Webster bursts out of courtroom

Hugh Webster burst out of the courtroom Wednesday during a request by his attorney to dismiss the charge of embezzlement before he testified in his defense.

Kieran Shanahan, Webster’s lawyer, asked the judge to dismiss the charge because there wasn’t any evi-dence that Webster misapplied the more than $12,000 Doris Nance gave to him.

“There’s no evidence of what Bernie Madoff did with the money,” Judge Donald Stephens said.

And Webster was out the door.

“I hope your client has some medical reason to leave the courtroom without my permission,” Stephens told Shanahan.

The proceedings were uncomfortable throughout Webster’s testimony Wednesday in Caswell County Superior Court. For more than three hours, Shanahan reeled him in during his questioning, telling Webster to answer only the questions he asked. District Attorney Joel Brewer asked Webster yes-or-no questions that led to long speeches by the defendant. Webster raised his voice many times during the questioning, leaning into the microphone on the witness stand. He remembered few dates and had trouble recalling the decade that he became a certified public accountant or when he first prepared Nance’s taxes.

He said Wednesday that the $12,115.49 check from Nance was a secret gift, which Webster told her not to give him.

“She said you can’t tell anybody about this,” Webster testified. “I said Doris, if you don’t think I’m going to tell my wife you are as crazy as a bed bug.”

Webster said he deposited the check at State Employees’ Credit Union the day he received it. He said he planned on saving it for Nance’s kids or grandkids in case they needed the money.

“One of them might need some drug rehab, some medical care,” Webster said. He added that they could need money for community college.

Shanahan rocked in his black chair like the pendulum of a clock while questioning Webster. He asked Webster about the $5,000 gift for Nance and the letter he received from Roxboro attorney James Tolin. The letter asked Webster for the remainder of the more than $12,000 and for a $10,000 certificate of deposit.

“The word that comes to mind is extortion,” Webster said.

He thought he was caught up in what might be an attempt to defraud the Department of Social Services. Nance asked Webster about applying for Medicare before the financial fallout. Webster thought she gave him the check to get rid of assets, which disqualified her for the benefits.

Testimony Wednesday established that Nance never applied for Medicare or Medicaid benefits, although her ex-husband did.

Brewer drilled Webster over his intentions with the money. Webster said though he wanted to save it for Nance’s children and grandchildren, he decided to give Nance the rest of the money under certain conditions, which she never met. Webster characterized the gift as unconditional earlier in the trial. But when pushed by Brewer, he said the gift was “unreversible.”

“You give it to me; you don’t get it back,” Webster said.

Geraldine Fuqua, Webster’s sister, and Patricia, his wife, also testified Wednesday. Both women said they were puzzled by Nance’s behavior and remembered talking to Webster in 2007 about the $12,000 and $5,000 checks. Fuqua added that the transcript of her conversation with two State Bureau of Investigation agents was not accurate.

Fuqua also said she was with Webster when he wrote Nance the $5,000 check, which Hugh made clear was a gift.

The trial reconvenes 8 a.m. today in Caswell County Superior Court.