Retired Maricopa County Superior Court Commissioner Lindsay Ellis -- under fire for giving select attorneys a sneak peak at her draft order approving the draining of an elderly widow's life savings -- is asking a Superior Court judge to halt his inquiry into her conduct.
Ellis contends that she can't be hauled into court and asked why she gave favored treatment to one side, the side that wound up with most of Marie Long's money.
Her reason? She has judicial immunity.
Ellis has hired a trio of attorneys who contend that Presiding Judge Barbara Mundell and Presiding Probate Judge Karen O'Connor exceeded their authority in ordering an investigation into Ellis' “alleged improprieties”.
“If absolute judicial immunity means anything, it must mean that a judge cannot be hailed into court and asked to participate in a hearing aimed at piercing the core of her judicial function – the decision and her decision-making process,” attorneys Kevin O'Malley, Paul Charlton and Kiersten Murphy wrote in asking that the court inquiry be cancelled.
Ellis' neutrality has long been questioned in the case of the 88-year-old widow who went from having $1.3 million to nothing while under the protection of probate court. O'Connor twice denied requests to remove Ellis from the case, claiming there was no evidence of bias.
But last month's remarkable revelation that Ellis, through a judicial assistant, communicated with one side in the case has led to a collective jaw drop in the legal community. Her March 15 draft order, ruling that a group of fiduciaries and probate attorneys were justified in collecting nearly $800,000 from Marie, was sent only to those who stood to benefit from the ruling. Attorneys for Marie and her sisters didn't find out about the improper “ex-parte” communication until mid May when attorney Brenda Church finally disclosed Ellis' e-mail and her reply, suggesting several factual changes.
The revelation prompted O'Connor to immediately transfer this hot potato out of probate for a hearing into Ellis' conduct. Mundell, in turn, quickly tossed it to Judge Robert Budoff, who ordered everyone involved in the case – including Ellis -- to his courtroom on June 7.
Full Article and Source:
Judge Ellis to Superior Court: Bite Me"
See Also:
Judge's E-Mail Raises Eyebrows
Monday, June 7, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Pharmaceutical Pinball
NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU SCORE, YOU STILL LOSE!
There's a pervasive (but false) idea in western medicine that the more pharmaceuticals you take, the healthier you'll get. That's how pharmaceuticals are marketed, in fact: Take these pills if you want to be healthier!
If you take one pill, the ads claim, you'll have a healthy heart. Another pill gives you healthy moods. Yet another pill claims to give you healthy bones... or pancreas function... or blood pressure.. or even a day-long erection. If you believe all this, it stands to reason that the more chemical pills you take, the healthier you'll become, right?
But hold on a second. Think of the people you know who are taking five, ten or even over a dozen medications. Are they the healthiest people you know?
Probably not. Not by a long shot. In fact, if you really look closely at this issue, you'll find that the more pharmaceuticals you take, the WORSE your health becomes.
Full Article and Source:
Pharmaceutical Pinball
Note: Artwork concept: Mike Adams; Art: Dan Berger
There's a pervasive (but false) idea in western medicine that the more pharmaceuticals you take, the healthier you'll get. That's how pharmaceuticals are marketed, in fact: Take these pills if you want to be healthier!If you take one pill, the ads claim, you'll have a healthy heart. Another pill gives you healthy moods. Yet another pill claims to give you healthy bones... or pancreas function... or blood pressure.. or even a day-long erection. If you believe all this, it stands to reason that the more chemical pills you take, the healthier you'll become, right?
But hold on a second. Think of the people you know who are taking five, ten or even over a dozen medications. Are they the healthiest people you know?
Probably not. Not by a long shot. In fact, if you really look closely at this issue, you'll find that the more pharmaceuticals you take, the WORSE your health becomes.
Full Article and Source:
Pharmaceutical Pinball
Note: Artwork concept: Mike Adams; Art: Dan Berger
What Motivates Whistleblowers
As Big Pharma has gone to the Justice Department woodshed lately--and come out with some record-setting settlements of off-label marketing claims--we've heard about the whistleblowers who often get those Justice investigations going, by suing over misbehaviors at their own companies. Specifically, about the cash they get when they share in government settlements, as the whistelblower law provides.
But a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine finds that the money isn't what motivates most whistleblowers to begin with, and the final payment may come only after severe upheaval in a whistleblower's professional and personal life.
So if their impetus wasn't money, what was it? Integrity, for one. Fear of legal consequences for themselves, personally, if they participated in what they saw as fraudulent behavior. And worries about how off-label use of drugs could hurt patients' health. Many said they protested internally first, filing suits only after those efforts didn't work--or even backfired.
As they pursued their whistleblowing, these folks often spent so much on legal fees that their marriages and personal finances suffered. The stress may have triggered panic attacks, insomnia, shingles, psoriasis, autoimmune disease and so on.
Full Article and Source:
NEJM: Wherefore Art Thou Whistleblowers?
But a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine finds that the money isn't what motivates most whistleblowers to begin with, and the final payment may come only after severe upheaval in a whistleblower's professional and personal life.
So if their impetus wasn't money, what was it? Integrity, for one. Fear of legal consequences for themselves, personally, if they participated in what they saw as fraudulent behavior. And worries about how off-label use of drugs could hurt patients' health. Many said they protested internally first, filing suits only after those efforts didn't work--or even backfired.
As they pursued their whistleblowing, these folks often spent so much on legal fees that their marriages and personal finances suffered. The stress may have triggered panic attacks, insomnia, shingles, psoriasis, autoimmune disease and so on.
Full Article and Source:
NEJM: Wherefore Art Thou Whistleblowers?
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Charges Filed in Confinement Case
Madison County Prosecutor Thomas Broderick, Jr., filed nine felony counts Thursday morning against the three individuals accused of confining and abusing 65-year-old Anna Turner and stealing her social security checks and medications.The charges include criminal confinement, theft, battery resulting in serious bodily injury, exploitation of an endangered adult, financial exploitation of an endangered adult, obtaining prescription by fraud, and possession of a controlled substance.
The Anderson Police Department was alerted to Turner’s situation thanks to a tip Adult Protective Service Director Tom Brown received. Officer Freddie Tevis went to the residence where he is reported to have found Turner locked in a small utility room.
All three individuals made an appearance by video before a judge, where not-guilty pleas were entered. Bonds were set at $100,000 each, full cash.
No further court dates have been set.
Full Article and Source:
Charges Filed in Anderson Confinement Case
See Also:
Woman Held Captive for Months
Friday, June 4, 2010
End of Life 'Compassionate Care'
MODERN MEDICINE is amazing. We live in an age when lifesaving organs can be transplanted, when intricate surgeries can be performed through an incision the size of a pinprick, when an implanted manmade device can do the body's work. In short, we live in an age when medical marvels can and do occur.
But the unprecedented science and technology available to us today cannot change one fact of life: There comes a time when death is inevitable. Science may be able to force air into a dying person's lungs or pump nutrients into the digestive system. In short, science can prolong the dying process. But is that really what we want from our health care system?
That's a dilemma that is playing out in a New Jersey appellate court, where judges are being asked to determine whether physicians should be compelled to artificially sustain a dying person's life. The legal drama stems from a case at Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth where a team of physicians spent more than a year treating an unresponsive patient who was in a permanent vegetative state with multiple organ failure.
The patient could not breathe on his own, eat on his own or respond to outside stimuli. He was being kept alive purely through science. Five different physicians agreed that there was no hope for his condition to improve and that the requested treatment — kidney dialysis — would not change that outcome. But the patient had not stated his end-of-life preferences ahead of time, and his family ordered the life-sustaining treatments to continue indefinitely.
Full Article and Source;
N.J. Court Has Chance to Influence Compassionate End-of-Life Care
But the unprecedented science and technology available to us today cannot change one fact of life: There comes a time when death is inevitable. Science may be able to force air into a dying person's lungs or pump nutrients into the digestive system. In short, science can prolong the dying process. But is that really what we want from our health care system?
That's a dilemma that is playing out in a New Jersey appellate court, where judges are being asked to determine whether physicians should be compelled to artificially sustain a dying person's life. The legal drama stems from a case at Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth where a team of physicians spent more than a year treating an unresponsive patient who was in a permanent vegetative state with multiple organ failure.
The patient could not breathe on his own, eat on his own or respond to outside stimuli. He was being kept alive purely through science. Five different physicians agreed that there was no hope for his condition to improve and that the requested treatment — kidney dialysis — would not change that outcome. But the patient had not stated his end-of-life preferences ahead of time, and his family ordered the life-sustaining treatments to continue indefinitely.
Full Article and Source;
N.J. Court Has Chance to Influence Compassionate End-of-Life Care
Ex-Disabilities CEO Gets Two Years
Ernest Beal knew it wasn’t his calling.
But taking the reins of Your Friends and Neighbors, a company that runs group homes for adults with developmental disabilities, was what his mother wanted before she died, he told an Allen Superior Court judge Friday.
Reluctantly, he headed the company as its chief executive officer per his mother’s dying wish nearly 20 years ago and never intended to harm anyone, he said.
Beal, 57, was sentenced to two years in prison for raiding his clients’ trust fund accounts to help his company make payroll, which included a pair of $300,000 annual salaries for him and his ex-wife. Charged with felony theft last year, Beal was convicted by a jury in April.
The trust funds of Your Friends and Neighbors clients hold money from their Social Security checks, paychecks and other income and are meant to pay for the expenses and care of residents. Over a 3 1/2 -year period, Beal “borrowed” from those accounts multiple times.
Beal testified that the money in the trust funds belonged to Your Friends and Neighbors and not the clients and that he planned to pay the money back with interest. Prosecutors acknowledged he eventually did that, but no payments were made until he was charged with theft last June.
Full Article and Source:
Ex-Disabilities CEO Gets 2 Years for Theft
But taking the reins of Your Friends and Neighbors, a company that runs group homes for adults with developmental disabilities, was what his mother wanted before she died, he told an Allen Superior Court judge Friday.
Reluctantly, he headed the company as its chief executive officer per his mother’s dying wish nearly 20 years ago and never intended to harm anyone, he said.
Beal, 57, was sentenced to two years in prison for raiding his clients’ trust fund accounts to help his company make payroll, which included a pair of $300,000 annual salaries for him and his ex-wife. Charged with felony theft last year, Beal was convicted by a jury in April.
The trust funds of Your Friends and Neighbors clients hold money from their Social Security checks, paychecks and other income and are meant to pay for the expenses and care of residents. Over a 3 1/2 -year period, Beal “borrowed” from those accounts multiple times.
Beal testified that the money in the trust funds belonged to Your Friends and Neighbors and not the clients and that he planned to pay the money back with interest. Prosecutors acknowledged he eventually did that, but no payments were made until he was charged with theft last June.
Full Article and Source:
Ex-Disabilities CEO Gets 2 Years for Theft
Thursday, June 3, 2010
TX Senate Notice of Public Hearing
COMMITTEE: Jurisprudence
TIME & DATE: 1:00 PM, Thursday, June 24, 2010
PLACE: E1.016 (Hearing Room)
CHAIR: Senator Jeff Wentworth
The Senate Jurisprudence Committee will hold a public meeting to discuss the following interim committee charge:
Charge 2) Study the guardianship program implemented by the Department of Aging and Disabilities and the Department of Adult Protective Services, including the efficiency and effectiveness of the program, the relationship between the two agencies, the appropriate rights for parents, and whether clients and their assets are adequately protected.
Source:
Senate Special Hearing
TIME & DATE: 1:00 PM, Thursday, June 24, 2010
PLACE: E1.016 (Hearing Room)
CHAIR: Senator Jeff Wentworth
The Senate Jurisprudence Committee will hold a public meeting to discuss the following interim committee charge:
Charge 2) Study the guardianship program implemented by the Department of Aging and Disabilities and the Department of Adult Protective Services, including the efficiency and effectiveness of the program, the relationship between the two agencies, the appropriate rights for parents, and whether clients and their assets are adequately protected.
Source:
Senate Special Hearing
Disbarred Atty & Former Office Manager Arrested and Charged
A disbarred Venice attorney and his former office manager were arrested and charged with stealing nearly $1 million from the estate of a North Port woman.Venice police arrested Raymond Miller, 66, Tuesday and charged him with grand theft for transferring about $941,000 from the estate of Beila Millet into his law firm and personal accounts beginning in 2007.
Miller's office manager, Kathryn Kelley, 52, who worked at Miller's probate and estate law office in the 200 block of Harbor Drive for 30 years, was also charged with grand theft for making many of the transfers, including bonus money to herself, according to the police report.Beginning in 2007, Miller, as trustee, took control of about $1million from Beila Millet's estate and disbursed about $122,000 to her heirs, according to the report.
But when Millet's stepdaughter, Ann Wacholder, called Miller last year to find out about the remaining $941,000 -- much of which was supposed to go to charities in Israel -- she learned that Miller had been disbarred for mishandling estate funds.
Full Article and Source:
2 Accused in $941,000 Grand Theft
NJ Lawyer Charged With Taking Client's Money
A Bergenfield lawyer was arrested on charges he used funds from a trust account for his own benefit.Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said that Eugene N. Cavallo, 60, of Clyde Court, was charged on May 17 following an an investigation by members of the prosecutor’s office White Collar Crime Unit.
Molinelli said that members of that unit had received information from the New Jersey Lawyer’s Fund for Client Protection that a victim had filed a claim on Jan. 30, 2009, that Cavallo, while acting as the victim’s attorney, had taken approximately $456,793.67 from an attorney trust account that Cavallo had designated for the victim’s funds, and had used those funds for his own benefit.
Full Article and Source:
Bergenfield Lawyer Accused of Taking Client’s Money
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Press Release - Danny Tate Case
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
3 P.M. CST, May 31, 2010
Contact: Wendy Dyes
Phone: (615) 715-0913
Musician Danny Tate freed from conservatorship, assets still targeted in Nashville probate court
Nashville, TN, May 31 2010: Davidson County (TN) Circuit Court Judge Randy Kennedy’s ruled May 24th that the Nashville musician Danny Tate was free from a conservatorship for the first time in nearly three years and has the ability to control his assets, enter into contracts and even accept or reject medical treatment. The courtroom was full of supporters from around, but Tate’s victory may be short-lived, perhaps even premature to call, based upon court documents filed in recent days by attorney Paul T. Housch on behalf of himself and Tate’s brother David, the now former conservator.
Probate abuse is often perpetrated through the use of legal instruments such as wills, trusts, guardianships (called conservatorships in some states) or powers of attorney. Many observers view the Tate conservatorship case as a prime example of this abuse which, in its most extreme form, is a hijacking of a person’s personal freedom and property rights.
Danny Tate’s assets once exceeded $600,000, but have largely been depleted during the conservatorship. Michael Hoskins, Danny Tate’s attorney, told the Associated Press that he plans to fight attempts to sell the songwriter’s house in order to pay legal fees. Tate’s royalty payments were set up as targeted funds at the May 24 hearing when attorney Housch informed the judge that “as far as expenses, court reporter, things of that nature, there’s going to be a lack of funds, cash funds right now, to pay those. There are BMI funds available, coming in June.” Based on recent court filings, these assets along with others are now being sought by David Tate and Housch as part of “winding down” the conservatorship they initiated against Danny Tate.
Full Press Release:
NASGA Victims' Profile: Danny Tate
See Also:
Free Danny Tate
Facebook: Friends for Danny Tate's Defense
3 P.M. CST, May 31, 2010
Contact: Wendy Dyes
Phone: (615) 715-0913
Musician Danny Tate freed from conservatorship, assets still targeted in Nashville probate court
Nashville, TN, May 31 2010: Davidson County (TN) Circuit Court Judge Randy Kennedy’s ruled May 24th that the Nashville musician Danny Tate was free from a conservatorship for the first time in nearly three years and has the ability to control his assets, enter into contracts and even accept or reject medical treatment. The courtroom was full of supporters from around, but Tate’s victory may be short-lived, perhaps even premature to call, based upon court documents filed in recent days by attorney Paul T. Housch on behalf of himself and Tate’s brother David, the now former conservator.
Probate abuse is often perpetrated through the use of legal instruments such as wills, trusts, guardianships (called conservatorships in some states) or powers of attorney. Many observers view the Tate conservatorship case as a prime example of this abuse which, in its most extreme form, is a hijacking of a person’s personal freedom and property rights.
Danny Tate’s assets once exceeded $600,000, but have largely been depleted during the conservatorship. Michael Hoskins, Danny Tate’s attorney, told the Associated Press that he plans to fight attempts to sell the songwriter’s house in order to pay legal fees. Tate’s royalty payments were set up as targeted funds at the May 24 hearing when attorney Housch informed the judge that “as far as expenses, court reporter, things of that nature, there’s going to be a lack of funds, cash funds right now, to pay those. There are BMI funds available, coming in June.” Based on recent court filings, these assets along with others are now being sought by David Tate and Housch as part of “winding down” the conservatorship they initiated against Danny Tate.
Full Press Release:
NASGA Victims' Profile: Danny Tate
See Also:
Free Danny Tate
Facebook: Friends for Danny Tate's Defense
Former Caregiver Gets Life in Prison for Torture
A former caregiver convicted of torturing, taunting and body-slamming frail and elderly patients at an upscale California retirement home was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison.
Cesar Ulloa, 21, was convicted in April of one count of torture and seven counts of elder abuse. He was sentenced in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Van Nuys to life on the torture conviction and six additional years for the elder abuse.
"I wish you suffer forever," Rita Kittower, 86, told Ulloa before sentencing. She condemned him as a "cruel, evil caretaker" who inflicted "sadistic animal-like torture" on her late husband.
Full Article and Source:
Ex-Worker Sentenced to Life for Torture, Abuse
Cesar Ulloa, 21, was convicted in April of one count of torture and seven counts of elder abuse. He was sentenced in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Van Nuys to life on the torture conviction and six additional years for the elder abuse.
"I wish you suffer forever," Rita Kittower, 86, told Ulloa before sentencing. She condemned him as a "cruel, evil caretaker" who inflicted "sadistic animal-like torture" on her late husband.
Full Article and Source:
Ex-Worker Sentenced to Life for Torture, Abuse
Former Nursing Home CEO Sentenced to Prison
The former CEO of a Milwaukee nursing home who stole from her nursing home while patients were neglected is going to prison for tax evasion. The CEO is alleged to have stolen over $1 million from her nursing home while patients were denied baths and clean sheets and one resident jumped to his death after the staff ignored his threats of suicide.
Karen Mason was the CEO of Havenwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Milwaukee. The facility was closed in 2005 after a state raid that uncovered severe neglect. While the patients suffered, authorities say that Mason stole more than $1 million and used the money to buy furniture, jewelry, new cars, and concert and sporting event tickets. She also spent money on vacations, wedding and honeymoon expenses, and payments to her yacht club.
In 2008, Mason pleaded guilty to theft and abuse of patients and was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay back more than $80,000 to the nursing home. In this separate tax evasion case, Mason was found to have collected more than $600,000 in income in 2004 without filing a tax return. She was sentenced to two years in prison.
Full Article and Source:
Former Nursing Home CEO Sentenced to Prison
Karen Mason was the CEO of Havenwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Milwaukee. The facility was closed in 2005 after a state raid that uncovered severe neglect. While the patients suffered, authorities say that Mason stole more than $1 million and used the money to buy furniture, jewelry, new cars, and concert and sporting event tickets. She also spent money on vacations, wedding and honeymoon expenses, and payments to her yacht club.
In 2008, Mason pleaded guilty to theft and abuse of patients and was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay back more than $80,000 to the nursing home. In this separate tax evasion case, Mason was found to have collected more than $600,000 in income in 2004 without filing a tax return. She was sentenced to two years in prison.
Full Article and Source:
Former Nursing Home CEO Sentenced to Prison
Elderly Woman Held Captive for Months
Luigi Amalfitano offered 65-year-old dementia sufferer Anna Turner a place to stay and a tender hand when she was close to losing her home.
Instead, Madison County prosecutors said, Amalfitano forced her to live in a locked supply closet, 8 feet by 8 feet, that one police officer said was "barely fit to contain an animal, let alone a human being."
Malnourished and beaten, Turner was discovered in a 105-degree supply closet in Amalfitano's Anderson home, where she had been held captive for several months, police said.
Prosecutor Thomas Broderick Jr., who is expected to file formal charges next week, called the situation an "unbelievable inhuman treatment of an individual who could not help themselves."
Amalfitano, 45, his son, Louis, 20, and Louis' girlfriend, Stephanie L. Cole, 21, were charged preliminarily with felony confinement and exploitation of an endangered adult. Amalfitano and his son also were charged with battery. All were being held on a $100,000 bond at the Madison County Jail. Turner was admitted to St. John's Medical Center.
Full Article and Source:
Police, Elderly Woman Held Captive for Months
Instead, Madison County prosecutors said, Amalfitano forced her to live in a locked supply closet, 8 feet by 8 feet, that one police officer said was "barely fit to contain an animal, let alone a human being."
Malnourished and beaten, Turner was discovered in a 105-degree supply closet in Amalfitano's Anderson home, where she had been held captive for several months, police said.
Prosecutor Thomas Broderick Jr., who is expected to file formal charges next week, called the situation an "unbelievable inhuman treatment of an individual who could not help themselves."
Amalfitano, 45, his son, Louis, 20, and Louis' girlfriend, Stephanie L. Cole, 21, were charged preliminarily with felony confinement and exploitation of an endangered adult. Amalfitano and his son also were charged with battery. All were being held on a $100,000 bond at the Madison County Jail. Turner was admitted to St. John's Medical Center.
Full Article and Source:
Police, Elderly Woman Held Captive for Months
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Atty Paul Housch Wants Lien on Danny Tate's House!
Nashville songwriter Danny Tate may have a lien placed on his house to pay outstanding legal bills in a three-year battle to free himself from a conservatorship.
Tate had been under the conservatorship since 2007.
Danny Tate's brother David had been appointed his conservator in 2007, after David Tate alleged Danny was blowing all his money on cocaine.
For the next three years, Danny Tate paid not only his own legal fees but his brother’s legal fees. The total amount, as estimated by Danny Tate’s lawyer Michael Hoskins, was about $200,000.
Hoskins said Danny Tate is down to his last $10,000.
Paul Housch, the attorney who represented the songwriter’s brother David, filed a motion in court a few days after the hearing asking for a final payment of $25,000 for his legal fees, plus another $11,000 in expert witness and court reporter fees.
Housch is asking Judge Randy Kennedy to put a lien on Danny Tate's house in West Meade to ensure his bill is paid.
Housch is also asking for the balance of Danny Tate’s retirements account, about $7,000, as well as Tate’s quarterly royalty checks from BMI, about $23,000.
Hoskins said now that the conservatorship is dissolved, Danny Tate should get all his money back, then set up a payment plan for the outstanding legal fees. Hoskins says Danny Tate may have to file bankruptcy. He said he wants the judge to say no to the lien on Tate’s home.
"It doesn't make sense to legitimize taking somebody from $650,000 in capital and reducing them to homeless in the street and saying that's in the best interest of the ward," Hoskins said.
Full Article, Video, and Source:
Lawyer Wants Lien on Songwriter's House
See Also:
Free Danny Tate!!!
Facebook: Friends for Danny Tate's Defense
Tate had been under the conservatorship since 2007.
Danny Tate's brother David had been appointed his conservator in 2007, after David Tate alleged Danny was blowing all his money on cocaine.For the next three years, Danny Tate paid not only his own legal fees but his brother’s legal fees. The total amount, as estimated by Danny Tate’s lawyer Michael Hoskins, was about $200,000.
Hoskins said Danny Tate is down to his last $10,000.
Paul Housch, the attorney who represented the songwriter’s brother David, filed a motion in court a few days after the hearing asking for a final payment of $25,000 for his legal fees, plus another $11,000 in expert witness and court reporter fees.Housch is asking Judge Randy Kennedy to put a lien on Danny Tate's house in West Meade to ensure his bill is paid.
Housch is also asking for the balance of Danny Tate’s retirements account, about $7,000, as well as Tate’s quarterly royalty checks from BMI, about $23,000.
Hoskins said now that the conservatorship is dissolved, Danny Tate should get all his money back, then set up a payment plan for the outstanding legal fees. Hoskins says Danny Tate may have to file bankruptcy. He said he wants the judge to say no to the lien on Tate’s home.
"It doesn't make sense to legitimize taking somebody from $650,000 in capital and reducing them to homeless in the street and saying that's in the best interest of the ward," Hoskins said.
Full Article, Video, and Source:
Lawyer Wants Lien on Songwriter's House
See Also:
Free Danny Tate!!!
Facebook: Friends for Danny Tate's Defense
Edward Abbot Ravenscroft Wins Some Say
After months of trying, a Scottsdale millionaire has at long last been given some say-so in who controls his money.
It was left to a non-probate judge to finally listen to Edward Abbott Ravenscroft and to remove the Sun Valley Group as his conservator. Sun Valley fought to the end to retain control of Ravenscroft's finances and for good reason.
Sun Valley now can no longer control whether Ravenscroft can sue the company, its attorneys and other lawyers who operate within the cozy confines of probate court – the ones who have pocketed at least a quarter of a million dollars of his money. Instead, that power now transfers to Ravenscroft's new conservator, Jane Anne Geisler of Managed Protective Services.
“This is like a miracle …,” Ravenscroft told me. “Now I can breathe. Now I can start working with Jane Anne Geisler and get on with my life.”
Ravenscroft, 49, came under the watchful eye of probate in January 2009 after a series of drug arrests raised questions about his mental health and his vulnerability, given the size of his bank account. But he's been clean for nine months and since then has been trying to regain control over his life and his bankbook. A court-appointed guardian bowed out in March while Sun Valley continued on, based on a court-appointed psychiatrist's finding that he still needs help managing his money.
But this week, that psychiatrist, Dr. Jack Potts, testified that Sun Valley should be removed, both because Ravenscroft wants someone else to handle his money and because little progress has been made toward moving him to financial independence.
Judge Hugh Hegyi bounced the company, saying that while there was no evidence of impropriety, Ravenscroft's relationship with Sun Valley “is hindering his transition to financial independence.”
Hegyi also voided attorney Grant Goodman's contract with Ravenscroft, presumably invalidating his racketeering lawsuit against Sun Valley and Ravenscroft's other former probate protectors. Goodman filed a series of lawsuits earlier this spring on behalf of Ravenscroft and several other wards of the court, accusing various lawyers and fiduciaries of working together to squeeze their vulnerable clients while probate judges looked on and did, well, nothing.
Hegyi ruled that Goodman had no authority to file a lawsuit on behalf of Ravenscroft because he's “incapacitated”. The power to sue, he said, rests only with the judge or the conservator.
Which was Sun Valley, until this week.
Full Article and Source:
Millionnaire Wins Some Say in Who Controls His Money
See Also:
Progress in the Edward Abbot Ravenscroft Case
It was left to a non-probate judge to finally listen to Edward Abbott Ravenscroft and to remove the Sun Valley Group as his conservator. Sun Valley fought to the end to retain control of Ravenscroft's finances and for good reason.
Sun Valley now can no longer control whether Ravenscroft can sue the company, its attorneys and other lawyers who operate within the cozy confines of probate court – the ones who have pocketed at least a quarter of a million dollars of his money. Instead, that power now transfers to Ravenscroft's new conservator, Jane Anne Geisler of Managed Protective Services.
“This is like a miracle …,” Ravenscroft told me. “Now I can breathe. Now I can start working with Jane Anne Geisler and get on with my life.”
Ravenscroft, 49, came under the watchful eye of probate in January 2009 after a series of drug arrests raised questions about his mental health and his vulnerability, given the size of his bank account. But he's been clean for nine months and since then has been trying to regain control over his life and his bankbook. A court-appointed guardian bowed out in March while Sun Valley continued on, based on a court-appointed psychiatrist's finding that he still needs help managing his money.
But this week, that psychiatrist, Dr. Jack Potts, testified that Sun Valley should be removed, both because Ravenscroft wants someone else to handle his money and because little progress has been made toward moving him to financial independence.
Judge Hugh Hegyi bounced the company, saying that while there was no evidence of impropriety, Ravenscroft's relationship with Sun Valley “is hindering his transition to financial independence.”
Hegyi also voided attorney Grant Goodman's contract with Ravenscroft, presumably invalidating his racketeering lawsuit against Sun Valley and Ravenscroft's other former probate protectors. Goodman filed a series of lawsuits earlier this spring on behalf of Ravenscroft and several other wards of the court, accusing various lawyers and fiduciaries of working together to squeeze their vulnerable clients while probate judges looked on and did, well, nothing.
Hegyi ruled that Goodman had no authority to file a lawsuit on behalf of Ravenscroft because he's “incapacitated”. The power to sue, he said, rests only with the judge or the conservator.
Which was Sun Valley, until this week.
Full Article and Source:
Millionnaire Wins Some Say in Who Controls His Money
See Also:
Progress in the Edward Abbot Ravenscroft Case
Non-Lawyers Added to Arizona Probate Panel
The judge overseeing a judicial task force to assess Probate Court procedures and oversight says it was a mistake not to include members of the public whose lives have been impacted by the system.
Chief Arizona Appeals Court Judge Ann Timmer said that she will recommend adding two people with firsthand experiences of the court's assuming control of a relative's care and finances.
"It is a missing link," Timmer said at the end of the task force's first meeting. "It also struck me that we do not have . . . a public member. We need to have them."
Her comments came as a small group of self-described Probate Court victims protested outside the Arizona Supreme Court building. They said the task force is made up of a "chummy" circle of 19 judges, lawyers, fiduciaries and state administrators with no stake in reforms.
"Nobody was angry in there. Nobody was offended in there. Nobody has a personal issue in there," said Patti Gomes, a Scottsdale resident who contends that her mother's estate was drained in less than seven months by court-appointed fiduciaries and lawyers. "I am enraged at what is going on in the Probate Court."
Full Article and Source:
Judge: Add 2 Laymen to Probate Panel
Chief Arizona Appeals Court Judge Ann Timmer said that she will recommend adding two people with firsthand experiences of the court's assuming control of a relative's care and finances.
"It is a missing link," Timmer said at the end of the task force's first meeting. "It also struck me that we do not have . . . a public member. We need to have them."
Her comments came as a small group of self-described Probate Court victims protested outside the Arizona Supreme Court building. They said the task force is made up of a "chummy" circle of 19 judges, lawyers, fiduciaries and state administrators with no stake in reforms.
"Nobody was angry in there. Nobody was offended in there. Nobody has a personal issue in there," said Patti Gomes, a Scottsdale resident who contends that her mother's estate was drained in less than seven months by court-appointed fiduciaries and lawyers. "I am enraged at what is going on in the Probate Court."
Full Article and Source:
Judge: Add 2 Laymen to Probate Panel
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