Leon Hendrix talks of Jimi and family dynamics

In a nearly packed King County Superior Courtroom yesterday, Leon Hendrix — who is suing his stepsister for a share of his late brother's fortune — talked about his childhood, his brother Jimi Hendrix, the relationship he had with his father, Al, and his estrangement from the family.

"We started being invited less and less, and then we were invited only at Thanksgiving and [my dad's] birthday," Hendrix said on the stand yesterday. "And then we were invited but separated from everyone, and then we were not invited."

Hendrix was the last witness in his case against his stepsister and the estate of his rock-legend brother.

His stepsister's attorneys claim Al Hendrix left the bulk of his estate to Janie Hendrix because he thought she was the best business manager in the family.

In the lawsuit filed after Al Hendrix's death in 2002, Leon Hendrix claims that his stepsister, Janie Hendrix, took advantage of their father's age and legal naiveté to cut Leon out of the will.

Al Hendrix inherited Jimi Hendrix's estate, which is now valued at about $90 million, when the rock legend died in 1970.

Attorneys for Leon have argued that Janie, whom Al adopted when he married her mother, plotted for years to have him cut out of the 1997 will.

"One of Janie's top priorities was to see that Leon was disinherited," said Leon's attorney, Robert Curran.

Curran said that until 1996, when Janie began to hold greater sway with their father, Leon Hendrix and his six children were in the will.

But after Janie Hendrix helped her father win a lawsuit that restored the family's rights to Jimi Hendrix's music, she controlled the family's accountants and lawyers, Curran said.

Leon said yesterday that it was a disagreement over the family's restored rights to Jimi's music that precipitated the family rift.

Leon said he thought he was doing what his father wanted when he signed away his rights to Jimi's music.

But Leon also said yesterday that despite his stepsister's disapproval, he and his father shared a warm relationship based, in part, on their shared experiences.

"My father didn't care about all that," Leon said. "We'd still get together and gamble, shoot pool, hustle pool and play golf together."

Also at issue in the bench trial before Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ramsdell are two separate, but related, lawsuits.

In his will, Al Hendrix left most of his estate to Janie. But he also set up several trust funds, controlled by Janie, which were designed to benefit 11 other members of the family.

Seven of those beneficiaries are seeking to have Janie removed from control of the fortune.

They claim she has mismanaged the estate, siphoning off money for her personal use while they have never received a cent.

Leon Hendrix's six children have also filed a lawsuit, claiming that even if their grandfather had intended to disinherit their father, he had never intended to also cut them from the will.

Leon Hendrix is scheduled to face cross-examination by Janie's lawyers this morning.

Janie Hendrix's attorneys will have four days to defend the will as it exists and Janie's right to manage the estate.

The judge is expected to issue a verdict in early September.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com