What happened to freedom?

The Manire Case:

I have known my in-laws over 26 years. My mother-in-law (Doris) has always bruised easily and she was getting more accident prone due to Alzheimer so she was bumping into things more than normal.

Adult Protective Services came and removed her forcefully from the home and put her in the hospital for a week in Nov. 2004, for observations. During her hospital stay while in their care she fell and had stitches in her knee. Before they took her she was walking and talking. After they took her we are not sure if it was medication or if the shock of how they took her kicking and screaming, that broke her spirit and left her in a vegetated state or what, but after taking her she stopped talking and walking, and stopped feeding herself. At this time J.P. was calling all over to try to find out were Doris was, and how she was. No one would tell him anything. His blood pressure went up causing him to have mini-strokes, and confusion. In November 2004, J.P. went and talked to an attorney and told him that he wanted to sign everything over to their son and that he was checking himself into a nursing home for a 30 day trial to see if he wanted to live there or at home. The attorney said to go and stay in the nursing home and see if that is what he wants and to think about signing everything over (even power of attorney) and let him know after the 30 days. This attorney has been mentioned in a newspaper article along with the judge and other people holding up a case for 8 years.

Dec. 27, 2004: J.P. and I sat down and talked about us (his son, our children and myself) moving into the house with him and living there instead of our trailer that is still on his land so that we could help with cooking, cleaning, any shopping and driving him were ever he needed to go, and taking him to see Doris. I said that I would be more than happy to help. We have lived on their land for 26 years doing any and all maintenance to the yard, house, cars; things like mowing, laying carpet, painting, washing cars, changing oil and breaks, plumbing, electrical……. anything that needed doing we did and in return we had a home and family that we could count on, who loved each other and helped were needed. Isn't that what family is all about? Not according to these people.

On J.P.’s last day of his 30 days nursing home stay he called and said he wanted to come home. By the time my mom got there to pick him up the court appointed people and nursing home staff and Adult Protective Services were there and told my mom that a guardian had to be appointed. This was the end of Dec. 2004. They said that we had to choose an attorney and to call the county clerk and get a list. We called and were told that we had to choose from a list of 6 attorneys, one that the judge approves of, and that if we go outside of this list that that whoever we choose the judge has to approve and he normally does not.

Jan.11, 2005: About 8 Denton County sheriff deputies and 4 Denton County detectives and all the court appointed people came to the home guns drawn and told us that we were trespassing and forced us to sign a trespassing warning. My 12 and 17 year old were told that if they did not sign that they would go to jail. The 12 year old has learning disabilities and did not understand what or why she would go to jail for not signing. She told them that her granddad asked us to live in the house and stay with him. They stated that the judge said that each one of us had to sign or to take whoever did not to jail and that meant her too.

Mid Jan. 2005: We hired an attorney to help me get guardianship of my in-laws and their estate. The attorney just happened to be the one J.P. went to in Nov. 2004. He was on the list of six. He never told the judge in court that my father-in-law had talked to him, he did not argue when the other side said in court “that is hearsay” to our witnesses.

They lied and said that we were forcing J.P. to give us money and that I force him to give me $200,000.00 in check. This is a lie because he has never written me a check and I told them to try and find a check to me for $0.02 (two cents) because in 26 years they have never written me a check and they would not find one at all. I told them to show me and the court the check, they did not even acknowledge that I wanted to see proof of their allegations.

They forced us to stop going to see my in-laws by saying that we were upsetting them and asking questions. I called and told the guardian of the person (judge’s ex-wife), that J.P. was asking me: 1. who is paying the bills? 2. Are the bills being paid ?, I have to make sure mama’s bills are being paid. 3. What do I have to do to get out of this “rat hole”? He asked us the same things over and over every time we visited and that is why I called the guardian. We knew the answers to his questions, but felt that they should answer so that we were not stepping on toes. They said that he was incapacitated and could not care for himself. If this was the case why and how did he have the memory and the sense to worry about these things and more?

I have found out that there have been articles written about this judge and his longtime friends and his personal attorneys and C.P.A. I have also found out that he was married to the lady who was head of Denton County Guardianship Services. These same people listed in all the articles, including the attorney that my father-in-law saw in Nov.2004 and that we hired off the list of 6. They are all on our case where they have all pocketed over $200,000.00 of my in-laws cash and now to put even more in their pockets they are selling the home and land, and are going to put them on Medicaid so the state can pay for them.

As I said, my family has always lived together. They did not want my husband to work outside the home so that he would be there for them. The courts lied and said that we were stealing from them so they could take all my in-laws money and put well over half in their pockets and put little towards their care and that of the family home. I have an expenditure sheet showing he had annuities, pensions, mineral rights and IRAs. The last month only shows their Social Security income. What happened to the rest of the income? They had enough to pay all medical, and household bills for a long time had this court and its friends not raped and robbed them of their life-long work.

I also have a paper showing that the judge and the court appointed guardian of the person were married. The judge is Denton County Probate Judge Don Windle.

McClure was the guardian of my in-laws---- the judge's ex-wife. Roy Anderson is the guardian of my father-in-laws part of the estate---- the judge's personal C.P.A. The judge's personal attorney is paid from the estate to represent Anderson-----same who handled McClure and the judge's divorce. Duane Coker was court appointed temporary guardian of my father-in-law. There are more involved, but all of these are mentioned in the articles and it is strange they have been involved in the injustice and nightmare our family has been going through. My mother-in-law passed away on May 2nd, the day after my father-in-laws birthday.

The judge has now recused himself from our case. However the judge sitting in is just as corrupt as Windle and the rest. McClure's company has been closed down since Jan. or Feb. of 2007. The county refused to sign a new contract with her.

What happened to civil rights? What happened to being able to give to your family what you have worked hard for? What happened to live and let live? What happened to freedom?

See also: Denton County Judge and Guardian