay. My -- I had an ex-husband Johnny

6 Reklai, and then a deceased husband Elvin R. Meek.

7 Q And what year approximately were you and

8 Johnny Reklai married?

9 A 1975 to 1987.

10 Q Were you married in the courts or was

11 that the traditional marriage?

12 A It was a traditional marriage.

13 Q And you and Elvin Meek were married when?

14 A July 26, 1988.

15 Q Okay. And do you have children?

16 A Yes.

17 Q And their names?

18 A Lola Dee Meek.

19 Q And that's your child with?

20 A Johnny Reklai.

21 Q Johnny Reklai, who was adopted by Elvin

22 Meek?

23 A Yes.

24 Q Approximately what year was she adopted?

25 A 1991.

7

1 Q Okay. Now, when did you move --

2 approximately when did you move from Palau to the

3 United States?

4 A 1979.

5 Q All right. Did you bring Lola with you?

6 A No.

7 Q Did she stay with the father in Palau?

8 A She stayed with the parents, Johnny

9 Reklai's parents.

10 Q The grandparents?

11 A Grandparents, grand copas (phonetic).

12 Q Copas.

13 Did you attend school in the United

14 States?

15 A Yes.

16 Q Where and what years?

17 A Okay. 1979 to 1984 at United States

18 International University down in San Diego,

19 California.

20 Q Did you graduate?

21 A Yes.

22 Q And what degree did you graduate with?

23 A I had my BS degree in 1982 and then my

24 master in business administration in 1984.

25 Q How long had you been a resident of

8

1 United States?

2 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague.

3 BY MS. MEEK:

4 Q I'm sorry.

5 How long -- when did you -- well, when

6 did you become a resident of the United States?

7 A What do you mean?

8 Q How long have you lived in the United

9 States?

10 A Since 1979.

11 Q Okay. But you did not apply for

12 citizenship until --

13 When did you apply for citizenship?

14 Approximately what year, month?

15 A I think it was perhaps in late '90s.

16 Q Late '90s?

17 A Uh-huh.

18 Q When was that citizenship finalized?

19 A We were in here in Hawaii when we started

20 that 1997 or '98.

21 Q And '97 or '98. You're not sure then?

22 A Uh-uh.

23 Q And when was the citizenship finalized?

24 A I think it was in 2005.

25 Q In 2005? Approximately what month?

9

1 A I don't remember.

2 Q You don't recall what month?

3 A Uh-uh.

4 Q When they do that, the citizenship, do

5 they do -- educate me a little bit on that. Do you

6 raise your hand and take an oath saying, "I will

7 support the constitution"?

8 A Yes.

9 Q Okay. You don't recall when you took

10 that oath?

11 A I know it was in 2005.

12 Q But you don't recall what month?

13 A I don't remember the month.

14 Q You don't remember the month.

15 Did you stand up and hold your hand up

16 with several other people?

17 A Yes.

18 Q Cool.

19 Okay. Did you and Elvin discuss your

20 becoming an American citizen?

21 A Yes.

22 Q What was the -- what was the holdup?

23 A We were traveling back and forth to

24 California.

25 Q From?

10

1 A From here.

2 Q From here?

3 A Uh-huh.

4 Q Okay. So you just never had an

5 opportunity --

6 A Yes.

7 Q -- to do it?

8 What would you say is your frequency of

9 travel to Palau?

10 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague as to

11 time.

12 BY MS. MEEK:

13 Q During the last say 10 years.

14 A Once a year.

15 Q On average, how long do you stay there?

16 A Two months.

17 Q Two months at a time?

18 A Yes.

19 Q So two months a year? Would that be

20 correct?

21 A Yes.

22 Q How would you define your relationship

23 with Melvin Meek?

24 A With Melvin Meek?

25 Q Correct.

11

1 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague.

2 THE WITNESS: Good.

3 BY MS. MEEK:

4 Q Good? Have you ever had what you would

5 consider words or a conflict with him in any way

6 during the last 10 years?

7 MR. ASHFORD: Same.

8 THE WITNESS: Can you repeat the

9 question?

10 BY MS. MEEK:

11 Q Sure. Let me just rephrase it. During

12 the last 10 years, what would you -- how would you

13 define your frequency of contact with Melvin?

14 A Not often.

15 Q Not often? As in once a year maybe?

16 A Not even once a year.

17 Q Not even once a year?

18 A No.

19 Q Is there any reason for that?

20 A He never calls.

21 Q How about from 2000 to 2003?

22 A I talked to him on the phone.

23 Q You did? With what frequency a year

24 approximately?

25 A 2001.

12

1 Q And how often?

2 A 2002 it was one time.

3 Q One time in 2002?

4 A Yes.

5 Q Do you recall when Melvin and his wife

6 Tessie had their first child, Joseph Meek?

7 A No, but -- no.

8 Q Is it because you didn't know that they

9 had a child?

10 A No. They -- they wrote a note to Elvin

11 saying that Tessie is expecting a child.

12 Q And you didn't talk to them after

13 Joseph --

14 A No.

15 Q -- was born?

16 A No.

17 Q How would you define your relationship

18 with Lola --

19 A Good.

20 Q -- at this point?

21 Good? Has it always been a good

22 relationship?

23 A Yes.

24 Q Good mother-daughter relationship. Okay.

25 Good.

13

1 How would you define your relationship

2 with Robert Jones?

3 A Good.

4 Q Were you familiar with Robert Jones --

5 A Yes.

6 Q -- before the wills were executed, the

7 first one, the first trust in '92?

8 A Say that again.

9 Q Were you -- had you met Robert Jones

10 before the trust was executed in '92?

11 A Yes.

12 Q Did you socialize with him?

13 A He was our attorney.

14 Q But did you socialize like have dinner?

15 A Once in a while, but not often.

16 Q But not often.

17 What's his wife's name?

18 A I have forgotten.

19 Q How would you define your relationship

20 with Michael Gould?

21 A Good.

22 Q How long have you known him?

23 A Maybe since 19 -- when he moved to Paso

24 Robles.

25 Q So 19 --

14

1 A '90, '91.

2 Q Was he your accountant? Was he Elvin's

3 accountant --

4 A Our accountant.

5 Q -- at that time?

6 A Elvin and I and -- our accountant.

7 Q When did he become your accountant?

8 A Oh, he was filing our taxes.

9 Q Do you recall approximately what years?

10 A When he moved Paso Robles 1990 or '91.

11 Q And that was when Michael Gould was

12 retained to be your accountant?

13 A Yes.

14 Q And did you socialize with Michael Gould?

15 A No.

16 Q So you would define that relationship as

17 strictly business?

18 A Yes.

19 Q And how long have you known Ralph

20 Shumway?

21 A He was -- I would say -- well, he's been

22 our manager, Waipuna's manager. He managed the

23 condo over there. He's the manager.

24 Q He's the property manager?

25 A I don't know if it's the property

15

1 manager, but, anyway, he's the manager. Perhaps

2 residence manager.

3 Q Residence manager. Yes. I'll agree with

4 that. That is his title, I do recall.

5 Was he the residence manager when you and

6 Elvin first moved to the Waipuna?

7 A No.

8 Q No? When did he become the resident

9 manager?

10 A I don't remember.

11 Q Did you socialize with Ralph Shumway?

12 A No.

13 Q How would you define your relationship

14 with Ralph Shumway?

15 A He's the residence manager. So I see him

16 all the time when I go in and out of condo.

17 Q So business and --

18 A Yeah.

19 Q - a friendly, "Hi, how are you," because

20 he's there every day downstairs in the office

21 there?

22 A Yeah.

23 Q Okay. And how would you define your

24 relationship with Ann Taylor?

25 A Same thing.

16

1 Q Did you socialize with Ann?

2 A No.

3 Q Do you recall approximately when she

4 passed away?

5 A No.

6 Q Would you say my father had the same --

7 I'm sorry. Strike that.

8 Would you say Elvin Meek had the same

9 type of relationship with Ralph Shumway, just

10 casual, "Hi, how are you," not socializing?

11 A Yes.

12 Q And the same with Ann Taylor?

13 A Yes.

14 Q How would you categorize his relationship

15 with Michael Gould?

16 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Calls for

17 speculation.

18 BY MS. MEEK:

19 Q Would you define it as a business

20 relationship?

21 MR. ASHFORD: Same. You can still answer

22 if you're able to.

23 THE WITNESS: It was strictly business.

24 BY MS. MEEK:

25 Q And his relationship with Robert Jones,

17

1 would you say that was strictly business?

2 MR. ASHFORD: Same objection.

3 BY MS. MEEK:

4 Q Did he socialize with Robert Jones?

5 A Well, they belong to Elks Club. So

6 sometimes they go out with each other.

7 Q Well, that's socializing.

8 I'm going to try and do this as best I

9 can in some chronological order, but please be

10 patient with me. Let's see. We're going to start

11 with the executing of the amendment -- I'm sorry --

12 of the trust, the Elvin R. Meek/Elizabeth Meek

13 Trust that was executed in 1992. Do you recall

14 that?

15 A Yes.

16 Q You recall executing that.

17 Would you say that Elvin was of sound

18 mind when he executed those documents?

19 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague. Which

20 documents are you talking about?

21 MS. MEEK: The Elvin R. Meek and

22 Elizabeth Meek 1992 Trust.

23 MR. ASHFORD: The only reason I ask is

24 that you seem to be referring to a single

25 document --

18

1 MS. MEEK: No, no, no. I'm just

2 referring to it myself.

3 MR. ASHFORD: Let me just continue. You

4 asked her about a document and then you asked her

5 about documents plural. So I just want to know if

6 you're changing your topic to multiple documents?

7 MS. MEEK: No. I'm talking about just

8 that specific trust.

9 Q (By MS. MEEK) And that was drafted by

10 Robert M. Jones; correct?

11 A Yes.

12 Q Do you recall what was in that document?

13 A No.

14 Q I'm going to submit this document as

15 Exhibit No. 1. What this is is it's the amendment

16 to the Elvin Meek/Elizabeth Meek Living Trust dated

17 January 10th, 1992 and this was amended on August

18 26, 1994. Take a look at that document.

19 (Exhibit 1 is marked for identification.)

20 BY MS. MEEK:

21 Q Tell me is that correct?

22 MR. ASHFORD: Sorry. What is your

23 question? If what is correct?

24 BY MS. MEEK:

25 Q Do you recall when that document was

19

1 signed? Were you present when that document was

2 signed?

3 MR. ASHFORD: I object. You've given her

4 what looks like the last page of a multi-page

5 document. So I object to your question as being

6 incomplete, confusing, vague and ambiguous.

7 BY MS. MEEK:

8 Q I'm sorry. Maybe I have the whole thing.

9 I apologize. That's all that I had -- I'm sorry --

10 that Mr. Jones provided to me. I apologize.

11 That's the amendment.

12 A It's the accounts at the Bank of Santa

13 Maria, Paso Robles, California.

14 Q And if you read down, what does it say?

15 A It doesn't say anything.

16 Q Specifically about Lola.

17 A No.

18 Q It doesn't say anything about Lola?

19 MR. ASHFORD: She's referring to this,

20 apparently. You want her to read the document out

21 loud?

22 BY MS. MEEK:

23 Q If you don't mind.

24 A Okay.

25 MR. ASHFORD: You want her to just type

20

1 it into the record or do you want her to read it

2 out loud because the court reporter is going to

3 have a little bit of hard time understanding.

4 MS. MEEK: Do you want me to read it?

5 What is says is, "Settlor Elvin R. Meek further

6 revokes paragraph 5-A(1) of the Elvin R. Meek and

7 Elizabeth Meek Living Trust, dated January 10th,

8 1992, and as amended August 26, 1994, so as to

9 delete the reference to Lola Dee Meek serving as a

10 successor trustee to any trusts created by the

11 Settlor."

12 MR. ASHFORD: Did you get that?

13 THE REPORTER: Yes.

14 BY MS. MEEK:

15 Q Now, on this document, it says it's

16 notarized by Robert Jones, but it's notarized June

17 14th, 1996. I just wanted you to see that and make

18 sure that you were aware of that.

19 A Yeah, it was notarized by Robert Jones.

20 Q Okay. Do you have a copy of the

21 document, the trust, the Elvin R. Meek family

22 trust?

23 A Say that again.

24 Q Do you have a copy of the 1996 Elvin R.

25 Meek family trust?

21

1 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague. You

2 mean with her as she sits here?

3 BY MS. MEEK:

4 Q No. Do you have your own copy at home?

5 Do you have a copy? Have you read that document

6 thoroughly? Have you studied that document?

7 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague as to

8 time.

9 BY MS. MEEK:

10 Q Have you studied the 1996 Elvin R. Meek

11 Trust?

12 A You mean the first amendment?

13 Q The Elvin R. Meek family trust that was

14 done in 1996, have you studied that?

15 MR. ASHFORD: Same objection.

16 THE WITNESS: No.

17 BY MS. MEEK:

18 Q No. You haven't studied it?

19 A No.

20 Q Okay. I didn't want to have to submit

21 this as evidence since it's -- since the file is

22 certainly big enough as it is, but this is a copy

23 of the Declaration of Trust if you'd like to take a

24 look at it. What I am going to submit as Exhibit

25 No. 2 is the signature page on the last page, and

22

1 this is a copy of this page here. If you want to

2 look at last page and look at this page.

3 A This is -- this is 1992.

4 Q No. This is 1996.

5 MR. ASHFORD: Is there a question

6 pending?

7 BY MS. MEEK:

8 Q I do have a question.

9 Were you present when that document was

10 executed?

11 MR. ASHFORD: Which document?

12 MS. MEEK: This one here. I'm sorry. I

13 apologize.

14 MR. ASHFORD: I just want it to be clear

15 on the record.

16 MS. MEEK: I know. I know.

17 MR. ASHFORD: Otherwise, it's not going

18 to make sense.

19 MS. MEEK: I'm sorry. I apologize.

20 What I'm showing to Elizabeth is the Declaration of

21 Trust, the Elvin R. Meek Trust that's dated June

22 14th, 1996. This is a copy of the trust, a full

23 copy of the trust, and this is another copy that I

24 want to submit as Exhibit No. 2, and this is the

25 signature page. And my question to you is were you

23

1 present when this was executed by Elvin Meek?

2 MR. ASHFORD: Nanci, you have your hand

3 on two documents. So I just want to be clear when

4 you say this.

5 BY MS. MEEK:

6 Q I apologize.

7 When the Declaration of Trust was

8 executed on June 14th 1996, were you present in the

9 office with Elvin Meek when that was executed, in

10 Robert Jones' office there in Atascadero?

11 A This is the 1992 trust.

12 MR. ASHFORD: That's '96.

13 THE WITNESS: '96? Is this a cover for

14 this?

15 MS. MEEK: This is the 1996 trust.

16 MR. ASHFORD: Take a moment to make sure

17 you know what she's talking about. Then the last

18 page probably. Okay. So this is the end of the

19 document. This is the notary.

20 BY MS. MEEK:

21 Q I guess my question would be do you

22 recall being in the office when that document was

23 executed by Elvin in Robert Jones' office? Do you

24 recall being there with them?

25 A I don't recall.

24

1 Q You don't recall being there with them?

2 A No.

3 Q Are you sure?

4 A 1996. Okay. I think I recall I was in

5 there.

6 Q You do recall?

7 A Yeah.

8 Q Are we in agreement that the last

9 signature page on the document entitled

10 "Declaration of Elvin R. Meek Family Trust" is the

11 same as this copy, the copy next to it that I'm

12 going to submit as Exhibit No. 2?

13 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Calls for

14 speculation and opinion.

15 Nanci, you want her to authenticate one

16 document as a copy of the other; is that right?

17 MS. MEEK: That's without submitting the

18 whole document, yeah.

19 Q (By Ms. Meek) Would you say that this is

20 an authentic copy?

21 MR. ASHFORD: Same objection.

22 THE WITNESS: Same as this?

23 BY MS. MEEK:

24 Q Yes.

25 A Where's the original?

25

1 Q Neither one of those pages are original

2 pages. If it's too confusing for you, we can move

3 on. Okay?

4 Elizabeth, can you tell me a little bit

5 about your work history?

6 A My work history? Okay. I went to school

7 in San Diego. I worked on a work study program,

8 it's called, while I was in school up until 1984.

9 Q Where did you work up until 1984?

10 A For work study school from 1979 -- 1979

11 to 1984.

12 Q And what type of work did you do?

13 A Work study program.

14 Q Was it clerical work?

15 A Clerical work and some other things that

16 was available on campus.

17 Q And from 1984 --

18 A To 1980. Then 1984, I didn't work.

19 Q Until when?

20 A Until -- until 1990.

21 Q Until 1990. So from 1984 to 1990, you

22 did not work?

23 A Yeah.

24 Q And then from 1990 until --

25 A '95.

26

1 Q -- '95, where did you work?

2 A I worked for Elvin.

3 Q In the office?

4 A Yes.

5 Q As a legal secretary or --

6 A As receptionist and doing some legal

7 paper, pleadings and things like that.

8 Q Would you say you got a little bit of a

9 legal education while you were working for Elvin?

10 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague.

11 BY MS. MEEK:

12 Q Well, along the way, did you --

13 What do I want to say?

14 -- did you become a little more familiar

15 with the law than you had been before working for

16 him?

17 MR. ASHFORD: Same objection.

18 THE WITNESS: (Witness nods.)

19 BY MS. MEEK:

20 Q No? And from '95 until -- where did you

21 work after '95?

22 A I didn't work.

23 Q You didn't work. Are you working now?

24 A No.

25 Q So from '95 to the present, you have not

27

1 worked?

2 A Yes.

3 MR. ASHFORD: Nanci, did you want to mark

4 Exhibit 2?

5 (Exhibit 2 is marked for identification.)

6 BY MS. MEEK:

7 Q So it's safe for me to say then that you

8 worked at the work study in San Diego up until

9 1984, and when did you start again the work study

10 in San Diego?

11 A 1979.

12 Q '79. Is that while you were going to

13 school there?

14 A Yes.

15 Q Do you recall when the first amendment

16 was first drafted to the 1996 trust?

17 A 1996? You're talking about -- say that

18 again.

19 Q The first amendment that was drafted in

20 1997, the first amendment to the 1996 Elvin Meek

21 Trust, do you recall when that was drafted?

22 A Yes.

23 Q Do you recall who drafted it?

24 A Robert Jones.

25 Q Was that while you were living in Paso

28

1 Robles?

2 A Yes.

3 Q The first amendment was drafted while you

4 were living in Paso Robles?

5 A Yes.

6 Q Do you recall where the first amendment

7 was executed?

8 A 1997.

9 Q Do you recall where it was executed?

10 A Honolulu.

11 Q So it was created by Robert Jones in Paso

12 Robles, but it was signed in Honolulu in 1997? I'm

13 talking about the one that was signed

14 September 16th, 1997.

15 A That's the first amendment; right?

16 Q That's the first amendment; correct.

17 A Correct.

18 Q Now, did Robert Jones create the copy --

19 create the amendment in Paso Robles, and then you

20 took it with you to Hawaii?

21 MR. ASHFORD: I'm going to object as

22 vague. Excuse me. I'm going to object as vague

23 because as we all know, there were two different

24 versions --

25 MS. MEEK: And I'm trying to be clear.

29

1 MR. ASHFORD: Let me just finish and then

2 you be clear, but we can't speak at the same time

3 because of the court reporter. So there's one that

4 seems to be signed in Atascadero and one in

5 Honolulu. So my objection is you're being unfair

6 to the witness by not giving her the specific

7 document you're talking about since you're throwing

8 around dates, but proceed as you want. I just want

9 to put that on the record.

10 MS. MEEK: No problem. I have the

11 document.

12 MR. ASHFORD: Great. Thank you.

13 BY MS. MEEK:

14 Q I am handing to Elizabeth my copy of the

15 First Amendment of the Elvin R. Meek Family Trust

16 which was executed on September 16th, 1997. If you

17 want to take a look at that. Would you say that

18 that is an accurate copy?

19 A Yes.

20 Q So for the record, when I am speaking

21 about the document, the first amendment to the '96

22 trust, there are two amendments I'm going to be

23 speaking of. I'm going to be speaking about the

24 one signed in California as well as the one signed

25 in Honolulu. Is that understood?

30

1 MR. ASHFORD: I'm going to object to that

2 designation as being confusing.

3 MS. MEEK: Well, it is confusing, but

4 it's certainly crucial to what we're trying to do

5 here as far as trying to prepare for the

6 evidentiary hearing. So I'd have to object to your

7 objection.

8 MR. ASHFORD: You can go as you see fit,

9 but I'm basically warning you that I think you're

10 going to end up with a confused record, but you're

11 entitled to go as you see fit.

12 BY MS. MEEK:

13 Q Okay. Do you recall how that document

14 came to be at the Bank of Hawaii? Was that

15 document typed and created by Robert Jones in Paso

16 Robles and then --

17 Tell me a little bit. What was the

18 history behind that? How did it get over to

19 Hawaii?

20 A By mail.

21 Q By mail. He mailed it to you?

22 A Yes.

23 Q And then what happened?

24 A And then we took it to the bank, get it

25 notarized.

31

1 Q Was it the document that I presented in

2 front of you, the unnumbered document?

3 A This document. The signature right here.

4 Q But was everything, all the pages that

5 proceeded that, was the document as best you can

6 recall?

7 A Yes.

8 Q That is the document?

9 A Uh-huh.

10 Q Why were the words -- do you know why the

11 words "Atascadero" were scratched off and the words

12 "Honolulu" were written in?

13 A You mean the last page?

14 Q Yes.

15 A You can see it was notarized here in

16 Honolulu.

17 Q Okay. So, in other words, Robert Jones

18 mailed it to you?

19 A Yes.

20 Q He mailed it to you. Do you recall how

21 much time went -- how much time took place between

22 the time that you received it in the mail and the

23 time that it was executed?

24 A I don't recall.

25 Q You don't recall. This is a document

32

1 that I want to submit as Exhibit 3. This is a

2 document that's entitled "First Amendment to the

3 Elvin R. Meek and Elizabeth Meek Living Trust,

4 Dated January 10th, 1992." It was executed at

5 Atascadero, California, on the 26th day of August

6 1994. It was executed by Elvin Meek and Elizabeth

7 Meek with Robert Jones declaring himself as

8 attorney and witness. I want to submit this and

9 I'm going to hand it to you, Elizabeth, to review.

10 (Exhibit 3 is marked for identification.)

11 BY MS. MEEK:

12 Q Do you recall executing that document?

13 A Yes.

14 Q Would you say that that's a true and

15 accurate copy?

16 A Yes.

17 Q Thank you. The next thing I'm submitting

18 is an affidavit of Robert Jones that's dated

19 January 6, 2006, executed in Atascadero on November

20 10th, 2005. Would you take a look at this, please?

21 Is there anything in that document that

22 you would disagree with?

23 MR. ASHFORD: You want her to read the

24 whole thing?

25 MS. MEEK: It doesn't take that long.

33

1 MR. ASHFORD: That's a yes?

2 MS. MEEK: Yes. I'm sorry.

3 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Calls for

4 speculation.

5 MS. MEEK: The document refers on

6 page 2 -- let's see. On the second paragraph, it

7 says, "As attorney for the Settlor and Mrs. Meek,

8 Affiant drafted the document which established the

9 Elvin R. Meek/Elizabeth A. Meek Living Trust, dated

10 January 10th, 1992, as well as its Amendment. In

11 addition, Affiant also drafted the document which

12 established Elvin R. Meek Family Trust, dated

13 January 14th, 1996, and its Amendment. Affiant

14 understands --"

15 Affiant being Robert Jones.

16 "-- that the Settlor and Mrs. Meek signed

17 the document entitled the 'First Amendment of the

18 Elvin R. Meek Family Trust' on September 16th,

19 1997, in Hawaii. On September 19th, 1997, when the

20 Settlor and Mrs. Meek were in California, they

21 resigned the document. As the drafting attorney,

22 Affiant confirms the document dated September 16,

23 1997, is the operative First Amendment of the Elvin

24 R. Meek Family Trust."

25 Do you have any opinion as to that?

34

1 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Compound.

2 Calls for opinion. Vague.

3 MS. MEEK: I don't think so. I have to

4 disagree.

5 Q (By Ms. Meek) Do you recall being in

6 California three days later after the document was

7 signed in Honolulu?

8 A I don't recall.

9 Q You don't recall?

10 A No.

11 Q Is that a no?

12 A No.

13 Q You were not there?

14 A I don't recall.

15 Q You don't recall or you --

16 A I don't recall.

17 Q You don't recall being there? In other

18 words, it's possible that you were there?

19 A No.

20 Q So, no, you weren't there?

21 A I wasn't there.

22 MS. MEEK: Okay. Do I need to submit

23 that as an exhibit? If I don't need to, then I

24 won't. It's been going around and it's been copied

25 so many times.

35

1 This page I would like to submit as

2 Exhibit No. 4 if it's all right with Mr. Ashford.

3 MR. ASHFORD: You can submit anything you

4 want.

5 MS. MEEK: This is the last page in

6 question of the amendment that Robert Jones said

7 was signed in California three days later. If you

8 can take a look at this, Elizabeth.

9 (Exhibit 4 is marked for identification.)

10 BY MS. MEEK:

11 Q This is the last page of the document

12 that Robert Jones refers to in his affidavit that

13 was signed in California, that he states was signed

14 in California.

15 A What about it?

16 Q Do you recall seeing that document?

17 A No.

18 Q Is that your signature?

19 A Doesn't look like my signature.

20 Q Is that Elvin's signature in your

21 opinion?

22 A It looks different.

23 Q Tell me again when did you graduate with

24 your MBA approximately, do you recall?

25 A 1984.

36

1 Q 1994?

2 A '84.

3 Q '84. I apologize.

4 At any time between 1984 and the present,

5 have you gone to -- had any other schooling?

6 A No.

7 Q No?

8 A No.

9 Q You did not take prelaw classes?

10 A Oh, yeah, I did. Thanks for reminding.

11 Q You're welcome. Approximately when was

12 that?

13 A '84 to '85.

14 Q '84 to '85?

15 A One year.

16 Q Did you attempt to take the bar exam at

17 any time or the baby bar?

18 A I did.

19 Q You did. Did you pass?

20 A No.

21 Q How many times did you take it?

22 A I don't remember.

23 Q So more than two times probably?

24 A Yeah, maybe.

25 Q More than three?

37

1 A I don't remember.

2 Q Don't remember. Where did you take the

3 baby bar? Do you recall?

4 A I don't recall. It could have been in

5 Pasadena.

6 Q As I mentioned, I want to try and go in

7 chronological order because that's the way that my

8 brain works. So, hopefully, that's the way you

9 work. I would like to submit a document, and we'll

10 call it Exhibit 5. What this is it appears to be a

11 letter written on stationery for Elvin R. Meek and

12 Elizabeth Meek. The date on it is August 15th. It

13 is addressed to Boone County Tax Collector

14 regarding property in Arkansas, and it is dated

15 August 15th regarding a quitclaim deed mentioning

16 copies of -- it says my mother's death certificate

17 and 2002 real property tax statement and a $10

18 draft is enclosed for the recording of the new deed

19 in my name, signed --

20 It says, "If you would be so kind as to

21 record the same for me, I will be gratefully

22 pleased for your assistance. Very truly yours,

23 Elvin R. Meek," and it is not signed by Mr. Meek.

24 Do you recall seeing this document,

25 Elizabeth?

38

1 (Exhibit 5 is marked for identification.)

2 THE WITNESS: Well, I don't remember

3 seeing that, but usually he signs all the documents

4 he mailed in.

5 BY MS. MEEK:

6 Q But he didn't sign that one, did he?

7 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Calls for

8 speculation.

9 BY MS. MEEK:

10 Q Well, there's no signature there.

11 There's not a signature there, is there?

12 A No.

13 Q Did you type this letter for him?

14 A I don't recall.

15 Q Do you recall why that letter was typed

16 up and sent to the recorder's office?

17 A No.

18 Q So you could not confirm or could you

19 confirm that it was typed up and sent on August

20 15th?

21 A No. I don't remember sending this letter

22 August 15th of 2003.

23 Q So you don't recall this letter being

24 sent?

25 A No.

39

1 Q Okay. While we've already covered this

2 during my deposition, I just wanted to again touch

3 on it. I'm handing to Elizabeth a copy of the

4 second amendment to the Elvin R. Meek Family Trust.

5 It's two pages. If you could take a look at that,

6 please.

7 In your opinion, would you say that those

8 signatures are weaker than the signatures on the

9 Elvin Meek's trust that he signed in 1997?

10 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague. Calls

11 for speculation. Calls for opinion and testimony

12 by a nonexpert.

13 BY MS. MEEK:

14 Q Well, she's his wife.

15 I would think you would know. Would you

16 think that those signatures are a little bit weak?

17 MR. ASHFORD: Same objections.

18 BY MS. MEEK:

19 Q Okay. Would you agree that this document

20 was signed -- was executed on September 22nd, 2003?

21 Do you agree to that?

22 A Yes.

23 Q And the same document was witnessed by

24 Margo Corliss? Do you agree to that?

25 A Yes.

40

1 Q And that's your signature as well on that

2 document?

3 A Yes.

4 Q Do you recall being at the Bank of Hawaii

5 with my father, with Elvin, when these documents

6 were signed?

7 A Yes.

8 Q Uh-huh. How would you define his

9 condition?

10 A He was walking.

11 Q He was walking?

12 A He was walking.

13 Q He was walking?

14 A Yeah, with a cane.

15 Q With a cane.

16 Did you have a chance to review this

17 document before it was executed and before you

18 signed it?

19 A Yes.

20 Q You did. You didn't notice this here

21 where it says September blank, 1999?

22 A No.

23 Q You didn't notice that at the time?

24 A No.

25 Q Do you know why you didn't notice that,

41

1 or is there some reason why you didn't --

2 That's a pretty important document. Is

3 there some reason why you didn't really study that

4 document?

5 A Well, it says 1996 trust. So it's the

6 same thing.

7 Q But here it says -- here at the top, it

8 says, "Elvin R. Meek, Settlor of the Elvin R. Meek

9 Family Trust dated June 14, 1996, as amended

10 September blank 1999." Was there an amendment that

11 you know of in 1999?

12 A No.

13 Q Do you find it peculiar that Elvin didn't

14 notice that?

15 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague. Calls

16 for speculation.

17 BY MS. MEEK:

18 Q Well, he's your husband. Don't you think

19 he would have noticed something like that?

20 A I don't know.

21 MR. ASHFORD: Same objection.

22 BY MS. MEEK:

23 Q Is it possible that maybe you were in a

24 hurry?

25 A No.

42

1 Q You weren't in a hurry to have him sign

2 this?

3 A No.

4 Q I'm placing in front of Elizabeth a copy

5 of the will of Elvin R. Meek that was executed on

6 the 23rd of September in Honolulu, Hawaii, with an

7 attached attestation signed by Ralph Shumway and

8 Ann Taylor.

9 Elizabeth, would you please read that

10 thoroughly and refresh your memory.

11 Do you recall who created this document,

12 who typed it up and sent it to you?

13 A Robert Jones.

14 Q How did Robert Jones send it to you?

15 A By mail.

16 Q By mail?

17 A Uh-huh.

18 Q By mail, not fax?

19 A Yes, by mail.

20 Q By mail, USPS? Is that the same way that

21 you received the second amendment, by mail?

22 A Yes.

23 Q So were they both mailed to you at the

24 same time?

25 A Yes.

43

1 Q So it's my understanding that you

2 received them in the same envelope?

3 A Yes.

4 Q Did you and my father discuss naming the

5 Bank of Hawaii as a cotrustee?

6 A I don't remember.

7 Q Do you recall Robert Jones making the

8 suggestion to make the Bank of Hawaii the

9 cotrustee?

10 A I don't know.

11 Q You don't recall whose suggestion it was

12 to bring in the Bank of Hawaii --

13 A No.

14 Q -- as a cotrustee?

15 A It doesn't that say in the trust?

16 Q It says in what trust?

17 A The first amendment.

18 Q In the first amendment?

19 A Uh-huh.

20 Q The one that was drafted and executed in

21 1997?

22 A And signed in Honolulu.

23 Q Correct. That's what you're saying

24 because if that was in that amendment, it's also in

25 here?

44

1 A Yes.

2 Q Now, if you have both of these documents

3 at the same time, like you said, they both came

4 together through the postal service?

5 A Uh-huh.

6 Q And it's my understanding that you went

7 to Hawaii -- mean, you went to the Bank of Hawaii

8 to have the second amendment notarized. Why didn't

9 you have the will notarized at the same time?

10 MR. ASHFORD: Can I see this?

11 MS. MEEK: Sure.

12 Q (By Ms. Meek) Do you recall?

13 A Because they don't notarize at the Bank

14 of Hawaii. They don't notarize will at Bank of

15 Hawaii.

16 Q They won't? And who told you this?

17 A What's her name? The lady who notarized

18 the -- the lady who notarized the paper.

19 Q Would that be Margo Corliss?

20 A Yes.

21 Q Do you recall when this will was

22 witnessed and signed by Ralph Shumway and Ann

23 Taylor --

24 A Yes.

25 Q -- and signed by yourself and by Elvin?

45

1 Can you tell me a little bit about that

2 day, how Elvin was feeling?

3 A Well, just usual. We get up and do our

4 lunch and walking in and out of Waipuna, and then

5 we walked down and then he got that signed.

6 Q How was his health at the time?

7 A Well, Elvin was walking.

8 Q Was he cognizant? Did he know what day

9 it was?

10 A Yes. He was walking with a walker.

11 Q With a walker?

12 A With a cane.

13 Q Which was it? A cane or a walker?

14 A Cane.

15 Q A cane?

16 A Yeah.

17 Q Did he use a walker?

18 A No.

19 Q He never used a walker while he was

20 home --

21 A No.

22 Q -- for his balance?

23 A No.

24 Q Whose idea was it to have Ralph Shumway

25 and Ann Taylor witness your signing and his signing

46

1 of the last will and testament? At whose

2 suggestion?

3 A Oh, we both did.

4 Q At both your suggestion and Elvin's

5 suggestion?

6 A Well, they were closer to us.

7 Q Was there some reason why he didn't call

8 Wes Stewart and Nina?

9 A I don't know. He didn't call them.

10 Q Do you know why?

11 A I don't know.

12 Q Was it ever suggested?

13 A I don't know.

14 Q You don't remember if it was ever

15 suggested?

16 A No, I don't recall. I don't know if he

17 did.

18 Q Okay. Let me ask you this. This page

19 here, did Robert Jones type this page?

20 A Yes.

21 Q He did?

22 A Yes.

23 Q He typed this page which is attached --

24 This page, it's called the "Attestation"

25 which is attached to the will of Elvin R. Meek.

47

1 Robert Jones typed that page and mailed it to you

2 from Atascadero in that same package with the

3 second amendment?

4 A Yes.

5 Q So prior to mailing that to you, the

6 subject of having Ralph Shumway witness the

7 attestation and Ann Taylor witness the attestation

8 or the subject of having witnesses must have come

9 up a couple of days before that actually came in

10 the mail to you?

11 A No.

12 Q Well, you just said he typed up this

13 attestation.

14 Let me be a little more specific. It

15 wasn't -- I'm not saying that it was at Robert

16 Jones' suggestion that use Ralph Shumway and Ann

17 Taylor. Obviously, he's told you to use two

18 witnesses?

19 A Yes.

20 Q He told you to use two witnesses?

21 A Yes.

22 Q And he sent you this attestation page

23 attached to this will of Elvin Meek and the second

24 amendment, and they all came in the same envelope

25 to the house there at Waipuna?

48

1 A Yes.

2 Q Now, in-between that time, it was never

3 suggested that Wes Stewart and Nina come over and

4 help you guys with your --

5 A No.

6 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Asked and

7 answered and compound.

8 MS. MEEK: I have to object. That's a

9 very important question.

10 Q (By Ms. Meek) You never made the

11 suggestion of having Nina Stewart --

12 A No.

13 Q -- or Wes Stewart --

14 A No.

15 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Asked and

16 answered.

17 BY MS. MEEK:

18 Q Why is that?

19 It has not been answered.

20 MR. ASHFORD: Yes, it has.

21 MS. MEEK: No, it hasn't

22 MR. ASHFORD: Do you want her to read the

23 record?

24 MS. MEEK: Well, answer it again. I

25 understand what you're saying, but now I'm asking

49

1 you again.

2 MR. ASHFORD: What are you asking?

3 BY MS. MEEK:

4 Q I'm asking you it was never suggested by

5 yourself or by Elvin to have Wes Stewart and Nina

6 witness this document?

7 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Asked and

8 answered.

9 MS. MEEK: Well, just out of curiosity,

10 what was the answer? Refresh my memory.

11 MR. ASHFORD: I believe the answer was

12 no. Either no or I don't know.

13 MS. MEEK: You don't recall.

14 MR. ASHFORD: You can ask the court

15 reporter to read it back, though, and then we'll

16 all know for sure.

17 MS. MEEK: Okay. Can you read it back?

18 I'm getting confused myself.

19 (The record was read.)

20 BY MS. MEEK:

21 Q In 1994, the amendment to the 1992 trust

22 Elvin Meek removes Lola from the trust. Do you

23 know why?

24 A Do I know why?

25 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Calls for

50

1 speculation.

2 BY MS. MEEK:

3 Q Do you recall him removing her from the

4 trust?

5 A Yes.

6 Q Do you have an opinion as to that?

7 A No.

8 Q Do you know what the purpose of that 1994

9 amendment was?

10 A What do you mean?

11 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. The document --

12 MS. MEEK: I'm asking you for your

13 opinion.

14 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. The document

15 speaks for itself. Calls for opinion.

16 MS. MEEK: Oh, yeah, I am.

17 Q (By Ms. Meek) Approximately what time

18 would you say -- approximately what month in 2003

19 would you say that dad's -- that Elvin's health

20 started to fail?

21 A Say that again.

22 Q I said approximately in 2003,

23 approximately what month would you say that Elvin's

24 health began to fail?

25 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Calls for

51

1 speculation.

2 MS. MEEK: In your opinion.

3 MR. ASHFORD: Same.

4 BY MS. MEEK:

5 Q So you don't want to tell me

6 approximately when you thought Elvin was failing?

7 MR. ASHFORD: Elizabeth, so you know, I'm

8 not instructing you not to answer. I'm just making

9 a comment on the quality of the question,

10 basically. So if you can answer the question, then

11 please do.

12 THE WITNESS: I would say perhaps

13 beginning of 2003, but, you know, it's slowly since

14 2000 to 2003. Of course, you know, he goes in and

15 out of the hospital.

16 BY MS. MEEK:

17 Q When did he begin going in and out of the

18 hospital with what he passed away with with the

19 liver, cirrhosis of the liver? Approximately when?

20 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague.

21 THE WITNESS: I don't remember, but we

22 went to -- I don't recall the date, but he was

23 advised by the doctor that he should not drink a

24 lot of alcohol.

25 BY MS. MEEK:

52

1 Q Okay. And that was approximately what

2 month in 2003?

3 A I think it was in 2000.

4 Q Do you recall which doctor?

5 A Dr. Wright.

6 Q Does he practice here in Honolulu?

7 A No.

8 Q Where does he practice?

9 A Redland.

10 Q In 2003, do you recall approximately when

11 Lola came out, flew out from Palau to stay with you

12 in 2003 prior to dad going in the hospital or

13 around that time?

14 A 2003?

15 Q When he was going in and out of the

16 hospital from like August to October of 2003.

17 A Lola, no. He (sic) only came here when

18 Elvin was at the hospice.

19 Q Which was October?

20 A October.

21 Q So Lola didn't come out till he was in

22 hospice.

23 Okay. How did she find out he was in

24 hospice?

25 A I think I called her.

53

1 Q Do you recall who else you called?

2 A No.

3 Q Did you call Melvin?

4 A No.

5 Q Did you call me?

6 A No.

7 Q Was there a reason why you didn't call me

8 or Melvin?

9 A Wes called Melvin and you.

10 Q That was after he was in a coma --

11 A No.

12 Q -- in hospice.

13 A That was in Straub Hospital.

14 Q He was already in a coma.

15 A No.

16 Q Wes called us when he was already in a

17 coma. I'm talking about why didn't you call us?

18 A Melvin was on the phone with Elvin (sic)

19 at Straub Hospital and you too.

20 Q Right, but he was in and out of a coma

21 then.

22 A No. You were talking to him.

23 Q Not really, but I'm not going to go into

24 that.

25 Do you know approximately when it was

54

1 that Wes came over? Do you recall when Wes came

2 over to the condo to visit with dad while he was

3 sick in September? Do you recall that visit?

4 A I don't remember the dates, but --

5 Q But do you recall his being there?

6 A Yeah. I came in and he was there.

7 Q How would you define how Elvin looked?

8 A Good.

9 Q Would you say he was bloated?

10 A No.

11 Q Would you say that he was incoherent?

12 A He was sleeping a lot.

13 Q Was he sleeping a lot then?

14 A You know, he usually sleep from morning

15 to noon. So that's his routine.

16 Q Was he under a lot of medication?

17 A He take medication.

18 Q Would you say for most of September, he

19 was on a lot of medication?

20 A Well, since 2000.

21 Q But would you say it was a little bit

22 more during the month of September and October?

23 A Same. It was same medication.

24 Q It was the same.

25 Okay. I'm submitting a copy of the

55

1 patient discharge instructions that came from

2 Straub Clinic & Hospital. It's page 1 and 2. It's

3 dated September 20th, 2003. Each page has a list

4 of all the medications that Elvin was taking. Also

5 with a directive here to follow up the physician

6 care with Dr. Zerez on October 2nd, 2003, and I'm

7 submitting this. I'll submit this as Exhibit

8 No. 6.

9 (Exhibit 6 is marked for identification.)

10 BY MS. MEEK:

11 Q Elizabeth, take a look at that, please.

12 Flip over to page 2, and I want to ask you is that

13 your signature?

14 A Yes.

15 Q And while I recognize that you're not a

16 doctor and I'm certainly not a doctor, but as a

17 layperson when you look at all those medications

18 that are listed there on the first page and the

19 second page, does that strike you as being a lot of

20 medications or what is your opinion on that?

21 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Calls for

22 speculation and opinion.

23 BY MS. MEEK:

24 Q Are you familiar with those medications?

25 A No.

56

1 Q Do you recall Elvin taking those

2 medications?

3 A Yeah.

4 Q But you're not familiar with them?

5 A No.

6 Q In other words, you don't know what

7 they're for?

8 A No.

9 Q You just know he was taking them?

10 A Well, they were prescribed by the doctor.

11 Q But he was consistently taking them when

12 he was discharged, when he was at home?

13 A Yeah.

14 Q Or was that just while he was in the

15 hospital?

16 A At home.

17 Q So he was taking them at home and in the

18 hospital?

19 A I don't know. Perhaps at hospital too.

20 Q When he was discharged from the hospital,

21 were you with him?

22 A Yes.

23 Q Were you responsible for the medications

24 he was taking?

25 A Well, again, he's living with me. Yes.

57

1 Q I guess the way I would want to phrase

2 this question would be was he capable of taking the

3 medications on his own or did he need somebody like

4 you to help him?

5 A No. Well, sometimes I give him

6 medication, but he can get up and take his own

7 medication.

8 Q So he was cognizant enough to know --

9 A Yeah.

10 Q Approximately how many medications do you

11 recall he was taking at one time?

12 A I don't recall, but he was taking

13 medication.

14 Q But give me a rough number.

15 A I don't know.

16 Q Was it five, ten? How many -- in other

17 words, when you filled the prescriptions, do you

18 recall how many prescription bottles you had to

19 fill?

20 A Well, I would probably say about five.

21 Depends on what kind of prescription that he needs

22 to refill or he needs retake them.

23 Q But at any one time in the medicine

24 cabinet, just education me here, in the medicine

25 cabinet, how many medicine bottles would you say

58

1 that he had to routinely, daily go to to take his

2 medication for that day considering what his

3 condition was at this time in September?

4 A I don't know, but if that's the amount,

5 that's probably what it says here.

6 Q Do you recall helping him and helping him

7 with his medications? Because I know in my

8 experience with people, especially elderly people

9 when they get sick, they can't always remember what

10 medications to take, and it helps if somebody else

11 is there to kind of help them.

12 A Well, they're on the table. So he can

13 get up and open whatever he needs to take that day

14 and take it.

15 Q But was he the one primarily doing that

16 or were you helping him?

17 A Well, I was helping him.

18 Q You were helping him?

19 A Yeah.

20 Q Okay. Here's one more that I wanted to

21 submit as Exhibit No. 7.

22 (Exhibit 7 is marked for identification.)

23 BY MS. MEEK:

24 Q This is an Advance Directive Checklist.

25 It says here on it, it asks, "Does the patient have

59

1 a living will," with the yes box is checked, and it

2 says, "At home on file."

3 I want to show this to Elizabeth. Just

4 take a look at that document, if you would. That

5 document is dated 9-6-03?

6 A Yes.

7 Q With Elvin's signature on it; is that

8 correct?

9 A Yes.

10 Q In your opinion, would you say that

11 signature is weak?

12 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Calls for

13 speculation and opinion.

14 BY MS. MEEK:

15 Q Do you recall when that document was

16 signed when he was submitted to the hospital?

17 A It was on 9-6-03. So I think I was

18 there, but I didn't...

19 Q Do you recall what his condition was?

20 A Yes.

21 Q How would you define that?

22 A Well, just a regular checkup and go see a

23 doctor and things like that. He was walking.

24 Q He wasn't being admitted to the hospital?

25 A I don't know.

60

1 Q You don't recall. That's okay.

2 MR. ASHFORD: Nanci, can we take a break?

3 It's been an hour and a half.

4 MS. MEEK: Yes, absolutely. Sure. For

5 what now?

6 MR. ASHFORD: I just said it's been about

7 an hour and a half.

8 MS. MEEK: Let's take a five-minute

9 break.

10 MR. ASHFORD: I suspect the court

11 reporter would like that.

12 (Brief recess.)

13 BY MS. MEEK:

14 Q Before I move on -- we're resuming.

15 Before I move on to several other items that came

16 up after dad passed away, quickly, I just want to

17 touch on who you did contact and who you didn't

18 contact while he was in the hospital, in and out of

19 the hospital, from the period of October 27th when

20 he was first discharged from the hospital to

21 October 19th when he passed away.

22 You -- it's correct to assume -- I mean,

23 you didn't contact me? You didn't call me --

24 A No.

25 Q -- to tell me he was in the hospital or

61

1 he was dying?

2 A Wes contacted you.

3 Q You didn't contact me because Wes

4 contacted me?

5 A Because I asked Wes to do that.

6 Q Oh, you asked Wes to contact me?

7 A Yes, and Melvin.

8 Q Okay. Did Melvin contact you?

9 A No, but I know he talked to Elvin when he

10 was at Straub Hospital.

11 Q Melvin didn't call you on your cellphone?

12 A I don't recall him calling me.

13 Q On the day that dad -- that Elvin passed

14 away which was in the evening, I recall or I

15 believe --

16 According to the death certificate, it

17 was in the evening?

18 A Yes.

19 Q Within an hour after he passed away, was

20 there a reason why you didn't call me or Melvin?

21 A I guess I asked Wes -- they were there.

22 I asked Wes to give you a call and Melvin.

23 Q Wes was at the hospital --

24 A Yes.

25 Q -- when dad passed away, and you asked

62

1 Wes to call me and to call Melvin that evening --

2 A Yes.

3 Q -- when he passed away?

4 Okay. Do you recall who you called right

5 after he died?

6 A No, I don't recall.

7 Q After dad passed away, do you recall when

8 you called Robert Jones?

9 A I did call Robert Jones, but I don't know

10 whether it was that day or the next day.

11 Q But approximately within that time frame?

12 A Yes.

13 Q Did you call Robert Jones while dad was

14 in the hospital?

15 A No.

16 Q Dad's funeral was on October 21st; is

17 that correct?

18 A No.

19 Q What day was his funeral?

20 A October 28th.

21 Q It was October 28th?

22 A Yeah.

23 Q And do you recall where the funeral was?

24 A St. Peter and Paul Church.

25 Q Within a couple of days after he passed

63

1 away, do you recall who of his friends you did

2 contact to let them know that he passed away?

3 A No.

4 Q Did Lola make those phone calls for you?

5 A I don't recall.

6 Q You don't recall. Well, I have a copy of

7 the phone records and the people that you did call

8 or Lola called. Bob and Helen Flores, do you

9 recall talking to them?

10 A No.

11 Q You don't recall speaking with them. Do

12 you recall speaking with Don and Debbie Hendren?

13 A No.

14 Q Do you recall speaking with Joyce and

15 Jerry Haney?

16 A No.

17 Q Do you recall calling Stan and Sharon

18 Lester?

19 A No.

20 Q Was there a reason why you didn't call

21 them?

22 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Assumes facts

23 not in evidence.

24 BY MS. MEEK:

25 Q Did you have a reason for not calling?

64

1 A No.

2 Q You just didn't call them?

3 A I just didn't have time.

4 Q Didn't have time?

5 A I didn't have a minute to call.

6 Q Would you consider yourself -- would it

7 be safe to say you were very much in mourning?

8 A I don't know. Could be.

9 Q Could be that you were in mourning? Do

10 you remember contacting -- calling Michael Gould

11 within a couple of days after Elvin passed away?

12 A I don't remember, but I think I did call.

13 Q You did call. According to the telephone

14 records, you did. Do you recall that conversation?

15 A I just let him know -- I just let him

16 know that he passed.

17 Q That he passed. Was it pretty much like

18 the phone call you made to Robert Jones, within the

19 same time frame?

20 A Could be. I don't recall.

21 Q You don't recall. Can you tell me who

22 Steve Newton and Antonia Newton are?

23 A Oh, okay. Antonia Newton is my cousin.

24 Q Do you keep in touch with her pretty

25 frequently?

65

1 A Once in a while.

2 Q Would you say you called her a lot while

3 dad was -- Elvin was in the hospital?

4 A No, not a lot.

5 Q No?

6 A No.

7 Q Were you close with Toni?

8 A Cousin.

9 Q Would you define your relationship as

10 you're very close?

11 A Cousin. Just regular cousins, yeah.

12 Q Had Steve Newton or Antonia ever met

13 Elvin?

14 A No.

15 Q While dad was -- while Elvin was in the

16 hospital during August, September and October,

17 there were several phone calls that were made to a

18 travel lodge in El Cajon. Do you know who you were

19 calling at that travel lodge? Do you recall?

20 A No.

21 Q You don't recall?

22 A No.

23 Q According to the phone records that we

24 obtained, you called a lot of people on your

25 cellphone and your personal phone and the house

66

1 phone, but you didn't call Melvin and you didn't

2 call myself and you didn't call Nicole?

3 A No, because I used Wes -- asked Wes to

4 give you a call and Melvin.

5 Q Was there some personal reason why you

6 didn't call us?

7 A Well, I just thought Wes would be the

8 right person to give you a call.

9 Q Did you not feel comfortable calling us?

10 A Well, not really, but I just wanted to

11 ask Wes to give you a call to break the news to

12 you.

13 Q I'm talking about when he was in the

14 hospital.

15 A Yeah, that too.

16 Q Okay. I have to submit as Exhibit 8 --

17 I'm admitting this document. It's called the Elvin

18 R. (sic) and Elizabeth Meek Living Trust, dated

19 January 10th, 1992, Certification of Trust, which

20 is executed on February 20th, 2004, Honolulu,

21 signed by Elizabeth Meek. It appears to be signed

22 by Elizabeth Meek and notarized at the Bank of

23 Hawaii, I believe. I'm sorry. I apologize.

24 Strike that. It doesn't say Bank of Hawaii. It

25 just says notarized in Honolulu.

67

1 Can you please take a look at that

2 document?

3 (Exhibit 8 is marked for identification.)

4 BY MS. MEEK:

5 Q Look at that and tell me who you recall

6 executed it, I mean, who drafted it. I apologize.

7 Does that document look familiar to you?

8 A Yes.

9 Q Is that your signature?

10 A This is my signature.

11 Q Okay. Educate me a little bit and tell

12 me to the best of your knowledge what was the

13 purpose of that document. And I'm sorry. Let me

14 backtrack.

15 First of all, who created this document?

16 A Robert Jones.

17 Q Robert Jones. Did he mail it to you or

18 fax it to you?

19 A He mailed it to me.

20 Q And what was the purpose of this

21 document?

22 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Document speaks

23 for itself. Calls for speculation.

24 MS. MEEK: I want to hear her

25 interpretation of what she thinks that document's

68

1 about.

2 MR. ASHFORD: You're entitled to ask your

3 questions, and I'm entitled to make my objections.

4 MS. MEEK: Sorry.

5 THE WITNESS: Can you repeat your

6 question?

7 BY MS. MEEK:

8 Q In your opinion, what is the purpose of

9 that document? Educate me. What's the purpose of

10 that document?

11 MR. ASHFORD: Same objections.

12 THE WITNESS: It's a certificate -- it's

13 a certification of a trust.

14 BY MS. MEEK:

15 Q For which trust?

16 A Dated January 1992.

17 Q And what's the purpose of that?

18 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Asked and

19 answered.

20 BY MS. MEEK:

21 Q Do you not understand what that document

22 is for?

23 A It's a certification of trust of Elvin R.

24 and Elizabeth A. Meek Living Trust, and the reason

25 why prepared -- made this for me was to do some

69

1 other transactions that are involved in the trust.

2 Q And that was signed in 2004, February

3 2004?

4 A 2004.

5 Q What were the transactions?

6 A I believe -- I'm not really quite sure,

7 but it was one of the transactions, but I don't

8 recall which one.

9 Q You don't recall?

10 A Yeah.

11 Q That's Exhibit No. 8. I'm going to

12 include this as Exhibit No. 9.

13 (Exhibit 9 is marked for identification.)

14 BY MS. MEEK:

15 Q Take a look at Exhibit No. 9.

16 A Okay.

17 Q And what does that look like to you?

18 A It's a check.

19 Q Made to?

20 A Elvin R. and Elizabeth A. on January 3,

21 Elvin R. and Elizabeth A. Meek Living Trust.

22 Q Was that made out to you?

23 A To the trust.

24 Q To the trust?

25 A Yeah.

70

1 Q And on the next down there, who signed

2 the back of it?

3 A I did.

4 Q And what account did you put that into?

5 A The trust.

6 Q Into the trust account?

7 A Yes.

8 Q And what's the amount on there?

9 A Let me see. 646,481.96.

10 Q 646,000?

11 A Yeah.

12 Q What was that for?

13 A What do you mean?

14 Q What was that for, the check?

15 A What?

16 Q What was the check for?

17 A For the trust.

18 Q But what was it for? How did you come to

19 have that check?

20 A Oh, it's from the Union -- Unionbancal

21 Corporation.

22 Q Which is what?

23 A From the stocks.

24 Q Stocks. Thank you. I want you to take a

25 look at this letter. It's a notification by

71

1 trustee from -- it's a letter that was sent to

2 myself and to Lola and to my brother Melvin, and it

3 is dated August 2nd, 2004, and it came from Robert

4 Jones. I just want for you to take a look at it

5 and tell me if you recall receiving a copy of that

6 letter.

7 MR. ASHFORD: Nanci, is this an exhibit

8 or no?

9 MS. MEEK: No exhibit.

10 THE WITNESS: Well, I really don't know

11 when I receive it because I don't recall.

12 BY MS. MEEK:

13 Q You don't receiving this letter?

14 A I don't recall.

15 Q Do you recall having a conversation with

16 Robert Jones about opening the trust -- opening the

17 probate in California?

18 A I don't know. I don't recall that.

19 Q Do you recall Robert Jones discussing

20 with you opening the probate in Arkansas?

21 A In Arkansas? I don't know. I just let

22 him handle the things in regard to that. So I

23 didn't recall that.

24 Q I'm submitting as Exhibit No. 10 a letter

25 written by myself to Elizabeth dated August 26,

72

1 2004. I wrote -- I admitted that I drafted the

2 letter. I did not sign it, however, but I'm the

3 one that did draft it. If you can take a look at

4 that.

5 (Exhibit 10 is marked

6 for identification.)

7 BY MS. MEEK:

8 Q Do recall receiving that letter?

9 A Yeah.

10 Q To the best of your recollection, do you

11 recall why you didn't respond to that letter?

12 A I just thought that Grigger, Robert

13 Jones, would be the right person.

14 Q Did you misinterpret the letter? Did you

15 not understand that we were trying to see that you

16 were okay; we wanted to know you were all right?

17 A Well, I --

18 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Assumes facts

19 not in evidence.

20 BY MS. MEEK:

21 Q Well, I will tell you right now that was

22 the purpose of that letter. We just wanted to know

23 you were all right. We were trying to get ahold of

24 you for the longest time, and that was -- that's

25 the reason why we sent that letter.

73

1 A Well, after the way you defaming me on

2 internet, Nanci, there's no way I would have talked

3 to you.

4 Q There was no defaming on the internet,

5 not when this letter was going on.

6 A Oh, yeah. Those things that you were

7 sending me --

8 Q This was way before --

9 A No. This is after those things in the

10 internet.

11 Q I have to disagree with you. This was

12 way before that.

13 A I have to disagree with you too.

14 Q Okay. This was before that. This is a

15 letter that we received shortly thereafter from

16 Robert Jones. I'm not going to submit it as

17 evidence because -- yeah. I will submit it as

18 evidence. This is Exhibit No. 11.

19 (Exhibit 11 is marked

20 for identification.)

21 BY MS. MEEK:

22 Q Are you familiar with that letter?

23 A Yeah.

24 Q Do you have anything to say about it?

25 A No.

74

1 Q Any opinions or anything?

2 A No.

3 Q No. Okay. Do you know what the -- here

4 it mentions a variety of reasons that Elizabeth has

5 chosen not to correspond with us at this time. Do

6 you know what those were?

7 A Well, you left a lot of messages on my

8 answering machine. So you know what you told me.

9 Q I do recall what I told you.

10 A Okay.

11 Q But it was not anything that was bad.

12 A Oh, yeah. It was bad.

13 Q What about Melvin?

14 A I didn't hear from Melvin.

15 Q So you didn't hear from Melvin; yet, this

16 letter is addressed to myself and Melvin?

17 A Well, Robert Jones is handling the

18 estate. So go ahead and ask any questions from

19 him, not me.

20 Q Did you ask Robert Jones to write this

21 letter?

22 A Yes.

23 Q You did?

24 A Yeah.

25 Q At any time did Robert Jones suggest to

75

1 you contacting myself or Melvin as far as selling

2 any of dad's properties?

3 A No.

4 Q He did not?

5 A No.

6 Q He never made that suggestion?

7 A No. I just let him handle everything.

8 Q Would you say he kept you informed about

9 the sale of all the properties, of the Rialto

10 property, the Arkansas property?

11 A Yeah.

12 Q Did he keep you up to speed with all

13 that?

14 A Yeah.

15 Q At any time did you think that Robert

16 Jones was trying to dissolve properties a little

17 bit quicker than normal, or did you think that that

18 was -- that was the normal course of events to sell

19 property without telling the children? Did that

20 seem like it was normal to you?

21 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague and

22 compound.

23 BY MS. MEEK:

24 Q Did you ever question why he didn't

25 contact us -- contact myself or Melvin to tell us

76

1 he was selling properties?

2 A No.

3 Q Did you ever question that?

4 A No.

5 Q I am handing to Elizabeth a copy of the

6 Second Amended Petition for Reformation of Trust

7 Agreement. It was -- this was something that was

8 prepared before we went to court and the date on

9 it, the hearing date was 3-15-05. I just wanted to

10 put this in front of you and have you take a look

11 at it to refresh your memory. Did you have a

12 chance to review that document?

13 A Yeah. I looked through it.

14 Q Do you remember when that hearing was in

15 August, I mean -- I'm sorry -- in March of --

16 A March 15, '05.

17 Q -- '05?

18 A Yeah.

19 Q Were you present at that hearing?

20 A No, I wasn't.

21 Q Where were you, do you recall?

22 A I was here in Hawaii.

23 Q You were here in Hawaii?

24 A Uh-huh.

25 Q Do you understand what that document --

77

1 the purpose of that document is?

2 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Calls for

3 speculation.

4 BY MS. MEEK:

5 Q Can you tell me in just a few paragraphs?

6 A Well, Grigger -- I just let Grigger do

7 that.

8 Q So you just let Grigger Jones -- I'm

9 sorry.

10 So, in other words, the Second Amended

11 Petition for Reformation of the Trust Agreement,

12 you just let Grigger Jones prepare it, and he just

13 told you over the phone not to worry, "I'll handle

14 everything. You don't need to really read

15 everything and understand everything"? Is that

16 what you're telling me?

17 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Assumes facts

18 not in evidence.

19 THE WITNESS: Well, he briefed me on the

20 petition for reformation of trust. He briefed me

21 on it.

22 BY MS. MEEK:

23 Q He did?

24 A Yeah.

25 Q Can you brief me on it?

78

1 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague.

2 BY MS. MEEK:

3 Q Well, just in a couple of sentences, just

4 tell me if you had to define what that document

5 says in a nutshell.

6 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Calls for

7 speculation and opinion. Document speaks for

8 itself.

9 MS. MEEK: I just want to make sure she

10 understands what the document's about.

11 THE WITNESS: Well, it says right here.

12 MR. ASHFORD: I repeat my objections.

13 BY MS. MEEK:

14 Q I know what it says. I know what it

15 says, but do you understand what it means?

16 A No. It's the reason why I used Grigger

17 Jones.

18 Q I am not submitting this as evidence, but

19 I'm going to refresh your memory. I want you to

20 just take a look at this document quickly. It's

21 the Declaration of Elizabeth Meek Trustee and

22 Support of Reformation of Trust, dated 11-9-2004

23 was the hearing. It's signed by Elizabeth October

24 22nd, 2004, in Atascadero, California, October

25 22nd. Please take a look at this, Elizabeth. Do

79

1 you recall executing that document?

2 A Yeah. I signed this document.

3 Q Do you recall being in Atascadero when

4 you signed it?

5 A I don't recall that.

6 Q But that is your signature?

7 A Yeah. That is my signature.

8 Q Okay. Thank you. I'm going to admit

9 this as Exhibit No. 12. If you could just take a

10 look at this, this was a bill that was sent to me

11 from Diversified Collection Services sent to my

12 address. It's addressed to Elizabeth A. Reklai,

13 but it came to my address. Just quickly, could you

14 take a look at that?

15 A I wondered how did they get your address.

16 Q I don't know.

17 A Because you already asked them to send

18 everything in my name to your address.

19 Q No, no. I don't know about that.

20 A That's what happened, Nanci.

21 Q That's a collection bill and that was

22 for --

23 A My school education. My student loan.

24 Q So I guess they had a hard time getting

25 ahold of you, but you've taken care of it since

80

1 then; correct?

2 A (Witness nods.)

3 Q Have you taken care of it?

4 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Why is this

5 relevant, Nanci?

6 MS. MEEK: Because it came up before.

7 Because it came to my address. The relevancy here

8 is to show that it came to my address and I don't

9 know why.

10 MR. ASHFORD: Hang on. And how does that

11 tend to prove or disprove the validity of the trust

12 amendment?

13 MS. MEEK: Well, it doesn't really do

14 anything. So if you want, we'll just strike it.

15 We won't use it.

16 MR. ASHFORD: I'm kind of baffled.

17 MS. MEEK: It was in my stack of things.

18 So moving on, here is another affidavit that

19 I'm -- Affidavit of Elizabeth Meek regarding a

20 hearing dated January 6, 2006. It was prepared by

21 the Bank of Hawaii. It was executed by Elizabeth

22 on November 15th, 2005. If you could just take a

23 look at this and make sure that this is --

24 Do you recall this document? Make sure

25 everything in there is correct.

81

1 MR. ASHFORD: So what is your question to

2 her?

3 MS. MEEK: Is everything in there

4 correct?

5 MR. ASHFORD: Okay. So you need to go

6 through every paragraph and decide if you think

7 everyone of the paragraphs is incorrect or correct

8 or not if you know.

9 BY MS. MEEK:

10 Q Is everything in this document true and

11 correct?

12 A Yeah.

13 Q Thank you. Just a couple more. Okay.

14 Here's one. This is a Petition for Reformation of

15 Trust Agreement with the hearing date 9-21-04

16 signed by Elizabeth Meek on the 12th of August

17 2004. Would you take a look at that document real

18 quickly? Can you tell me if everything in there is

19 correct?

20 MR. ASHFORD: Let me look at that last

21 page for a second.

22 Nanci, just for clarification, do you

23 want her to look at the one, two, three pages of

24 text at the beginning, or do you want her to also

25 look at the last three pages called Attachment to

82

1 Petition?

2 MS. MEEK: No. The Attachment to

3 Petition is not necessary. Just we already know

4 what the QDOT provision is.

5 Q (By Ms. Meek) Do you understand what the

6 QDOT provision is?

7 A Yes.

8 Q You do? Can you define it for me?

9 A Well, actually, if you're not a citizen,

10 you have to be -- you have to find somebody to

11 pay -- you know, if you're not a U.S. citizen, then

12 somebody who is a U.S. agency, bank or person can

13 sell those -- can sell an asset. So in a way, it

14 was any tax consequences on any assets get sold by

15 a non-U.S. citizen.

16 Q Okay. So having said that, now I'm up to

17 speed. You've clarified that very well. Very

18 well. Did Robert Jones ever suggest to you to use

19 Lola, since Lola was an American citizen, to help

20 you sell properties?

21 A Say that again.

22 Q Did Robert Jones ever sell to you having

23 Lola help you sell properties?

24 A No.

25 Q Why is that?

83

1 MR. ASHFORD: Objection.

2 THE WITNESS: I don't know.

3 MR. ASHFORD: Calls for speculation.

4 BY MS. MEEK:

5 Q You don't know?

6 A Yeah.

7 Q She's an American citizen.

8 A Who?

9 Q Lola.

10 A I don't know.

11 Q And he never -- I know -- did he ever

12 make the suggestion to have myself or Melvin help

13 you sell properties?

14 A I don't know.

15 Q You don't know or he just never suggested

16 it to you? Do you recall him making the

17 suggestion?

18 A I don't know.

19 Q You don't know if he made the suggestion?

20 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Asked and

21 answered.

22 BY MS. MEEK:

23 Q So, in other words, you don't recall him

24 making the suggestion?

25 A I don't know.

84

1 MR. ASHFORD: Same.

2 BY MS. MEEK:

3 Q Did the subject ever come up?

4 A No.

5 Q No, never came up. So then you don't --

6 okay. So you do know. It never came up. And you

7 still don't recall when your citizenship was

8 finalized?

9 A No, but it was in 2005.

10 Q 2005?

11 A I don't know the month, but the year is

12 2005.

13 Q Do you think it was before the summer, do

14 you recall?

15 A I don't know. I don't recall. Yeah.

16 Uh-huh.

17 Q Okay. Do you recall -- Elvin being an

18 accountant, do you recall him discussing ways to

19 adapt the trust to be more --

20 What's the word I'm going to use?

21 -- beneficial with the IRS, in other

22 words?

23 A No.

24 Q You don't recall him having those

25 conversations?

85

1 A No.

2 Q Do you recall Elvin conversing with

3 Michael Gould over certain avenues that he could

4 take with his estate that would help cut down on

5 estate tax?

6 A No.

7 Q Do you recall having those conversations

8 with Michael Gould regarding what you could do to

9 avoid paying estate tax?

10 A No.

11 Q Did you have those conversations with

12 Robert Jones regarding avenues that you could take

13 to avoid, such as are included in here, to avoid

14 having to pay tax on the estate? He didn't discuss

15 that with you?

16 A I don't recall.

17 Q Oh, you don't recall him discussing it

18 with you. Okay.

19 Do you want to take a lunch break?

20 MR. ASHFORD: It depends how much time

21 you're going to be.

22 MS. MEEK: I'm going to say maybe an hour

23 and a half at the most.

24 MR. ASHFORD: Okay. My suggestion would

25 be that we just take a break now and come back for

86

1 one final session, so to speak, and then we'll save

2 a lot of time, and the court reporter doesn't get

3 paid by the hour. So she'd probably rather finish

4 up sooner rather than later.

5 MS. MEEK: Sure.

6 (Brief recess.)

7 BY MS. MEEK:

8 Q This is two, three, four, five, five

9 pages out of the accounting that was done for the

10 estate by East-West Wealth Management, and it

11 covers the period October 19th through December

12 31st 2003. I've highlighted a couple of things for

13 you to look at, and the dates on these transactions

14 were 10-19-2003. Now I'm handing it over to

15 Elizabeth to review. I would like to submit that

16 as Exhibit 12.

17 (Exhibit 12 is marked

18 for identification.)

19 BY MS. MEEK:

20 Q Elizabeth, we're putting that down as

21 Exhibit No. 12. We're recording that as Exhibit

22 No. 12.

23 A Uh-huh.

24 Q Can you tell me what those deposits were?

25 A You know, I don't even remember.

87

1 Q You don't recall?

2 A No, I don't recall.

3 Q You don't recall?

4 A Uh-huh.

5 Q 10-19-2003, that was the day dad passed

6 away. You don't recall --

7 A I don't recall.

8 Q -- making those transactions?

9 A Yeah. Uh-huh.

10 Q Do you recall Robert Jones advising you

11 on making any bank transactions or any financial

12 transactions at that time?

13 A No. No.

14 Q He did not advise you to --

15 A No.

16 Q -- remove any accounts or take any money

17 out of accounts?

18 A No, no.

19 Q So looking at this, the total of the

20 accounts when you add them up, total of the -- I

21 believe it comes to 182,000. Does that sound about

22 right to you?

23 A I don't know.

24 Q You don't know?

25 A I don't know.

88

1 Q And you don't recall what those

2 transactions were for?

3 A Yes, uh-huh.

4 Q On two, three, four -- on the fourth page

5 at the top -- I apologize if I'm not --

6 A Fourth --

7 Q Just the fourth page at the top, yeah.

8 At the very top where it says, "Check, Waipuna,

9 Transfer, reimburse funeral expense, 1,719."

10 MR. ASHFORD: Hang on one second. We

11 might be on the wrong page.

12 MS. MEEK: Oh, I'm sorry. I apologize.

13 One, two, three, four.

14 MR. ASHFORD: So where are you looking?

15 MS. MEEK: Page 4 at the top where it

16 says "reimburse funeral expense."

17 MR. ASHFORD: Oh, we thought you were

18 talking about the portion you had highlighted.

19 MS. MEEK: No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I

20 didn't highlight that. I apologize.

21 Q (By Ms. Meek) It says, "reimburse funeral

22 expense, 1,719." Can you tell me what that was

23 for?

24 A This, I think, is for the crematorium

25 services.

89

1 Q For Ultimate Crematorium?

2 A Yes.

3 Q Was that a reimbursement to you or how

4 exactly is that transaction reflected?

5 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Calls for

6 speculation.

7 MS. MEEK: Well, I'm a beneficiary. So I

8 would really like to know.

9 MR. ASHFORD: My point is Elizabeth

10 didn't prepare this. So I think you're asking the

11 wrong person. That's what my objection is.

12 MS. MEEK: Okay.

13 MR. ASHFORD: Calls for speculation.

14 Because you said, "How was this prepared?" She

15 didn't prepare this.

16 BY MS. MEEK:

17 Q No. But did you have a chance to review

18 the accounting?

19 A What do you mean accounting?

20 Q The one that came out in 2007, the

21 accounting that East-West Wealth Management

22 prepared for you from Francis Lui-Kwan.

23 A That was 2007. Today's 2010.

24 Q No. This came out -- was prepared in

25 2007. We asked for an accounting as early as 2004,

90

1 but it wasn't until 2007 that we were actually

2 provided with an accounting which covered several

3 years. And the date on those particular pages

4 reflect the transactions that were done from

5 October 19 through December 31st, 2003. And the

6 one at the top, I just wanted to know, the 1,719,

7 that was for the funeral expense?

8 A For the cremation services.

9 Q Correct. If you go down one more line,

10 it says, "Deposit 10-19-2003, Elizabeth Meek,

11 account opening, payable to Elizabeth Meek

12 $60,453.60." Can you recall what that was for?

13 A No.

14 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Asked and

15 answered.

16 THE WITNESS: I cannot recall.

17 BY MS. MEEK:

18 Q You cannot recall?

19 A Yeah.

20 Q Wow.

21 A Yeah.

22 Q You don't recall making that transaction?

23 A No.

24 Q That's a pretty heavy-duty transaction to

25 make, $60,000.

91

1 A Oh, this is -- you're going to have to

2 give some area on all or every transaction that has

3 been accumulated that year.

4 Q Can you explain that to me? What was

5 that for that deposit?

6 A I don't know.

7 Q It says account opening. You don't

8 recall going to the bank and taking money out and

9 putting it into a separate account?

10 A It could have been the balance forwarded

11 or something like that for that account. It cannot

12 be a deposit made on that day. It could have been

13 forwarded account for that certain account, for

14 that particular account.

15 Q Can you explain that to me?

16 MR. ASHFORD: Nanci, if you want, I'll

17 try to get a letter from Francis Lui-Kwan

18 explaining that.

19 MS. MEEK: That would be wonderful. I

20 would really appreciate that. Thank you. Would it

21 be possible to get a letter from her explaining

22 everything that's in the accounting?

23 MR. ASHFORD: I won't volunteer that.

24 It's a lengthy accounting.

25 MS. MEEK: Well, it is.

92

1 MR. ASHFORD: Sincerely, you've

2 identified a question and I understand your

3 question. I think Elizabeth is trying to

4 articulate it, but I think I know the answer as

5 well and I think I can get a letter to that effect

6 for you.

7 MS. MEEK: Specifically on that date?

8 MR. ASHFORD: Yeah.

9 MS. MEEK: On the 19th? On the day that

10 he passed away?

11 MR. ASHFORD: Right.

12 MS. MEEK: Okay.

13 MR. ASHFORD: And, fundamentally, it

14 comes down to that's the date of death from which

15 he started things. So that's --

16 THE WITNESS: The date of death.

17 MS. MEEK: Okay. Sure. And also too if

18 you could ask her about the second page.

19 MR. ASHFORD: I don't know. I don't have

20 a copy of it.

21 MS. MEEK: The one for 42,000.

22 MR. ASHFORD: This is another October

23 19th, I assume?

24 MS. MEEK: Yes.

25 MR. ASHFORD: Sure.

93

1 MS. MEEK: The one that says, "Payable to

2 Elizabeth Meek."

3 MR. ASHFORD: Right.

4 If I may, can I just make a copy of that?

5 MS. MEEK: Sure.

6 MR. ASHFORD: In fact, I think you were

7 identifying that as an exhibit. So you don't want

8 to put that in your briefcase there.

9 MS. MEEK: Oh, make a copy. I'm sorry.

10 Thank you.

11 MR. ASHFORD: This is the same thing?

12 MS. MEEK: Same thing. Same thing.

13 MR. ASHFORD: We'll go off the record for

14 a moment.

15 MS. MEEK: Off the record.

16 (Brief pause in the proceedings.)

17 BY MS. MEEK:

18 Q Back on the record quickly.

19 Elizabeth, this is an Endorsement for

20 Change with Allianz Annuity which were annuities

21 that you had changed apparently from the primary

22 owner being Elizabeth Meek and then with the

23 beneficiary being -- primary beneficiary as Lola

24 Meek and contingent beneficiary estate of Elizabeth

25 A. Meek. There are three annuities and

94

1 endorsements for change. I want you to take a look

2 at that.

3 A How did you get this?

4 Q I contacted them and asked them for a

5 copy.

6 A This is private.

7 Q The life insurance, that wasn't part of

8 the trust?

9 A Huh?

10 Q That wasn't part of the 1996 trust?

11 A I don't know.

12 Q You don't know?

13 A Okay.

14 Q Okay. I'll submit this as Exhibit

15 No. 13.

16 (Exhibit 13 is marked

17 for identification.)

18 BY MS. MEEK:

19 Q Do you recall making those changes?

20 A Yes.

21 Q Was that on your own? Was that with any

22 counseling from Robert Jones that you made those

23 changes?

24 A No. On my own.

25 Q On your own you made those changes?

95

1 A They wrote the letter to me. So I had to

2 do it. I made them do it.

3 Q And that was from Sanford Norian?

4 A Yes.

5 Q And these were annuities that were

6 started by Elvin --

7 A Yes.

8 Q -- that were placed in your name?

9 A Yes.

10 Q And according to what Sanford Norian has

11 provided me, and correct me if I'm wrong, but

12 before dad died, he was quite specific, and in the

13 event that something were to happen to him, he

14 wanted it divided up a third and a third and a

15 third amongst myself, Melvin and Lola; is that

16 correct?

17 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague and

18 ambiguous.

19 BY MS. MEEK:

20 Q It's not vague and ambiguous. I had a

21 conversation with Sanford, and he pretty much

22 explained it to me, and I do have the documentation

23 that I can provide for the court.

24 But I'm just asking do you recall that

25 that's the way the distribution was?

96

1 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague and

2 ambiguous.

3 BY MS. MEEK:

4 Q Do you recall what the distribution was?

5 MR. ASHFORD: Same objection.

6 THE WITNESS: I was the primary

7 beneficiary.

8 BY MS. MEEK:

9 Q Absolutely, yes, you were. I will not

10 argue that. Absolutely, you were. Again, I will

11 not argue that.

12 Prior to his passing away, who were the

13 beneficiaries in the event of your death, do you

14 recall?

15 A No.

16 Q You don't recall?

17 A No.

18 Q If you don't recall, then what were the

19 changes that you made?

20 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. The document

21 speaks for itself.

22 MS. MEEK: Well, I just want to know what

23 the changes were.

24 MR. ASHFORD: Are you referring to

25 something that's on the document?

97

1 MS. MEEK: Yes.

2 MR. ASHFORD: That's why I make my

3 objection.

4 MS. MEEK: Right.

5 MR. ASHFORD: Right.

6 BY MS. MEEK:

7 Q Who were the beneficiaries prior to your

8 change, do you recall?

9 MR. ASHFORD: Same objection.

10 BY MS. MEEK:

11 Q Do you recall or do you just not want to

12 say?

13 Okay. We'll move on. Quickly, I am

14 submitting as Exhibit No. 14 a Power of Attorney

15 and Declaration of Representative that is in

16 response to -- I'm sorry -- is from Jane Peebles.

17 Elizabeth A. Meek, Trustee of the Estate of Elvin

18 R. Meek, Elvin R. Meek Family Trust. This is

19 signed by Elizabeth. It's tax form 2848 signed by

20 Elizabeth on 3-12-07 and also signed by Jane

21 Peebles on 3-8-07.

22 If you can take a look at that, please,

23 Elizabeth. Do you recall signing that document?

24 A Yes.

25 (Exhibit 14 is marked

98

1 for identification.)

2 BY MS. MEEK:

3 Q Briefly, can you tell me what that was

4 for?

5 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Calls for

6 speculation and opinion. Document speaks for

7 itself.

8 BY MS. MEEK:

9 Q In your opinion, what is it for?

10 MR. ASHFORD: Same.

11 THE WITNESS: It's a Power of Attorney

12 and Declaration of Representative.

13 BY MS. MEEK:

14 Q That's what it says, but what is it --

15 can you elaborate a little bit? If I were a lay

16 person and I needed this document, why would I need

17 this document?

18 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Calls for

19 opinion.

20 MS. MEEK: I just want to see if she

21 knows what it's for.

22 MR. ASHFORD: Then you probably ought to

23 talk to an attorney. That's the basis for my

24 objection.

25 BY MS. MEEK:

99

1 Q So, in other words, you can't tell me off

2 the top of your head what this is for?

3 A Well, I authorized Jane Peebles to

4 represent me as her (sic) attorney.

5 Q And who is Jane Peebles?

6 A It was the IRS attorney representing the

7 estate.

8 Q She was the IRS attorney?

9 A Uh-huh.

10 Q Do you recall the name of the firm she

11 was with?

12 A I think he (sic) was with Bingham, but

13 now he's (sic) the sole practitioner.

14 Q Jane Peebles?

15 A Yeah.

16 Q She's a sole practitioner?

17 A Yeah. She was out of the Bingham's law

18 firm and then she established herself.

19 Q Do you recall writing a check to their

20 law firm for payment for services rendered?

21 A I think I did, but it's been --

22 Q Do you recall the amount of that check?

23 A No, I don't.

24 Q I recall. I believe it was 45,000. Is

25 that a ballpark figure?

100

1 A It could be.

2 Q Does that sound about right to you?

3 A It could be.

4 Q That sounds about right to you. Okay.

5 And Jane Peebles became your

6 representative for what reason?

7 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Asked and

8 answered.

9 THE WITNESS: For what reason?

10 BY MS. MEEK:

11 Q Correct.

12 A I think estate got audited by IRS.

13 Q Why was the estate audited, do you know?

14 A I really don't have any idea.

15 Q You don't know why the estate was

16 audited?

17 A I don't know.

18 Q Just for the record, I'm not going to

19 submit this as evidence, but I do want you to take

20 a look at it. This is a pleading, a notice of

21 hearing and a pleading -- petition, I'm sorry, that

22 was filed by Bingham and McCutchen by Jane Peebles

23 with the Superior Court in the County of San Luis

24 Obispo. I want for you to take a look at it if you

25 could. It's dated April 10th, -- the hearing was

101

1 April 10th, 2007. It is signed by Jane Peebles on

2 February 16th, 2007, and it is called the "Petition

3 for Order Clarifying Prior Order and Judgment on

4 Second Amended Petition for Reformation of Trust

5 Agreement Confirming Relationship Between 1992 and

6 1996 Trust and Instructing Petitioner Regarding

7 Sale of Real Property."

8 Could you take a look at that, please,

9 for me. Do you recall seeing that document?

10 MR. ASHFORD: Do you want her to look

11 through the whole thing before she answers or not?

12 She's gone through a portion of it.

13 MS. MEEK: I'm just asking off the top of

14 her head if she remembers reviewing it and seeing

15 it.

16 THE WITNESS: I remember, yes.

17 BY MS. MEEK:

18 Q Huh?

19 A I remember seeing that.

20 Q You remember seeing that. Do you recall

21 that the dates are correct on that, February 16th,

22 2007?

23 A February?

24 Q February 16th 2007.

25 MR. ASHFORD: She's asking the day it was

102

1 signed, not the file date.

2 THE WITNESS: I didn't sign it.

3 BY MS. MEEK:

4 Q No, you didn't sign it.

5 A I didn't.

6 Q No. I know you didn't. I'm just asking

7 if you recall the document.

8 MR. ASHFORD: No, that's not what you

9 asked her.

10 BY MS. MEEK:

11 Q I'm sorry. Do you recall --

12 What did I say?

13 MR. ASHFORD: You asked if she could

14 confirm the date of signature, but the signature is

15 someone else's.

16 BY MS. MEEK:

17 Q I know. I'm sorry. I apologize for

18 that.

19 The hearing date was April 10th, 2007?

20 Is that what it says there? Is that correct?

21 A Yeah.

22 Q Do you recall the hearing?

23 A Huh?

24 Q Do you recall when they had this hearing?

25 A On April 10, 2007.

103

1 Q Do you recall what it was about?

2 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Form.

3 BY MS. MEEK:

4 Q If you don't recall, it's okay if you

5 don't recall the reason why they went to court. I

6 just wanted to know if you knew why, what the

7 purpose of that document was.

8 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. You're changing

9 your questions and you're not -- you're confusing

10 your question. You're mischaracterizing your

11 question in your statement. That's my objection.

12 BY MS. MEEK:

13 Q Do you understand why -- can you tell me

14 why Jane Peebles went to San Luis Obispo, went to

15 the court in San Luis Obispo?

16 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague.

17 THE WITNESS: No.

18 BY MS. MEEK:

19 Q No, you can't tell me.

20 Do you recall receiving this document?

21 A Yes.

22 Q Can you tell me in your words why it took

23 four years for an audit -- I mean, for a tax return

24 to be filed on the estate?

25 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Calls for

104

1 speculation.

2 BY MS. MEEK:

3 Q Do you know -- do you have an opinion on

4 that? Do you know what the holdup was?

5 MR. ASHFORD: Same.

6 THE WITNESS: Well, I thought they

7 were already filed. I don't really remember.

8 BY MS. MEEK:

9 Q What were you told?

10 A I thought every time when I send

11 everything to Michael, you know, he had filed them

12 already.

13 Q So you thought that during that four

14 years -- am I to understand that you thought during

15 those four years, Michael Gould had actually filed

16 the tax return every year --

17 A Yeah.

18 Q -- had been filing the tax return?

19 A (Witness nods.)

20 Q Do you know why he hadn't filed that tax

21 return?

22 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Compound.

23 BY MS. MEEK:

24 Q Well, did your attorney ever explain to

25 you why it took four years?

105

1 A I don't know. That's the reason why I

2 had Grigger -- had Grigger and Mike Gould work

3 together to put the tax returns together.

4 Q Did you ever sign any of those tax

5 returns?

6 A For my personal taxes filing, yes, I did.

7 Q You did for your personal taxes?

8 A Yeah, but not for the estate.

9 Q But you were under the impression -- just

10 so I'm clear, you were under the impression that

11 for four years prior to the audit being performed,

12 the tax returns were actually being prepared and

13 filed --

14 A Uh-huh.

15 Q -- by Michael Gould?

16 A (Witness nods.)

17 Q How did you react when you found out that

18 they hadn't been filed and that there was going to

19 be a tax audit? What was your reaction? Were you

20 upset?

21 A Well, they were in the process of doing

22 them. So I just thought it would gradually get

23 done.

24 Q This is going to be Exhibit No. 15. This

25 is a letter dated February 22nd, 2007, and it's

106

1 addressed to you and it's from the IRS. It looks

2 to me like it's --

3 It says, "The Federal estate tax return

4 indicated above has been assigned to me for

5 examination, and we are writing to you pursuant to

6 your authorization to act as the estate

7 representative before the IRS. Please provide the

8 following by March 12th, 2007," and then there's a

9 list of items that they need copies of all

10 fiduciary income tax returns, copies of documents

11 to explain why they hadn't been filed, et cetera,

12 et cetera, et cetera. It's a three-page document

13 signed by Megan Abrishami, Attorney, Estate Tax.

14 If you could take a look at that. Do you recall

15 receiving that letter, Elizabeth?

16 A Well, I may have, but I just -- it's been

17 a while. So I don't really --

18 (Exhibit 15 is marked

19 for identification.)

20 BY MS. MEEK:

21 Q Do you recall when you received this --

22 You don't recall receiving this letter?

23 A I may have.

24 Q You do?

25 A Yeah. That's 2007. So I may have

107

1 received it. It's probably in the file, my file.

2 Q But you don't recall then what you did

3 right after you received this letter? Did you call

4 Robert Jones or Michael Gould? Pretty powerful

5 letter.

6 A Yeah. I think I did call Michael Gould,

7 and they did get in touch with Jane Peebles.

8 Q Who contacted Jane Peebles?

9 A I think I did call Michael.

10 Q You called Michael Gould?

11 A Yeah. Uh-huh.

12 Q Okay. And Jane Peebles, was Jane Peebles

13 the attorney for the estate or was she the attorney

14 for Bank of Hawaii?

15 A I really -- yeah, I don't recall.

16 Q You don't recall.

17 Okay. This is being put in as Exhibit

18 No. 16. I'm almost done.

19 (Exhibit 16 is marked

20 for identification.)

21 BY MS. MEEK:

22 Quickly, this is Exhibit No. 16. This is

23 a letter from Jane Peebles to Ms. Abrishami

24 regarding the estate of Elvin R. Meek. It is dated

25 April 27th, 2007.

108

1 The way I interpret this letter, it is a

2 response to the letter that was sent to you from

3 the IRS. It is CC'd to Elizabeth Meek, Penny Tong,

4 who I understand is with the Bank of Hawaii, the

5 law firm that handles the Bank of Hawaii, Michael

6 Gould, the CPA, and Robert Jones, and it is dated

7 April 27, 2007.

8 Quickly, take a look at it. Do you

9 recall getting that letter to the best of your

10 knowledge, a copy of that letter?

11 A Yes. It's in my file.

12 MS. MEEK: Okay. I'm going to submit as

13 evidence as an exhibit if it's okay. This is a

14 several paged document. I don't know if this is

15 okay with you, Mr. Ashford, but it's basically a

16 Schedule M from the estate tax return form 706 with

17 these two attachments. Do you want me to submit it

18 all as one document? Take a look at it and let me

19 know.

20 MR. ASHFORD: I don't really care if you

21 do it as one, two or three. My only concern is

22 that, you know, the tax return information is

23 really kind of confidential information, and my

24 concern is about this getting out into the public

25 realm because other documents have already, but I'm

109

1 not going to tell you --

2 MS. MEEK: Well, this document is not

3 going to get into the public realm. It's just

4 within us for the purposes of the evidentiary

5 hearing. But is it okay if I submit it all as one

6 document?

7 MR. ASHFORD: Let me respond to your

8 statement. That's the hope, but court records are

9 public documents.

10 MS. MEEK: Oh, I see.

11 MR. ASHFORD: But as to whether you treat

12 that now or at the hearing as one, two or three

13 documents, I really have no preference on that.

14 MS. MEEK: Well, I'll tell you we'll go

15 ahead and submit it anyway. We'll submit it as

16 three different exhibits. The first one is the

17 Schedule M Bequests to Surviving Spouse. This is

18 part of the tax audit, tax return that was prepared

19 by Michael Gould.

20 My purpose for bringing it in as evidence

21 is specifically a page in here where it mentions

22 that there is no estate tax, no death tax and no

23 skipping tax. I just wanted it on the record. So

24 I also want Elizabeth to take a look at it. So

25 let's make this Exhibit 17.

110

1 MR. ASHFORD: If you want, Nanci, you can

2 read portions in, and I'll stipulate, if I can read

3 along with you, that you read them correctly if you

4 want to do it that way.

5 MS. MEEK: That's fine with me.

6 MR. ASHFORD: I don't know what portions

7 you want to read in, though. You identified

8 something generally that you wanted --

9 MS. MEEK: Basically, I wanted Elizabeth

10 to take a look at it and make sure that she had a

11 chance to review it. And if she --

12 Q (By Ms. Meek) Do you recall -- I just

13 want to know after you review it if you recall

14 receiving this from Michael Gould, and if there was

15 anything in there --

16 On the second page, it's signed by you.

17 Is it says 4-25-07. I just want to make sure that

18 that is your signature.

19 MR. ASHFORD: So, Elizabeth, I think

20 there are two questions. One is whether you're

21 able to confirm your signature on whatever page

22 Nanci mentioned,

23 MS. MEEK: Page 3. The third page down.

24 MR. ASHFORD: So the question is whether

25 you can say that that's your signature. And then a

111

1 second question is, I believe, do you remember

2 receiving this whole document from Michael Gould?

3 MS. MEEK: Correct.

4 THE WITNESS: Okay. This is my signature

5 right here, 4-25-07.

6 MR. ASHFORD: And then the next question

7 is you answered --

8 Keep that in order. That's all right. I

9 think it goes here.

10 The next question is whether you recall

11 receiving this document from Michael Gould.

12 MS. MEEK: No. Let me retract that. I'm

13 not asking if she recalls receiving it.

14 Q (By Ms. Meek) To the best of your

15 knowledge, did you review it before you signed it?

16 A Yes.

17 Q You did. Okay.

18 MR. ASHFORD: So you're putting that into

19 the record as an exhibit?

20 MS. MEEK: Correct.

21 MR. ASHFORD: Okay.

22 (Exhibit 17 is marked

23 for identification.)

24 MS. MEEK: Okay. And then the Exhibit

25 No. 18 is going to be this document here which is

112

1 part of this. It's called Form 706, and it's just

2 a supplemental Schedule A for the real estate as

3 was valued with the tax return. Do you want to

4 take a look at that, Elizabeth, and tell me if

5 that's correct?

6 MR. ASHFORD: What is your question?

7 Sorry.

8 MS. MEEK: I just want to make sure she

9 takes a look at it.

10 Because it was part of this that you

11 signed. I just want to make sure you have a chance

12 to look at that before I submit it as the exhibit.

13 (Exhibit 18 is marked

14 for identification.)

15 BY MS. MEEK:

16 Q Okay. This was a letter that was

17 provided to me -- sent to me from the Bank of

18 Hawaii, dated May 22nd, 2007. Basically, what it

19 says is it's addressed to Elizabeth Meek, Melvin

20 Meek, Lola Meek and Nanci Meek, and it just says,

21 "Ladies and Gentlemen, Bank of Hawaii hereby

22 advises you of its resignation as cotrustee of the

23 qualified domestic trust established under the

24 trust, the QDOT." And, essentially, what it is is

25 they are letting us know that they are going to be

113

1 withdrawing as cotrustee. If you could take a look

2 at that letter.

3 Elizabeth, do you recall receiving a copy

4 of that letter?

5 A Yes.

6 Q Thank you.

7 Elizabeth, did you ever have a chance to

8 look at the medical forensics report that was

9 provided to your attorneys?

10 A I don't recall. I may have. I don't

11 know.

12 Q You don't recall receiving a copy of it?

13 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Misstates her

14 testimony. Your question was whether she had a

15 chance to look at it, and she said she doesn't

16 recall.

17 BY MS. MEEK:

18 Q Oh, do you recall receiving this

19 document, the medical forensics?

20 A I may have. I don't really recall when.

21 Can I look at it?

22 Q Absolutely.

23 A Oh, okay.

24 MS. MEEK: Can we go off the record real

25 quickly?

114

1 MR. ASHFORD: Sure

2 (Off-the-record discussion.)

3 BY MS. MEEK:

4 Q This is an email that was sent to me from

5 Rhonda Griswold, and it is dated November 9th,

6 2009. Basically, it says, "Nanci, I have confirmed

7 with Francis Lui-Kwan, the Trust's CPA, that the

8 proceeds from the Unionbancal check were used to

9 purchase two CD's in the name of the 1996 trust,

10 one CD in the amount of 600,000 and one in the

11 amount of 46,481.96. That purchase is reflected in

12 the 2004 accounting that was provided to you

13 earlier.

14 "Also, as explained to you numerous times

15 before and stated in court pleadings, your father

16 intended that the assets of the 1992 trust be

17 transferred to the 1996 trust."

18 Did you want to take a look at it before

19 I submit it as evidence, I mean, as Exhibit No. 19?

20 (Exhibit 19 is marked

21 for identification.)

22 BY MS. MEEK:

23 Q Do you have any opinion about that email

24 one way or the other?

25 A No.

115

1 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague.

2 BY MS. MEEK:

3 Q Do you agree with it?

4 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Compound.

5 BY MS. MEEK:

6 Q Is that correct? Were those CD's created

7 to the best of your knowledge? Were they created?

8 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague.

9 BY MS. MEEK:

10 Q You're the trustee. You don't want to

11 answer?

12 A Well, they were -- they are in the bank,

13 the CD's.

14 Q Well, then the answer is yes?

15 A Yes.

16 Q Okay. Earlier we were talking about the

17 first amendment that was signed in California in

18 Robert Jones' office, and this is an email from

19 Rhonda to me dated 10-1-2009, and I want to submit

20 this as Exhibit No. 20. I want you to take a look

21 at it, Elizabeth, please, and tell me if you have

22 an opinion as to that.

23 (Exhibit 20 is marked

24 for identification.)

25 BY MS. MEEK:

116

1 Q Do you have an opinion either way as to

2 that email?

3 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague and

4 compound.

5 THE WITNESS: No.

6 BY MS. MEEK:

7 Q Do you agree with it?

8 A Yes.

9 Q Yes. Thank you.

10 Are you able to tell me what the status

11 is of the exemption trust?

12 A The status of exemption trust? Well, it

13 hasn't been affirmed because you objected to it.

14 It hasn't been set aside.

15 Q Is that the way Rhonda Griswold explained

16 it to you?

17 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Don't answer

18 the question. That calls for attorney-client

19 privileged information.

20 BY MS. MEEK:

21 Q Okay. What do you base that on?

22 A What you mean?

23 Q The exemption --

24 MR. ASHFORD: Excuse me. Before you

25 answer the question, I instruct you not to reveal

117

1 anything that anybody in this law firm,

2 particularly Rhonda Griswold or I, told you that

3 you deemed to be confidential at the time.

4 BY MS. MEEK:

5 Q Do you recall any mention of the First

6 Hawaiian Bank handling the exemption trust?

7 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague.

8 BY MS. MEEK:

9 Q You don't recall?

10 A (No response.)

11 MS. MEEK: Do you want to take a break

12 for lunch or are we okay?

13 MR. ASHFORD: No. It sounds like we're

14 almost done.

15 MS. MEEK: Yeah, we are.

16 (Exhibit 21 is marked

17 for identification.)

18 BY MS. MEEK:

19 Q This is a letter I'm submitting as

20 Exhibit No. 21. This is a letter dated June 28th,

21 2005, sent to Elizabeth from Wes Stewart.

22 Did you read the letter, Elizabeth?

23 A Uh-huh.

24 Q Do you have an opinion one way or the

25 other about it?

118

1 A No.

2 Q Nothing to remark about?

3 A No.

4 Q Submitting this, this is an email dated

5 October 4, 2007, sent to me from Wes Stewart. I'm

6 submitting that as Exhibit No. 22. Take a look at

7 that, Elizabeth, please.

8 (Exhibit 22 is marked

9 for identification.)

10 MR. ASHFORD: Nanci, have you produced

11 this document to me?

12 MS. MEEK: It should be filed with the

13 pleadings.

14 MR. ASHFORD: I don't recall it. So you

15 don't know?

16 MS. MEEK: I can't recall. I think it's

17 in the pleadings. That's why I didn't provide it.

18 I think it was already submitted to the court.

19 MR. ASHFORD: When?

20 MS. MEEK: I don't know. I'd have to

21 look it up.

22 MR. ASHFORD: Can you find out?

23 MS. MEEK: Do you want a copy?

24 MR. ASHFORD: No. Really what I want is

25 I want you to produce all responsive documents in

119

1 response to my request because I asked you

2 yesterday in your deposition about a few documents

3 that you said you hadn't produced them.

4 MS. MEEK: I'll be honest with you, I

5 don't know. As far as I know, that letter is

6 dated -- I mean, he's been dead for what? Three

7 years now.

8 MR. ASHFORD: Right. But my point is you

9 need to produce to me in a timely manner all your

10 responsive documents, and you've admitted in your

11 deposition yesterday that you haven't. I could be

12 wrong, but I don't think you produced this one

13 either, and it's your responsibility as a litigant

14 to produce everything. When I ask if you have,

15 it's not my burden to find out. It's yours. Okay?

16 So I want you to find out whether you produced this

17 to me or not. Okay? Will you do that?

18 MS. MEEK: Yes.

19 MR. ASHFORD: Thank you. When will you

20 give me a response?

21 MS. MEEK: I will have to give it to you

22 when I get back to Las Vegas.

23 MR. ASHFORD: When will that be?

24 MS. MEEK: A week from today.

25 MR. ASHFORD: Okay.

120

1 BY MS. MEEK:

2 Q Do you have an opinion one way or the

3 other to that email?

4 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague.

5 THE WITNESS: You mean the whole letter?

6 BY MS. MEEK:

7 Q Any part of it.

8 A I don't know.

9 Q Do you have any objection to anything he

10 says in here?

11 A No.

12 Q You don't object to anything that he says

13 in there? He mentions the thing about Lola with

14 the car. I don't really care to go into that too

15 much further, but do you agree with this letter?

16 Do you think everything in there is true?

17 A No.

18 Q Okay. Here is an email addressed

19 October 23rd, 2004, and I know this one was already

20 submitted to the court, and it's addressed from Wes

21 to myself and we'll submit it as Exhibit No. 23.

22 (Exhibit 23 is marked

23 for identification.)

24 MR. ASHFORD: Nanci, while Elizabeth

25 looks at it, I want to put you on notice on the

121

1 record that whatever documents you haven't produced

2 to me already, I'm going to object to the court you

3 trying to introduce those at the hearing because

4 you were supposed to produce them a long time ago.

5 MS. MEEK: You asked me to produce them

6 on Friday; correct?

7 MR. ASHFORD: No. I asked you to produce

8 them in my first request --

9 MS. MEEK: I'll produce them next Friday.

10 MR. ASHFORD: Let me finish. I asked you

11 to produce them in my first request for discovery

12 to which I had to file a motion to compel

13 production. The judge granted that. That was back

14 in Judge Harai's days --

15 MS. MEEK: Okay.

16 MR. ASHFORD: No. I'm not finished

17 Over a year ago, she ordered you to

18 produce everything. I asked you for much of the

19 same documents again in February.

20 MS. MEEK: Okay. Let's put this off the

21 record, please.

22 MR. ASHFORD: No. I want this on the

23 record.

24 MS. MEEK: Oh, you do want it on the

25 record. I'm sorry.

122

1 MR. ASHFORD: That's my whole point. I

2 said I want this on the record.

3 I submitted a second document request to

4 you in February. It was due in March. I had to

5 file a petition to compel documents on that one as

6 well. The judge granted that motion. So you

7 failed to produce documents in response to at least

8 two different requests, and that's the basis for me

9 objecting to these things at the hearing.

10 To respond to your statement, I didn't

11 ask for you to produce these next Friday. I asked

12 for you to produce these over a year ago and over a

13 few months ago a second time, and you failed to do

14 it in both instances, and you failed to do it in

15 response to two different orders from the judges to

16 produce things. That's the basis for my objection.

17 MS. MEEK: Okay. Let the record show

18 that to the best of my knowledge, this document in

19 particular was already submitted to the court.

20 MR. ASHFORD: Nanci, when was it

21 submitted?

22 MS. MEEK: Oh, I want to say it was

23 submitted when the case was in California to the

24 best of my knowledge.

25 MR. ASHFORD: You're telling me that this

123

1 was submitted in the California proceeding, but not

2 the Hawaii proceeding?

3 MS. MEEK: It was submitted when the case

4 was in California, I do believe. I don't know.

5 Like I said, I would have to look at the -- I would

6 have to look at the document.

7 MR. ASHFORD: And are you going to find

8 out the answer to that for me by next Friday as

9 well?

10 MS. MEEK: Yes, I will. Absolutely.

11 MR. ASHFORD: Thank you.

12 MS. MEEK: Let's see. Moving on to --

13 So any of the other discovery that I

14 have, any of the other emails and letters, you

15 don't want me to include as exhibits until I

16 produce them to you?

17 MR. ASHFORD: No. The more accurate

18 statement would be if you haven't produced

19 documents to me that were responsive to either or

20 both of my prior requests, on that basis alone I'm

21 going to oppose them as exhibits at the hearing

22 because you were supposed to turn them over a long,

23 long time ago.

24 MS. MEEK: Well, my confusion with that

25 is this; that I did a motion to compel a year ago

124

1 with Rhonda asking for several documents. Included

2 in those documents were not several of the

3 documents that you produced to me yesterday during

4 my deposition. So at that time should I have

5 objected?

6 MR. ASHFORD: I'm not giving you legal

7 advice, but I will tell you two things. One, your

8 motion to compel was denied by Judge Harai.

9 MS. MEEK: Correct, it was.

10 MR. ASHFORD: Secondly, you might want to

11 look at the documents that you requested and look

12 at the scope of what you requested and decide

13 whether what I have used in this case was within

14 the scope of what you've requested.

15 MS. MEEK: I see. Okay. Okay. So, in

16 other words, my motion was denied for the

17 production of documents. So, therefore, I don't

18 have any recourse or any way to object to any

19 documents that you introduce?

20 MR. ASHFORD: That's not what I'm saying.

21 I'm saying you brought it into this discussion the

22 fact that you filed a motion to compel. I'm saying

23 that motion seemingly has no relevance to this

24 because the judge denied it primarily, as I recall,

25 because what you're asking for was too broad and

125

1 wasn't appropriate.

2 MS. MEEK: Okay. So now how could I get

3 these documents that I have that I would like to

4 submit to the court to you?

5 MR. ASHFORD: I encourage you to send me

6 whatever you haven't yet sent me, whatever

7 documents you haven't yet provided. I'll remind

8 you that in your deposition yesterday on the

9 record, I asked you whether you have produced to me

10 all responsive documents, and you said yes.

11 MS. MEEK: I thought I had.

12 MR. ASHFORD: I think what I'm hearing

13 from you 24 hours later is you were wrong --

14 MS. MEEK: I was wrong.

15 MR. ASHFORD: -- and you haven't.

16 MS. MEEK: Very wrong. So I will

17 resubmit those to you.

18 MR. ASHFORD: I suggest you do that

19 immediately.

20 MS. MEEK: I will. I will. Immediately,

21 would you like for me to make copies of them and

22 bring them back to you?

23 MR. ASHFORD: That would be prudent, yes.

24 MS. MEEK: I will do that being that

25 there's a Kinko's around the corner. Okay. Let's

126

1 do that then. Absolutely. And just for the

2 record, I will be doing that.

3 Okay. The only final thing that I want

4 to introduce and I want to talk about are the

5 medical records, the report that was produced by

6 Suzanne Gelb after reviewing the medical records

7 that we had obtained. We'll start with -- there's

8 just a few highlights. We'll start with letting

9 Elizabeth have a copy of this. I'll let you take a

10 look at that.

11 Again, this has already been submitted to

12 the court. Should I submit it as another exhibit?

13 MR. ASHFORD: Again, I'm not --

14 MS. MEEK: Yeah. Let's submit it as

15 Exhibit No. 24.

16 MR. ASHFORD: To complete my statement,

17 I'm not going to tell you what to do.

18 MS. MEEK: I understand.

19 (Exhibit 24 is marked

20 for identification.)

21 BY MS. MEEK:

22 Q This is entitled the "Report of Forensic

23 Psychological Evaluation" on Elvin R. Meek, date of

24 death October 19th, 2003. The report was dated

25 February 28th, 2007.

127

1 Elizabeth, if you can turn to the second

2 page. Let me ask you a quick question. Do you

3 understand what testamentary capacity means?

4 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague. Are you

5 speaking of the legal term "testamentary capacity."

6 MS. MEEK: I just want to know in general

7 if she knows what "testamentary capacity" means

8 because it is referred to several times in the

9 report.

10 MR. ASHFORD: Right. And just to be real

11 clear, my objection is that your question is vague

12 and apparently calls for a legal conclusion.

13 That's why I asked if you're asking her if she

14 knows what the legal term or, for that matter, the

15 medical term "testamentary capacity" means.

16 MS. MEEK: Yeah. The first paragraph --

17 I'm sorry. The second paragraph on the second

18 page, it defines testamentary capacity. If you

19 could have a look at that.

20 MR. ASHFORD: You're talking about the

21 definition from the --

22 MS. MEEK: Correct.

23 MR. ASHFORD: -- decision in re: Estate

24 of Herbert; right?

25 MS. MEEK: Yes.

128

1 THE WITNESS: What page are you?

2 MS. MEEK: Second page.

3 MR. ASHFORD: She's asking about this.

4 BY MS. MEEK:

5 Q As you go down towards the end of page 2,

6 Elizabeth, the second to the last paragraph where

7 it says, "Around October 14th, Melvin spoke with

8 Mrs. Meek on her cellphone and inquired about his

9 father's condition," do you see that?

10 A Yeah.

11 Q And it says, "Mrs. Meek said, 'He's a big

12 man and he can call you himself.'" Do you recall

13 that?

14 A I don't recall.

15 Q Okay. Going to the next page there where

16 it says, "Summary of medical history 8-27-03 to

17 10-19-03." If you read down the next paragraph

18 down where it says, "On August 27th, about two

19 thirds of the page down, the patient was discharged

20 from the hospital." Do you recall his being in the

21 hospital and his being discharged on August 27th?

22 A I don't recall.

23 Q You don't recall what his condition was?

24 A He may have. I don't recall.

25 Q And when you read along, it says,

129

1 "Mr. Meek remained at home for the next 11 days

2 from September 20th through October 2nd. Then on

3 October 2nd, Mr. Meek was readmitted to the

4 hospital." Do you recall why he was readmitted to

5 the hospital?

6 A When?

7 Q On October 2nd.

8 A I think he had a fall.

9 Q Did you call an ambulance?

10 A Yes.

11 Q Was the fall from his losing his balance?

12 A I don't know because he just fall in the

13 bedroom.

14 Q Fell in the bedroom --

15 A Yes.

16 Q -- or in the bathroom?

17 A Bathroom.

18 Q In the bathroom?

19 A Uh-huh.

20 Q So it is the bathroom.

21 Okay. I apologize if these pages --

22 well, they're numbered, but they're numbered at the

23 top. So if you want to take the clip off there,

24 that would be easier for you to read.

25 Let's skip ahead quickly to page 4 about

130

1 one, two, three paragraphs down where it begins,

2 "Dr. Zerez assessed the patient as having 12

3 medical conditions, including volume depletion,

4 congestive heart failure." Do you see that?

5 A Uh-huh. Yes.

6 Q Does that sound about right to you?

7 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague.

8 THE WITNESS: I don't know.

9 BY MS. MEEK:

10 Q Well, that's according to the medical

11 records. It says he was taking 12 medications.

12 Do you recall when he had the operation to insert

13 the triple lumen venous catheter? Do you recall

14 that, when they did that operation on him?

15 A I don't recall when was this.

16 Q You don't recall?

17 A I don't recall.

18 Q Let's skip ahead to page 9. Scroll down

19 to half the page where it says September 17th and

20 then scroll on down where it says, "The patient met

21 with the social worker for hospice consultation or

22 consult." Do you recall that, meeting with the

23 hospice care worker, caseworker?

24 A No, I don't remember.

25 Q You don't remember?

131

1 A Yeah.

2 Q You don't remember when that was

3 happening?

4 A No.

5 Q Let's go to page 11. Halfway down the

6 page, let's see, I'll identify it for you. One,

7 two, three, four, five paragraphs down, do you see

8 that where it says, "The types of wounds"? It

9 says, "The types of wounds which the patient

10 suffered were identified as pressure ulcers and is

11 traumatic."

12 Did Elvin have bed sores? Is that what

13 that's referring to, do you recall?

14 Q (No response.)

15 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Calls for

16 speculation. Document speaks for itself.

17 BY MS. MEEK:

18 Q Let's scroll down to two thirds of the

19 page down where it says September 19th. Do you see

20 that, Elizabeth?

21 A Yes.

22 Q It says, "The patient's wounds were

23 identified as traumatic." It says, "At 0800, the

24 patient was suffering sharp constant pain." And

25 then you get down to the end, it says, "Patient and

132

1 wife agreed to home hospice. Referral made."

2 MR. ASHFORD: You're at the very bottom

3 paragraph?

4 BY MS. MEEK:

5 Q Very bottom paragraph. Keep scrolling

6 down.

7 Do you see that? Do you recall what his

8 condition was on September 19th, 2003?

9 A Yes.

10 Q How would you define his condition?

11 A Well, he was -- you know, he was already

12 where he was at.

13 Q Was he still in the hospital?

14 A I don't recall because in hospital or

15 perhaps discharging or what. I don't recall that.

16 Q Do you recall if his abdomen was -- was

17 he bloated and his abdomen distended?

18 A No, I don't recall that.

19 Q Let's go to page 12. The heading there

20 where it says -- at the top, it says, "At 1500, the

21 social worker telephoned Mrs. Meek. She stated

22 that the patient wants to hold off meeting with

23 hospice until he goes home."

24 Do you recall that?

25 A Yes.

133

1 Q Is there anything you want to tell me

2 about that conversation?

3 A Elvin didn't want -- didn't want to be in

4 hospice.

5 Q Okay. September 20th --

6 MR. ASHFORD: What page are you on,

7 Nanci?

8 BY MS. MEEK:

9 Q The same page. The next paragraph where

10 it says "September 20th" there on the same page,

11 page 12. And you keep scrolling down where it

12 says, "Notes at 11:15 a.m. concerning discharge."

13 And then you keep scrolling down, it says, "It

14 appears that Mrs. Meek signed both pages of the

15 patient discharge instruction form on behalf of the

16 patient." It says, "18 medications were listed on

17 the form." 18 medications.

18 Because it says, "Mrs. Meek signed both

19 pages of the patient discharge instruction form,"

20 am I to understand that you were responsible for

21 all of those medications or would he be able to

22 take those medications on his own?

23 A Well, actually, I'm signing. I have to

24 take them out of the hospital, and then helping him

25 taking them at home, that's another thing. So

134

1 that -- I did that too. I did help him.

2 Q There are several times, several entries

3 in here where it mentions that patient was admitted

4 for weakness and hypertension and his volume

5 depleted. Was he dehydrated a lot during that

6 time?

7 A I really don't know. Might have. I'm

8 not a doctor.

9 Q But you don't recall?

10 A Yeah. Every time there's something, we

11 have to go to the hospital and keep up with hypo

12 and things like that.

13 Q Two days later according to this at

14 bottom here, it says, "Signed the second

15 amendment." And then September 23rd signed the

16 will. And then on page 13 -- page 13 at the top,

17 it says, "Signed the will." And then, "October

18 2nd, the patient was rehospitalized."

19 When he was rehospitalized on October

20 2nd, when they were taking him to the hospital in

21 the ambulance, was he conscious?

22 A Very conscious. He was -- he was

23 conscious, yes. He was joking with the people who

24 came and picked him up.

25 Q Really?

135

1 A Yeah, really.

2 Q Because here it says -- the next

3 paragraph down, it says, "Emergency physician

4 characterized the event as lost consciousness."

5 A Uh-uh.

6 MR. ASHFORD: Meaning the fall or the

7 ambulance ride?

8 BY MS. MEEK:

9 Q That was in the ambulance. It says,

10 "Although, patient was still awake and responsive."

11 Finally, go to page 25, please. This is

12 the last paragraph there where it says,

13 "Recommendations." If you could read that, please.

14 MR. ASHFORD: Which? There are four

15 paragraphs there.

16 MS. MEEK: Page 25, the one titled

17 Recommendations.

18 MR. ASHFORD: Yeah, but there are four

19 paragraphs.

20 MS. MEEK: I apologize. Just read the

21 first three paragraphs --

22 MR. ASHFORD: You want her to --

23 MS. MEEK: -- under "Recommendations."

24 MR. ASHFORD: Do you want her to read

25 those into the record or do you want her --

136

1 MS. MEEK: Just read those on her own.

2 MR. ASHFORD: -- to read to herself?

3 BY MS. MEEK:

4 Q To yourself.

5 Do you have an opinion one way or the

6 other to those last three paragraphs?

7 A No.

8 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Vague.

9 BY MS. MEEK:

10 Q Are they accurate do you think?

11 A I don't know.

12 MR. ASHFORD: Objection. Calls for an

13 opinion about a psychological opinion.

14 BY MS. MEEK:

15 Q Okay. I'm done.

16 At this point, Elizabeth, is there

17 anything that you've said so far that you may want

18 to retract or you may want to change or anything

19 you may want to refer to?

20 A No.

21 Q Okay.

22 MR. ASHFORD: Before we go off the

23 record, can I grab some of those exhibits and copy

24 them because I haven't seen all this stuff before?

25 Do you mind, Nanci?

137

1 MS. MEEK: No.

2 MR. ASHFORD: Is that all right with you,

3 Laura?

4 THE REPORTER: Yes.

5 (Brief recess and Exhibit 25

6 is marked for identification.)

7 MR. ASHFORD: So while we were off the

8 record, I photocopied some of the exhibits that

9 Nanci Meek introduced today in the deposition, some

10 of which, as I already put on the record, had not

11 been previously produced. Ms. Meek also produced

12 to me for the first time roughly 20 pages of

13 documents, emails and the like, which we have

14 marked as Exhibit 25 to Elizabeth Meek's

15 deposition.

16 It's my understanding, and, Nanci, if you

17 can confirm this, the documents that are Exhibit 25

18 to Elizabeth's deposition are documents that you

19 have not previously produced to me; is that

20 accurate?

21 MS. MEEK: That's correct.

22 MR. ASHFORD: I have nothing further.

23 Anything you need to add, Nanci?

24 MS. MEEK: The only thing I want to add

25 is just briefly before we finish is just have

138

1 Elizabeth look at Exhibit 25 and just read it

2 through.

3 MR. ASHFORD: You want her to read every

4 page of that?

5 MS. MEEK: Yeah. It won't take that

6 long.

7 THE WITNESS: All these emails?

8 MS. MEEK: Yeah. These are emails and

9 letters that were sent to me.

10 MR. ASHFORD: And what do you want her to

11 answer?

12 MS. MEEK: I just want to see if you have

13 any comments to make after you look at them.

14 That's all. The first one I think is from

15 Armstrong.

16 I guess, basically, what it is it kind of

17 gives you an idea because you were not

18 communicating with myself and with Melvin, and

19 these other people were communicating with me,

20 maybe it kind of gives you a better understanding

21 of where we were coming from and how we were

22 possibly being influenced from other people.

23 MR. ASHFORD: Okay. And I understand

24 what you're saying.

25 MS. MEEK: You understand what I'm

139

1 saying?

2 MR. ASHFORD: I absolutely do. Can I

3 suggest that she look at these in a more deliberate

4 and leisurely manner, and if she or I want to --

5 I understand what you're saying. So if

6 we want to respond to it, then we'll do that

7 independently as opposed to have her read all this

8 now.

9 MS. MEEK: That would be fine with me.

10 That's fine with me. I don't have a problem with

11 that at all.

12 Basically, just for the record what they

13 are is the first one is a letter that was sent to

14 me in 2006 from Armstrong, Lola's ex-husband. The

15 next one was from -- just dated December 2006 from

16 Rose, not Rose Taneo, but another Rose. Another

17 one is dated 2-15-2008 from Miriam. Then another

18 one is from Steve Nakamura that's dated June of

19 2005. Another one from Armstrong, Lola's husband,

20 dated 3-27-2006. One from Kaleb Udui that's dated

21 5-2-2006. One more from Rose Taneo that's dated

22 1-23-2006. Another one from Armstrong, Lola's

23 ex-husband, dated 1-24-2006. Another one from

24 Miriam dated 9-12-2007, and another one from Miriam

25 dated 9-10-2007.

140

1 To the best of my knowledge, these are

2 all people that live in Palau.

3 One that was sent to me from Imelda

4 Nakamura which is dated 11-15-2004 which, for the

5 record, is an email that was sent to me, and then I

6 responded to that email with an email that was

7 brought up yesterday during my deposition.

8 Then there's one dated 8-31-2005 from

9 Fritha, and one dated 11-10-2004 from Weldon, which

10 refers to the court not being able to help us out

11 with information that we were asking for. 6-7-2006

12 again from Armstrong, and the last one is dated

13 11-8-2009, and that came from Phil Reklai, and that

14 was the request that he had made to me about --

15 Oh, never mind. This was a different

16 one. That's it. I just wanted to have for the

17 record what they were.

18 MR. ASHFORD: Nanci, I think I understand

19 what you said that you were apparently relying on

20 what these people said, and I'll just leave it at

21 that. I won't make any editorial comment. Thank

22 you. We're done.

23 (Whereupon the proceedings

24 were adjourned at 1:48 p.m.)

25

141

1 I, the undersigned, ELIZABETH Meek, being

2 first duly sworn say:

3 I have read and/or had translated the

4 foregoing deposition and know the contents thereof,

5 and I certify that the same is true of my own

6 knowledge, except as to those matters which are

7 therein stated upon my information and belief, and

8 as to those matters, I believe it to be true.

9 I declare under penalty of perjury that

10 the foregoing is true and correct.

11

12 Executed on _________________________,

13 2010, at ______________________________________,

14 _______________________________________________.

15

16 _______________________ 17 ELIZABETH Meek 18 Signed before me this_____day 19 of____________, 2010. 20 _______________________________ Witness to Deponent's Signature 21

22 23 In The Matter of Elvin R. Meek Family Trust T. No. 05-1-0101, May 28, 2010 24 by Laura Savo, RPR, CSR 25

142

1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 STATE OF HAWAII ) ) ss. 3 CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU ) 4 I, LAURA SAVO, a Notary Public in and for 5 the State of Hawaii, do hereby certify: 6 That prior to being examined, the witness herein, ELIZABETH Meek, was sworn by me to testify 7 to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth; 8 That the foregoing deposition was taken 9 down by me in machine shorthand at the time and place herein stated, and was thereafter reduced to 10 typewriting under my supervision; 11 That the foregoing is a full, true and correct transcript of said deposition; 12 That after said deposition was reduced to 13 typewriting, the witness, in accordance with Rule 30(e) of the Hawaii Rules of Civil Procedure, was 14 duly informed of the right to make such corrections as might be necessary to render the same true and 15 correct. 16 I further certify that I am not of counsel or attorney for any of the parties to this 17 case, nor in any way interested in the outcome hereof, and that I am not related to any of the 18 parties hereto. 19 Witness my hand and seal this 25th day of June, 2010. 20 21

__________________________ 22 LAURA SAVO, RPR, CSR NO. 347 Notary Public, State of Hawaii 23 My Commission Expires: 11/28/2013 24

25