Suggs v. Stanley

• Decision Date: 31 March 2003
• Docket Number: No. 02-1832.,No. 02-1935.,02-1832.,02-1935.
• Citation: 324 F.3d 672
• Parties: Kathleen SUGGS, Plaintiff-Appellee / Cross-Appellant, v. Dorothy STANLEY and Betty Hendricks, Defendants-Appellants / Cross-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

324 F.3d 672

Kathleen SUGGS, Plaintiff-Appellee / Cross-Appellant, v. Dorothy STANLEY and Betty Hendricks, Defendants-Appellants / Cross-Appellees.

No. 02-1832.

No. 02-1935.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: January 13, 2003.

Filed: March 31, 2003.

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COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

W. Darrel Blount, argued, Hot Springs, AR, for appellants/cross-appellees.

J.R. Nash, argued, Little Rock, AR, appellee/cross-appellant.

Before WOLLMAN and MURPHY, Circuit Judges, and GRITZNER,¹ District Judge.

MURPHY, Circuit Judge.

This defamation action was brought by Kathleen Suggs against Dorothy Stanley and Betty Hendricks, the sisters of her deceased companion. The jury ruled in favor of Suggs, and the sisters appeal from the judgment, contending that the district court² erred by denying their motion for judgment as a matter of law and that it improperly admitted certain evidence. Suggs filed a cross appeal based on her unsuccessful attempt to assert a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress. We affirm.

I.

Dorothy Stanley and Betty Hendricks had one brother, Gilbert Wicker, who was involved in a romantic relationship with Kathleen Suggs for approximately twelve years prior to his death. The father of the three siblings died in 1994, and the next year their mother, Mamie Wicker, transferred to Gilbert property which she had inherited from her husband. The property included a certificate of deposit for $10,000, a savings account of about $25,000, and a house in Stamps, Arkansas. Both the certificate of deposit and the savings account were payable to Mamie in the event of Gilbert's death, and she continued to live in the home in Stamps. After the transfer in 1995, Gilbert executed a will which provided that if he died before Mamie, the properties would be placed in trust for her with Kathleen Suggs as trustee. Suggs was also made executrix of his estate.

Evidence at trial indicated that the relationship between Gilbert and his sisters had deteriorated over the years. Gilbert suffered from renal failure for a long time and needed two kidney transplants. He had asked his sisters to consider donating a kidney before each transplant operation, and there was a conflict in the evidence about whether they were tested to see if they could qualify as donors. Suggs testified that they had not returned Gilbert's phone calls, and they acknowledged on cross examination that they had not spoken to their brother for some ten years after he talked to them about his need for a transplant. Gilbert's aunt, his lawyer, and his neighbor also testified that the sisters and Gilbert had become estranged.

Dorothy Stanley obtained guardianship over the person and assets of Mamie in 1999, as well as power of attorney, and moved her mother from Stamps to Shreveport, Louisiana, where she lived. Dorothy also sued to recover the properties that Mamie had turned over to Gilbert. In her complaint Dorothy alleged that her mother had been incompetent when she signed over the property because she had been drugged by her doctor and Gilbert. Suggs contends that Mamie chose to transfer her property to Gilbert in order to prevent Dorothy and Betty from squandering it and leaving Mamie without adequate financial support, and Gilbert's aunt testified that she had not supported Dorothy's lawsuit because of worry about what would happen to the property given the costs incurred in the guardianship.³

At the time Dorothy's lawsuit was served, Gilbert was hospitalized because his second kidney transplant was failing. He did not file a responsive pleading, but on May 28, 1999, he told his attorney to draw up a new will leaving all his property to Suggs and naming her as his executrix. Mamie was not mentioned in the new will. On July 2, 1999, Gilbert was found dead.

Suggs testified that she discovered Gilbert's body after she had been unable to reach him on the phone and went to his house to check on him. After she found him dead, she called the Little Rock police who went to the house and started an investigation. They contacted Dorothy as next of kin to report Gilbert's death and advised her to come to claim the body. Dorothy alerted her sister Betty, whose husband agreed to drive them to Little Rock. Dorothy also called her attorney who told her to videotape the contents of Gilbert's house.

After two hours on the scene, the police completed their investigation and determined that Gilbert's death was a suicide. Before leaving, they instructed Suggs to secure the house, and she then contacted Gilbert's lawyer. The lawyer advised Suggs to remove all valuables and to make sure the house was locked and soon arrived to help secure it. While at the house, Suggs received a call from Gilbert's aunt who told her that Dorothy and Betty were on their way to Little Rock and suggested that she call them. Gilbert's lawyer advised Suggs to tell the sisters that they did not have to drive all the way to Little Rock because his body could be released by fax to the funeral home in Stamps.

Suggs called Dorothy's cell phone and told her that the house was secure and the sisters did not need to come to Little Rock, but Dorothy replied that they were already underway. Suggs told Dorothy that she would be gone by the time they arrived. Before locking up the house, Suggs removed the most valuable items and Gilbert's personal records for use in administering his estate. She then went over to the neighbor's house.

After Dorothy received the call from Suggs, a call was placed on Betty's cell phone to the Little Rock Police Department. Although the sisters deny reporting that Suggs was in Gilbert's house, they admit that one of them may have inquired as to whether it was appropriate for Gilbert's girlfriend to be in the house before any of his relatives arrived. It is undisputed, however, that three minutes after the call from Betty's cell phone, the police dispatcher broadcast a "burglary in progress" at Gilbert's address, and officer Bill Bentley was sent to investigate. Officer Bentley testified at trial that the dispatcher had told him that a burglary had been reported by a woman who said she was Gilbert's sister on the way to Little Rock.

When Bentley arrived at Gilbert's house, Suggs was standing in the neighbor's yard. She went over to talk with Bentley, and he informed her that he was responding to a burglary call at that address. Suggs told him that she had her own key to the house, and Bentley left after concluding that there had been no burglary. When Dorothy and Betty arrived in Little Rock, they attempted to get Suggs to open Gilbert's house for them, but she refused and they sought assistance from the police. After hiring a locksmith, they gained entrance to the house and videotaped its contents.

After Gilbert's funeral, Dorothy began making phone calls to the Little Rock Police Department regarding his death. She told the police that she did not believe his death had been a suicide and that she thought Suggs had been involved. She mentioned a note found at the death scene which had been written and signed in block print and which mentioned love for a dog but nothing about Mamie. Dorothy said that Gilbert never printed his name, so it would have been uncharacteristic to do so in his final note. She added that when she and Betty went to Gilbert's house after his death, all the papers found there had been signed by Gilbert in longhand rather than printed, and neither she nor Betty were able to find a notepad matching the paper used for the suicide note. Dorothy also stated that it was not possible that Gilbert would have thought of his dog before dying, but not his mother. Moreover, if his death had been a suicide, there must have been another note Suggs did not want anyone to see. Dorothy also reported that Gilbert's personal papers had been removed from his house after his death.

On July 22, 1999, Dorothy sent a letter to homicide detective Steve Moore which contained similar allegations. She also requested that the police check the suicide note to make sure Gilbert's fingerprints were on it because she did not believe he had written it.⁴ In addition, she alleged that Suggs had tried to determine "how much time she had" before the sisters arrived at the house, suggesting she needed time to accomplish something before they got there. Dorothy attached copies of Gilbert's wills to the letter to show that Suggs stood to benefit from his death. The copy of the most recent will indicated on its face that Betty had faxed it to Dorothy for inclusion with the letter. Detective Moore testified that he had received and considered the letter and then placed it in a police file.

The Pulaski County Coroner was called as a rebuttal witness at trial after Betty had testified that she had had no contact with him. The coroner testified that he believed Betty was the woman who had accompanied Dorothy to his office to discuss facts related to Gilbert's death. He positively identified Dorothy in the courtroom and said she had been his primary contact about Gilbert's death but he was not absolutely certain that Betty had been the other woman who came to his office.

When Dorothy discovered that a default judgment could not be obtained against Gilbert after he was deceased, she filed a new complaint naming his estate as the respondent. Suggs answered as executrix. The chancery court subsequently ruled that since Dorothy had not proven that Mamie was incompetent at the time she transferred her property or that Gilbert had used undue influence over her, the property had remained in Gilbert's estate and later passed to Suggs as the designated heir.

In her role as executrix of Gilbert's estate, Suggs had contacted the Little Rock police before responding to Dorothy's lawsuit. She was referred to detective Steve Moore who told her that Dorothy had alleged that Gilbert's death was not a suicide. Suggs' attorney obtained a copy of...