Juanda Chauncie

The stepson of ailing Los Angeles City Councilman Gilbert Lindsay was appointed temporary conservator of his estate Thursday, an action that sets the stage for a lawsuit to reclaim the elderly councilman's property from his former girlfriend. During a brief proceeding in Superior Court, a new allegation emerged that the woman, Juanda Chauncie, 39, obtained $65,000 from Lindsay's bank account at Broadway Federal Savings & Loan Assn.

The girlfriend of the late Gilbert Lindsay took advantage of the aged Los Angeles councilman to gain control of his money and property, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury said Wednesday. After 2 1/2 days of deliberation, the five-woman, seven-man panel found Juanda Chauncie, 40, used undue influence in obtaining money and property from Lindsay, and awarded $235,000 in damages to Lindsay's stepson and estate.

Juanda Chauncie, accused in a lawsuit of defrauding the late City Councilman Gilbert W. Lindsay, was portrayed Wednesday as a woman who increasingly shunned the 90-year-old politician's affections and wouldn't even let him sit next to her in his own car.

If there has been a recurring theme about the late Los Angeles City Councilman Gilbert W. Lindsay during the Superior Court trial over the proceeds of his estate, it is the veteran politician's insistence on living life his way. "He'd do what he wanted to do," Bob Gay, a former deputy, testified in a familiar refrain among those who knew the councilman best.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Wednesday dismissed fraud and conspiracy allegations in a lawsuit against Juanda Chauncie, but let stand a claim that she may have used undue influence to gain the late Los Angeles City Councilman Gilbert Lindsay's money and property. Judge F. Ray Bennett ruled after lawyers representing Lindsay's stepson and estate rested their case and Chauncie's attorney, Geraldine Green, argued that the other side had not fulfilled the legal requirements of the case.

The trial of Juanda Chauncie, accused in a lawsuit of bilking the late Gilbert Lindsay out of money and property, took on aspects of a soap opera Tuesday when a 46-year-old exterminator testified that he lived with her about a year before the longtime Los Angeles city councilman's death. Frank Marshall, owner of a pest control business based in Inglewood, testified that he even became engaged to Chauncie, 40, who has maintained that she was engaged only to Lindsay.

A will that Los Angeles City Councilman Gilbert Lindsay signed 17 months before he died shows that he intended his property to go to his relatives rather than to a former girlfriend who now controls several of his properties, according to a lawyer for Lindsay's estate. The will also shows that Lindsay thought he was still the owner of the property at the time of the signing and that he did not want the girlfriend, Juanda Chauncie, 39, to benefit from his estate, said Dion-Cherie Raymond.

The former girlfriend of Gilbert Lindsay is a "gold digger" who played the late councilman "like a piano," an attorney for Lindsay's stepson said Friday. But the attorney for Juanda Chauncie responded: "There is no law against being a gold digger." The remarks came in closing arguments in a 2 1/2-week trial stemming from a lawsuit brought by Lindsay's estate and his stepson, Herbert Howard, against Chauncie, 40.

The stepson of Los Angeles City Councilman Gilbert Lindsay asserted in a lawsuit Monday that the aging councilman is senile and lacked the mental capacity to comprehend that his girlfriend deceived him over the last two years, systematically stripping him of nearly all of his property. Lindsay, 90, placed "great trust and confidence" in Juanda Chauncie, 39, his "girlfriend, lover, dependent and confidante," the lawsuit claimed.

The stepson of ailing Los Angeles City Councilman Gilbert Lindsay will go to court next week in an attempt to reclaim the elderly councilman's real estate from his former girlfriend, an attorney for the family said Friday. Herbert Howard will ask a judge to appoint him conservator for his stepfather, who was incapacitated by a stroke Sept. 2, said Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., the lawyer who wrote Lindsay's will and represents Howard.

The former girlfriend of Gilbert Lindsay is a "gold digger" who played the late councilman "like a piano," an attorney for Lindsay's stepson said Friday. But the attorney for Juanda Chauncie responded: "There is no law against being a gold digger." The remarks came in closing arguments in a 2 1/2-week trial stemming from a lawsuit brought by Lindsay's estate and his stepson, Herbert Howard, against Chauncie, 40.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Wednesday dismissed fraud and conspiracy allegations in a lawsuit against Juanda Chauncie, but let stand a claim that she may have used undue influence to gain the late Los Angeles City Councilman Gilbert Lindsay's money and property. Judge F. Ray Bennett ruled after lawyers representing Lindsay's stepson and estate rested their case and Chauncie's attorney, Geraldine Green, argued that the other side had not fulfilled the legal requirements of the case.

The trial of Juanda Chauncie, accused in a lawsuit of bilking the late Gilbert Lindsay out of money and property, took on aspects of a soap opera Tuesday when a 46-year-old exterminator testified that he lived with her about a year before the longtime Los Angeles city councilman's death. Frank Marshall, owner of a pest control business based in Inglewood, testified that he even became engaged to Chauncie, 40, who has maintained that she was engaged only to Lindsay.

Juanda Chauncie, accused in a lawsuit of defrauding the late City Councilman Gilbert W. Lindsay, was portrayed Wednesday as a woman who increasingly shunned the 90-year-old politician's affections and wouldn't even let him sit next to her in his own car.

The former girlfriend of City Councilman Gilbert W. Lindsay, accused of bilking the 90-year-old man out of much of his property, testified Tuesday that she never sought gifts or money from the late councilman and that on at least one occasion she tried to pay him back. Jaunda Chauncie, 40, said Lindsay, whom she called Poppy, paid for trips to Las Vegas, fur coats and expensive jewelry. But the relationship involved no sex.

Testimony began Monday in what one courtroom wag predicted will be a "real soap opera:" the trial to determine if the late Councilman Gilbert W. Lindsay's girlfriend and her family took advantage of Lindsay's advanced age to gain control of his property in the last two years of his life. The proceeding is the result of a civil suit filed by the Lindsay estate against Lindsay's onetime fiancee, Juanda Chauncie, 40; her sister, Ann Stevens, and their mother, Alberta Hysaw.

Testimony began Monday in what one courtroom wag predicted will be a "real soap opera:" the trial to determine if the late Councilman Gilbert W. Lindsay's girlfriend and her family took advantage of Lindsay's advanced age to gain control of his property in the last two years of his life. The proceeding is the result of a civil suit filed by the Lindsay estate against Lindsay's onetime fiancee, Juanda Chauncie, 40; her sister, Ann Stevens, and their mother, Alberta Hysaw.

The girlfriend of the late Gilbert Lindsay took advantage of the aged Los Angeles councilman to gain control of his money and property, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury said Wednesday. After 2 1/2 days of deliberation, the five-woman, seven-man panel found Juanda Chauncie, 40, used undue influence in obtaining money and property from Lindsay, and awarded $235,000 in damages to Lindsay's stepson and estate.

A will that Los Angeles City Councilman Gilbert Lindsay signed 17 months before he died shows that he intended his property to go to his relatives rather than to a former girlfriend who now controls several of his properties, according to a lawyer for Lindsay's estate. The will also shows that Lindsay thought he was still the owner of the property at the time of the signing and that he did not want the girlfriend, Juanda Chauncie, 39, to benefit from his estate, said Dion-Cherie Raymond.

The stepson of Los Angeles City Councilman Gilbert Lindsay asserted in a lawsuit Monday that the aging councilman is senile and lacked the mental capacity to comprehend that his girlfriend deceived him over the last two years, systematically stripping him of nearly all of his property. Lindsay, 90, placed "great trust and confidence" in Juanda Chauncie, 39, his "girlfriend, lover, dependent and confidante," the lawsuit claimed.