]
‘’’’’’09`5 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF BENTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS IN THE {DC"Court type} OF {DC"County}, ARKANSAS 
FIFTH DIVISION

IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF 
SUSAN ELOISE CLINE, DECEASED   CASE NO. 04PR 17‑1060‑5

                                 
                     
______________________________________________________ 
ORAL VIDEOTAPED DEPOSITION
OF
JAMES MICHAEL CLINE
(Taken April 10th, 2018, at 9:16 a.m.)
______________________________________________________

A P P E A R A N C E S

     ON BEHALF OF THE PETITIONER, ANGELA BLEVINS: 
     HARRY McDERMOTT, ESQUIRE  
     ATTORNEY AT LAW
     P.O. BOX 8361
     FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS 72703‑0007
     (479) 444‑7853 
     goodapple@cox.net 

     ON BEHALF OF THE PETITIONER, JAMES M. CLINE: 
     MR. STEPHEN LEE WOOD, ESQUIRE  
     ATTORNEY AT LAW                                   
     110 SOUTH SECOND STREET
     ROGERS, ARKANSAS 72756 
     (479) 631‑0808 
     slwpa@specent.com   

     ALSO PRESENT: Angela Blevins 

I N D E X
STYLE AND NUMBER ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑1
APPEARANCES ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑2
CAPTION ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑4
WITNESS:  JAMES MICHAEL CLINE
     Examination by Mr. McDermott ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑6 
DEPOSITION CONCLUDED ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑197
COURT REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑198
SIGNATURE/ERRATA SHEET ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑199

EXHIBITS
PETITIONER'S                                    MARKED
     Tabbed paged ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑19 
     Exhibit 1  ‑ Subpoena ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑7
     Exhibit 1A ‑ Revocable Trust Agreement ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑62
     Exhibit 2B ‑ Photograph ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑80
     Exhibit 2  ‑ Email from James Cline ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑81 
     Exhibit 3A ‑ Email to Mr. Wood from Angela
                  Blevins ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑85
     Exhibit 4  ‑ Affidavit for Collection of Small
                  Estate ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑87 
     Exhibit 7  ‑ Petition for Probate of Will and 
                  Appointment of Personal 
                  Representative ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑103
     Exhibit 3  ‑ Email to Mr. Cline from Angela
                  Blevins ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑107
     Exhibit 9  ‑ Trust and Will ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑117 

CAPTION
     ANSWERS AND ORAL VIDEOTAPED DEPOSITION OF JAMES MICHAEL CLINE, a witness produced at the request of the petitioner, taken in the above‑styled and numbered cause on the 10th day of April, 2018, before Terri J. Wolfe, Arkansas Supreme Court Certified Reporter #772, at 9:16 a.m., at the law offices of Stephen Lee Wood, 110 South Second Street, Rogers, Arkansas, pursuant to the agreement hereinafter set forth.

* * * * * * * * * *

STIPULATIONS
     IT IS STIPULATED AND AGREED by and between the parties through their respective counsel that the oral videotaped deposition of JAMES MICHAEL CLINE may be taken for any and all purposes according to the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure.

* * * * * * * * * * 

PROCEEDINGS
VIDEOGRAPHER:  This is the videotaped deposition of James Cline taken on behalf of Mr. Cline's respondent in the matter of the Estate of Susan Eloise Cline, deceased, in the Circuit Court of Benton County, Arkansas.  The case No. is 04PR17‑1060‑5.  Today's date is April the 12th, 2018; the time is 16 minutes past 9:00, and we are on the record.  
This videotaped deposition is being held at the Law Firm of Stephen Wood, 110 South Second Street, in Rogers, Arkansas.  The videographer is Frans Schimper, and the court reporter is Terri Wolfe.  
Would counsels please introduce themselves and state who they're representing beginning with Mr. Cline's respondent.  
MR. WOOD:  My name is Steve Wood.  I represent Mr. James M. Cline.  
MR. McDERMOTT:  And I'm Harry McDermott, and I represent Angela Blevins.  
VIDEOGRAPHER:  Thank you very much.  Would the court reporter please swear in the witness?        
           THEREUPON,
JAMES MICHAEL CLINE,
THE WITNESS HEREINBEFORE NAMED, having been first duly cautioned and sworn to testify to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, testified on his oath as follows, to wit:
5. EXAMINATION
BY MR. McDERMOTT:
My name is James Cline. I live at 11375 High Sky Inn, Hindsville, Arkansas 72738. 
6 I received this subpoena Exhibit No. 1
 (WHEREUPON, a document was marked for identification purposes and introduced as Exhibit No. 1 and is attached hereto.)
I am not on any medication today or any drugs that might inhibit my memory.  All the names I have used in your life are James Michael Cline, Mike.

I was born and raised in  Midland, Texas; also in Northwest Arkansas, and Dallas. My parents move to Arkansas?
A    	In 1957.

7. I was born in 1948. We moved near Centerton, Arkansas.
I did not go to high school there.  I went to high school 
in Dallas, Texas. So we moved moved back to Texas in
1963.
I moved back to Arkansas in 1975.

After I graduated from high school, I went to the University of Arkansas for a period of time, and then I went into the Navy.  I did not get a degree. I didn't have a major.I enlisted in the Navy in 1967. I was in the Navy for four years. I got an discharge.  

After that I worked for the telephone company in Dallas, Texas for about a year. Then I moved to California.to the San Francisco Bay area where I stayed three years. I worked there and went to school.  I worked for an apparel company doing delivery to their stores.  I also went to school to study electronics. After those three years, I moved to Arkansas.

I moved to Centerton in 1975 where I worked at the hospital in Rogers, Arkansas.  Then managed a Farmers Market in Bentonville, start‑up. 

I was an orderly and then I started the Farmers Market 
 in Bentonville for several months, until it was up and running. I was at the hospital a little less than a year.
After the Farmers Market I worked for a newspaper “The Weekly Vista.”  I sold advertising, wrote feature columns.  I was a newspaper man for about a year, and then I bought the frame shop in Rogers, Arkansas. My father lent me the money to buy the frame shop in 1977.

I owned a frame shop for six years.   While I was working at the frame shop, I met Susan Cline. We met in 1977.  I dated Susan three years.  During that time, I met her daughters.  Angela was 11, and Jacqueline was 8. They are the biological daughters of Susan. Susan and I got married in 1980.

I don't remember when I prepared my first will.  It was close to 1980.  I don't remember if Susan did.  I do not remember my attorney’s name.  It was a long time ago.
He is still here in town as far as I know.  I prepared a will because it was something we just decided to do at that time.  It seemed like a good idea.  When I say "we," I am talking about Susan.  Susan decided I should have a will.  I don't remember what happened with her will.
I had my will done.  I don't remember if she had hers done.
I didn't ask her to do a will.  I do not why she wanted me to do a will.
I continued to own a frame shop while we were married.
I sold my frame shop when I went to work for Walmart in 1983.  When I married  Susan she was working at Walmart in group health.  I do not know specifically what her job was. 
At Walmart I worked in the systems, computer systems.I did not program.  I ran a helpdesk. I supported the Walmart stores, the point‑of‑sale system, their cash office system, their ‑‑ their human resources system, payroll, and so forth.  I supported those through the helpdesk.  So if Walmart had a problem or question about the computer system, whether it be cash register or payroll, I was the one who got the phone call first.
I would either direct them to perform actions to correct the problem or I would call a technician.  I sometimes
told them to turn off their computer and restart it.
A    Sometimes.

I do not remember when Susan prepared her first will.  I do not know how many wills she did. After 1980 I prepared another will in September of 2015.  I prepared a will in September of 2015 as part of the trust that was created at that time.  Stephen Lee Wood was the attorney who prepared my will.  He is my attorney now. He was also representing Susan. 

Susan and I did a trust.  The name of the trust was the James M. Cline, Susan E. Cline Trust.  It was her decision to do a trust.  We had talked about doing it, and she thought it was time to do it. It just seemed like a good idea to do it. We both just thought it was a good idea to do that, to have a trust.  We agreed.  I had an agreement with my wife to do a trust. 

We also did wills during this time. I had an agreement with Susan to do a trust and also to do wills.

Susan did a will in September of 2015.  I do not know if she had done a previous will prior to that.  He Attorney was Stephen Lee Wood.  Stephen Wood was representing both Susan and I when he prepared our trust and our wills.

Q    Did you hear Mr. Wood explain to Susan that he had a conflict of interest representing both of you?
MR. WOOD:  I'm ‑‑ I'm going to object to that question.  I believe it invades the attorney/client privilege, and I will instruct Mr. Cline not to answer that question.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.  But I think it's okay because he is ‑‑ I'm asking him what you told another client, not him.
MR. WOOD:  That's still ‑‑ any way you slice the bread, it invades the attorney/client privilege, and I'm instructing Mr. Cline not to answer the question.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.  Could you kind of tab mark that page, or whatever you do, in case we have to talk to the judge about that?    

Did Susan's attorney, Mr. Wood, prepare a document for her to sign explaining her informed consent to represent both of you?
MR. WOOD:  Don't answer that question.
A    I mean, I don't know if he did.

BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
Q    Okay.  So if I have a question about whether or not Mr. Wood explained to Susan about a possible conflict of interest, I'm going to have to take ‑‑ I'm going to have to ask Mr. Wood that question?  
MR. WOOD:  You're asking ‑‑ I'm objecting to that.  You're asking for a legal conclusion.
MR. McDERMOTT:  	Well, this isn't a legal question. 

BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
Q    Just how else am I going to find out other than asking Mr. Wood?
A    I assume that's true.

Susan did not amend or change her 2015 will. So Susan and I created a trust in 2015. I brought the original of that trust today?
MR. WOOD:  I will make a copy.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.  
THE WITNESS:  Could I get some water?
MR. McDERMOTT:  Do you want to take a break?  And do you mind making me a copy of this because I'm going to have to put it into the record. 
VIDEOGRAPHER:  Do you want to go off the record?  The time is 37 minutes past 9:00.  We're off the record.

BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
I have marked Exhibit 1A. which is our Revocable Trust Agreement. My wife and I agreed to do this together. My
agreement with my wife to do this Trust Agreement was we
agreed to do it.  We just agreed to do it. 

In September of 2015, I do not remember what was my net worth.   I do not remember what was Susan's net worth.
I do not recall what was was her income at Walmart at that time.  I did not specifically know how much she made at Walmart. I don’t remember any discussions that we had about it.  I mean, it wasn't part of our normal conversation.

This Trust Agreement says here, and I agree with you,  that in paragraph Susan and I agreed to establish a revocable trust for the management of our estates during our lifetime.  That's the wording that's here, yes.  That was my intent with Susan. This trust was to be used to distribute our estates upon the death of the survivor, 
whoever survives and then I would distribute the trust.
We both agreed to manage this estate, my estate and her estate, according to the terms of this agreement.  The survivor would be the trustee.

I am looking at paragraph three; so, we were both the trustees of this trust.  Susan and I. We were co‑trustees. 

Kenneth Hargis was a friend of ours.  He and us were long‑term friends.  I had known Kenneth Hargis for
twenty years. Susan had known Kenneth Hargis for twenty years.  Kenneth Hargris and I worked at Walmart together.
He worked at Sam's Club.  He worked at Walmart.	He was a buyer.  He bought for Sam's Club.  As a buyer for Sam's Club, he did not professionally come into contact with Susan.  I came into contact with him professionally.
And I became friends with Mr. Hargis. We both did.  And then I introduced him to Susan. We went out to dinner together or otherwise socialized outside of Walmart. We had dinner together; went to movies together; you sit and talk; you visit in each other's homes.
Susan had many friends. Becky ‑‑ I can't remember Becky's last name.  Becky worked at Walmart in workers' compensation.  Valerie.  And, again, I don't ‑‑ I don't remember her last name either.  She worked  at Workers' comp.  Karen Kreeger is a friend who didn't work.  Susan met Karen Kreeger at church early on in our marriage.  I can't remember exactly when.
The both of us went to Emmanuel Baptist Church.
in '82, '83.  We changed churches. We went to Village Bible Evangelical Free Church in Bella Vista for several years.  I don't remember exactly.  We left Emmanuel Baptist Church because we liked the smaller church.
Village Bible was a smaller church.  From there, we went to "Pinnacle Church".  It's called "Cross Church" now.
The one with the three crosses. I don't know exactly how long we went there.  It was probably a couple of years.
I do not remember about when we left Pinnacle Church.  We stayed at this big church maybe a couple years.  We next went to First Baptist, Rogers.  We were raising our grandsons at that time.  And we went to Cross Church, as it's now called, because they had what we perceived as a good youth group, and the boys enjoyed it, so we started going there.  Then we went to First Baptist because some of the boys' friends went to First Baptist, and they liked that youth group because they had more sports activities.
Our grandsons we were raising were Samuel Blevins, Jacob Blevins, and Zebulon Blevins.  We stayed at the First Baptist Church for a number of years.  I can't remember exactly.
We raised those boys about six years. We next went to First Christian Church in Rogers.  Well, after our grandsons went back into their mother's custody, we went to a smaller church.  These were Angela's children?

First Christian was a small church and we stayed for two or three years.  We didn't change then.  Susan became ill, and we ‑‑ she didn't feel up to it.

Susan was feeling ill a couple of years before she was diagnosed with cancer, but she was still working.  

She find out she had cancer in June of 2015.  She retired from Walmart in April of 2015.

I worked at Walmart for twenty‑six years. I left Walmart in 2009. I did various things at Walmart these 26 years. 
I started out working on systems for Walmart, the point‑of‑sale systems, supporting the stores.  And 1984, I went to work for Sam's where I met Mr. Hargis when I was installing point‑of‑sale and office computer systems in Sam's Club.  All of the computer systems within Sam's Club.  The computer systems I installed were everything that supports the point of sale, cash, payroll, receiving merchandise, I mean, everything.
I did it for all of the Sam's Club up until I changed responsibilities.  I can't remember how many Sam's Clubs were open at that time, but I was doing it wherever there were Sam's Clubs.  I just moved to different responsibilities.  It was a gradual change.  And I took over store planning, construction, and supplies, and capital expenditures for the Sam's Clubs.

I don't remember what my income was working just at the systems helpdesk?  When I worked for Sam's Club, it varied.  I don't remember what it was at different times.
It was under $50,000. I was buying stock during this time.
I was buying Walmart stock.
Q    And how did you buy Walmart stock?
MR. WOOD:  I object at this point to the relevance of this line of questioning.  I don't see what it has to do with Mrs. Cline's will, which is what we're here to talk about.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Well, we're trying to determine what was her net worth when she died.
MR. WOOD:  Well, you're not asking her ‑‑ you're not asking him about her net worth.  You're asking him about his, and that's irrelevant.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Well, they contributed their estates into the trust.  How much did he contribute?  How much did she contribute? 
MR. WOOD:  It's irrelevant what he contributed.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Well, it ‑‑ it ‑‑ it might go to the agreement that they had with regard to how this money ‑‑ for example, say Susan made more ‑‑ Susan made 2‑ or $300,000 a year.  And making 2‑ or $300,000 a year, she'd be able to buy a whole lot of Walmart stock.  So in September of 2015, it's possible that the majority of the money that went into this trust came from Susan.  
MR. WOOD:  That's irrelevant to ‑‑ 
MR. McDERMOTT:  Well, that's your opinion.  
MR. WOOD:   ‑‑ the issues of Mrs. Cline's will.
MR. McDERMOTT:  That ‑‑ I'm just explaining why I'm asking him.  Now, are you asking him not to answer?
MR. WOOD:  I'm telling you that if you're going to pursue this line of questioning, I'm going to get Judge Duncan on the telephone.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.  All right.  Well, I'm going to continue.  I've explained why I'm doing it, and you can call Judge Duncan if you want to.
MR. WOOD:  Let's suspend this for just a minute.
VIDEOGRAPHER:  The time is two minutes past 10:00.  We're off the record. 
MR. McDERMOTT:  I'm not agreeing.  
(WHEREUPON, the video is stopped, and the court reporter continues to take down the record.) 
MR. McDERMOTT:  I'm not agreeing to suspend the deposition.  
MR. WOOD:  Well, it is suspended until I get an answer from Judge Duncan.  
(WHEREUPON, court reporter goes off the record.) 
(WHEREUPON, after a break was taken, the proceeding resumed as follows, to wit:)   
VIDEOGRAPHER:  The time is five minutes past 10:00.  We're back on the record, counselor.

BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
We contributed, each of us, all of our assets to the Revocable Trust Agreement. It was, approximately, equal.
Approximately 50/50:  Half the assets were mine. 

The last thing we talked about was with regard to the settlement Revocable Trust Agreement where I and Susan were the trustees?

Q    All right.  Now, paragraph six on the next page, Property Transferred to Trustee.  "By this agreement, settlors transfer, assign, grant, convey, and deliver to trustees the property described in Schedule A. 

Well, if it's in the trust, then we agreed to it.

The real estate, a legal description,  talks about
11375 High Sky Inn Road, Hindsville, Arkansas 72738.
That was the residence where I lived.  We put that in the trust.  And that was half mine and half hers?

Q    Next, it's got name of bank, money market account 14560908.  I do not know,  we did have a money market account that was in both of our names.  In September of 2015, there was a money market account in both of your names and it's Account No. 14560908. Next thing is Checking Account No. 23111028.  We did have a checking account. It was a joint checking account at Arvest.
The money market account was at Arvest as well. I've got Checking Account No. 36 ‑‑ on the next page, 36214569 which was a joint account.  So both of our names are on this account.  Then I've got IRA Account, 90‑6588‑01‑7.  
I don't remember which account was hers and which was mine, but each of us had an IRA account.
I believ the IRA accounts were approximately, equal and 
 kept Arvest. We were using Arvest as our advisor.
I can't pronounce his last name.  His first name is Tomek.
It is Eastern European, and it doesn't have a phonetic pronunciation.The first letter of his name was S, so Tomek S.?
A    Right.
Susan was the beneficiary of my IRA and I was the beneficiary of her IRA.

So by this Trust Agreement, the trust became the beneficiary, as far as you know by my agreement with Susan.  And the next thing you've got in the trust assets is all your contents of your home. It's got here jewelry.   Susan had jewelry?  The rings that she had were her wedding ring.  And she had some other rings.  I couldn't tell you all of them that she had, but she had ‑‑ and she had a diamond ring.  It was a wedding ring similar to mine.  It was made by a friend of ours.  It does not have a gold band.  It had a design in it.  It had some diamonds on it.  This was the wedding ring I gave her when we got married.  I paid for it. I’ve got one on my hand now?
It was similar to mine except it had diamonds on it. 
Her diamond ring was a one‑carat diamond ring that I gave to her. She also had an amethyst ring, or a turquoise.
Ring.  I have got Susan's wedding ring now.  Angela has
 got Susan's diamond ring.  Susan wanted her to have it.  I gave it to her on Susan's death.  Susan did not put this in writing.  She just told me give Angela my diamond ring.

I have the amethyst ring?  Now, the only thing that Susan told me was that she wanted to give right away was the diamond ring to Angela, a set of pearls to Jacqueline, and a cross that she had worn for a long time to our granddaughter, Rachelle.  
Q    Okay.  
MS. BLEVINS:  She didn't get it.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Shhh.

BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
Q    Did you give the cross to Rachelle?
I intend to give it to Rachelle.  I gave the pearls to 
Angela, who was going to give it to Jacqueline.

Next, we've got some automobiles, your Hondas and your Toyota pick‑up.  All of our vehicles were in both names.

Before Susan died, I did not distribute any of this trust property.  Not even the cars or truck.

No. 6 says, "Settlors" ‑‑ that's me and Susan ‑‑ "may add property to the trust or withdraw property from the trust by executing additional schedules or by amending existing schedules in accordance with Section 7."  That was my your understanding of the agreement. 

"Settlors' Right to Amend or Revoke Trust."  Paragraph seven, "The settlors may, by signed and dated instruments delivered to trustees during settlors' lives, withdraw property from the trust in any amount and at any time."  
Neither I nor Susan do this while Susan was alive?
I agree with you me and Susan's right to amend or revoke the trust, may be done with both of you signing and dating instruments delivered to the trustees during your lives.
We did not have any signed or dated instruments.

But did I withdraw property from the trust before she died?  Well, we lived on the trust, I mean, so we ‑‑ we paid bills for it.  We bought things.  We gave things away.  I mean, we did things, you know, as people normally do.  So, I did remove trust property from the trust before she died.  But we did not do it by means of signed and dated instruments.  What property did you remove from the trust while Susan was alive? 
A    Well, like I say, we've ‑‑ we've paid bills.  We ‑‑
MR. WOOD:  Yeah.  I'm going to object to this line of questioning and take it up with Judge Duncan.  This has nothing to do with the probate of Susan Cline's will.  No.
MR. McDERMOTT:  And, again, the wills ‑‑ and it's my understanding the wills left everything to the trust, and so this is part of the agreement that your client had with Susan.  And what he did with the trust ‑‑ and we're going to get into this.  I believe that my client was a beneficiary of this trust.  So for that, it is relevant or it may lead to relevant evidence.  That's why I'm asking him these questions.
All right.  Now, are you advising him not to testify about what trust property he removed while Susan was alive?
MR. WOOD:  No.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.

BY MR. McDERMOTT:  
The trust property I removed from the trust while Susan was alive I couldn't tell you.  We just lived our life as normal people do.  So, I mean, there was ‑‑ money went in.  There was money came out.  There was ‑‑ you know, we sold one vehicle and got a new vehicle, and, I mean, you know, it just ‑‑ we were just doing the things that people normally do.
I did sell one of these cars ‑‑ the Honda CRV?
.  We traded it for another vehicle.
I obviously wrote money from the checking accountto pay my bills.  I removed money from the market account?  
We used it as we needed money.  We transferred money out of the money market account into our checking account.
I did not take any money out of the IRA accounts until this year.  I took 60,000 ‑‑ it was somewhere around 40,000, I believe, out of the IRA account because I'm 70 years old, and I'm required to take money out of it.  I ‑‑ I took some remaining money out of the money market account about 20,000.  But 60,000 altogether.
Q    Forty‑thousand out of the one IRA,  because at her death I transferred into one IRA account.  I can't remember exactly the amount of her IRA account.  It was under a million dollars.  The documents I would you have to look at to find out how much I transferred from her IRA to yours would be Arvest banking documents.
This information is going be at Arvest? I transferred 
her IRA intomy IRA upon her death February 2017.
MR. WOOD'S SECRETARY:  (Knocks on door.)  Judge Duncan is on the phone.
MR. WOOD:  	Okay.  We need to suspend this deposition.
VIDEOGRAPHER:  The time is 24 minutes past 10:00.  We're now off the record. 
(WHEREUPON, after a break was taken, the proceeding resumed as follows, to wit:)
VIDEOGRAPHER:  The time is 42 minutes past 10:00.  We're back on the record.  Counselor?
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.  I would like to state for the record that we had a hearing in front of Judge Duncan, and that Judge Duncan, it's my understanding, ruled that questions about the trust being forged, questions about ‑‑ well, it was argued to the Court ‑‑
First of all, it was argued to the Court that all the pleadings that I have filed up to date have stated to the Court that the will and trust ‑‑ the decedent's will and decedent's trust were how she was going to distribute her estate when she died.  
I brought up to the Court that Mr. Cline improperly represented to the Court that he was the only beneficiary of Susan's will when, in fact, the ‑‑ Susan's trust was the sole beneficiary of her will.  And that was one of the reasons that Susan [sic] has entered her appearance in this probate to probate her mother's estate.  
Next, was ‑‑ again, like we said, the will and trust are ‑‑ were made at the same time to distribute ‑‑ by agreement of Mr. Cline and Susan, to distribute her estate upon her death.  Therefore, I feel like ‑‑ argue to the Court, I should be able to ask questions about the trust, what is the trust, who is in the trust, who are the beneficiaries of the trust, because they are all relevant questions that are going to be addressed at the hearing to be scheduled in the future to determine who is going to be the executor of Susan's estate, my client, Angela Blevins, or Mr. ‑‑ her stepfather, Mr. Cline.  
And the Court has ruled that I can ask questions about the forgery on the trust, but as to the details of the trust, who is the executor of the trust, who are the beneficiaries of the trust, are not allowed in this deposition because they are not relevant to the hearing that is coming up.  
Now, she said that in the future, it may become apparent to the Court that these questions are relevant.  But at this point in time, with all the pleadings in front of her, despite the fact that I've mentioned this in all of my pleadings, the Court has ruled they are not relevant.  And unless I can show they are relevant to the forgery of the will or forgery of the trust, I am limited in this deposition from not asking questions about the trust.  
Now, since we did not put this on the record, which I'll do next time we have ‑‑ is that your understanding of what the Court ruled?  Any arguments of counsel to her?
MR. WOOD:  I'm not going disagree with you, Mr. McDermott.  
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.  
MR. WOOD:  You heard the Judge as well as I did.  Just, you know, proceed at ‑‑ well, as you deem appropriate.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.  Well, I ‑‑ I've got ‑‑ like I said, I've got to prepare ‑‑ prepare an order for her to sign, and I just want to say is there anything else you want to add to that?  
MR. WOOD:  No. 
MR. McDERMOTT:  And he does not.  
Now, with regard to the forgery of this document, I am telling you at this point in time, we are alleging that this is a forged document.  And I'm asking him questions about a forged document.  I'm going to continue, and you can go ahead and make your objections as we proceed.  

BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
Q    Okay.  Now, back to paragraph seven, "Settlors' Right to Amend or Revoke Trust."  And you were telling me you did remove items from the trust without following these directions?
MR. WOOD:  Objection.  Mr. McDermott, did you not understand Judge Duncan's ruling?  What does this ‑‑ what does your question have to do with forgery of the trust document?
MR. McDERMOTT:  This is a document that he created and forged to benefit himself.  I'm asking him ‑‑
MR. WOOD:  Well, then ask him if it's forged, okay?  You don't need to go through this item by item.  Just ask him ‑‑
MR. McDERMOTT:  Well ‑‑
MR. WOOD:  ‑‑ if he forged the document; otherwise, your question is irrelevant.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Well, you can ‑‑ you can object and ask him not to answer, and then we'll move on.
MR. WOOD:  I'm not going to tell him not to answer.  I'm going to get on the phone with Judge Duncan again.  So if you want to ask him if the document has been forged, ask him.

BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
I signed my name to  Exhibit No. 1, but I did not sign Susan's name.

While I was her husband, I did not sign her name on legal documents.  I did not sign her name on this document.
I wouldn't not say I've never signed my wife's name on any document.  I don't remember any that I signed her name on.  But I have done it.  I did it at the hospital when she was at MD Anderson.  I signed her name at the hospital when she was not able to do it. It was with her agreement.

I don't remember signing her name on any other legal documents with her permission.

Besides the document that I signed at the hospital in her name, I don't remember ever having done that before.

A    Not that I'm aware of.  doing it.
MR. McDERMOTT:  And for the record, you're not going to allow me to ask him any questions about this trust, this agreement that he had with his wife to distribute his wife's estate?
MR. WOOD:  I'm telling you those questions are irrelevant.  You ask them, I will call Judge Duncan, and we'll have the discussion again.
MR. McDERMOTT:  All right.  So I just want to make sure that's clear that you're ‑‑ you will ‑‑ you will tell your client ‑‑ this is so can get this on the record so I don't have to ask any more questions.  You're going to tell your client not to answer any questions concerning the meaning or the ‑‑ this agreement that he had with his wife ‑‑
MR. WOOD:  Mr. McDermott ‑‑
MR. McDERMOTT:  ‑‑ concerning the trust?  If you'd just yes ‑‑
MR. WOOD:  ‑‑ we're ‑‑ we're ‑‑
MR. McDERMOTT:  ‑‑ I'll move on.
MR. WOOD:  Well, I'm not going to say yes.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.
MR. WOOD:  No.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.  So I can't ask questions?
MR. WOOD:  No, you can't.  I'm telling you that if you do ask a question ‑‑ you know, if you do ask a question, I'm going to get Judge Duncan on the phone again.  I'm not going to tell him not to answer the question.  I'm telling you if you ask the question, I'm going to get on the phone with Judge Duncan.
MR. McDERMOTT:  So if I ask the question ‑‑ for example, if I ask him did he remove property from this trust after and before ‑‑ either after or before her ‑‑ his wife's death, you are going to say don't answer that question, I'm going to call the Judge?
MR. WOOD:  I'm going to tell you that I'm going to call the Judge.  We're going to suspend the deposition, and I'm going to call Judge Duncan.
MR. McDERMOTT:  I think that's enough.
MR. WOOD:  All right.  
MS. BLEVINS:  Can we take a break?
MR. McDERMOTT:  Sure.  Take a break, sure.
VIDEOGRAPHER:  The time is 52 minutes past 10:00.  We're now off the record. 
(WHEREUPON, after a break was taken, the proceeding resumed as follows, to wit:)
VIDEOGRAPHER:  The time is 59 minutes past 10:00.  We're back on the record.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.  Back on the record.  I have been informed that if I ask any more question about the trust, he's going to advise his client not to answer, and he's going to stop the deposition and call the Judge.  For those reasons, I am not going to ask any more questions about the trust and of which I have ‑‑ they're not going to answer any questions about the trust off the record as well.  
Okay.  I'm reading paragraph 16 of the Trust, Mr. Wood.  It says that the trust shall be divided.  One‑third goes to Angela Blevins, my client, clear of the trust.  And there's a bunch of requirements for Mr. Cline to do.  He's got to do all kind of things before he can take trust assets and use them.  And so for that reason, I'm just telling you it's our position that Angela Blevins is a beneficiary of this trust.  
MR. WOOD:  Well, I'll just repeat what I told you a few minutes ago.  You need to read the trust.  You need to read the trust.  If you read the trust ‑‑ if you take the time to read the trust, you will see that Ms. Blevins is not a beneficiary until the death of James M. Cline.  Please read it.
MR. McDERMOTT:  And you will agree with me that this is the first time I've seen this Trust Agreement?
MR. WOOD:  I don't know.  
MR. McDERMOTT:  Well, I'm telling you before this deposition, I did not have a copy of this Trust Agreement.  
MR. WOOD:  Mr. McDermott, somehow, some way, your client got possession of an unsigned copy of the First Amendment to the Trust Agreement.  I know that because she sent it to me.  Now, whether she's had access to that Trust Agreement and passed it on to you, I don't know.  If you say it's the first time you've seen it, okay, but I don't know.
MR. McDERMOTT:  And you're saying that because she's ‑‑ you don't feel like she's a beneficiary of the trust, Mr. Cline does not owe her any fiduciary responsibilities as the trustee of this trust; and therefore, you're not even going to let me look at any amendments you've done to this trust?
MR. WOOD:  No.  
MR. McDERMOTT:  Unless I file a lawsuit, then you'd have to do so.  All right.  Do you have a copy of the trust?  I would like to admit into evidence Exhibit No. 1A.  Do you have a copy of the trust?
 (WHEREUPON, a document was marked for identification purposes and introduced as Exhibit No. 1A and is attached hereto.)
BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
I’ve testified earlier that Susan Cline died on February 4th, 2017.  After Susan died, Angela asked me to show her, her mother's will and her mother's trust. And I refused to do so.

I believe Angela also asked Stephen Wood, to show her, her mother's will and her mother's trust, and he refused to do so.
The reason I did not show Angela her mother's will because it was not her business at that time.  

She is not specifically named in the will.  Her name is not mentioned in the will to my knowledge.

I am identifying this as her last will. The names mentioned in that will,  well, it merely says that she has two children, Angela Blevins and Jacqueline Daniel.
Her name is mentioned in the will as a child, not as a beneficiary.

Also, it says here the names of my stepchildren. That was a proofing error, apparently.  I did not help her prepare this will.  I believe my will says the same thing.  I didn't proof her will.  I only proofed mine.

Mr, Wood, my attorney prepared this document.  My wife chose Mr. Wood as her attorney.  She set up the original appointment to discuss the trust ‑‑ to set up the trust with Mr. Wood.  Mr. Wood was representing Susan Cline and me, with regard to the preparation of your wills and preparation of your trusts.  

The reason I didn't show this will to Angela
was not because it was none of her business, she was highly hostile at that time.  She was hostile because was very abusive in her language to me.  I don't remember what was she saying to me at this time.

After Susan, her mother, died  there were long tirades of very incoherent things via text, via telephone call, Facebook.  All of these, she was ‑‑ I ‑‑ I couldn't tell you what all the things were in it.  She behaved very irrationally.

I don't know if I still have them, but I did received texts from her.

There were witnesses to the Facebook accusations that she made and some people even challenged her on it, but then they received the same kind of treatment from her.

I’m not going to be able to testify at the hearing that's coming up about anything specifically she said to you that was hostile.

The unspecific things I’m going to be able to testify to the Court that Angela said to you after her mother died are that a lot of it was very incoherent, but she ‑‑ you know, she wanted to see me burn in hell and all kinds of things like that.

I don't know what prefaced that statement.  I am a
Christian so that's a very sensitive thing for someone to tell a Christian that they going to burn in hell.
I can’t remember anything else specifically. Everything else is incoherent.
She made accusations.  I couldn't tell you exactly what they were.   

The accusations that she made recently, on the day of the anniversary of my wife's death, she burst into my house uninvited.  She accused me of murdering my wife.  She said I fed her Roundup in her tea and murdered her.  She accused me of sleeping with "crack whores."  She accused me of cooking methamphetamines.  She accused me of burning illegally.  She accused me of allowing illegal hunting on my property.  
When I asked her to leave, she left, and then she searched all of the ‑‑ the storage areas on our property.  She drove her car up to my ‑‑ the front door and ‑‑ and stood on her horn for minutes at a time.  She went around to the back door, banging on the ‑‑ on the glass door.  
I told her I was going to call the sheriff.  I called the sheriff.  The sheriff came and stopped her as she was leaving.  They arrested her because of her irrational behavior.  The deputy said to me ‑‑ because she had ‑‑ also, she had stolen my ‑‑ my house keys and my car keys.  They were recovered in her car after the deputies had stopped her.  And the deputy's opinion was that she should be committed.  My neighbor said that he heard her screaming and yelling, and ‑‑ and he thought she was going crazy.  This would be this February 4, 2018.     

We've got she said you're going to burn in hell.  She accused me of murdering my wife. She accused you of sleeping with crack whores.  She did not accuse me of
of sleeping with her sister.  She accused me of cooking methamphetamine. She accused me of illegal burning on my property. And she also accused me of allowing illegal hunting on my property.

I was not illegally burning anything on my property?
Illegal burning is there's certain things you can burn; certain things you can't burn.   I do not know if it would be illegal to burn somebody's will.  I ‑‑ I don't ‑‑ I don't ‑‑ I don't know that that's illegal.

I was not sleeping with crack whores.  I did not murder her mother.  I did not poison her mother.  
The neighbor who heard all this was Vance Elder.
I don't know his street number.  It's right next to mine.
I live on High Sky Inn Road.

Susan did want to provide for Angela from her estate after she died.  According to the ‑‑ the provisions in the trust, after my death, then the ‑‑ the ones that are listed there would be the beneficiaries.  And ‑‑ but the only thing that ‑‑ that she had specified to me that she would like other people to have was the diamond ring, which I gave to Angela; the string of pearls that I gave to Angela to give to her sister; and the cross that she wanted my granddaughter to have.

That's all I can say about Susan's desire to provide for Angela after her death except for what this trust provides for her.  So I’m referring to the trust to express the intent of Susan Cline with regard to how she wanted to provide for Angela Blevins after her death.  According to the 
MR. McDERMOTT:  Now, Mr. Wood, with that being said, may I ask questions about the trust because of his statement just then?
MR. WOOD:  No.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.
MR. WOOD:  You can ask questions, but I'll call Judge Duncan.
MR. McDERMOTT:  All right.  Well, let us stop the deposition and give Judge Duncan a call and ask her with that being said that I'm going to be asking questions about the trust.  And go ahead and continue the ‑‑ the movie, and also continue the deposition so we can get what the Judge said.
(WHEREUPON, calling Judge Duncan.)
SECRETARY:  Duncan's office.
MR. WOOD:  Hi.  This is Steve Wood again.  Is Judge Duncan available to take some more questions, objections?
SECRETARY:  Hold on with me, please.
MR. WOOD:  Okay.  Thank you.
MR. McDERMOTT:  We're still on the record.
SECRETARY:  Hold with me, please.  She's aware you're on the phone.  Hold on with me.
MR. WOOD:  Thank you.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Thank you.
JUDGE DUNCAN:  This is Xollie Duncan.
MR. WOOD:  	Judge, this is Steve Wood putting a call in to you at Mr. McDermott's request.  I understand that he wants to ask Mr. Cline some additional questions or more questions about the Trust Agreement, so . . .
I don't know what those questions might be, so I'll let Mr. McDermott state his case.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Judge?
JUDGE DUNCAN:  Yes, sir.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Mr. Cline has testified by agreement, he and his wife Susan created a trust and mutual wills to provide for the distribution of Susan's estate after she died.  Mr. Cline has just testified that the Trust Agreement reflects Susan's intent to provide for her daughter, Angela Blevins, after she died.  
Now, based upon that, I would like to ask him questions about this trust, which he says reflects the deceased's intent to provide for Angela Blevins.  So for that reason, I'm asking the Court's permission to ask questions of Mr. Cline in this deposition about the trust as well as enter the trust into evidence.  
JUDGE DUNCAN:  Mr. Wood?
MR. WOOD:  Well, Your Honor, first of all, Mr. McDermott has misstated a couple of things.  One, this was not Susan Cline's estate.  It was the joint estate owned by Mr. Cline and Mrs. Cline that was put into this Trust Agreement.  
Again, we're going off the rails.  We're not even getting close to talking about the will that's been presented to probate.  I think Mr. McDermott is trying to back‑door a way to ask questions about trust assets that the Court instructed him earlier not to ask until the issue is properly before a court.
JUDGE DUNCAN:  Okay.  Same ruling really as before.  Let's ‑‑ let's not get the cart ahead of the horse.
MR. WOOD:  Thank you, Judge.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Thank you, Judge.
JUDGE DUNCAN:  Thank you both.  All right.  Bye.
(WHEREUPON, the phone call ended.)
MR. McDERMOTT:  We got a ruling on the record, so we don't have to talk about it.
BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
I did not show Angela her mother's trust because she was being extremely hostile towards me at the time.
  
The only other reason, besides her hostility, that I would not show her, her mother's will or her trust because nothing applied to Angela until after my death.  So with regard to the will and the trust, it's none of her business until after I die. 

I told Angela that I was the sole beneficiary.  Well, technically, it's not true.  But according to the trust, I am the trustee of the trust, the surviving trustee of the trust.

I will agree with you I misinformed Angela about who the beneficiary was in her mother's will.  I’m saying that I am the beneficiary of the will because of the trust.
I heard the judge tell us you can't ask me any questions about the trust. 

You are showing me Exhibit No. 2 to see if it refreshes my memory of what I told her.  Okay.  I said, "Angie, the trust has nothing to do with you or anyone else until I am deceased.  I am the sole trustee and the sole beneficiary to Susan's will."
The will says her assets go to the trust.  I am the trustee.

You are not asking me a legal question.  You are asking me who is the beneficiary of the will.  I'm looking for the wording in here. You are asking me when I find it to read who the beneficiary of the will is.  

Section 5, it says, "This section is effective only if I survive James M. Cline.  I give the rest of my estate to James M. Cline and Susan E. Cline Trust which was established by Revocable Trust Agreement, executed on this date, but prior to the execution of this will, for distribution under the terms of the Trust Agreement."
The beneficiary of the will on this page is the trust.
Not me.
Reading the entire paragraph number five: "Incorporation by Reference.  At the time of my death, there may be attached to this will a written statement or list of items of tangible personal property not otherwise specifically disposed of by this will other than money, evidences of indebtedness, documents of titles, securities, property used in trade or business.  This list will be in my handwriting and will be signed by me.  It will describe the items and ‑‑ and devicees with reasonable certainty.  The items on this list are to be distributed to the respected devicees.  This section is effective only if I survive James M. Cline."

There was not a list attached in her handwriting to the will?

This is a picture of a recumbent bicycle.  Susan did not tell me she wanted to give this bike to her grandson, Sam.
Sam did not have this in his possession. 
(WHEREUPON, a document was marked for identification purposes and introduced as Exhibit No. 2B and is attached hereto.)
BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
Q    All right.  Again, I've identified 2B.  
There were two bikes.  It's hard to determine by this which one it is.  There were two bikes that Susan and I purchased years ago that we rode.  I’m testifying under oath that Susan did not give this bike to Sam.
Angie took it one time without ‑‑ without asking, and I asked her to return it and she did.
I know Angie took this bike because she put it in her car, or in her truck, or whatever she had and left while I was there. Or she started to, and ‑‑ and I said, "No.  You can't take that bike."  So I didn't let her take the bike and give it to anybody.  So if Sam had this bike and testified to that, he would not be telling the truth.
 (WHEREUPON, a document was marked for identification purposes and introduced as Exhibit No. 2 and is attached hereto.)
This is the email that I sent to Angela.  The incident where she was yelling at me was on the anniversary of the death of my wife was February 4th, 2018.

On several occasions there were incidences before February 4th, 2018, where she was hostile toward me. 
A    , and ‑‑ and, you know, over the months.  I don't remember exactly when it started.  I put ‑‑ I ‑‑ I had to put her on ‑‑ I had to block her calls.  I had to ‑‑ had to block her from Facebook ‑‑ my Facebook.  I mean, I just ‑‑ she was just on tirades all the time.
I’m not going to be able to testify at the trial what tirades these were.  Well, if I research it, I ‑‑ I might be able to find something, but at the moment right now, I don't.

I do not specifically or in general remember the dates, other than February 4th, 2018, when these occurred. 
I mean, just like I say, I put her ‑‑ I put it on spam.  I put it on ‑‑ blocked it, all kinds of things just to try to prevent it.  I ‑‑ I considered it harassment.  
Most of them, based on ‑‑ on anybody that saw it, thought it was irrational.  Even ‑‑ even Steve Wood received some that he thought was irrational.

I don't know if she was hostile because I wouldn't show her the will.

Her hostility towards me could have happened before her mother died.  Well, I disagreed with her on some of the things that she was telling my great‑granddaughter about my wife.

Her being upset at me because I wouldn't show her, her mother's will or her trust came later.  I think that was something that she latched onto later.

The probate petitions I filed after my wife died was  I filed for a Merrill Lynch account.  I called Merrill Lynch.  I received a statement.  I called Merrill Lynch, and I told them that my wife had ‑‑ was deceased.  And so they sent me paperwork, said fill this out, and so I did.  I took it to ‑‑ to the court and got it done there according to what I was told to do it.
MR. McDERMOTT:  While he's looking at this, have you had a chance to look at my third agreed‑upon order?  The Judge is waiting on us to get this to her.  
MR. WOOD:  I don't remember if I ‑‑
MR. McDERMOTT:  You haven't seen that, okay.  Let's ‑‑ we'll move on.  That's okay.
BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
Q    Have you seen Exhibit No. 3A? 
A    Yeah.  I think I did see that.
Q    Okay.  So this is an email from Angela Blevins to your attorney ‑‑
A    Yes.
Q    ‑‑ that he showed to you.  I'm going to introduce that as Exhibit 3A. 
(WHEREUPON, a document was marked for identification purposes and introduced as Exhibit No. 3A and is attached hereto.)
There's no dispute that she wanted to see her mother's will and that she also wanted to see her mother's trust. 
Neither I nor my attorney would let her see these documents. I wouldn't let her see it.

Exhibit No. 4 is the document I filed.

Susan obtained our house during the marriage. It was not an inheritance.  We purchased that house together.

In order to get this $8,500, I had to fill out this ‑‑ this document that was prepared for me by Merrill Lynch.
To get the Merrill Lynch assets of $8,500, I stated that under the names, ages, relations to the decedent, and residence address of the persons entitled to receive the property of the decedent as surviving spouse, heirs, or devisee of the decedent's will are, and I just listed my name.  I did not list the trust.  I did this without any legal advice from anyone.  I will admit to you today that this is incorrect; that I should have written here the trust. 
 (WHEREUPON, a document was marked for identification purposes and introduced as Exhibit No. 4 and is attached hereto.)
I put the $8,500 Merrill Lynch account after I got it in my name and not the trust's name.  I am going to make any efforts to change that and put it in the trust's name as soon as I can.

I was served with the Motion to Compel Production of Will and Trust. On March 22nd, 2018, were you served a bunch of legal documents.  I got a copy of the Amended Petition for Probate of Will and Appointment of Executor Administrator.

In this amended petition, Angela Blevins, my stepdaughter, states that she's the daughter of the deceased.  She was not nominated in the will as the executor.  I do not remember if she told me that her mother told her she was the executor.  It wasn't true, if she did.  It's possible during one of her tirades, she told me that.  

Now, this document says that she doesn't have the will or the trust.  Susan Cline had a will and a trust.  
They weren't relevant to her.  It says I was the decedent's spouse.  

The trust is the beneficiary of the decedent's will.

She said I falsely filed an Affidavit for Collection of a Small Estate in 04PR‑2017‑321.  That's the one we looked at where I should have put the trust as the beneficiary rather than myself.  I didn't mention any other beneficiaries in my affidavit other than myself?
And she, in this document, was pointing this out to the probate court. 

In this pleading, she's asking for the court to set aside my Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate.  
Whatever the court decides, I guess, but she's asking the court to do this.  It says she wanted to be appointed the executor of the estate, of Susan Cline's estate.

I am aware that you subpoenaed me to come to take a deposition and I filed a motion to quash that.  I think Angela also filed a motion for the Court to order you to bring the will and present it to the probate court.  
I can't answer your question if the Court, just on her own, said she's not going to order me to present to her the will.

So after reviewing this Amended Petition for Probate of Will and Appointment of Executor Administrator,  it is my understanding that Angela wants to be appointed executor because I, number one, misrepresented in an Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate that I was the sole beneficiary of the will?

Is it also my understanding that Angela has filed a petition to probate her mother's estate because neither me nor my attorney would show her, her mother's will?

It is my understanding that Angela has filed a petition to probate her mother's estate because neither me nor her attorney would show her, her mother's trust.

It is my understanding that Angela has filed a petition to probate her mother's estate because her mother told her she was the executor of her will; but, Susan did not tell her that, to my knowledge.  In other words, Susan didn't say that in front of me to Angela.  To my knowledge 
she not say this in front of you in front of Rachelle?

When I filed my Affidavit for Collection of Small Estate, I did not inform Angela that I was doing this. As far as I know, she wasn't aware that I was doing this?

You are showing me Exhibit No. 6.  It's my understanding that Angela apparently believes that she is a beneficiary of her mother's trust.

I'm on paragraph 13 it says here, she's upset her mother's will described her and Jacqueline as stepchildren.  Her will does state them as stepchildren. It's inaccurate.
We prepared the wills  at the same time, but I didn't read hers, she didn't read mine.  We had a lot of things to read, and so we were just simply reading the things that were appropriate to us at the time.  We read the trust.
So at the same time they were prepared and the trust was prepared by Mr. Wood?  After we read all these documents, we signed them.  I think the reason why Susan would sign a will describing Angela and Jacqueline as her stepchildren was she saw the names and just overlooked the stepdaughter part.

I do not know if Susan would she have signed her will if I didn't sign my will.  I don't think so, but we were both there together, you know.  We came here for the purpose of establishing these documents.  It's not a situation that ever arose. I mean, that's what we were here for.

So it was both my intent, and as far as I know, it was Susan's intent that we sign these documents to set up a trust to distribute her estate when she died.  And also to provide for Angela after I died.  There were other beneficiaries mentioned.  

Angela states in 15A  “Stephen Wood's client, petitioner, James M. Cline, refused to show petitioner, Angela Blevins, her mother's will and her mother's trust after her mother died."  And I agree with that as well as agree, "Stephen Wood refused to meet with petitioner, Angela Blevins, after her mother died to show her, her mother's trust or her mother's will to her."  

I was not aware that you tried with Angela to contact Mr. Wood and talk to him on the phone about Susan Cline's will.
A    I wasn't aware of that.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Where did you get this?  Where's this from?
MS. BLEVINS:  I have an original.
MR. McDERMOTT:  What ‑‑ what is it?
MS. BLEVINS:  (Whispering to attorney.) 
BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
Mr. Vanstone was my attorney around 2004?

BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
"Petitioner filed a motion for the court to compel Stephen Wood and his client, the petitioner, James M. Cline, to produce to the Court the decedent's will and the decedent's trust pursuant to the Arkansas Code Annotated."  This document was served on me.

15L says, "The Court, on March 26, 2018, entered the following order denying the petitioner, Angela Blevins', request for the Court to compel Stephen Wood and the petitioner, James M. Cline, to provide the Court with a copy of the deceased's will or her trust."  I don't have any reason to suspect that's not true.

Then we have a letter here that you wrote to my attorney, Mr. Wood.  I had the opportunity to look at this letter dated March 20th.  I'll agree with you, at the very bottom, it says, "I strongly suggest you," Mr. Wood, "and your client," which is me, "agree to immediately meet with you and Angela to try to explain to her what is going on so we can hopefully end this imbroglio"  After this letter was written, I did not meet with Angela or you.

And then go to 15P which says on March 21st, 2018, the probate clerk issued a subpoena duces tecum, petitioner, James M. Cline, to attend his deposition at the law office of the petitioner's attorney on April the 2nd, 2018.  I was served with this subpoena?

I'm assuming 15R says on March 22nd, petitioner, Angela Blevins, mailed a letter to Stephen Wood attempting again to arrange a meeting with him and you to explain why that you failed to show her the trust and so forth.

And on March 23rd, I was served with the Amended Petition for Probate of Will we have been talking about she filed.

On March 29th, I filed a petition to probate the will, and that Exhibit No. 7.  It was Mr. Wood's suggestion that we do that.  I was just following my attorney's advice.  ; 
(WHEREUPON, an off‑the‑record discussion, the proceeding resumed as follows, to wit:)
BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
The value of the estate is zero so I want to probate an estate that has no money.  Not being attorney, it is my understanding both mine and in hers, all of our assets were assigned to the trust.

Not all of the assets were assigned to the trust. For example, the Merrill Lynch account was in her name.
 (WHEREUPON, a document was marked for identification purposes and introduced as Exhibit No. 7 and is attached hereto.)
MR. McDERMOTT:  Here's the original of the will.  And while he's reading that, would you guys agree to send the trust document and the will to a handwriting expert to show that Susan Cline did, indeed, sign that?
MR. WOOD:  No, not until you give me some evidence that there's a legitimate question about her signature.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Well, I've got the ‑‑ on the will, it says she calls her daughter ‑‑ biological daughter stepchildren, which makes me suspect that somebody wrote that will that was not ‑‑ that was not ‑‑ was signing it for somebody to sign that document.  
MR. WOOD:  Mr. McDermott, I'll fall on my sword on that.  That was a typo that this office made.  We make them from time to time, okay, and it just wasn't caught.  Now, aside from that, if you've got any evidence that Mrs. Cline's signature on these documents is a forgery, let me see it.  Otherwise, if you're just pulling stuff out of the air, no, we're not going to send this to a handwriting expert.
MR. McDERMOTT:  So what you're asking me for is a document that Susan signed that we would show the expert for her to ‑‑
MR. WOOD:  I want some ‑‑
MR. McDERMOTT:  ‑‑ make the distinction between ‑‑
MR. WOOD:  I want some evidence, some evidence.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.
MR. WOOD:  Okay.  Now, you've had a copy of her will that's signed, okay.  It's a photocopy, but it's got her signature on it.
MR. McDERMOTT:  But you know I need to have the original to an expert.
MR. WOOD:  You don't necessarily, no.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Oh, you've done these before?
MR. WOOD:  Uh‑huh.  
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.
MR. WOOD:  I sure have.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Who did y'all use as your expert?
MR. WOOD:  A fellow in Louisiana.  It's been a few years ago.  I can find the name for you, but ‑‑
MR. McDERMOTT:  You don't mind using him if he's still doing it?
MR. WOOD:  Well ‑‑
MR. McDERMOTT:  If we prove ‑‑ if we prove to you ‑‑
MR. WOOD:  Yeah.  You've got to come up with some evidence.  We're not going to send these documents places just because you've got a wild idea and you want to have someone look at some documents, okay?  It's just that simple.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.  
MR. WOOD:  You come up with some evidence, and we'll consider it, but we're not going to do that just on the basis that you want to do it.
BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
It is possible I received this from Angela.  I would not have read it.
Q    Okay.  I'll go ahead and mark this as Exhibit No. 3. 
(WHEREUPON, a document was marked for identification purposes and introduced as Exhibit No. 3 and is attached hereto.)
It's just ramblings.

I am aware that I filed a motion for Rule 11 sanctions.
I am aware my attorney has told me he intends to file unless you stop my court proceedings asking that Angela be appointed the executor of her mother's estate.

So the reason Angeal wants to be the administrator of her mother's estate is, number one,I wouldn't show her the will.  Number two, you wouldn't show her the trust.  
Number three, she believes that the will was forged.
and that I filed an incorrect Affidavit for Collection of Estate Assets, which I have taken and put in my own name and not the trust.  And you agree with me, you need to change that.

Angela and you have tried to talk with me and Mr. Wood to get information from me about the will and the trust, and we have refused to meet with you.

I don't say that that the reason why Angela wants to be the administrator of her mother's estate is just to harass me.  I think that her harassment is the reason why I am unwilling to negotiate with her, or talk with her, or engage with her on any of these things.

I do not know if the only way that Angela could look at her mother's will was to file a petition to probate her mother's estate.  Angela’s died in February of last year.
I finally showed her a will in March of 2018.  But, again, it's my understanding, and it's always been my understanding, that none of this had anything to do with Angie until after my death.  That's the way Susan and I had set up the trust, and to our knowledge, that's the way we set up our wills.

I will follow my attorney's advice on filing this Rule 11 motion. .  I don't say I don't have an opinion, but I haven't formulated one.

I have no objections to filing the original of the will with the clerk's office.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Mr. Wood, do you mind filing the original of the will with the clerk's office?
MR. WOOD:  We'll bring it with us to the hearing.  If the judge wants it filed, it will be filed.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.  Because you're not going to do it unless the judge orders you to do it?
MR. WOOD:  There's no ‑‑ everything is done electronically these days.  I don't even know if you can.
MR. McDERMOTT:  You can.
MR. WOOD:  Well, if the judge wants it filed, we'll file it.
MR. McDERMOTT:  All right.  I'm writing that I need to get judge's permission ‑‑ or direction for your client to submit the will ‑‑ the original of the will.
BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
Susan did not make any wills after 9/25/15 that I'm aware of.  I did not burn a will.  I was not burning documents concerning the trust or the will.  I never burned anything that ‑‑ that was a document signed and ‑‑ signed by Susan or myself regarding the will or the trust.  I never burned a document signed by my attorney concerning my will or Susan's will unless it was something that was discarded that was not relevant anymore, it was a draft or something like that, I mean, you know.  I don't recall ever destroying anything related to the will or related to the trust.  The signed will and signed trust are still in existence.  
I do not have a place where I burn documents on my property.  I have a place where I burn brush.  So I have a place where I burn things.   It's not close to my house.
It is not possible that I took a letter from my attorney and placed it in that spot and tried to burn it.  
All of the relevant documents were kept in a safe place in my home.  And I have those with me.
A    Yes.
You asked me in my subpoena to bring with me all those documents concerning her will.  I brought her will; I brought the trust; I brought the certified bill of sale.
Q    All right.  Let me take a look at the certified bill of sale.
A    Mr. Wood has those.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Mr. Wood, can I see the certified bill of sale?
MR. WOOD:  (Leaves room.)
VIDEOGRAPHER:  The time is 34 minutes past 12:00.  We are now off the record. 
(WHEREUPON, after a break was taken, the proceeding resumed as follows, to wit:)
VIDEOGRAPHER:  The time is 52 minutes past 12:00.  We're back on the record.
BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
You are showing me Exhibit No. 9, the documents my attorney has handed to you that were in response to my subpoena.  You asked for all documents, including but not limited to, letters, contracts, originals, copies, and any other records concerning the past and present wills of Susan Cline, and concerning the past and present James M. Cline and Susan E. Cline Trust, and all amendments to them.
Now, in response to this, what I provided to you is Exhibit No. 9.  
MR. WOOD:  That Exhibit 9 does not contain any amendments that were made to the trust after Mrs. Cline's passing.  It does not contain any copies or any form of any wills made by Mr. Cline.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.
MR. WOOD:  These are just documents that were executed by Mrs. Cline, to my knowledge, from September of 2015 up until the date of her death that pertain to the will or trust.
MR. McDERMOTT:  All right.  So I'm not getting a copy of his will that he did at the same time that his wife did her will?  You're not going to show me that?
MR. WOOD:  No.  It's not relevant.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.  And you do understand that I'm going to say there was an agreement between him, your client, and Susan that they would distribute their estates as follows, and that her daughter, Angela, would receive the estate after he died ‑‑ her estate after he died?
MR. WOOD:  You can say whatever you want to.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.  Well, that's our argument, and then we're going to be arguing that he's bound by that agreement, and that he can't alter it with amendments and so forth.  
Now, again, you're saying, and you have convinced the Court, that I can't ask any questions about the trust ‑‑
MR. WOOD:  Uh‑huh.
MR. McDERMOTT:  ‑‑ unless it's in regard to the forgery?
MR. WOOD:  That's what the Judge has said.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.  All right.  All right.
 (WHEREUPON, a document was marked for identification purposes and introduced as Exhibit No. 9 and is attached hereto.)

Susan was twenty‑eight when I met her.  I was twenty‑nine.  My understanding of Susan's previous marriages was she married very early, when she was 16, to Arthur Fernandes, and they ‑‑ they had one child, Angela.  They were divorced.  Then she married Claude West.  And they had a daughter, Jacqueline.  And then they were divorced. When I ended my employment with Walmart in 2009, I studied to be a master gardener.
It was Susan's idea.  She wanted me to be a master gardener because we enjoyed gardener ‑‑ gardening, and she thought that would be a good thing.  She just said I should do it.   She knew some other master gardeners and thought it was a good thing.  We talked about a bed and Breakfast but we never did it.

We did not form any other corporations while we were married. We had one business: M&S Cline Enterprises.
Well, we ‑‑ we went ahead and registered the name War Eagle Bed and Breakfast, but we never actually did the business under that.  We never operated a business called M&S Cline Enterprises..  We have it in name, so nobody else can use that name.  It was not a charity organization, a charity business.  It was a limited liability.  There were no assets in it.

I'm a master gardener.  But I don't act as a master gardener.  They had a ‑‑ a call‑in service for advice or help on gardening issues.  That's what master gardeners do. I  started gardening around the house.  The only fertilizers I used was ‑‑ oh, just some of ‑‑ some of the over‑the‑counter Walmart stuff.  Something anybody could buy at Walmart.  Same thing with bug sprays.
.
The relationship  with Susan at the end of her life when she was sick was I was her caregiver.  We did not have 
any arguments during this time.  Not really, beyond daily irritations of this or that.  I mean, you know, she didn't feel well.
Susan had a long history of ‑‑ she had ‑‑ she had gallbladder ‑‑ her gallbladder removed.  She had a blockage to her bile duct, which had to be cleared a couple of times.  I think it was like in '14.  But she was losing a lot of weight and ‑‑ and things like that.  We attributed it to ‑‑ it was ‑‑ it was attributed to other things other than the cancer that she had, but we suspected that had started at least two years before it was diagnosed in the spring of 2014.  She was complaining about physical pain, especially in her back, and we ‑‑ we sought treatment of that.  She had ‑‑ she had pains in her abdomen, which was attributed a little bit to the ‑‑ the gallbladder disease.  They took out her gallbladder.  She had the bile duct blockage.  The duct that goes from the liver that secretes bile that's used for digestion  was blocked by a ‑‑ and we think that was blocked by results of the cancer that she had, and ‑‑ but they had to go in twice and do surgeries on that.  
Then she ‑‑ finally, she ‑‑ she went to a different doctor.
She was also physically weak and just tired all the time, 
Exhausted.  She had neuropathy, which means the nerves basically stop working, because of the cancer.  
Part of it.  I never witnessed her falling down.  She fell after ‑‑ you know, after she had her surgeries at ‑‑ you know, at the 	hospital once or twice.  This was with the cancer.  She fell once or twice because she was ‑‑ tried to be very independent, you know, but I stayed close to her all the time to make sure that she did not ‑‑ eventually, I had to help her do everything.
Her independence was intermittent.  Because after she had the surgeries for the gallbladder, after she had the surgeries for her bile duct, you know, she was ‑‑ you know, there was a lot of things she couldn't do, and I would help her out, but she tried to be independent.  I mean, she was going to work.  She was working until April of 2015 when she finally retired.  She managed two call centers for Walmart for the workers' compensation.
Q    So that's what she did for a living?  She managed call centers.  Well, that's what she did at the end of her career.  She did a lot of other things earlier in her career.  She spent 38 years with Walmart.  I couldn't tell you all the things she did.   She started out in group health.  She worked at group health with Walmart, and she'd done a number of things.  She managed a lot of different areas within the group health.  I couldn't tell you all of those because it was ‑‑ it was quite a while ago, and there were quite a number of things that she was responsible for.  And then she about 11 years, I think it was, she was ‑‑ she worked for the Walmart pharmacy group as a regional marketing manager and responsible for about six states, traveling to different companies.  And ‑‑ and then she moved into the workers' compensation group, and stayed with that until she retired.
Her promotions were more lateral.  I mean, within those, she had promotions, you know, so within those areas.  But, you know, she was ‑‑ it wasn't like going from pharmacy from workers' ‑‑ from group health wasn't necessarily a promotion.  It was just a different job.
Well, I'd ‑‑ I'd have to go back and look, but she was making probably around ‑‑ between 70‑ and 80,000.

A possible retirement plan we discussed was to open up an LL ‑‑ limited liability company, M&S Enterprises Bed and Breakfast.  We'd given that up long before.
She wanted to travel after she retired.  We did when she was able. We’ve been to Canada.  We went to British Columbia.  We've been to the East Coast.  We've been to the Maritime Provinces, Montreal, Quebec.  When I was ‑‑ when I was doing an assignment in Germany, I brought her over for two‑and‑a‑half weeks.  We renewed our vows there.  I had an assignment in Germany which was a part of Walmart.  She wasn't retired when we went to Germany.

She retired in ‑‑ in April.  She was diagnosed with cancer ‑‑ two different kinds of cancer in July. Just a couple months afterwards.  We started chemotherapy at MD Anderson in Houston.  And then she went in for a stem‑cell transplant, and we were in the hospital for four months.
She was not angry at Walmart or the Walmart doctor.   
There wasn't a Walmart doctor.  Well, I take that back.  When she had the back surgery ‑‑ or not back surgery, but she had back pain, we went for a diagnosis at what Walmart called the "Center of Excellence" up in Springfield, Missouri, and several doctors, neurologists, and, I mean, all kinds of different doctors did various tests on her to try to determine what was the best solution for her back.  It was a sciatic nerve issue.  And they didn't ever come up with a conclusive way dealing with it around
 2014?
Later when she was diagnosed with cancer, well, she felt that this had been ‑‑ you know, maybe contributed to the problems that she was having, and so there was a sense of why didn't they discover this.   So she was upset with her previous doctors for not catching this.  And that was one of the reasons why she went to a different doctor when her cancer was diagnosed.  Well, our doctor that we went to, Dr. Swindell,  he ran some tests and ‑‑ and sent them to Mayo Clinic for analysis, and they came back with a possibility of these cancers.  And so from there, he did not refer us to MD Anderson in Houston.  Susan self‑referred herself to MD Anderson.  She worked in healthcare for a long enough period of time, she understood, you know, who to talk to and what to do.
So she went to MD Anderson to get diagnosed.  She went to MD Anderson, it was in August of 2015.
A    We started going for the ‑‑ we went there.  They diagnosed it, and we started the chemotherapy.  She had four chemotherapy sessions; one each month until December when she went in the hospital for a stem‑cell transplant.

So in August 2015, she began her chemotherapy.  She was being treated, but we were going down once a month for a week for her chemotherapy.
Q    Okay.  So her records at MD Anderson would tell us where she was ‑‑ what day she was in Houston, Texas?
So if we had those medical records, I think that would show where she was in September of 2015?
Angela came to MD Anderson to see her mother.
She was there for a period of time, and ‑‑ you know, but that was ‑‑ that was a very intense period for me as well.  What was going on when Angela was with Susan at MD Anderson in Houston?  I don't know what was going on between Angela and my wife.  Well, I just don't ‑‑ I don't remember it.  You know, that was not my focus.  I was dealing with doctors.  I was dealing with Susan.  I was dealing with things like that.  I knew she was there.   
I thought it was fine that Angela came down to be with her mother during this time. 
I don't remember what was going on medically with my wife at this time?  I just remember that Susan was going through some very intensive medical procedures during that period of time, and that was my focus.  This ws not in August of 2015.  August is when we started the chemotherapy.  We would come down once a month for a week, and then come back home.  And, you know ‑‑ and that ‑‑ and that happened up until December ‑‑ around December 15th.  Then we went down there to stay, and they started her stem‑cell transplant, which lasted four months.  It's a standard procedure that they use, but it's very intense.  I mean, they ‑‑ they take you about as close to death as you can go.

We drove the first time, and it was ‑‑ it was so hard for her that we didn't do it again.  So we used Angel Flight to take us down there and back.  It's a group of volunteer pilots ‑‑ individual pilots who will pick up patients where they live ‑‑ an airport near where they live and take them free of charge down to MD Anderson to deliver them down there.  And then they have another service that will take them actually to the ‑‑ their hotel or to the medical center.  Angela was possibly helping me board her mother on these flights.  I don't remember if she did.
If she showed up, she probably did.  I don't remember.

Did ‑‑ did Susan want the stem‑cell treatment?
Susan initiated the ‑‑ the whole process with MD Anderson.  She made all of her medical decisions on her own.

She had two very rare conditions.  She had amyloidosis, and she had another one that's called "Waldenstrom's disease."  which are both related to the ‑‑ the blood cell production process, and so both even though they're independent diseases, they're	 both treated similarly, but not exactly.
Q    Had the cancer spread over her entire body ‑‑the nature of it was that her ‑‑ well, the amyloidosis is the fact that the blood production system creates a protein called "amyloid," an amyloid protein, which is malformed.  The body can't use it; can't get rid of it.  So it begins to accumulate in organs, and it's not ‑‑ you know, it can be any organ.  It could be in the nerves.  It could be any place.  And then it causes decrease of function in those organs, kind of like sand in your gas tank.  And the other one, Waldenstrom, increases the viscosity of the blood, the thickness.  And so both of these things are treated with stem‑cell transplant. So Waldenstrom's, that was the viscosity of her blood.  So her blood slows down.  I don't know chemically or biologically what it is.  They call it ‑‑ there's a term called "macroglobulin."  The stem‑cell transplant took care of both of those. It cured both of these conditions.  But it could not cure the damage it had done to her kidneys, and she had ‑‑ and her heart.  If fact, she had to have a pacemaker put in while she was at MD Anderson, while she was undergoing the stem‑cell transplant.  So she had a pacemaker and damage to her kidneys. She's definitely going to die with the disease.  She was definitely going to die.  But the stem‑cell treatment might prolong her life?  And if she had not had sustained the collateral damage to her kidneys, and her heart; and it wasn't that the cancer affected it, but it was the effects of the cancer on other things that caused a lot of damage within her body. It did nor affect her brain at all.  They even did tests on that, and it didn't.   

I believe it was April of 2016. And for a while, we were still trying to manage her kidney function and ‑‑ through dialysis and different things.  She wasn't bad enough to require dialysis for a while.  But she was headed toward that. And finally, we had a nephrologist that ‑‑ that told us that it was getting worse, and so they put her on dialysis.  And so we run dialysis for several months.

In April 2015, she found out she had cancer, She lived at the hospital in December 15th.  On April 16th we came back to Arkansas.
She wanted to stay in Arkansas and live there until she died.  She was in a lot of pain, but, you know, we had hope that this ‑‑ you know, that this would get turned around.

Now, during this time, was she sometimes spending time with her grandchildren.  But she was very weak and ‑‑ you know, at that time, and ‑‑ and it was just difficult for her.  She was in a lot of pain.

We had an apartment.  In August 2015, she started getting treatments at the MD Anderson.  We'd go down there once a month.  We rented an apartment in December for the four months until we left in April.  We rented an apartment in December and left in April.  So then we rented an apartment for four months until April of 2016.  Then we moved back to Arkansas.

She started the stem‑cell procedures while we were in MD Anderson.  She started the stem‑cell transplant in December of 2015.  She did not have a meeting with all the doctors and say, Look, I want to just go home. 
And the medical records wouldn't reflect that. 

So we came back in April of 2016.  . A    Right.
Her grandchildren would come over from time to time.  
She was not bedridden at this time.  She wasn't ‑‑ she wasn't very mobile.  She ‑‑ she was ‑‑ she reached a point where she was in a wheelchair.  You know, she could only move through a wheelchair.  She stayed at home.  She either stayed in bed or she stayed on the couch in the living room, you know, if she had to get around we had a porch out there.  She would sometimes go out on the porch.  And then she had dialysis three times a week, and so we would go into town.  And then she was also doing some physical therapy at one point too when she got back from MD Anderson. I drove her.  I did all the driving.
I cannot remember Angela ever picking up her mother and taking her places during this time.  

I did not know know the apartment number or the address or the apartment complex name.  But my records would have that.

Was Susan was eventually O K with dying.  I mean, she chose to do the dialysis because she wanted to live, you know, and we had hopes of that up to the point where the doctor ‑‑ the nephrologist told her, said it was ‑‑ it was terminal.

In  April of 2016, she finished the stem‑cell treatments. 
She was discharged.  They told her that was all they could do for her.  It had cured the cancer.  But it did not repair the kidneys, and they couldn't repair the damage to her heart.   So she had a bad heart, and she had to have dialysis on her kidneys.  So the only thing that was going to kill her after that, was just struggling with dialysis and a bad heart. 

She a week before her death, had a seizure at night, and I called 9‑1‑1.  And they ‑‑ they airlifted her in to ‑‑ in to Rogers at Mercy, and they identified ‑‑ they identified a kind of meningitis.  They weren't sure.  They wanted to ‑‑ they wanted to do certain tests on it.  And so she stayed there for the week.  They ‑‑ they couldn't ‑‑ a neurologist could not identify positively what the ‑‑ what the source of it was because the way they were reading it, it says there was too much noise in the ‑‑ in the reading.  
And so they wanted to put her on a ‑‑ a ventilator to do that.  And she had told me the two things never to do was never to put her on a ventilator or to put her on a feeding tube.  And I told them they couldn't do that, and so they didn't.  But then they couldn't do anything for her, and so, you know, we transferred her to Home Hospice and brought her home and they wanted to put her on a ventilator to ‑‑ to do the tests ‑‑ further tests.
She didn't want to do that.  She didn't ‑‑ no.  She said ‑‑ well, she told me don't ever let them put me on a ventilator and don't ever ‑‑ you know, for whatever reason, don't let them put me on a ventilator, don't let them use a ‑‑ put in a feeding tube.  She said, Look, I don't want to ‑‑ I don't want to spend my remaining days in a hospital; I want to be at home. 

I mean, at one point in MD Anderson, they had to put her on a ‑‑ a CPAP, and it scared her so bad.  You know, she said don't ever let anybody ‑‑ she was angry at me.  She said don't ever let anybody do anything like that to me again.  Well, her lungs had filled up.  When her kidneys failed, her lungs filled up, so they used a CPAP to force ‑‑ it's a mask they put on.  It forces high‑pressure air into her lungs to push that liquid out of her lungs so she could breathe.  And it was a long process that they did, and she said don't ever let anybody do anything like to me again.

We went in on December 15th, and we left April 15th of '16.  We went back in December 15, 2015 and stayed there for four months and got her stem‑cell stuff.  And then she came back in April of 2016.   And she stayed there until you said she had a seizure.  That was ‑‑ that was a week before she died.  So now we're in January of 2017, okay.  I just want to get my ‑‑ this schedule right.
She made comments after the nephrologist had told her that it was terminal, and that she was in so much pain, and she hated the dialysis.  We thought we might be able to go to a less invasive form of dialysis that we could do at home, and that's what we were shooting for, but then her condition wouldn't allow it, which meant she would have to continue with the same kind of dialysis.  I think that's when she had made some comments here or there that she was ready to go.  So, I mean, you know, it's just ‑‑ it's not like ‑‑ it's not like saying, okay, you know, do it.  But, you know, obviously, she would have liked to have lived, you know, if she could have recovered, but she didn't.  She didn't feel like her life was ‑‑ had much quality in it at that point.

Susan told me where she wanted to be buried.  She wanted to be buried at the War Eagle Cemetery.  I went out to buy her a plot.  This was after she died.  I didn't bury her at the War Eagle Cemetery.  She requested to be  cremated. She requested to be cremated and then buried  at the War Eagle Cemetery.  We have a joint grave there, 
one for me, and one for her. I di not bury her there because
I just wanted to keep her with me.  So she's in my house.
So we'll both go in together.

I told Angela that her mother died.  I did not tell her sister, Jacqueline, that her mother died. We had the funeral services at Piney Point Baptist Church.  A friend of Susan's Whitney Coberley wanted to know what we wanted to do for a memorial service, and I said, well, I'm not sure.  So she ‑‑ her husband was friends with the pastor at Piney Point Baptist Church.  And so she called, and they said that we could do it on that Friday, so we did.
There were several people that were involved, doing different things.  I couldn't tell you because they were doing it.  They were doing it to help me.  

Mr. Sal LaFossa that used to be our pastor when we went to a church at Bella Vista; now he lives in Overland Park, Kansas. The church in Bella Vista was The Village Bible Evangelical Free Church.
Q    Okay.  How was he involved in the funeral?
MR. WOOD:  Mr. McDermott, at this point, I'm going to object to this line of questioning.  I have no idea what Mrs. Cline's funeral has to do with the will that she executed in September of 2000 ‑‑
MR. McDERMOTT:  No.  This all goes to the relation ‑‑ his relationship with Angela.
MR. WOOD:  Well, what's that got to do with the probate of a will?
MR. McDERMOTT:  Well ‑‑
MR. WOOD:  I mean, maybe they've got the best relationship; maybe they have a terrible relationship.  What does that have to do with Mrs. Cline's will that's in front of Judge Duncan?
MR. McDERMOTT:  Well, now, if he's ‑‑ if he's ‑‑ if he's ‑‑ if he's creating malfeasance, there's got to be a reason for it, and ‑‑ but anyway, I'm almost done, so . . .
MR. WOOD:  Well, it's ‑‑ it's getting kind of late ‑‑
MR. McDERMOTT:  You're getting bored or . . .
MR. WOOD:  ‑‑ in the day on this, and if you don't start sticking to the will and questions about the will, I'm going to get Judge Duncan back on the phone again.
MR. McDERMOTT:  	Okay.  All right.
BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
Mr. Ken Hargis is involved in these procedures.  
Q    And what was his responsibility at the funeral?
MR. WOOD:  All right.  We're past ‑‑ do I need to get Judge Duncan on the phone again?
MR. McDERMOTT:  You can do whatever you want.  
MR. WOOD:  Okay.
MR. McDERMOTT:  These are questions I have planned to ask him.
MR. WOOD:  	Okay.  We'll suspend this for a few minutes or keep it on the record if you want to.  I'll get Judge Duncan on the phone.
 (WHEREUPON, calling Judge Duncan.)
SECRETARY:  	Good afternoon.  Judge Duncan's office.
MR. McDERMOTT:  We're still on the record.
MR. WOOD:  All right.  This is Steve Wood.  I have some additional issues to raise with Judge Duncan ‑‑ or bring to Judge Duncan's attention about this deposition with Mr. McDermott.  Is the Judge available?
SECRETARY:  She has just taken the bench, and we don't expect her to take a break for at least an hour. 
MR. WOOD:  Okay.  All right.  Well, when she leaves the bench, would you mind having her give us a call?
SECRETARY:  Yes, sir.
MR. WOOD:  Okay.  Let me give you the number.  
SECRETARY:  Okay.
MR. WOOD:  It's 631‑6161.
SECRETARY:  Okay.  I will give her the message.
MR. WOOD:  Okay.  Thank you.
SECRETARY:  All right.  Thank you.
MR. WOOD:  Bye‑bye.  Now, again, Mr. McDermott, if you want to continue this line of questioning, you're going to have wait till we hear ‑‑ 
MR. McDERMOTT:  No.
MR. WOOD:  ‑‑ back from Judge Duncan.  If you want to go to something else, that's fine too.
MR. McDERMOTT:  No. I'm going to ‑‑
(WHEREUPON, phone is beeping.)
MR. WOOD:  Would you lift that receiver up?
THE WITNESS:  (Witness complies.)
MR. McDERMOTT:  No.  Here's what we do in depositions.  You ask you a question, and you can say I'm advising you not to answer that question, and then we move on.  That's how we usually do it.  I've never heard of all this stuff that we've been doing with Judge Duncan, but I very appreciate her doing it.  
But usually, in a deposition, what you do ‑‑ what I expect you to do is to say don't answer that question, and let's move on.  So I'm going to ask a question, and you're going to ‑‑ and you can object to it or not, but I'm not going to wait for an hour for Judge Duncan to come back.
MR. WOOD:  Well, you're going to have to.  Mr. McDermott, you've been practicing law longer than I have.  I think ‑‑
MR. McDERMOTT:  Didn't we graduate together?
MR. WOOD:  I'm surprised that you're not familiar with Rule 30.  Rule 30 specifies the reasons ‑‑ and they're very limited ‑‑ when I can tell a witness, such as Mr. Cline, not to answer a question.  
It's only when a privilege is involved; otherwise, I make an objection.  If I have a problem with your line of questioning, the procedure, according to Rule 30, is to suspend the deposition and get an answer from the Court, and that's what we're doing.  
Now, if you can ask Mr. Cline questions that are related to the will, fine.  But if start going off track, we're just going to stop the deposition ‑‑
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.  I'm sorry.  This ‑‑ this has to do with the will and her ‑‑ and her ‑‑ and his ‑‑ and her reaction to him after her mother died.
MR. WOOD:  Mr. McDermott, I'm not going to ‑‑ 
MR. McDERMOTT:  I'm just telling you the relevance.
MR. WOOD:  Susan Cline's ‑‑ Susan Cline's funeral and who was at the funeral have nothing to do with the execution of a will in September of 2015.  Her final illness has nothing to do with the will that was executed in September of 2015.  
At this point, you're harassing Mr. Cline.  You're asking him to relive all these events that have nothing to do with the issue before the Court, and I'm not going to tolerate it.
MR. McDERMOTT:  All right.
MR. WOOD:  It's just that simple.
BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
Q    Was Angela allowed to speak at the funeral?
MR. WOOD:  Let's ‑‑ we're going to suspend this till we hear back from Judge Duncan.  
MR. McDERMOTT:  Well, I'm not going to stop the deposition.  I can go on to other questions.
MR. WOOD:  Mr. Cline, why don't you come into my office, and we'll just wait for Judge Duncan to call.
MS. BLEVINS:  Could we just take lunch or something?
MR. McDERMOTT:  Well, no.
MR. WOOD:  You can do whatever you want to until Judge Duncan calls.  You can ask an empty chair questions if you want to.
MS. BLEVINS:  	Oh, wow.  
VIDEOGRAPHER:  Do y'all want to go off the record?
MR. McDERMOTT:  Let's ‑‑ yeah.  Let's take a lunch break.
MS. BLEVINS:  Let's take a lunch break.
VIDEOGRAPHER:  The time is 42 minutes past 1:00.  We are now off the record. 
(WHEREUPON, after a break was taken, the proceeding resumed as follows, to wit:)
MR. WOOD:  Judge, are you there?
JUDGE DUNCAN:  I am.
VIDEOGRAPHER:  The time is 40 minutes past 2:00.  We're back on the record.
MR. WOOD:  Okay.  We're going back on the record here in the deposition for purposes of our latest objection.  This one, I'm making.
You have before you a will that Mr. Cline has proffered as Mrs. Cline's last will dated September of 2015.  We have spent, I'm going to estimate, 30 to 40 minutes with Mr. McDermott asking Mr. Cline questions about Mrs. Cline's last days.  
She died in February of 2017, about 18 months after the will was signed.  Mr. McDermott has asked about the funeral.  He's asked who was in attendance at the funeral, why certain people were present at the funeral.  He's asked Mr. Cline about Mr. Cline's membership or attempts to become a master gardener, use of bug sprays and fertilizers.
In short, we've gone ‑‑ in my estimation, we've gone way off the rails on this deposition, which, again, in my estimation, should concern Mrs. Cline's will that she executed in September of 2015.  
I see absolutely no relevance to questions like who was at the funeral in February of 2017.  And, again, I ‑‑ I would ask the Court to instruct or advise Mr. McDermott to stick to the issues before the Court; that being the will that has been offered for probate.
JUDGE DUNCAN:  Mr. McDermott?
MR. McDERMOTT:  Judge, the objection is I'm asking ‑‑ there's been no objections up till now.  I'm asking Mr. Cline what happened at his wife's funeral.  The question ‑‑ the reason I'm going into the funeral is that Mr. Cline has testified that he has refused to show my client, Angela, her mother's will because Angela was hostile toward him after her mother died.
Now, what I'm going to talk about in the funeral is what he did ‑‑ what Mr. Cline did at the funeral that shows one of the many reasons why Angela was hostile toward him after her mother died.  The way he treated her, the way she was treated at the funeral made her very upset with Mr. Cline, and I want to talk to him about that because that is going to be an issue that will be raised at the hearing ‑‑ upcoming hearing.
JUDGE DUNCAN:  Why is it relevant to whether or not the will should be admitted?
MR. McDERMOTT:  Well, number one, it's our position right now, the will shouldn't be admitted because it is ‑‑ has been forged.  It is not the actual will of her mother.  And the reason I need to go into ‑‑ so that's ‑‑ so that's ‑‑ that's the first issue.
But the issue before you is going to be who's going to administrate Susan Cline's estate.  And what we're doing with this deposition is establishing why Mr. Cline should not be appointed by the Court as the administrator of Susan Cline's estate.  
Number one, he's got a ‑‑ now, this is just ‑‑ we haven't gone ‑‑ gone into the evidence yet, but we are suspect ‑‑ we suspect that the will was forged and was not signed by Susan, but was signed by Mr. Cline.
Now, for him not to show Susan Cline's daughter her mother's will after she died is evidence that he should not be the administrator of the estate.  Because if he's not going to show a beneficiary or a person who is direct ‑‑ specifically mentioned in the will ‑‑ the mother's will, he should not be ‑‑ administrate the estate.  
Also, we're getting more and more stuff of all the things he did, such as taking the estate's assets and putting them in his own name. 
The next thing we're going to talk about is the way he has treated Angela after her mother died, which will be further proof why the Court should not allow Mr. Cline to administrate her estate.  And we're going ‑‑ we're starting that with the funeral and what he did to her at the funeral; and therefore, it's relevant and I should be able to inquire about it in this deposition.
JUDGE DUNCAN:  Mr. Wood?
MR. WOOD:  Well, again, Your Honor, I believe Mr. McDermott is conflating the trust estate and what Mr. Cline has done with the trust estate with the probate estate.  And, you know, that ‑‑ that's ‑‑ those are issues that may or may not be heard in another setting, but certainly not proper in the context of a probate setting where the only issue before the Court right now is admitting the one and only will that has been proffered to this point.
JUDGE DUNCAN:  Okay.  Mr. McDermott ‑‑
MR. McDERMOTT:  Yes.
JUDGE DUNCAN:  ‑‑ out of all the statements you just made, I believe that it's ‑‑ I believe what you told me is that Mr. Cline admitted that he would not show Ms. Blevins the will after his client's death.
MR. McDERMOTT:  That's correct.
JUDGE DUNCAN:  Okay.  That's relevant.  That's fine.  I don't have a problem with that.  Now, all the rest of this business like who's at the funeral and what happened at the funeral, I don't see how that's going to make any difference to anything that I'm going to hear when I determine who is to be ‑‑ first of all, whether this will should be admitted ‑‑ if it's Ms. Cline's will, if it should be admitted.  
And if we determine, yes, it is her will and it should be admitted, then I'm assuming it names somebody.  I haven't looked at it today.  But I'm assuming it names Mr. Cline, although I don't know that for sure, to be the executor.  
So if that's the case, then all these other rabbit trails that we're chasing down aren't going to make any difference.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Like I said, as long he doesn't say that he didn't give her the will because she was hostile toward him, I have no ‑‑
JUDGE DUNCAN:  That's what you told me he testified to, right?
MR. McDERMOTT:  That's right.  He said, "I didn't give her this will because she was hostile toward me."  Well, I think the Court would want to know why Angela was hostile toward her stepfather ‑‑
JUDGE DUNCAN:  Okay.  If I think that becomes relevant at the hearing, then we can ‑‑ we can explore it there.  At this point, I don't think it is.  I don't know why it would be, what had happened at the funeral.  What we're talking about is a will that was executed in September of 2015, and we're talking about a funeral in February of 2017, so let's ‑‑ you know, I ‑‑ I would be more interested in what was going on up to the execution of the will and immediately thereafter than ‑‑ than I would be what happened after Ms. Cline's death.  So let's ‑‑ let's limit it to what you've already got; and that is, that he would not show her the will.
MR. WOOD:  Yes, Your Honor.
JUDGE DUNCAN:  Okay.  Thank you.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Thank you, Your Honor.
JUDGE DUNCAN:  Uh‑huh.  Bye.
(WHEREUPON, phone call ended.)
BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
If I’m appointed administrator of Susan's estate, I plan to proceed according to the provisions of the trust.
Since the will was not forged, I’m not going to look into whether or not the will was forged.  
Q    And you're not going to look at anything with regard to your actions, such as taking the estate's assets and keeping them for yourself?
A    I don't know what you mean by that. 
MR. WOOD:  I object to the form of that question.  You're talking about the estate's assets.  Are you talking about probate estate or trust estate?
MR. McDERMOTT:  Probate.
MR. WOOD:  Okay.  Well, I think, first, you've got to establish there's probate estate assets.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Well, we're all well aware there was a Merrill Lynch account that was in Susan Cline's name, and he's taken ‑‑ he's used the probate system to take that asset and put it in his own name.  I think that's very relevant to who should be the administrator of the estate.
MR. WOOD:  Mr. McDermott, do you understand that if that Merrill Lynch account had gone into the name of the trust that Mr. Cline, as trustee and sole beneficiary of the trust, would have access to all of that money?
MR. McDERMOTT:  I can't because you're not allowing me to ask him any questions about the trust.  So ‑‑
MR. WOOD:  Well, you've got the trust document in front of you.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Well, I can't ask him any questions about it.  You've made that ‑‑ you've blocked me there, and that's fine, you know.  I think it's relevant, and I think ‑‑ but, anyway, you've blocked that, and you've blocked me talking now about all the activities that he did to infuriate Angela Blevins, so I'm almost ‑‑ I'm ‑‑ I'm pretty stripped down at what I can ask him about what's left.
MR. WOOD:  All right.  Well, let's ‑‑
MR. McDERMOTT:  And why are we talking?  What ‑‑ what's the reason we're having this conversation?
MR. WOOD:  Your question to Mr. Cline was about estate assets, and that ‑‑
MR. McDERMOTT:  What's he going to do with them?
MR. WOOD:  And as I've said to the Judge several times, you keep conflating estate assets with probate assets.  You just say estate assets.  You talk about Susan Cline's estate as though she had a separate estate.  You're not laying proper foundation for these questions.  That's why I'm objecting to the form.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Well, that's ‑‑ that's the first question I had ‑‑ objection that objected to form.  Okay.  All right.  Let's move along.
BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
I’m not as the administrator going to see whether or not the will was forged.  And as the administrator of the estate, I’m not going to do anything to find out whether or not I have taken ‑‑ used the probate system to put probate assets into your own name. What I will do is transfer that account into the trust.  That was a lack of understanding on my part.
Let's talk about my relationship with Angela Blevins.  I first meet Angela In 1977.  She was eleven.  I helped raise Angela Blevins.  She was a very rebellious child.
I didn't discipline them except on extreme occasions.

Susan called her Angie.  I do not know why she called her Angie.  Susan had difficulty with Angela because of her rebellion.  This rebellion started maybe 12, 13, 14 years old.  Angela, as a teenager, became rebellious.  
She expressed her rebellion to her mother when she would sneak out of the house at night.  You know, she would ‑‑ you know, she would ‑‑ we found out later was doing drugs.  She would take the car when she didn't have a driver's license.  You know, she ‑‑ I mean, just ‑‑ I ‑‑ I ‑‑ I can't remember all of the different things, but it was just ‑‑ it was an attitude of rebellion.
So all I can remember today is that she snuck out at night.
I do not know what drugs she did.  I know she did drugs
that was what her mother's understanding was, and I had to go fetch her, while she was still a minor, out of a house that was known as a drug hangout.  And the only reason we knew her ‑‑ knew that she was there was that her little sister knew where she went and told me and we went there.  And at first, she hid, but I called and told her to come out, and then she came out.  So, I mean, this was repeated kinds of ‑‑ of behavior along that line.
And she took the car without permission.  
Well, that's why I ‑‑ I mean, it's ‑‑ it's repeated things, you know.  She was always sneaking out of the house.  She was ‑‑ she was always associating herself with people that were known as drug‑users, and, you know, she just was basically rebellious.  She ran away from home one time.  She ran away from home?  I do not know why she would run away from home.  Well, there were arguments all the time about different kinds of things.  I couldn't tell you, specifically, what led up to it at that time.  It was quite some time ago.

So after the terrible teens were over, it was very tense. 
They would argue about things. I couldn't tell you now what they argued about.  I mean, they were things that were relevant at the time.  So, I remember Angela arguing with her mother.  It's all I can remember at this point.

Did Angela go to college.  She dropped out of school in her senior year.  I don't remember exactly, but ‑‑ you know, I can't remember the details of what happened to her after that.  Susan  never disowned her after any of these arguments.  She did not disown Angela after she dropped out of school. 

For a living Angela was a massage therapist, but I don't remember what she did before that. She could have been a massage therapist for 25 years. I don't know, specifically.  I would say that, but I don't know.  Her mother did not disown her because she was a masseuse for 25 years.  In fact, her mother get massages from  her.  She would go get massages from Angela.

Sometimes Angela and her mother had a close relationship.  
After Angela got married, you know, we ‑‑ Susan and I both agreed to give them the down‑payment for their house because we were worried about the ‑‑ the environment for the children.  And so we ‑‑ we just gave them the money.  It wasn't a loan; gave them the money for that.
We supported them many ‑‑ many times when they didn't have enough funds to pay their bills or whatever.  
Angela's mother expressed her love to her bys helping her buy a house or helping her out financially when she needed it.  Well, I mean, she loved Angie.  I mean, there wasn't any question about the fact that she loved Angie.  She loved both her daughters.

There is not any reason why I can think of Angela wanting to disown or disinherit Angela.  She never wanted to disinherit Angie.  She never wanted to disinherit Angela.

Now, when she found out she had this cancer, she sat there with you and y'all did these mutual wills and you did this trust.  Susan provided an inheritance for Angela with this trust.  With the trust, yeah, she did.

Let's talk about Jacqueline now.  I first met Jacqueline, when she was eight years old.  I helped raise Jacqueline.

Well, I got along with Angela fine when she was in elementary school.  We helped out on her paper route.  We drove her around helped her collect her money.  

She started creating problems, and then there was a lot of ‑‑ there was a lot of disturbance going on in the house all the time, I mean, because she was a teenager.
I always loved Angie.  I still love her.  So because of my love for Angela, I would not want to disinherit her.
No, not a bit.

Now, with Jacqueline I never any problems with her, 
even when she was in junior high.  In high school, there were some problems because she had ‑‑ she was seeing a man that was ‑‑ sneaking out and seeing a man who was actually much older than she was.  I think he was in his 20s.  I mean, early 20s or something like ‑‑ I don't know for sure.  She was 17 or so; 16, 17.  Her mother did not approve of this.  Oh, we discovered it.  I ‑‑ I can't remember exactly how, but her biological father even came up to try to help separate them from ‑‑ you know, from that ‑‑ that situation.

I spanked Jacqueline growing up one time.  Well, she was angry, and so she was yelling things out in the front.  And I got mad, and I spanked her.  She was probably 17.
I spanked her with a belt. I didn't hold her down, but, yeah, it wasn't ‑‑ there a struggle, but I didn't hold her down, but it was something I wish I hadn't done.
  
Jacqueline did not attend her mother's funeral.  I told Angie ‑‑ or ‑‑ or I asked Angie if she had told her sister.  Jacqueline estranged herself from Susan and me about 15 years ago.

She was I think in her 40’s.  Well, she was born in ‑‑ in 70, so whatever that difference is.  I mean, I don't remember how old she was at that time.  She's 45 years now.  So that means she was 30 ‑‑ around 30 when she disassociated from me.

When we had custody of Angela's three sons ‑‑ three minor sons while Angela was in prison, they had ‑‑ Angela had made arrangements for somebody in California to take care of the children, but she did not provide them with any kind of power of attorney.  
There was ‑‑ she was ‑‑ she herself was a fugitive after ‑‑ they came to arrest her on Christmas Eve.  They gave her leeway to come in on the following Monday.  This was like on a Wednesday.  On the following Monday, she was supposed to turn herself in, and she ‑‑ she became a fugitive because she refused to turn herself in.  
My wife drove the boys out to the place in California.  She ‑‑ she knew the woman that was going to take care of them. And so‑‑ without any kind of ‑‑ any kind of authority to do that.  We filed for an emergency power of attorney ‑‑ or emergency guardianship, and we were granted it through the court. Angela was a fugitive at that time. My wife drove them out to California. 
And she left them with those people.  And we agreed ‑‑ and then we agreed ‑‑ at that time, we agreed that we were going ‑‑ she stayed out there with them for a while.
And we agreed that we were going to pay for their upkeep.  While they were out there, they were going to put them in a Christian school, and ‑‑ and we were going to support them because we felt that it was good for them to be out of the ‑‑ the very ‑‑ you know, the destructive environment that they had been in because Angela had drug dealers in her house, living in her house.  She herself had her own business.  I did not witness this.  This was the ‑‑ this was the court.  This is was what was going on that led to her arrest.  This is something you heard?

And so this is what Susan and I both heard, and they ‑‑ they arrested her on ‑‑ on Christmas Eve.  She went to prison.  She was convicted.  She went to prison.  I don't know verbatim, but it was ‑‑ as far as I know, it was that she was dealing.  She had like 100 pounds of marijuana that she was selling.  She bragged about the fact that she had friends in Mexico, you know, that were supplying her.  She called herself, "the lady on the hill" or something like that.  And so she was ‑‑ she was doing business in drugs, and she had drug dealers living in her house with her children.  So she was arrested for selling marijuana and convicted of that.

And so when she went to prison, the boys were in California, and we ‑‑ we were paying for them.  And we would go out and ‑‑ and check on them.  And they were doing fine our first visit.  Her son, Jake, was doing well in school.

I am eventually going to tell you why Jacqueline disassociated with me.

So at the end of the school year, Susan and I went out there again to check on them, and we found out that they were not being taken care of properly.  Zeb was young.  I think he was maybe five years old.  Jake was ‑‑ I can't remember the difference in their ages, but he was, I think, like seven years old, and then ‑‑ and then ‑‑
Samuel was two years older. Nine.  And so they were not being taken care.  And then plus we found out ‑‑ plus they found out that ‑‑ that they were trying ‑‑ the people out there were trying to get custody of them through the state of California in which they would get money.  And so Susan's decision at that point was we need to take the kids home with us. 

And so we did that.  As we left, we begin getting calls from Jacqueline and her husband, Lance, railing at us for doing that.  And what we found out ‑‑ what we ‑‑ what we suspect happened was that, for whatever reason, they were giving money to these people to give ‑‑ to get the custody.  We don't ‑‑ I don't understand why that happened, but all I knew was that, all of a sudden, she's blasting.   It's my understanding that Jacqueline and her husband, Lance, were giving these people money so the people in California could get custody of the children.  They didn't already have custody of the children.  They had a ‑‑ they had a power of attorney, which we had ‑‑ Susan and I had assigned to them to take care of the boys.  When we saw they weren't taking care of the boys, we rescinded the power of attorney, and we took the boys back home with us.
And then whatever reason that led them, Jacqueline and Lance, to do that, I ignored it because I was taking care of the situation at hand.  Jacqueline decided that that was, for whatever reason ‑‑ it may have been ‑‑ you know, like I could speculate on it, but I won't.  But shortly after that, they didn't have anything to do with us.  They just kind of cut off, and they moved to ‑‑ to Virginia.  And only until recently have I reestablished contact with Jacqueline.  She called me because she was concerned about communication she was getting from Angie, which she said sounded crazy to her.  And she didn't talk with Angie very much, but she said ‑‑ she told me in a text, said, "I'm so sorry you're going through this," says, "Angie is crazy."

So I’m telling you that Jacqueline called me up and said I've heard what Angie is doing with regard to filing for the probate of her mother.  And she said she's worried about you having to suffer Angela trying to be the administrator of their mother's estate.  She wanted me to know that she didn't have anything to do with it.  She refused ‑‑ she refused to participate in it.  She said she was willing to ‑‑ to send a notarized waiver to Mr. Wood, which she did, you know, that she had nothing to do with this.  And ‑‑ and since that time, she's been very supportive of me.

Now, did Jacqueline ever tell Susan that you molested her growing up?  Did Jacqueline ever tell Susan ‑‑
A    I don't know.  I don't know what she told Susan, that was between Susan and Jacqueline.
Q    Well, now ‑‑
MR. WOOD:  Mr. McDermott, I will warn you right now that you better have a pretty good basis for that question before you ask it in a public setting.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.  Thank you.  Thank you.
MR. WOOD:  So you're put on notice.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.
BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
Lance did not contact me nor did Jacqueline's attorney contact me about this accusation.  Susan disinherited Jacqueline in her will.  She was upset that Jacqueline had estranged herself from us.  And I guess they had had a conversation over the telephone where she thought ‑‑ Susan thought that ‑‑ that they were going to reconcile, and then she got a blast of anger from Jacqueline, and she just ‑‑ it hurt her.  So at that point, she ‑‑ that's when she just decided not to do it.
I did not listen to that conversation.   She told me about it.  And she didn't mention anything about Jacqueline accusing you of molesting her growing up.  

I haven't talked with Jacqueline in 15 years until just recently.  Jacqueline called me.  Claude West did not have a conversation with me about this accusation.

Susan and I both agreed that Angela's Reiki healing massages were the devil's work, very occult stuff, which is non‑Christian.  I did not tell Susan that you believed Angela's massage therapy was the devil's work.  I don't recall ever telling her that.  I didn't have to.
Q    Did you ever feel like ‑‑ or feel like now that Angela is a heretic going to hell?
A    I don't believe she ‑‑
MR. WOOD:  I'll object to this.  This is ‑‑ again, Mr. McDermott, you're getting way off the rails.  We have a will that was signed September of 2015.  If you want to ask him questions about the will, great.  Massage therapy, that's got nothing to do with Mrs. Cline's will.
BY MR. McDERMOTT:   
Amanda Walztoni is a granddaughter.  That's Angela's daughter.Amanda moved in, but it was in the fall, I believe it was.  She moved in for about three months with her two daughters.  The fall of 2017.  I think it was about two or three months.  They are very close. 

In some ways, Angela is close with her mother, and other ways not.  You know, her mother told me when she was very sick, she said Angie is killing me with all ‑‑ she comes in here with ‑‑ with all of this stuff that she goes on, and on, and on about, and she says I cannot ‑‑ I can't ‑‑ you know, I ‑‑ I can't take that.  And so she asked me to limit Angie's visits to a certain time limit and not to ‑‑ not to rail about all the things that she was upset about with other things ‑‑

Angela would come to her mother and tell her, her problems.  She was always on some kind of cause, or crusade, or this, or that, you know, and she wanted to tell every ‑‑ all the details and everything, and she was very emotional.  And ‑‑ and ‑‑ and Susan said to me, "I just can't take this.  I ‑‑ I'm not strong enough to bear up under this.  I don't want to listen to all this."
This was like after she was in dialysis and did not appreciate Angela coming to her and talking about her problems or her crusades.  She just said that ‑‑ she just said that it just ‑‑ she said ‑‑ literally, she said, "Angie's killing me coming in here, telling me all this stuff, and ‑‑ and I don't want to hear it."  And I said ‑‑ and she told me, she said, "You have to do something."  And so I talked to Angie, and she did comply.
So Angie quit complaining to her mother about her life or her crusades.  And that was the only ‑‑ that was the only complaint Susan had with Angela at the end of her life. 

Amanda was not caretaking her grandmother.  She was just living with us with her two children: Aubrey and Brynlee.
Susan had a very close relationship with Aubrey and Brynlee?
McDERMOTT:  Let's take a break.  I think I'm finished.  I want to talk with my client and see if she has any questions.
VIDEOGRAPHER:  The time is ‑‑
MR. McDERMOTT:  Oh, let me ask you this.  Did you have a chance to look at this order?
MR. WOOD:  Yes, I did.  I have a problem with the last sentence.  As I understand, Judge Duncan's direction was that if ‑‑ could not accomplish this deposition by April the 16th that we were to speak with her case coordinator about rescheduling the hearing.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Oh, okay.  So it's my understanding that now that the hearing is off, we had to reschedule it.  So you're saying that ‑‑ no.  You're ‑‑ you're expecting to be there on Monday ‑‑
MR. WOOD:  Yes.
MR. McDERMOTT:  ‑‑ for this hearing?
MR. WOOD:  That's right.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Okay.  Good to know.  We'll address that with the Court.  In fact, we can probably do it right now since the Judge is taking our phone calls.  Do you want to give the Judge a phone call and ask her about this hearing?
MR. WOOD:  Sure.
MR. McDERMOTT:  Well, I'm glad we call the Judge up and ask her about this.
VIDEOGRAPHER:  Do y'all want this on the record or do you want to go off?
MR. McDERMOTT:  No.  This can go off the record.
VIDEOGRAPHER:  Okay.  This time is 23 minutes past 3:00.  We're now off the record. 
(WHEREUPON, after a break was taken, the proceeding resumed as follows, to wit:)
VIDEOGRAPHER:  The time is 34 minutes past 3:00.  We're back on the record.
MR. McDERMOTT:  I have no more questions.
MR. WOOD:  And I have no questions for the witness, but we reserve the right to read and sign.
VIDEOGRAPHER:  Thank you very much.  The time is 34 minutes past 3:00.  This is the end of ‑‑ end of the deposition of James Cline.  We're now off the record. 
(WHEREUPON, the proceedings were concluded in the matter at 3:34 p.m.)
WITNESS EXCUSED
* * * * * * * * * * 
CERTIFICATE 
STATE OF ARKANSAS     )
                      )ss
COUNTY OF PULASKI     )

     I, Terri J. Wolfe, Certified Court Reporter #772, and Notary Public, do hereby certify that the facts stated by me in the caption on the foregoing proceedings are true; and that the foregoing proceedings were reported verbatim through the use of the voice‑writing method and thereafter transcribed by me or under my direct supervision to the best of my ability, taken at the time and place set out on the caption hereto.
     I FURTHER CERTIFY, that in accordance with Rule 30(e) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, review of the transcript was requested.
     I FURTHER CERTIFY, that I am not a relative or employee of any attorney or employed by the parties hereto, nor financially interested or otherwise, in the outcome of this action, and that I have no contract with the parties, attorney, or persons with an interest in the action that affects or has a substantial tendency to affect impartiality, that requires me to relinquish control of an original deposition transcript or copies of the transcript before it is certified and delivered to the custodial attorney, or that requires me to provide any service not made available to all parties to the action. 
     WITNESS MY HAND AND SEAL this 23rd day of April, 2018.

_____________________
TERRI J. WOLFE, CCR
Arkansas State Supreme Court
Certified Court Reporter #772 
 
My Commission Expires: 
November 18th, 2024
SIGNATURE OF DEPONENT CERTIFICATE
     I, JAMES MICHAEL CLINE, do hereby certify that I have read the foregoing deposition and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, said deposition is true and accurate with the exception of the following corrections listed below:
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________________  _________________________________
Date		Signature of Witness

STATE OF ____________	)
			)SS
COUNTY OF ___________	)

	SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO before me this ____ day of _____________, 2018.

My commission expires:

_______________________   ____________________________
		      NOTARY PUBLIC