Davis v. Pitti
| Decision Date | 08 November 1971 |
| Docket Number | No. 55536,No. 2,55536,2 |
| Citation | 472 S.W.2d 382 |
| Parties | Agnes M. DAVIS et al., Respondents, v. Ann J. PITTI and Carl C. Pitti, Appellants |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
R. Forder Buckley and Albrecht & Homire, James L. Homire, Jr., St. Louis, for respondents.
James C. Jennings and Milton R. Fox, St. Louis, for appellants.
HENRY I. EAGER, Special Commissioner.
This is an action by three sisters against another sister and her husband to cancel a deed from their father. The deed was a quit-claim of a four-family apartment building in St. Louis to the defendant sister and the father as joint tenants ; the father died thirteen days after the deed was executed. The grounds alleged and relied on at the trial were mental incapacity and undue influence; others were alleged and abandoned. The trial court cancelled the deed on the ground of undue influence and defendants appealed.
The grantor, Joseph Stallone, was an Italian; he could not read or write, and spoke English brokenly. He had lived in St. Louis many years; he was 74 years of age when he died. He was married three times; his first wife, the mother of all four daughters, died many years ago; he then married one Mary Masters, but that union ended in divorce. He finally married 'Helen' (surname not shown) perhaps eight years before trial; she died on May 14, 1969. Joseph apparently did not live with any of his children until the year 1969. The defendant Ann Pitti left the home when she was about 19; the other girls stayed longer, and Agnes, the youngest, stayed at home until she married about 1949. In the meantime, she had been working for 10 years and either turned her paycheck over to her father (an Italian custom apparently) or, as in later years, paid board. For 20 years thereafter she saw him two or three times a week. There is considerable evidence to indicate that Joseph regarded and treated Agnes as his favorite daughter until very shortly before his death. He had on many occasions referred to Ann as a 'devil.' Joseph owned certain pieces of real property, from time to time, and his income seems to have come from these, at least during his later years. Difficulties developed between Ann and the other three daughters, and this state had persisted for many years. It is also indicated that Joseph did not visit Ann often through the years after her marriage. Joseph had been shot during prohibition days (otherwise unexplained) and had walked with a limp ever since.
On March 5, 1969, Joseph became very ill at his home and was found on the floor with his eyes 'glassy'; he was taken to a hospital (Christian Church Northwest) by Agnes, her husband and the other two plaintiffs. He was in a 'near coma state,' confused, and with a weakness on his left side resulting from a stroke, 'fairly severe'; he did not improve promptly, and developed a gangrenous gallbladder, which was removed; he continued to be confused much of the time and had hallucinations at other times; he continually tried to get out of bed; his condition was complicated by advanced diabetes. Agnes saw him once or twice a day; Antoinette saw him substantially every day. He was taken from the hospital on April 5 by the defendants (who had visited him in the hospital) without the knowledge of the other sisters; it seems, however, that the hospital permitted his discharge. Defendants took him to their home, where he stayed for a week and then went to his own home on College Avenue, although his wife had been in bad physical condition for a year or more. Agnes saw him there several times and Mary twice; Ann Pitti seems to have spent much time there. Mr. Pitti took him to his physician, Dr. Headrick, four times from April 12 to June 23; on April 26 he had been crying and was 'disturbed' and his blood pressure was up; on June 23 he complained of 'weakness,' a continuation of the stroke. He had been given regular medication. There had been considerable friction between Joseph and Helen during their marriage and some of the difficulty arose about a sale and division of the proceeds of the piece of property involved here, possibly in view of a divorce.
Joseph's wife Helen died on May 14, 1969. He then went, or was immediately taken by the defendants, to their home where he stayed until his final hospitalization. Apparently because of the alienation between plaintiffs and defendants, the three sisters saw little of him there, although Agnes phoned him. The plaintiffs testified that this was to protect him from anticipated arguments, etc. Agnes testified that she and her husband went there the first week but that Pitti started an argument or a threatened fight, and they did not go back.
The title to the property in question here had stood for some time in the names of Agnes and her sister Antoinette, two of the plaintiffs. Their father had deeded it to them; there is no explanation of the reason. At some tiem in May 1969 or earlier, and before Helen's death, Mr. Heberer, a real estate broker, had been consulted through a salesman and asked to prepare a quitclaim deed to that property from the two sisters to Joseph with the apparent object of selling the property. The contact seems to have come from Joseph and Helen, but after she died Mr. Pitti told the broker that he should go ahead with the preparation of the deed, although the broker had assumed that the matter would be abandoned. He got the necessary information and he did in time prepare the deed. Someone arranged for a meeting at the home of Agnes and her husband on the evening of May 21; Mr. Pitti had called the real estate man and arranged that he should pick up Joseph and take him there; all three sisters were there and at least one husband. This date was only one week after the death of the wife Helen. Joseph stated, and insisted, that he wanted this property in his own name; he did mention a trip to Italy. He apparently gave no further reason. One or more of the girls doubted the soundness of the move and suggested that he might put it in a 'trust fund to protect himself.' His only answer was that he wanted it in his own name, and the two daughters signed the deed. There was some indication that he was incensed at 'things' that had been 'told to him'; Agnes asked 'What did I do to you?' and he said, 'Nothing.' She testified that Joseph had 'changed' overnight.
In June, joseph sold the College Avenue property (his home); a real estate agent brought him a contract for $14,000, but he said that he wanted $14,500. The contract was redrawn, the sale completed, and he received a check for $13,479.51. Mr. Pitti had told the agent that Joseph could not come to the office for closing, so all negotiations were in the Pitti home. The Pittis were presumably present. On June 11, Mr. Pitti took Joseph to the Northside Bank where he withdraw $1,813.72, closing his account; that money was deposited in the Pittis' checking account. On June 25, Pitti took him to the Northland Bank where a joint account (Joseph and both Pittis) was opened and the proceeds of the College Avenue property were deposited in that account, either then or a day or two later. The Pittis admittedly did the 'talking' in connection with these bank accounts, supposedly because of Joseph's difficulty in speaking. On July 8 the Pittis transferred all funds from that joint account to one in their own (two) names. This was while Joseph was in the hospital and desperately ill, as related later. One hundred dollars was received by Joseph for the sale of his furniture, $190 in rents, and two social security checks. The disposition of these funds is not shown. Pitti testified that he paid out $2,611.11 for nursing services. The Pittis declined to pay the funeral expenses but, after some argument, apparently paid one-fourth. They kept Joseph's 1959 Ford car.
About the middle of June, 1969, Mr. Pitti called a real estate broker, James R. Rosenthal, and asked him if he could prepare a quitclaim deed; he was told, of course, that the names and description would be needed. These were furnished by Pitti and a quitclaim deed to the apartment property here in question was prepared. Pitti testified that he took Joseph to the office on one occasion in connection with this request. The deed purported to convey the property to Joseph and his daughter Ann as joint tenants. Pitti picked up the deed about a week before July 2. A little later, and still before July 2, Pitti called and asked Rosenthal if he could come to their house for the execution of the deed, saying that Joseph was sick. Rosenthal did not go, so Pitti called on July 2 and asked Rosenthal if he would be at his office that evening. An appointment was made for 5:00--5:15 p.m. At that time both Mr. and Mrs. Pitti appeared in their car and parked in front of the real estate office, with the deed. Joseph was in the back seat with Mrs. Pitti, where he remained throughout the procedure. Rosenthal came out to the car and greeted them; he testified that he asked Joseph if he was 'signing this deed of your own free will,' and that Joseph nodded; he, Joseph, talked some with Ann in broken English, or a mixture of English and Italian, which Rosenthal did not understand; Rosenthal handed Joseph a clipboard, the deed was placed on it, and Joseph signed it. Rosenthal then took his acknowledgment and kept the deed for recording, saying that it would probably take about two weeks to get it back. (We note here, parenthetically, that the deed was not filed for record until July 15, at 3:29 p.m., after the death of Joseph.) Rosenthal testified that he observed no indication of 'force or coercion'; he did not understand what was said between the parties. From that place, Joseph was taken to McDonald's, where it is said he ate hamburgers, and then to the hospital for his last stay.
On the morning of July 2 at about 10:00 o'clock (the date of execution of the deed) Joseph told Ann that his legs were weaker and that he wanted to go to the hospital...
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