Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Jason Hanson Goes To Court

Federal Court Judge Rules In Favor Of Guardianship Abuse Victim

Overrules defendants 15 times, and remands case back to state court for an expedited trial



"You could feel the oxygen leave the room the moment Hanson rolled into court to take his place at the plaintiff's table."


Inside Vegas by Steve Miller
AmericanMafia.com
September 18, 2017


LAS VEGAS - On Friday morning, September 15, 2017, Jason Hanson made his first court appearance in an emotion charged exploitation lawsuit involving prominent Las Vegas attorneys, a disgraced private guardian, a defrocked judge, and the Clark County Public Administrator, all of whom are accused of conspiring to steal Hanson's inheritance and estate with the full cooperation of several Family Court judges.

Because of the logistics involved in transporting the 27 year old cerebral palsy victim to the Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse in downtown Las Vegas, Hanson arrived at his hearing fifteen minutes late.  When Hanson arrived in court, you could hear a pin drop while two court bailiffs helped him make his way to his lawyer's side. When United States Federal Court Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey resumed hearing the arguments of the five attorneys representing defendants Francis Fine, Elyse Tyrell, Dara Goldsmith, Jared Shafer, and John Cahill, all eyes were focused on Hanson instead of paying attention to the jurist's pleas to keep the case in Federal Court, and dismiss all claims against each of their clients.

Hanson arrived several minutes after his attorney Jacob Hafter had finished his opening statement telling the court why he believed his client would be better served in state court.  Hafter explained that he originally filed the case in the lower court because matters move at a much faster pace there, and that juries need only to reach a majority decision in state court rather than being required to reach a unanimous verdict in the federal court system.

With his client now by his side, Hafter successfully argued that one of the defendants, Clark County Public Administrator John Cahill, purposefully filed a motion to move the case from state to federal court jurisdiction for the sole purpose of stalling the case to give advantages to the defense, and that his client Hanson seeks swifter justice based on his physical condition.

Defendant's attorneys Robert Hernquist, Thomas Dillard, Jason Smith, Terry Brian, and Steven Parsons each argued unsuccessfully to have the case remain in federal court, and that Hanson's initial complaint filed in July 2017 was time barred because he became of legal age in 2007, and should have filed his lawsuit then.

Hafter told the court that in 2007, Hanson twice asked Family Court Hearing Master Jon Norheim to appoint him an attorney, and was refused.  Hafter explained that Norheim twice told Hanson to file his request for an attorney in writing, but Hanson's physical limitations prohibited him from doing so. Hafter also told the court that Hanson was not aware his inheritance was being stolen until 2016 when he confronted Elyse Tyrell, one of his court appointed trustees, at a Nevada Supreme Court Guardianship Commission hearing, only then learning she had been holding a check for him for over nine years without his knowledge.  Attorney Hafter plead that the statute of limitations began running in 2016 when Hanson first learned of the fraud, not 2007 when Hanson turned 18 and had no idea he was being robbed.

Several days after the 2016 Guardianship Commission hearing where Hanson appeared on local TV news demanding to know what happened to his inheritance,  a mysterious check for $5,530.74 was delivered to Hanson's group home.  Tyrell told reporters that it represented the entire remaining proceeds from the sale of Hanson's late father's ADA equipped condominium in a Las Vegas gated community that Jared Shafer sold for only $47,000.  Tyrell tried to explain that over $40,000 was used to pay "fees" generated by Shafer and his attorneys to facilitate the condo's sale.

Prior to what was called a "fire sale," Clark County Public Administrator John Cahill appraised the
1,200 square foot unit for $170,000 and charged his fee accordingly, then Cahill obediently transferred the title to his colleague Jared Shafer who purportedly sold the unit for much less, hence Cahill's inclusion in Hanson's lawsuit.  Prior to Cahill's election, Shafer held the same Public Administrator position, and helped Cahill win election to succeed him.  Shafer owns Signs of Nevada, the outdoor advertising company used by most Nevada politicians - including family court judges - and is the man to see for inexpensive political signs around election time. 

Jared Shafer has been referred to as the "Mastermind" in other guardianship fraud cases based on his ability to help certain politicians and judges get elected and re-elected, the same judges who have consistently appointed him legal guardian over wealthy wards of the court.

In court, Jacob Hafter told the judge, "Since I became Mr. Hanson's attorney, I get calls all the time from other guardianship victims seeking my help. They say they were all abused or exploited by the same group of players and judges," as he peered at the cadre of five discouraged looking defense lawyers sitting to his left with two of their clients, Francis Fine and Dara Goldsmith (Tyrell, Shafer, and Cahill were not present).  Hafter then said he will only represent Jason Hanson, and his client could easily win a unanimous verdict today if he were called as a witness and personally allowed to tell his story to any jury.


Attorney Jacob Hafter

..
.
          Defendants: Francis Fine, Dara Goldsmith, Elyse Tyrell, Jared Shafer, John Cahill
                     (Click on image of Jared Shafer to view KTNV TV News video)


                         Click on image to view KTNV News video

Hearing all she needed to hear, Judge Dorsey ruled in favor of Hanson thereby fulfilling his request to remand his case back to state court and not honor the defendant's motions to dismiss their clients, or time bar the case.

After the hearing, a court observer told Inside Vegas, "Mr. Hanson attending the hearing made all the difference in the world.
You could feel the oxygen leave the room the moment Hanson rolled into court to take his place at the plaintiff's table."

FULL LAWSUIT:
http://www.stevemiller4lasvegas.com/JasonsAmendedComplaintWithCorrectNRS1.pdf

MORE INFORMATION:
http://www.americanmafia.com/Inside_Vegas/7-24-17_Inside_Vegas.html
http://www.americanmafia.com/Inside_Vegas/2-1-16_Inside_Vegas.html
 

Full Article & Source:
Jason Hanson Goes To Court

See Also:
Steve Miller: Jason Hanson's Case May Have Been Compromised

Steve Miller: Jason Hanson Sues Jared Shafer And Others For Civil Racketeering, Fraud, And Embezzlement

4 comments:

Nancy said...

Yea Jason! I'm so happy for you!

Anonymous said...

This is great news for Jason and he deserves it. He's been royally screwed.

Carolyn Anderson said...

I agree Anon. Jason has been taken advantage of and all but forgotten by those who are supposed to be investigating guardianship abuse in Nevada.

Betty said...

KARMA!