Kelly

STATEMENT OF THE CASE AND FACTS

The factual background, as described in appellant’s complaint, begins with Kelly meeting White in Los Angeles in 2002, and White agreeing to fund improvements to

1 Kelly’s “public affairs” website. At White’s suggestion, Kelly went to Thailand and hired programmers and artists to make website improvements. In 2003, Kelly learned that White had been incarcerated in Thailand due to an extradition request by Mexico, where he had been charged with sexually abusing 10 boys. White told Kelly that he was innocent and that he could not continue to fund the website until after he was released; Kelly stated his intention to return to California. In subsequent meetings at the jail, Kelly suggested he might be able to help White and White proposed paying Kelly a monthly “stipend” of $2,000; both parties understood that Kelly would be paid “considerably more” from bonus agreements they anticipated making after identifying specific projects Kelly would undertake to help White obtain release. White hired Kelly on December 23, 2003, to provide internet research services, visit White, take his instructions and advise him. The complaint alleged that at the time…