Former AZ Attorney Grant Goodman Loses Case

Goodman, a Phoenix (now suspended) attorney who had his 15 minutes of fame a few years ago as an alleged champion of local folks being abused by their legal guardians/conservators and by the Maricopa County Probate Court, has lost yet another case--his own.​

In a memorandum decision filed January 25 by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, a panel shot down Goodman's appeal of serious sanctions imposed against him by federal judge Mary Murguia, who is based in Phoenix.

Last summer, the Arizona Supreme Court suspended Goodman from the practice of law for up to five years following a finding that he habitually exploited vulnerable Probate Court clients.

William O'Neil, the presiding disciplinary judge for the Arizona State Bar, wrote that Goodman's actions would be potentially harmful to the public and the legal profession if he had been allowed to continue practicing law.

"A growing number of probate court observers worry,' [Sara Fenske at the LA Weekly] wrote, "that Grant Goodman is less a white knight than a shark who smells blood in the water -- and that he intends to use Maricopa County's most vulnerable for both good publicity and a fat payday."

Earlier, the Phoenix barrister had been trumpeted as a shining star in a series of Arizona Republic stories about troubles in the county's Probate Court.

In truth, Goodman quickly became known (and reviled) for filing endless court papers against judges, court-appointed guardians and lawyers under the guise of protecting Probate Court clients, then try and rake in the legal fees.

Without taking oral argument, the appellate court last week said that Judge Murguia had not abused her discretion by issuing the sanctions against Goodman.

Goodman's remaining contentions, including those related to the district court's alleged bias in imposing sanctions, are unpersuasive. Goodman's motion, in which he appears to ask this court to dismiss the state disciplinary proceedings against him or to void his suspension from practice by the State Bar, is denied."

Full Article and Source:
Grant Goodman, Disgraced Local Attorney, Shot Down By Appellate Court

See Also:
Attorney Grant Goodman Suspended

Pennsylvania Proposal Seeks Cap On Punitive Damages In Nursing Home Claims

What do you think about a Governor and legislator supporting a law which places an arbitrary cap on punitive damages if you, or a loved one, are the victim of negligence in a nursing, long-term care, assisted living, and personal care facility? This even includes unlawful conduct! This is precisely what the Governor and many legislators in Pennsylvania are proposing and supporting.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a measure, last week, which will cap the punitive damages awarded in nursing home abuse lawsuits. House Bill 1907 (HB 1907) now goes to the Pennsylvania Senate where the Senate should be urged not to even consider this unconstitutional, unnecessary, and hurtful measure.

Specifically, the legislation caps punitive damages at 200 percent of compensatory damages awarded in medical negligence lawsuits that name nursing, long-term care, assisted living, and personal care facilities as defendants, even for unlawful conduct. The only exceptions are when a defendant intentionally or knowingly acted negligently.

The sole reason for passing the law is to bolster a nursing home’s profits at the expense of safety. Even more insulting to the elderly and victims is the fact that Pennsylvania’s Governor Corbett is endorsing this measure.

Don’t you agree that this Bill should not see the light of day?

Scott B. Cooper
Schmidt Kramer PC
209 State Street
Harrisburg, PA 17101

Source:
Pennsylvania Proposal Seeks Cap On Punitive Damages In Nursing Home Claims

District Attorney: Jeffrey Schend Could Face New Charges

Outagamie County Dist. Atty. Carrie Schneider may file additional charges against Jeffrey M. Schend, a former Appleton guardian accused of stealing about $500,000 from elderly and disabled clients he was appointed to serve.

Meanwhile, an exhaustive investigation continues into every financial transactions Schend made while acting as a corporate guardian.

Schneider declined comment on any new findings in the case or the nature of new charges she's considering.

Outagamie County Judge Gregory Gill Jr. this past week canceled a weeklong jury trial that was scheduled to begin in March. It is the third time Schend's trial has been delayed. Schend will return to court March 12 for a status conference.

Full Article and Source:
Outagamie County District Attorney Carrie Schneider: Former Guardian Could Face New Charges

Hunderdon County Caretakers Sentenced to 3 Years

The owner of a state-licensed home for disabled adults in Bloomsbury and a former government caseworker were sentenced [Feb 3rd] to three years in state prison in connection with the neglect of three women who had been under their care, including two who later died.

The owner, Debra Sloan, 57, and the former caseworker from the state Department of Human Services, Bridget Grimes, 55, of Phillipsburg, pleaded guilty last year to neglect of a disabled person and theft, the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office said.

Grimes also pleaded guilty to official misconduct.

It was the first time in recent history that a department caseworker was held criminally liable for failing to provide proper care, the department said.

From 2002 to 2008, Sloan and Grimes were responsible for the care of the three women — Tara O’Leary, Erin Germaine and Lydia Joy Perry — who court records show suffered from serious neglect.

Full Article and Source:
Hunterdon County Caretakers Sentenced to 3 Years in State Prison After 2 Women Died From Neglect

Virginia Could See Elderly Exploitation Laws This Year

For more than two years, state Sen. Mark Herring (D-33rd) has lobbied for legislation aimed at criminalizing the exploitation of elderly or maimed citizens, only to have his proposal fail in the Senate Finance Committee.

But with his legislation, Senate Bill 222, gaining support from both parties this year, the senator says 2012 may be the year the “fastest-growing crime” in Virginia becomes more-recognizably illegal.

“When I began working on this legislation in 2009, we found that Virginia’s laws were among the weakest in the nation at protecting older Virginians from financial abuse,” Herring said in an emailed statement.

While the price tag associated with Herring’s proposal was a relatively slight $50,000 – for criminal bedding, enforcement measures – SB 222 in past years has failed because a lack of funding.

In his 2012 budget proposal, however, Gov. Robert McDonnell incorporated the cost for cracking down on elderly abuse.

The bill was discussed Jan. 23 by the Courts of Justice Committee, where Chairman Sen. Thomas Norment Jr. (R-3rd) recommended Herring’s bill and two other similar proposals be consolidated into one piece of legislation. One of the other proposal’s, Senate Bill 443, was filed by Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel (R-27th).

Full Article and Source:
Virginia Could See Elderly Exploitation Laws This Year

Editorial: Assisted Suicide Needs Careful Consideration

As members of the Senate Judiciary Committee prepare to study the “doctor-prescribed death” bill, they would do well to critically evaluate whether the state has the ability to protect terminally ill Vermonters from manipulation, exploitation and coercion under an act promoted in the name of compassion.

One specific, timely and highly relevant illustration of a major regulatory failure can be found in connection with the state’s duty to protect vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation. In early December, a disabilities rights group filed a suit against the state of Vermont because of its failure to protect disabled and elderly and otherwise vulnerable citizens of this state. This is not a trivial problem. The backlog has been running in the order of 300 cases yet to be investigated. The abuse and exploitation alleged ranges from financial manipulation and exploitation to physical and even sexual abuse. And sadly, much of that neglect and abuse is done by the very family members and those others charged with the care of the vulnerable adults.

It is blatantly absurd to suggest that the state of Vermont is competent to effectively manage a program that oversees doctor-prescribed death when it cannot even investigate and clear a backlog of 300 reported cases of abuse of the disabled and elderly, let alone prevent the abuse in the first place.

Assisted suicide is laden with the potential for manipulation and exploitation of the worst kind — i.e., exploitation and manipulation with fatal consequences.

~Pete Gummere
St. Johnsbury

Source:
Assisted Suicide Needs Careful Consideration

Intimacy a Concern for ALF's

Ernie and Madelyn got married on Valentine's Day. She was 86, he 88. The two, both widowed, had been good friends for many years. Family members and church friends were tickled to see their love blossom.

Bob and Barbara surprised their family by announcing they would be married soon at the church they attend. Both also are widowed and had found love through their church connection.

Louis and Vera, both living in an assisted-living facility, found comfort and companionship when they started eating meals together. Now they share laughter -- and intimate moments.

Sometimes families are supportive, other times upset when mom or dad finds love or intimacy after one spouse dies.

But when that parent has dementia and lives in a memory care facility, it can be unsettling. If a mother hardly recognizes her own children, how can she consent to intimacy?

A recent occurrence at Heritage Place Community Assisted Living Facility and Memory Care Center in Bandon prompted a flurry of phone calls, meetings and even an appointment with an attorney. A staff member walked in on an 86-year-old woman and man, both memory care residents with differing levels of dementia, while they were having sex. When the employee tried to redirect the behavior, she was told by the couple that they were doing what they wanted to do and to leave them alone.

State law mandates that it must be determined whether the intimacy was consensual. Did one of the people involved feel fearful or threatened? Did they know what was going on? Though one of the partners in a relationship may have a higher level of cognition than the other, that doesn't necessarily mean the sex was coerced, Lubke said.

Full Article and Source:
Assisted Living Sex Stire Worry

Three Charged in Seperate Financial Exploitation Cases

A Madison County grand jury has indicted three people in connection with separate financial exploitation cases involving elderly victims.

Collinsville residents Romayne Y. Pike, 80, and her daughter, Diane M. Moore, 53, both were charged in the indictment handed down Thursday with two counts of financial exploitation of an elderly person, a Class 1 felony.

The victim, a 91-year-old female, is a resident at the Fountains II Assisted Living Facility in Troy. The defendants, her cousins, have had power of attorney since 2005. During that time, police allege that they stole $462,686 belonging to the victim. Police were contacted last October after an employee at the Fountains noticed financial discrepancies. Investigators believe that the money was spent on various items, including bills, vehicles and property.

In the second case, the Illinois State Police were contacted last October by employees of the Alhambra Care Center, in Alhambra, after they became suspicious over unpaid bills. The alleged victim in this case, a 64-year-old female, had given her power of attorney to Marjorie L. Phelps, 63, of Marine, in 2003. Phelps had asked the victim to move in with her and her family following the death of the victim's husband in 2003.

Investigators said they believe that Phelps was having financial problems when she started stealing the alleged victim's money. It is estimated that $290,148 has been stolen from the nursing home resident.

Phelps was charged with two counts of unlawful financial exploitation of a disabled person, two counts of theft over $100,000 and two counts of unlawful financial exploitation of an elderly person, all Class 1 felonies.

FullArticle and Source:
Three Indicted on Elderly Exploitation Charges

Florida Senate Bill Cracks Down on Assisted Living Elder Abuse

Assisted living laws in Florida could go from one side of the spectrum to the other in the wake of the Miami Herald’s series on elder abuse that occurred in many state facilities, with little or no ramifications.

Now, Florida lawmakers are looking to shift the state’s caretaker oversight from negligent to possibly the toughest in the nation, according to a Miami Herald article, recently passing committee bills 7176 and 7174.

With rampant abuse across the state, key lawmakers are calling for homes to be shut down when residents die from shoddy care, and caretakers banned from the industry, in the biggest changes in state law since the creation of ALFs a generation ago.

Unveiled this week by two Senate committees, the dual bills follow months of reports by The Miami Herald that showed frail elders were living in squalor and dangerous conditions while regulators failed to crack down on the worst abusers.

“[The state] wasn’t doing its job,” said Sen. Nan Rich, a Weston Democrat and vice chair of the Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee. “They were not enforcing the regulations, and not closing down facilities that didn’t correct the violations and abuse.”

The proposal includes comprehensive legislation that seeks to improve oversight such as mandatory penalties in fatal neglect cases and a public ratings system derived from a facility’s regulatory history, the article reports.

Additionally, the regulatory reform bills take some power away from Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration, which in the course of the investigation has faced scrutiny for failure to shut down or adequately penalize troubled facilities.

Full Article and Source:
Florida Senate Bills Crack Down on Assisted Living Elder Abuse

NJ Lawyer Charged With Money Laundering

An attorney from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, accused of stealing over $1 million from a client, has been indicted this week in connection with another theft. The attorney, Michael Kwasnik, diverted close to $325,000 from a couple in Williamstown who settled a personal injury lawsuit using his former firm last year. Kwasnik was previously charged with looting the account of a 96-year-old client from Cherry Hill on November 7.

“We are continuing to investigate him,” Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa said.

After the first indictment was announced, Kwasnik decided to flee the area. He was arrestred only two days later in Alabama at a bus station. Kwasnik is being held on bail well over $1 million at the Camden County jail. After the announcement of the second indictment his bail was raised by $250,000.

Aside from the criminal charges, in November, the state filed a civil suit against Kwasnik, his father, and many others for defrauding close to 73 investors of over $8.5 million by selling unregistered securities.

“The allegations in our criminal and civil actions reveal a disturbing pattern in which Kwasnik has repeatedly violated the trust placed in him as an attorney and has ruthlessly taken advantage of elderly investors and clients,” said Chiesa.

Full Article and Source:
New Jersey Lawyer Charged With Money Laundering

See Also:
NJ Lawyer Indicted for $1m Theft From Client Arrested on the Lam

Hearing Postponed in Parks Case

Wayne County Probate Judge Freddie Burton Jr. has postponed a court hearing set for today [1/25/12] at which he was to decide whether to return the estate of civil rights icon Rosa Parks to the people she picked for the task.

Burton said that he is awaiting instructions from the Michigan Supreme Court.

The high court ordered Burton on Dec. 29 to put Elaine Steele, Parks' longtime assistant and caregiver, and Adam Shakoor, a retired 36th District Court judge, back in charge of the estate. They would replace attorneys John Chase Jr. and Melvin Jefferson Jr., whom Burton put in charge after Parks' nieces and nephews contested their aunt's will.

Burton told the Supreme Court last week that Steele is unfit for the job. Her lawyer, Steven Cohen, disputed that and urged the Supreme Court on Monday to remove Burton from the case.

Source:
Hearing Postponed in Parks Case

See Also:
Rosa Parks Estate Battle Ruled

MD Lawmakers Consider Increasing Penalties for Elder Abuse

The beating of an elderly man by his paid in-home caretaker is under consideration in Annapolis. Advocates for the elderly want lawmakers to impose increased penalties on people guilty of abusing vulnerable adults.

It’s hard to imagine and harder to watch. Ninety-year-old John Taylor, bedridden, was beaten by a woman hired to care for him in his home.

“I discovered that my father had endured three more beatings within that same month,” said Jacqueline Taylor.

Taylor played the tape of her father’s beating for the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday in support of a bill to increase the penalties for elder abuse and hold some suspects without bail. The woman charged with assaulting John Taylor made bail and is believed to have fled the country.

“It brings tears to your eyes,” said Taylor.

Full Article and Source:
MD Lawmakers Consider Increasing Penalties for Elder Abuse

Rick Green: Probate Court Mess Continues

Sam Manzo, the Southington caretaker on the old Smoron farm, is still without his inheritance and still living in probate hell.

I stopped by to talk with Manzo on Tuesday because it's been two years since I first heard about the elaborate scheme that sought to disinherit Manzo and take the broken down old Smoron farm from him.

The place remains a wreck -- a ramshackle collection of old machines, broken equipment, wandering cows and other debris – just off the Queen Street exit off busy I-84. With the massive old dairy barn and crumbling farmhouse, the farm is a beautiful, anachronistic mess. Amid the neighboring big box stores, it is a living link to what once was.

Josephine Smoron and her siblings lived here, Polish farmers with an independent streak, for decades. In her old age, Smoron brought Manzo in to help on the farm, where the herd of cows lived like friendly pets. The cows are still there and so is Manzo, with his billowing Z.Z. Top-style beard and dreams of creating a living farm museum – right beside a B.J.'s warehouse store.

Smoron died in 2010 left the farm to Manzo in her will. A probate judge and Smoron's court-appointed conservator didn't see it that way. A deal that would have quietly passed the farm to local churches and then to a prominent Southington developer almost went through, until Manzo cried foul.

The whole mess is now before Superior Court in Hartford, where a judge is attempting to sort out what one lawyer told me was "a circular firing squad" of competing interests. At the front is the local developer, Carl Verderame, who still wants the property. His lawyer declined to comment.

If you've got a heart, a love for the past – or a belief that legal contracts and private property rights matter – Sam is your hero. How he looks, or if his property is a mess, is irrelevant.

An eccentric old woman gave her farm to her eccentric caretaker in return for his years of work. We ought to respect at least that.

Full Article and Source:
Probate Court Mess Continues

See Also:
Rogue Lawyer Makes Smoron Probate Mess Even Messier

CT: New Four-Town Probate Court Works Well in First Year

“It’s hard to believe it’s been a year already,” said Northern Fairfield County Probate Judge Joseph Egan. “It goes by fast.”

The Northern Fairfield County Probate District combines what were formerly single-town probate courts of Ridgefield, Redding, Bethel and Newtown. Its creation was part of state-mandated cost-cutting consolidation of Connecticut probate districts.

Mr. Egan, Ridgefield’s longtime probate judge, won a Republican primary and district election in November 2010. The court opened in January 2011.

“It’s almost exactly a year. It’s actually working out pretty well,” Judge Egan said.

“We actually opened up 533 new matters last year,” he said. “We probably have about 1,500 open files.”

Full Article and Source:
New Four-Town Probate Court Works Well in First Year

Staten Island Man on Trial for Bilking Elderly Out of $12 Mil

A Staten Island-based financial advisor who bilked elderly people and his friends out of $12 million is on trial in Federal District Court in Brooklyn for wire fraud and other charges.

Joseph Mazella, who was supposedly investing people's money in real estate projects, even told one 82-year-old widow he would treat her like his mother, but he lost all of the $69,000 her husband had left her, says the U.S. Attorney's office.

Many of the victims are testifying at the trial, says Robert Nardoza, spokesman for U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch.

Mazella operated a Ponzi scheme through Great Atlantic Group and affiliated companies based on Staten Island. He used some of the money to pay off new investors but used some to pay a mortgage, buy a Porsche and pay other family and personal expenses, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

He supposedly was investing people's money from 2007 through 2010 in real estate projects in Trenton, N.J, a warehouse in Utica, N.Y., and a golf course development project. He promised them high returns without the risk of the stock market.

Full Article and Source:
Staten Island Man on Trial for Bilking Elderly

Santa Monica Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud

A Santa Monica attorney specializing in estate planning pleaded guilty this week to filing false tax returns in an attempt to evade paying over $1 million in taxes, federal authorities said.

Robert M.L. Baker III, 46, entered into a plea agreement Tuesday in U.S. District Court, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

He admitted that he, along with others, devised a scheme to misappropriate client fees and settlements to evade payment of tax. In the plea agreement, Baker said he utilized shell entities and trusts to hide over $900,000 in client fees and assets from the IRS, including a house located in Westwood.

Baker altered his banking practices to disguise his actions, according to the plea agreement. He used nominee bank accounts, converted client fees into cashier's checks to pay personal expenses, altered and cashed checks, and directed clients and other law firms handling clients to mail and wire funds to nominee bank accounts.

Full Article and Source:
Santa Monica Attorney Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud