Harris Family Rejects Settlement and Fires Attorney

First of two parts

[img]970|left|||no_popup[/img]In a bombshell development three days after a supposedly final courtroom agreement, the angry family of murder victim JoAnn Crystal Harris yesterday fired their high-powered downtown Los Angeles attorney and furiously rescinded the alleged lowball settlement the lawyer had reached with the state Attorney General’s office.

Cell phone in hand as he stood beside the hospital bed of his ailing mother, Martha Harris, the plaintiff in a civil suit against the state, Gerald Bennett dialed the office of attorney Robert H. McNeill Jr., and what ensued was a shiveringly tense, emotionally charged, succinct conversation.

Hurling a bevy of accusations, Mr. Bennett told Mr. McNeill that he had taken advantage of his strongly medicated, health-weakened mother by entering her hospital room — pointedly with no relatives present — and effectively bullying her into orally acquiescing to a scaled down award of $400,000 to end the negligence suit. Then the son discharged the lawyer.

Changing the Lineup

On the telephone, Mr. Bennett told the lawyer that his mother’s wish was to proceed with a jury trial with a different lawyer at the reins. In that case, said Mr. McNeill, the new lawyer needed to contact him immediately, within hours. Mr. Bennett assented while rejecting Mr. McNeill’s request to divulge the name of his replacement.

Three years and seven weeks after JoAnn Harris, months pregnant, was brutally whacked to death at the Culver City National Guard Armory — by her paramour, married Guard veteran Scott Ansman who was convicted and sentenced last year to life without parole — a civil suit, charging the state and Guard with negligence, was scheduled to begin last Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court. As soon as Mr. McNeill and attorney David Addida came before Judge Kevin C. Brazile on what was to be opening day for jury selection, Mr. McNeill indicated the two sides were tantalizingly close to a settlement, and he asked for 30 minutes. But when the lawyers returned to the courtroom, Mr. McNeill, the only lawyerly voice heard, said they would need to return in the afternoon.

Mr. Bennett said that Mr. McNeill then went to his mother’s bedside to convince her that it would be prudent to accept what the son regarded as almost 10 cents on the dollar. Originally, he said the lawyer had proposed a target upwards of $4 million.

Barely Audible

Recovering from two recent surgeries and aided by a feeding tube for the last fortnight, the 71-year-old Mrs. Harris frequently closes her eyes these days, appears incapable of speaking above a whisper, and is limited to few words at a time. “My mother is in no position to make sound judgments and decisions,” Mr. Bennett told the newspaper. “You could take advantage of her. Anyone in her room could see that.

“I don’t understand how attorneys can call me for permission to see my mother, I say ‘no,’ and they go ahead and do it anyway. My sister also told them ‘no.’ They tried to get my sister and me to fight. They thought she was going to take their side. But she didn’t. She told them ‘no.’ My sister told them, ‘My mother is sick. She can’t answer any questions. Let her heal. Or ask for a continuance.’”

In a written statement (reprinted below) signed by another attorney from the same office, Allison R. Bracy, and dated last Monday, the same day Mr. McNeill visited Mrs. Harris’s hospital room, Mrs. Harris was informed that her “net” portion of the settlement would be $175,000, presumably before taxes. That meant $225,000 would accrue to Mr. McNeill and his team, presumably covering fees and court costs.

Mr. Bennett, acting as the lead spokesman for the survivors of his murdered 29-year-old sister three years ago last August, said he was as perturbed by Mr. McNeill’s alleged conduct on several occasions as he was by the unacceptable settlement offered by the state. According to Mr. Bennett, this is what galled him most:

He said Mr. McNeill telephoned him four different times recently to meet with the son in his mother’s hospital room only to have the attorney, on each occasion, show up hours early and be gone by the time Mr. Bennett arrived.

Here is the letter from the Flower Street law firm of Ivie, McNeill & Wyatt, signed by Ms. Bracy, that was delivered by certified mail to Mrs. Harris’s hospital room:

October 4, 2010

(To be continued)