For: Emanuel testified he and his wife, Amy Rule, kept many family heirlooms stored in the home’s basement, including Ms. Rule’s wedding dress, family china, and a leather jacket once belonging to Emanuel’s grandfather. Mee Kim-Chavez, a family friend, testified she helped Rule box up the items and store them in a crawl space. This, Emanuel's legal team says, shows he never intended to abandon the premises permanently.
Against: House renter Laurie Halpin said she has full access to the basement and no such items exist there and that a piano and bed were the only Emanuel family items left in the home upon their arrival. A citizen objector asked hearing officer Joseph Morris if the hearing can take a field trip to the Emanuel home to investigate, a request Mr. Morris denied. The Emanuel team submitted photographs to show the location of the crawl space, but many objectioners opposed having them introduced in the hearing and questioned if they were real.
