LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – An appellate court has overturned a local insurance salesman's October 2011 conviction for felony theft from an elder.
In its Tuesday decision, the First Appellate District Court of Appeal found that the case against Glenn Neasham lacked evidence that he had appropriated an elderly woman's money for his own use or anyone else's, and that there also wasn't proof that he had made any misrepresentations in selling her an annuity in February 2008.
The appellate court also concluded that Neasham's jury “was incorrectly instructed that to convict it need find only that the purchase of the annuity deprived the elder of a major portion of the value or enjoyment of her property, eliminating the necessity of proving that defendant had any such intention.”
“I'm very happy with the result, and that justice has prevailed,” Neasham, 53, of Kelseyville said Tuesday. “My family and I have been through a lot. It's been hard, however we've endured. I'm looking forward to getting on with my life.”
He also thanked those who had supported him during the case.
Some of that support came from his insurance industry colleagues, for whom the case was a controversial one. It raised concerns that other agents in the industry could be at risk for prosecution for similar sales, and was said to have put a “chill” on agents.
Lakeport attorney Mitchell Hauptman, who represented Neasham at trial, said typically the judgment by the appellate court does not become final immediately.
Unless the state appeals the decision – which Hauptman considered unlikely – he said the matter will be returned to the Lake County Superior Court in the next few months, at which time the District Attorney's Office will have to decide to retry or dismiss the case.
“For what it’s worth, my opinion, based on the decision, is that it does not leave any basis for anything other than a dismissal,” he said. “The bottom line – the court concludes that Glenn never had any intent to do anything wrong.”
Chief Deputy District Attorney Rich Hinchcliff said the District Attorney's Office still needs to go over the appellate court's decision.
“We've got to see the opinion and read it first and see how it affects the case,” said Hinchcliff.
There also is the issue of seeing if witnesses are still available, he said.
“There's a lot of things we’d have to consider,” Hinchcliff said.
Deputy District Attorney Rachel Abelson, who prosecuted the case, said she will work with the state deputy attorney general who handled the appeal to decide the next step. Abelson said there is a possibility of appealing the decision.
The case arose from Neasham's sale in February 2008 of a $175,000 annuity – set to mature in 15 years – to then-83-year-old Fran Schuber of Lucerne, whose boyfriend had been a longtime Neasham client.
According to the court documents, Schuber purchased a “MasterDex 10 Annuity” issued by Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America, which is approved by the California Department of Insurance for sale to persons through the age of 85 years. Neasham made an 8-percent commission.
After meeting with Neasham, Schuber and her boyfriend, Louis Jochim, then 82, went to the Savings Bank of Mendocino County to withdraw the money, and Neasham called the bank to advise Schuber was coming, telling the bank employee “he would report the matter to the district attorney if there was any delay in making the withdrawal,” the court documents stated.
Based on past dealings, the bank employee believed Schuber had memory problems, and when Schuber and Jochim arrived, the bank employee became concerned “that Schuber was confused and was being
influenced by Jochim,” according to the appellate court narrative.
The bank employee would call a Lake County Department of Social Services social worker to advise of the bank withdrawal and that she felt Schuber's boyfriend “was exerting undue influence on her,” the appellate court document explained.
An investigation resulted, led by the California Department of Insurance after the agency said it received a report from the Savings Bank of Mendocino County. The Lake County District Attorney's Office filed the case based on the state investigation.
At trial, the prosecution alleged that Neasham was aware that Schuber had dementia, which he denied.
Schuber did not testify during Neasham’s trial because she was placed into a conservatorship due to advanced dementia, officials said at the time.
For his part, Neasham said Schuber had made money on her investment.
After being found guilty by a jury, Neasham was sentenced in February 2012 to 300 days in jail by Judge Richard Martin. Neasham immediately pursued an appeal.
Hauptman said Neasham spent only a few hours in jail at the time of his initial arrest, and was allowed to post bail pending appeal, which Hauptman said was “pretty standard in this type of case.”
In addition, Neasham said he did community service and paid a $5,000 fine.
Neasham had lost his license as a result of the case.
“I want to get my license back, so I can return to the insurance business,” he said Tuesday.
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