Bejeweled with diamonds, a dozen jangling gold bracelets and a gold Krugerrand coin around her neck, the diminutive woman was ushered to the stand by Peninsula businessman Nader Agha, a family friend who is the co-conservator of her estate.

Upon questioning, she told prosecutor Lisa Poll she moved to California with her husband in 1954. Poll then asked her birth date.

“Dec. 29,” she said.

“What year?” asked Poll.

“Oh, I don’t want to give it,” she said smiling, sparking laughter in the courtroom.

But we need to know your age, Scott told her.

“I’m over 39,” she said, before whispering her true age to the judge.

Using headphones and an assisted-listening device, King was less lighthearted when asked to identify her grandniece, who was shackled nearby in orange-and-white-striped jail garb. King, forced to look at the defendant, briefly broke into tears.

“I’ve never had anyone look after me,” she said. “I’ve always had to paddle my own canoe and I was glad to do so.”

On the contrary, she testified, she tried to take care of Hurley by buying seven rentals on four properties and signing over 30 percent to Hurley. In return, Hurley was to manage the properties and “be self-sufficient.”

Lillian King’s Testimony – A Charmer