Jury selected for civil case involving fight over Dick Poe’s estate
Attorneys battling over the estate of the late car dealer Dick Poe selected a jury after two full days of questioning a panel of hundreds.
Richard Poe II, Dick Poe’s eldest son, is seeking to regain full control of three of his father’s dealerships and other property.
His controlling ownership was cut to less than half by a stock transaction his father made just 10 days before his death in 2015.
Poe II argues in court documents his father “suffered delusions during his hospital stay and lacked the capacity to make legally binding decisions.”
Poe II further argues he was never notified his father created and bought new shares that gave him a controlling interest in the corporation that owns the dealerships. He says the trustees were required by law to do that.
The trustees, an attorney and two longtime second generation Dick Poe employees — Anthony Bock and Karen Castro — deny any wrongdoing. They argue Dick Poe did that because he did not think his son would do a good job managing the dealerships.
Court documents state Dick Poe expressed concern over his son’s lack of financial discipline and judgement back in 2014, in part, “because of the many millions of dollars Poe II has lost in ill-conceived and ill-managed ventures and a profligate lifestyle.”
Another defendant in the case is 45-year-old Troy Poe, Dick Poe’s second son, who suffers from cerebral palsy and is cared for 24-7 by a guardian.
The attorney representing Troy Poe, Jim Martinez, asked jurors, “Do you believe in the rule of primogeniture?”
That’s rule of inheritance through which the eldest male child has the right to succeed the estate of an ancestor to the exclusion of younger siblings.
This will be a key question for jurors since Richard Poe II is the late Dick Poe’s eldest son.
Attorneys warned jurors the civil trial is expected to take at least three weeks.
Opening statements in a case that could affect hundreds of current and former Dick Poe employees benefiting from Dick Poe’s estate.
