Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza has returned -- at least temporarily -- an 80-year-old Little Rock woman's home to her until a trial next month determines whether she gave the 5-acre $100,000 property to a Bismarck couple who had briefly been her caretakers.
Laura Mae Aaron sued Michael Powell Hinson, 61, and his girlfriend, 49-year-old Caroline Holt, last month, claiming they'd taken advantage of her poor health to coerce her into signing over the Willow Springs Road property to them. The property was deeded over to the couple June 10.
"I did sign some papers, but I don't know what," said Aaron, testifying from her wheelchair at a hearing Thursday.
Piazza temporarily restored Aaron's title to the Willow Springs Road property and ordered Hinson and Holt to vacate the premises within the next 10 days. But he said both sides are to leave the property untouched until the Oct. 19 trial for him to decide who owns the home.
Aaron said her health problems -- congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation that requires a pacemaker and end-stage renal disease -- have affected her memory, so she could have signed the deeds to the home and not remember it.
Questioned by her attorney Lisa Douglas, Aaron told the judge that in exchange for taking care of her, she had put in writing her intention to leave the couple her home when she died. But Aaron said she would never have willingly turned her home over to them before then.
Holt did not respond to the lawsuit, while Hinson denied wrongdoing at the hearing. Acting as his own attorney, Hinson cross-examined both Aaron and her son and showed some reports Aaron had made to Pulaski County sheriff's deputies.
His efforts to question Aaron continually devolved into him arguing with her, despite repeated objections from her lawyers. He accused the woman of having a selective memory, calling her lapses in recollection convenient.
The judge eventually warned Hinson that he would be jailed if he couldn't stick to merely questioning the woman.
Hinson repeatedly claimed the paperwork had been notarized by a Pulaski County clerk who witnessed Aaron sign the documents. She countered that she'd never been to the courthouse before Thursday's hearing. The judge noted that the deed papers he had been provided were notarized in Saline County and Hot Springs.
Hinson turned down the opportunity to testify and tell his side of the story under oath, telling the judge he thought the documentation in the case was sufficient to prove his point.
He objected when Aaron's other attorney, John Wesley Hall, brought up his criminal history, a 2008 conviction for forgery in Benton County that resulted in a 10-year prison sentence. Hall said the conviction was relevant to the question of Hinson's credibility.
Aaron said the couple were attentive caretakers initially but eventually grew neglectful, mean and rough with her. She said they let her go six to eight weeks without a bath. When she complained, Hinson threatened to abandon her, Aaron testified, saying she didn't think she had anyone else to care for her.
But her living situation became so uncomfortable, Aaron said, that she eventually fled the house, leaving behind her oxygen equipment and medication, escaping with only the clothes on her back to get away from them. A friend picked her up under the pretext they were going shopping, Aaron said. She now lives in Benton with her son.
She told the judge that the final straw was Holt's gruff refusal to avoid smoking next to her oxygen equipment. She said Holt told her the home did not belong to her any more.
Aaron said she had never met Hinson and only vaguely knew Holt before she returned home in March after almost a year of recuperation from a lengthy bout of health problems that almost killed her.
Her son was living at the house when she moved back in. He had brought Holt to live in the home to help him care for his disabled son, and Hinson came with her, Arlon "Buddy" Aaron Jr. told the judge.
But an argument about Hinson physically disciplining his son, shortly after his mother's return, led 60-year-old Buddy Aaron to leave the residence. He told the judge he had only intended to be gone for a few hours to cool down and never intended to move out.
But when he came back, Hinson told him his mother did not want him back in the house, Buddy Aaron told the judge. He said he had a difficult time staying in contact with her by phone after that.
Metro on 09/11/2017