Ben L. Richardson, Sr. and Melba Richardson, Individually and as Surviving Heirs of John Kennedy Richardson and as Next Friends of Minor Children, Sarah Richardson, John Richardson, and Joshua Richardson Sunshine Richardson, Individually and as Surviving v. Michael Lee Crawford

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided August 17, 2011·No. 10-11-00089-CV·Published

Opinion

WITHDRAWN 10-12-11

REISSUED 10-12-11

IN THE

TENTH COURT OF APPEALS

No. 10-11-00089-CV

BEN L. RICHARDSON, SR. AND MELBA RICHARDSON, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS SURVIVING HEIRS OF JOHN KENNEDY RICHARDSON AND AS NEXT FRIENDS OF MINOR CHILDREN, SARAH RICHARDSON, JOHN RICHARDSON, AND JOSHUA RICHARDSON; SUNSHINE RICHARDSON, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS SURVIVING, Appellants

v.

MICHAEL LEE CRAWFORD, Appellee

From the 414th District Court McLennan County, Texas

Trial Court No. 2007-2176-5

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellants, Ben L. Richardson, Melba Richardson, Sarah Richardson, John Richardson, Joshua Richardson, Sunshine Richardson, Katelyn Richardson, and the estate of John Kennedy Richardson, complain about a summary judgment order in favor of appellee, Michael Lee Crawford. In three issues, appellants argue that the trial court erred in: (1) granting summary judgment in favor of appellee because material fact issues existed as to their negligent entrustment and negligent storage claims; and (2) overruling objections to third-party testimony regarding “(a) the killer’s intent to steal the handgun, and (b) the intent to kill [the deceased].” We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

This appeal stems from the murder of John Kennedy Richardson on June 5, 2005, by his wife, Gretchen Williams Richardson. Gretchen admitted to shooting John on a Waco highway during the early morning hours of June 5, 2005, with a .38 Smith & Wesson snub-nose, five-shot revolver that was owned by appellee.

Gretchen and appellee both worked as real estate agents at Stewart R. Kelly Real Estate, Inc. d/b/a Kelly, Realtors (“Kelly Realtors”), a local company specializing in real estate transactions. By all accounts, Gretchen and appellee were friends. Gretchen, however, did not get along with many of her co-workers, and in fact, many of her co- workers alleged that they were scared of how manipulative, vindictive, hateful, and intimidating Gretchen could be.1 Appellee testified that he did not see that side of Gretchen. He and Gretchen often had lunch together and shared “off-color” jokes via email. Despite rumors to the contrary, appellee denied that he had an affair with Gretchen, though several of Gretchen’s colleagues provided statements to police

1 One of Gretchen’s colleagues recalled an instance where Gretchen “forked” someone’s yard.

“Forking” apparently involves the concealing of forks in the ground with the prongs up so that anyone who walks across the yard will be injured by the spikes. In addition, several colleagues recalled that Gretchen yelled at John on the phone and often stated that she hated him. However, no evidence in the record indicates that appellee was aware of these incidents.

Richardson v. Crawford Page 2 indicating that Gretchen boasted of having affairs with several men, including several at the Kelly Realtors office. Appellee claimed that Gretchen told him that she was unhappy with her marriage, but she never indicated that she intended to kill her husband. Appellee recommended that Gretchen seek a divorce.

Gretchen testified that her downward spiral began in January 2005, when she became depressed during recovery from a hysterectomy. At that time, Gretchen began abusing prescription pain pills and staying out during all hours of the night. Several of Gretchen’s colleagues observed her asleep at her desk when they arrived at work early in the morning. Gretchen acknowledged that she continually worked to obtain more prescription pain pills through doctors and other sources.

When Gretchen arrived home just before midnight on June 4, 2005, John confronted Gretchen about her drug abuse. Gretchen had been drinking alcohol that night, and she had taken some Ambien and five to eight Hydrocodone pills. John told Gretchen that he had informed the doctors who had prescribed the pills about her drug abuse and requested that they no longer prescribe medications to Gretchen. Enraged, Gretchen verbally and physically fought with John until he let her leave the house. Gretchen was intent on showing John that he could not stop her from procuring drugs whenever she wanted.

After leaving the house, Gretchen went to the Kelly Realtors office. When she arrived at the office, it was dark, as it was shortly after midnight on June 5th. Gretchen recalled that appellee left a loaded gun in his desk drawer, which was intended to be used by women in the office who either came in early or stayed late and were without a male escort. Appellee testified that the Compass Bank building next door had recently been robbed; he believed that the women in the office could use the protection. Gretchen stated that appellee told the women of the office that they could also take the gun with them for protection when showing properties to suspicious people or in bad parts of town. Gretchen recalled that she took the gun to show properties on four or five different occasions. Appellee, however, denied that the women had permission to take the gun off the premises of the office. Nevertheless, when Gretchen arrived at the office on June 5th, she went to appellee’s office, opened his desk drawer, moved to the side the tray that was concealing the gun, and took the gun with her. Gretchen noted that she called John after she left the office, but he answered the phone angry and asked several questions.2 Gretchen left the office and went to an apartment complex in Robinson, Texas, to buy drugs. She alleged that it was her intent to use the gun taken from appellee’s desk for protection during the drug deal, not for the showing of properties. She bought $400 worth of drugs, which, as Gretchen noted, may have included methamphetamines.

According to Gretchen, as she was driving on Loop 340 towards her home in Lorena, Texas, she realized that John was flashing the lights of his truck while driving behind her. They both pulled over to the side of the road and stopped their vehicles. Gretchen believed that John had followed her to witness the purchase of the drugs, which “really put [her] in a state.” John got out of his truck and approached Gretchen.

2Gretchen initially testified that she pulled into a strip mall located on Franklin Avenue to call John from a pay phone, though she had her cell phone in the car. However, she could not recall exactly where the telephone call was made, and she acknowledged that police “[p]robably” discovered when the phone call was made by “tracing through cell phone records.”

Richardson v. Crawford Page 4

Appellee’s gun sat in Gretchen’s lap, wrapped in a T-shirt. John yelled at Gretchen as he approached, and after she exited the vehicle, she yelled “Just shut up!” while firing a warning shot into the air. John continued to argue with Gretchen and instructed her to stay away from the couple’s children. Gretchen then shot John several times, including once in the leg and twice in the back. Gretchen alleged that she only recalled shooting John in the leg and that her next memory was of John’s head in her lap when the police arrived. She did remember, however, panicking about the drugs and trying to plant them on John so that she would not be charged with drug possession. John died as a result of the gunshot wounds inflicted by Gretchen.

When first questioned by police about the incident, Gretchen blamed an unknown African-American male for the shooting and claimed that it was a drug deal that had gone bad. She later admitted to shooting John and subsequently pleaded guilty to the murder of John, which resulted in a forty-year prison sentence for her.

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Ben L. Richardson, Sr. and Melba Richardson, Individually and as Surviving Heirs of John Kennedy Richardson and as Next Friends of Minor Children, Sarah Richardson, John Richardson, and Joshua Richardson Sunshine Richardson, Individually and as Surviving v. Michael Lee Crawford, (Tex. Ct. App. 2011).

Ben L. Richardson, Sr. and Melba Richardson, Individually and as Surviving Heirs of John Kennedy Richardson and as Next Friends of Minor Children, Sarah Richardson, John Richardson, and Joshua Richardson Sunshine Richardson, Individually and as Surviving v. Michael Lee Crawford (Ben L. Richardson, Sr. and Melba Richardson, Individually and as Surviving Heirs of John Kennedy Richardson and as Next Friends of Minor Children, Sarah Richardson, John Richardson, and Joshua Richardson Sunshine Richardson, Individually and as Surviving v. Michael Lee Crawford) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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