Wide Open Southern Pride

Morris Dees

IN THE ALABAMA COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS



MAUREENE BASS DEES              )

                                )

                Appellant,      )

                                )

                -vs-            )       CASE NO. CIV. 2114

                                )

MORRIS S. DEES,                 )

                                )

                Appellee.       )



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                ON APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF

                     MONTGOMERY COUNTY, ALABAMA



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                                        ------------------

                                        BRIEF OF APPELLANT

                                        ------------------

                                                MAURY SMITH

                                                JULIA S. WATERS

                                                CHARLES M. CROOK

                                                Attorneys for the Appellant



OF COUNSEL:

SMITH, BOWMAN, THAGARD,

CROOK & CULPEPPER

P.O. Box 78

Montgomery, Al 36101

Telephone: (205) 834-6500



                           ORAL ARGUMENT REQUESTED

                           ------------------------



                              TABLE OF CONTENTS

                                                                PAGE

                                                                ----



STATEMENT OF THE CASE  ........................................    4

THE ISSUES  ...................................................    4

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS  .......................................    5

    A. Morris' Financial Condition  ...........................    5

    B. The Cause Of The Breakup; Vicki Booker McGaha  .........    6

    C. The Reconciliation  ....................................    6

    D. Morris Can't Give Up His Mistress  .....................    7

    E. Maureene Is Compelled To Seek Divorce  .................    8

    F. Morris Sets A Trap  ....................................    9

    G. Morris' Trap Works: The Hotel Room Agreement  ..........   11

    H. Morris' Sexual Appetite  ...............................   12

        A. Dianne Hicks  ......................................   12

        B. Cathy Bennett  .....................................   12

        C. Judith Rogers  .....................................   13

        D. Deborah Levy  ......................................   13

        E. Pamela Horowitz  ...................................   13

        F. Charlie Springman  .................................   14

        G. Morris' Step-Daughter  .............................   14

        H. Morris' Future Daughter-in-law  ....................   15

ARGUMENT  .....................................................   15

    A. The Trial Judge Plainly And Palpably Abused

        His Discretion  .......................................   15

        1. The Conduct Of The Parties With Reference

           To The Cause Of Divorce  ...........................   18

        (a) Even If The Parties Were Equally At

            Fault, The Present Decree Is Indefensible  ........   20

        2. The Source Of Their Property  ......................   20

        3. The Parties' Standard Of Living During The

           Marriage And Their Potential For Maintaining

           Or Exceeding That Standard After Their

           Divorce  ...........................................   22

        4. The Financial Circumstances Of The Parties  ........   23

        5. The Parties' Future Prospect  ......................   23

        6. The Length Of The Marriage  ........................   24

    B. Morris Dees' Entire Estate Has Been Used Regularly

       For The Common Benefit Of The Parties  .................   24

       1. The Real Estate  ....................................   26

       2. Morris' Other Assets  ...............................   27

            1968 through 1975  ................................   27

            1975  .............................................   29

            1976  .............................................   30

            1977  .............................................   30

            1978  .............................................   30

    C. The Trial Court Erred In Prohibiting The Wife

       From Calling The Husband As A Witness  .................   30

CONCLUSION  ...................................................   31

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE ........................................



   At the time of the divorce, Morris' net worth, based upon his own

calculations, was $3,876,029 (R. 1252, et. seq; Def. Ex. 86-87; Stipulation,

R. 231).  His annual income exceeds $230,000 (Def. Ex. 76-79), of which more

than $160,000 annually is derived from municipal bonds upon which Morris 

pays no income tax (Def. Ex. 28).



        B. The Cause Of The Break-up: Vicki Booker McGaha



  Although Maureene was subjected to a number of degrading sexual episodes

by Morris during the marriage which will be discussed hereafter, neither

Morris nor Maureene ever wanted or sought a divorce until Morris established

his permanent relationship with Vicki Booker McGaha in August of 1977.  It

was Morris' absolute refusal to give up his mistress, whom he was supporting

and whom he had made pregnant, that directly caused termination of 

Maureene's marriage and forced her to institute these divorce proceedings.

   In August, 1977, Morris tried the "Weisenhunt case" in Birmingham, and

became acquainted with Vicki Booker McGaha, who was a member of that jury 

(R. 1459).  Thereafter, Morris and Vicki began a sexual affair which has 

still not ended, and which was the cause of termination of two marriages.

   Following their meeting in Birmingham during the Weisenhunt trial in 

August, 1977, Morris had sexual relations with Vicki at Oak Mountain State 

Park in Shelby County (R. 1461), the Prattville Holiday Inn, the Holiday Inn 

East, the Governor's House Hotel, and the Howard Johnson Motel (R. 1462).  

  The first trip that he took with her was a four day trip to the "Cajun 

Country" in Louisiana on a motorcycle in April, 1978 (R. 1464-1465).  In 

August, 1978, Vicki joined Morris in Columbus, Georgia, where she stayed 

with him at the Holiday Inn (R. 1468).

   Maureene first found out about Vicki when she was contacted by Vicki's

husband, who subsequently turned over to her letters that Morris had written

to Vicki and tape recordings of conversations that Morris had had with Vicki

(R. 361-362).  Mr. McGaha divorced Vicki McGaha in May, 1978 (R. 1469).

   Around this time, at Morris' request, Maureene met with Morris and Vicki 

at the Sheraton Mountain Brook Inn to discuss the situation (R. 358). During

this conversation Morris told Maureene that he was in love with Vicki, that

they wanted to be together, and they didn't care if they had anything but a

shack with a dirt floor if they could be together (R. 358).  Morris told

Maureene that he and Vicki were going to live together and they they hoped

she would understand.  Maureene learned that the affair had been going on

since August of 1977 (R. 280-281, et seq).  In later conversations Morris

cried and told Maureene that he loved them both, and that "Vicki has such

beautiful blue eyes and she can see right through you" (R. 360).  Following

this meeting, Maureene separated from Morris for the first time and filed 

the first suit for divorce (R. 361).



        C. The Reconciliation



   After Maureene and Morris had been separated for about four to six weeks,

Morris telephoned her and said that he had made a mistake, that he did love

Maureene and wanted her back, and he swore never to see Vicki McGaha again

(R. 282).  To assure her of this Morris arranged another meeting among the

three of them as Joe Levin's lake cabin on July 3, 1978 (R. 367, et seq).

  This meeting was bizarre.  In a three-way conversation Morris would first 

ask Vicki to state how much she loved him, and he would then turn to 

Maureene to ask her to state how much she loved him (R. 367).  It was as if 

he were staging a contest to see who loved him the most, or who would do 

the most for him (R. 367).  After a lengthy conversation, during which 

Morris had taken his socks off, he announced, "Alright, I'll tell you girls 

my answer when I get my socks on."  After taking an inordinate amount of 

time putting his socks on, he got up, walked around behind them, put an arm 

on each girl, and ceremoniously stated, "I tell you this day, July 3, 1978, 

I, Morris Dees, can't live without either one of you."  (R. 368).  At that 

point, Maureene said, "I'll tell you what, Vicki, you can have him." 

(R. 368).

   In response to these statements by Morris, Maureene made it clear once

again that Morris could not have them both, that he could not remain married

to her and live with Vicki, and that he must make up his mind one way or

another.  At the conclusion of the meeting, Morris promised never to see

Vicki again (R. 282).  He told Vicki that he and Maureene had reconciled, 

and that he could not see her anymore (R. 1357).  Morris himself testified 

that in Maureene's presense he told Vicki that it was all over and that he

wouldn't see her anymore (R. 1357; 1522-1523).



        D. Morris Can't Give Up His Mistress



   Morris' promises did not last long.  Although Maureene didn't know it at

the time, less than two weeks later he resumed his relationship with Vicki

(R. 1523).  By his own admission, he found himself unable to terminate the

relationship with Vicki, in response to questions by his own attorney:



   (At R. 366)



   Q. (By Mr. Byrne) Now, give the Court some judgement about how many times

   you attempted during 1978 and 1979 to break off your relationship with

   Vicki Booker?



   A. Oh, gosh, about every month I'd say.  It was a continual off and on

   relationship.

                                    ***

   (At R. 1367)



   A. (By Morris, describing Defendant's Exhibit 103, a letter from Morris

   to Vicki)  Well, its an undated letter.  I think it was in January of

   1979, and it basically described the continuing problem of we ought to

   end this relationship.  I'm telling her that I don't really think I've

   got the strength to and I wish she would do it herself."



                                    ***

   (At R. 1434)



   Q. (By Mr. Smith)  Let me ask you if you said this or this in substance

   in response to a question by Mr. Byrne.  'I attempted every month to

   break off my relationship with Vicki'.



   A.  I think that would be a pretty accurate statement before Maureene

   left home."



   Morris had been supporting Vicki since her divorce from her husband in

May, 1979, and he continued to do so as they continued their affair even

after promising Maureene in July, 1978 that the affair was over for good.

Morris admits to having provided the following support to Vicki during the

eleven-month period from may, 1978 through March, 1979 (R. 1504, et seq):



      May 30, 1978            $1,500

      June 6, 1978               500

      June 22, 1978            1,500

      July 6, 1978             1,000 (after "reconciling" with

      July 30, 1978            1,500  Maureene July 3rd)

      Aug. 26, 1978            1,500

      Aug. 27, 1978            1,625

      Sept. 20, 1978           1,500

      Nov. 27, 1978            5,000

      Jan. 25, 1979            5,000

      March, 1979              2,000

      Total                  $22,625



  Morris stopped sending Vicki money only when the present divorce suit was

filed (R. 1506).  In addition, Morris loaned Vicki $28,000, at 8% interest,

to enable her to purchase her former husband's interest in their home at the

time of her divorce (R. 1351).



        E. Maureene Is Compelled To Seek Divorce



   In November, 1978, Morris finally admitted to Maureene that,

notwithstanding the promises that he had made in July to abandon Vicki and

reconcile with Maureene, he had continued to see Vicki in Birmingham, that

she was then five months pregnant with his child, and that he would be going

to Birmingham in a few days to be with her while she had an abortion which

Morris was paying for (R. 364). Over the next sixty days, Maureene concluded

that he simply could not accept the situation any longer.  It was apparent 

to Maureene that Morris was not going to stop seeing Vicki, and Maureene 

was not willing to live in a situation where she knew for a fact that her 

husband really had, in effect, two wives (R. 412).  Morris was supporting 

Vicki and had been doing so for almost a year.  He treated Vicki like a 

wife, supplying all of her financial and emotional needs.  He was there when 

she needed him. He was spending almost half a week going back and forth 

to Birmingham two or three times a week, attempting to divide his time 

between them (R. 412).  In January or February, 1979, Maureene told Morris 

that she could simply no longer accept this situation, and that she was 

going to leave (R. 385). Following this conversation, Morris started trying 

to induce Maureene to execute certain agreements (which will be discussed 

in detail hereafter) that would permit each of them to have sexual relations 

with other parties (R. 385).  Maureene refused to sign any of these 

agreements (R. 387).

  While trying to induce her to sign these agreements, Morris continued to 

tell Maureene that he loved her and that he would stop seeing Vicki (R. 390). 

However, he did not stop seeing her.  During this period he took Vicki and 

her children to the ballet in birmingham, and spent the night at Vicki's 

house (R. 390).  He met Vicki in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl in January, 

1979, where they spent two days together (R. 1473).

   In March, 1979, Maureene left Morris for the last time, and she has lived

separate and apart from him ever since (R. 370).  Morris and Vicki moved 

into the family home in Mathews (R. 370).  Maureene commenced the present 

suit on March 8, 1979.

   Following the final separation, Morris openly continued his relationship

with Vicki.  Taking his daughter, Ellie, with him, Morris met Vicki in Los

Angeles on March 10, 1979 (R. 1473).  He introduced Vicki to Ellie as "Pat"

(R. 1475), and after leaving Los Angeles the three of them flew to Las Vegas

together (R. 1475).  They had only one room for the three of them, but 

Morris claimed that Vicki sat up all night in the hotel lobby (R. 1476).  

Morris took Vicki to the White House signing of the Israel-Egypt Peace 

Treaty on March 26, 1979 (R. 1518).  On June 4, 1979, Morris took his 

daughter Ellie, and Vicki and her family, to the Grand Hotel (R. 1479).



        F. Morris Sets A Trap



   In February, 1979, Morris Dees realized that he was in a precarious legal

position.  He had been conducting an affair with Vicki McGaha for almost two

years; she had become pregnant by him and had received an abortion which he

had paid for; he was supporting her and spending most of his time with her

and planned to continue to do so; and Maureene, who was fully aware of all 

of these facts, and stated that she could not tolerate the situation any 

more and was leaving him to institute divorce proceedings.  To protect 

himself in the impending litigation, Morris had to find a way to neutralize 

Maureene.

  In February, 1979, after Maureene informed Morris that she was leaving him,

Morris wrote out an agreement, which he showed to her on a Sunday afternoon,

and asked her to stay and live by this agreement (R. 385).  This agreement,

identified and introduced as Plaintiff's Exhibit 30, purported to permit the

parties to lead separate lives but stay married, and provided that they 

would not hold anything against each other that had happened either before 

or after the date of the agreement (R. 386).  The first such purported 

agreement (Pl. Ex. 30) provided in part as follows:



      "Whereas they "Morris and Maureene) feel that they can better work

      toward a more complete and satisfying relationship in their marriage

      if they have an open marriage, i.e., where each party, while still

      living together as man and wife, be free to have relationships with

      the opposite sex, which said relationships may consist of sexual

      intercourse. . ."



   During the time that he was discussing this agreement and urging her to

sign it, Morris continued to tell Maureene that he loved her and that he had

stopped seeing Vicki (R. 390), which was another lie.  Plaintiff's Exhibit 

31 is another agreement which Morris drafted because he did not like the

language of the first agreement, and contains this provision:



     [PAGE 11 MISSING]



      A. Prior to even drawing up these agreements, I agreed to it orally.

      I have already said that . . .

      Q. When did you first orally agree that your wife, your lawful wife,

      could have sexual intercourse with other people?

      A. About a day before this agreement was drawn up.

      Q. This was some time in February?

      A. Yes

      Q. And it was one day preceeding the first agreement?

      A. Approximately."



                                    ***

      (At page 253)

      "Q. You knew she (Maureene) knew about you and Vicki?

      A. About the abortion, and she said, I am going to use that and I

      said, Maureene, look if you have somebody you want to have sex with,

      go ahead and have sex with them.  We said that that night at the bar.

      Q. That was clear and unmistakable?

      A. Clear and unmistakable.

      Q. You encouraged her to and if there was anybody --

      A. If you call that encouragement --



        G. Morris' Trap Works: The Hotel Room Agreement



   On March 4, 1979, Maureene walked naively into the trap which Morris had

set.  On that date, she flew to Washington, D.C., where she met Brian

O'Daugharty (R. 576).  Maureene knew Mr. O'Daugherty in connection with her

work on the National Endowment, and he was the Director of the Media Arts

Program (R. 341).  Morris had told her that she could see anyone she wanted,

as long as she was discreet (R. 578), and her flight to Washington was 

booked under the name of Better Foster (R. 576).  Maureene and O'Daugherty 

had dinner together on the night of March 4th, and returned to her hotel 

room (R. 578).  When they were in bed together, Morris and a Montgomery 

private detective, both of whom had been hiding in the bathroom, jumped out 

and started taking photographs, Morris said word in substance as follows:



   "Alright sister, you wanted a divorce.  Now I want one, because I've

   got you where I want you." (R. 586)



   Morris was acting crazy, and Maureene thought he was going to kill

everybody in sight.  He told her that he had five detectives with him (R.

592).  He hit her and gave her a busted jaw.  (R. 592).  He then started

writing something on paper which he then gave her to sign (R. 422-423).  

This document, entered unto evidence as Plaintiff's Exhibit 43, was a 

separation agreement (R. 423).  The agreement provided that Morris was 

to have custody of Ellie, the parties' nine-year old daughter.  Maureene was 

to receive "25,000 alimony-in-gross upon the "execution" (sic) of a divorce, 

and that in addition she was to receive $1,500 per month as alimony for a 

period of three years from the divorce.  Under this agreement, Maureene 

relinquished all claims to any real estate owned by Morris, and agreed to 

return to him the diamond ring which he had given to her.  The agreement 

recites that, although it is execute on March 5th in Washington, D.C., it 

will be notarized by an Alabama notary (the detective) and shall be 

governed by the laws of Alabama. Maureene signed the agreement because 

she was afraid not to (R. 423).

   After returning to Montgomery, Morris asked attorney Paul Lawrey to

handle the divorce based upon the hotel room agreement (R. 412). Although 

he knew that Maureene was already represented by Maury Smith, Morris 

instructed her to go to Paul Lowery's office for this purpose (R. 427). She 

declined to do this, and later Paul Lowery came to the house where Maureene 

was staying, with papers for her to sign, but she refused to do so 

(R. 428-429).

   Apparently in a last effort to induce a settlement with Maureene, Morris

later told her that he was sorry he had the photograph taken in the hotel

room, that he should not have taken them, and that he wanted her to have 

them (R. 426).  He gave them to her with instructions to destroy them, 

telling her that these were the only copies (R. 426).  He also gave the 

original signed copy of the hotel room agreement.  She tore up both 

envelopes without looking inside (R. 426).  Morris' statement that these 

were the only copies of the photographs was another lie, since he introduced 

the photographs into evidence at the trial.

        H. Morris' Sexual Appetite



   Maureene was literally force to file suit for divorce in March, 1979,

because of Morris' obstinate refusal to give up his mistress who he was 

then supporting and who had become pregnant by him.  However, Maureene

did not give up her marriage easily.  Prior to Morris' permanent 

involvement with the McGaha woman, Maureene had endured a long series 

of degrading incidents which evidenced Morris' voracious and eclectic 

sexual appetite.  Since early in their marriage, Morris repeatedly bragged 

to Maureene that with his looks and his money he could have any woman 

he wanted, and he constantly bragged about women propositioning him 

(R. 350, et seq).  [Some insight into the size of Morris' ego is provided 

by his letter of January 22, 1979, to "Ham" Jordan (a copy of which he 

sent to Vicki) in which he makes application to be appointed Attorney 

General of the United States to replace Griffin Bell, giving as one of his 

principal qualifications the fact that "... all my life, I have been a 

winner."] (Pl. Ex. 91).  Later in the marriage he repeatedly told her of 

women that he had had sexual intercourse with during the marriage (R. 354).  

He said further that he enjoyed trying to turn on gay people and he 

expressed a desire to have an experience with a gay (R. 354).

    Early in the larriage, Morris gave her a book on "Open Marriage" and 

started encouraging her to have sexual intercourse with other men 

(R. 419-420). During the year or so after they were married, Maureene 

became aware that her husband was having an affair with a woman name 

Becky Logan (R. 458).  During the same period, she began receiving 

anonymous telephone calls concerning her husband and a black woman 

in town (R. 459).

   A. Dianne Hicks.  In his deposition, Morris admits that in

the spring of 1973 (Morris depo. p. 27), or during the summer of

1973 (Morris depo. p. 25), he had an affair with Dianne Hicks, a

Mobile lawyer who was working for the Southern Poverty Law Center

(Morris depo. p. 25).  He had sex with her during a canoe trip down

the Tallapoosa River (Morris depo. p.25), and also in Brewton where

they were working together on a trial (Morris depo. p. 26-27).

   B. Cathy Bennett.  in the fall of 1974, Morris brought to

the family home in Mathews a girl named Cathy Bennett who was a

psychologist who had worked with Morris on several cases (R. 284).

She stayed in their home in Mathews for about a week, during which

time theu had Bobby Kennedy there as a guest (R. 285).  Maureene was

suspicious of her husband's relationship with this girl (R. 286),

and later Morris admitted having an affair with her (R. 1325).

Morris told Mrs. Dees that his affair with her was over in December,

1974, But she later found that he and Cathy continued to conduct an

affair in Atlanta where Morris lived for a period during the Jimmy

Carter campaign (R. 287, 291).

   C.  Judith Rogers.  in the fall of 1977 (R. 1344), Morris

and Maureene held a Little Theatre party at their home, attended by

Dr. Rogers, a Montgomery physician, and his wife Judith, who is a

criminal psychologist (R. 292, 1344, 1345).  During the party Morris

admits that he took Judith into a back room of his house, while the

party was going on, and had intercourse with her (R. 1344, 293).

   D. Deborah Levy.  In the spring of 1976, Morris invited to

the house Deborah Levy who worked for the American Civil Liberties

Union in New York, and the man with whome she lived in New York,

Michael Gaas (R. 299, 303).  The Southern Poverty Law Center was

considering starting a magazine in opposition to the death penalty,

and Morris was interviewing Deborah Levy for the job of running the

magazine (R. 301).  She was not hired for the job, but she and her

boyfriend did visit the Dees home in Mathews for several days on two

different occasions (R. 301).  in August, 1976, Morris and Maureene

took them on a canoe trip down the river (R. 202-203).  After

supper, they had all gone to bed in sleeping bags, when Maureene

woke up and found Morris and Deborah naked, having sex on the

sandbar (R. 306).  Morris turned to Maureene and insisted that she

have sex with the other man. (R. 306).  Later Maureene went back to

sleep and woke up shortly before dawn, and found Morris and Deborah

having intercourse again right next to her (R. 307).  While having

intercourse with Deborah, Morris leaned over and kissed Maureene (R.

308).  The next morning Maureene objected strongly to the night's

events and stated emphatically that she did not want anything of

that nature to happen again (R. 309).  The following month, in

September, 1976, she and Morris went to New York for a tennis

tournament and to take one of the children to a special school in

Boston (R. 310).  Over Maureene's objections, Morris insisted upon

visiting Deborah Levy and Michael Gaas (R. 310).  While the group

was having dinner together in a restaurant Maureene, returning from

the restroom, overheard Morris and Deborah making plans to be together

the following afternoon (R. 315).  Later when confronted with this

Morris admitted having such plans (R. 320).  Later in a conversation

among the four of them, Morris stopped the conversation in the

middle and said to Michael Gaas "I've just got to tell you this

because I feel bad about it.  I want to tell you that Deborah and I

were planning to go off this afternoon and make love and I just want

to tell you that." (R. 322).  This embarassed Maureene and made her

furious (R. 324).  Gaas responded that if that's what Morris was here

to do he should just get up and go do it, following which Morris and

Deborah got up and went into the bedroom where they remained for

about forty-five minutes (R. 325, et seq).  While they were gone

Maureene had sexual intercourse with Michael (R. 326).  Afterward

Morris left the apartment, returned in about thirty minutes and hit

Michael in the face (R. 327).

   E. Pamela Horowitz.  In the spring of 1977 Morris planned a

trip to Kentucky and invited Maureene to go with him, knowing that

she could not go becuase she was in rehearsal for a play (R. 330).

Over Maureene's objection, he took with him, on his motorcycle

Pamela Horowitz, a lawyer working for the Southern Poverty Law

Center at that time (R. 331).  He drove the motorcycle and she rode

behind him from Montgomery to Kentucky, and they were gone for four

or five days, during which they shared the same hotel accomodations

(R. 331-332)   F. Charlie Springman (homosexual).  On August 11, 1978,

Maureene and Morris' tenth anniversary, they were having dinner at

the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., and afterward had drinks in

the bar (R. 333, et seq).  In the bar, they saw Charlie Springman,

who Maureene knew as a Regional Coordinator for the National

Endownment of the Arts (R. 335).  She had told Morris that Springman

was gay, but Morris had never met him.  When they saw him in the

bar, Morris suggested inviting him over for a drink (R. 335).  After

a while, to Maureene's surprise, Morris suggested that Charlie come

up to the room with them (R. 336).  In the room, they drank wine and

talked, and Morris unbuttoned his shirt to the waist (R. 336).

Charlie tried to leave several times but Morris wouldn't let him (R.

337).  Finally Morris proposed that Charlie spend the night with

them (R. 337).  Mrs. Dees protested, and put on her robe and

nightgown to go to bed (R. 337-338).  Soon Charlie and Morris were

in the bed naked, with Maureene in the middle with her gown on (R.

338-339).  Springman and Morris hugged and kissed, and Morris tried

to get Charlie to have relations with Maureene, but Springman was

physically unable to because he was not interested (R. 340).  In

fact, no one made any effort to have sex with Mrs. Dees during this

incident (R. 341).  Springman kissed Morris' penis, and in fact,

Morris complained that he bit him and that it hurt (R. 340).  Morris

kissed Springman on Springman's penis (R. 341).  After about thirty

minutes they all went to sleep (R. 342).  When Maureene woke up the

next morning, Morris was gone (R. 342), but Springman was still

asleep in the bed.  After five or ten minutes Morris returned and

found Maureene crying.  He apologized for the incident and said that

he would not let anything like that happen again (R. 343).  Morris

denies parts of this episode, he admits its essential features:

Morris admits that he invited Springman to the room (R. 1571); that

Maureene put on a nightgown and robe and got into bed (R. 1537);

that Morris got into bed with nothing but his underclothes on (R.

1575); and that Springman got into the bed naked (R. 1590).

   G. Morris' Step-Daughter.  Holly Buck, Maureene's daughter

by a previous marriage, is eighteen years old (R. 728).  She was

seven years old when her mother and Morris married, and she has

lived with them in the house at Mathews from then until the

separation (R. 728).  Holly testified that, in the summer of 1977,

Morris attempted to molest her in the following incident (R. 729):

One night Maureene and Morris were sitting drinking wine and

discussing a case Morris was trying.  She was with them.  Around

eleven or twelve o'clock Maureene went to bed and Holly stayed up

with Morris discussing the case.  Morris kept offering Holly wine,

some of which she accepted.  At Morris' suggestion, they went

outside to the pool, and he suggested that they go for a swim, but

Holly was tired and declined (R. 731).  She went to her room and

then went into the bathroom.  Looking out the window, she saw Morris

in the bushes beside the bathroom window looking in (R. 731).  She

said "Morris, is that you", but he said nothing and ran away (R.

732).  Two months later, she was asleep one night and Morris entered

her room from Ellie's room, through the bathroom.  He was in his

underwear and he sat on the bed where Holly was lying on her stomach

facing away from the door.  He touched her on the back and woke her

up.  He told her that he had brough her a present, and he presented

her with a vibrator.  He plugged it in and said he had brought it to

her.  He proceeded to rub it on her back and said, "Let me show you

how to use it" (R. 733).  She said that's not necessary, but he

started to place it between her legs when she raised he voice and

said no loudly.  He then took the vibrator and left (R. 734).  All

he had on was a pair of bikini underwear shorts (R. 734).  About two

hours later, she had fallen back asleep and he came back in (R.

735).  He brought the vibrator with him, plugged it in and said

again, "Let me show you how to use it."  He tried to show her again

by putting it between her legs, but she raised her voice again and

he stopped.  He took it and left (R. 635).  She did not tell her

mother about this incident until the separation when they moved out

of the Mathews house in the spring of 1979 (R. 736).

   H. Morris' Future Daughter-in-law.  Karen Sherman Dees is

Morris' daughter-in-law, who is married to Morris' son Scooter

(Morris, III) (R. 345).  Before Karen and Scooter were married, when

they were eighteen or nineteen, which was three or four years ago,

an incident occurred on Mother's Day at the family home in Mathews

(R. 345).  The Dees had Karen and Scooter to dinner at the house,

and they cooked out (R. 346).  While Scooter and Maureene were

cleaning up and washing dishes, Karen and Morris went out to go

swimming (R. 345).  Five or ten minutes later, Maureene and Scooter

started down the path toward the pool, with Maureene in front.  As

she approached the gate, she could see Morris and Karen standing

with their arms around each other with no clothes on, and Morris had

an erection.  Maureene immediately turned and told Scooter that she

did not want to go swimming and the two of them headed back to the

house without Scooter having seen anything (R. 347).  Later, Karen

and Morris returned from the pool, fully dressed, and the group

stayed in the den for a little while (R. 349).  Morris got up and

went to bed, and Maureene joined him a few minutes later.  While

lying in the bed, Maureene looked up and saw that Karen had entered

the room (R. 349).  She didn't have any clothes on but had a towel

or sheet wrapped around her (R. 350).  She came over and got in the

bed on Morris' side (R. 350).  Nothing happened, but she remained

there for about ten minutes, and eventually got up and left

(R.350-351).  Morris told Maureene that he just couldn't understand

why she came in the room (R. 351).

   In 1974 and 1976, after Maureene had become aware of some of

Morris' infidelities, she had two brief sexual liasons; one with

Charles Morgan, with whom she was co-starring in a Little Theatre

production, and the other with Steve Denton, who was visiting in

Montgomery for a tennis tournament.