Pre-trial motions in bank account case

More pre-trial maneuvers yesterday in the civil case of a Beaufort County woman who claims she lost a one million dollar trust that was controlled by a former Oconee banker.  In the case of Brookshire versus Community First, attorneys for the bank yesterday sought a judge’s ruling that plaintiff Debbie Baker Brookshire produce a box of documents which the defense believes will show that Brookshire received monthly statements of her account that tracked what happened to her money.  Attorneys Bob Knowlton and Elizabeth Black want the documents to help disprove a Brookshire claim that she did not receive monthly statements.  Had Brookshire received them, according to her attorney Keith Giese, she would have questioned a $500 thousand disbursement.  The bank succeeded in getting Judge McIntosh to require Brookshire to turn over her medical records during the years she held an account with the bank.  Brookshire has claimed she gave the now former banker, Ben Hiott, power of attorney over a revocable trust and lost $1.1 million.  Hiott pleaded guilty in federal court to bank fraud charges and was sentenced last year to one year and one day in prison.  The civil case won’t reach trial until at least the end of January next year.