Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Judge in Disney Case Orders Arrest of Lawyer at Hearing

A Maricopa Superior Court judge ordered the arrest of one lawyer and promised to impose sanctions on others during a hearing on a case involving Walt Disney's grandchildren.

Judge Gary Donahoe told sheriff's deputies to put Tempe lawyer Joel Sannes in handcuffs and threatened to jail him indefinitely last week after he refused to answer questions about a subpoena issued to a court-appointed physician.

The subpoena asked the doctor to produce records and her findings for every case she has handled for the court over the past five years.

Donahoe had ordered Sannes, three of his clients and any other lawyer involved in the subpoena to appear in court Thursday, adding that failure to show up would result in “a warrant for the arrest of counsel and their clients.”

In his order, Donahoe described the subpoena as “overly broad, oppressive and done for the purposes of harassment.” He also said it resulted in the doctor's withdrawal from the case, which he reluctantly accepted.

The doctor had been appointed to assess the mental state of Bradford Lund, 40, one of the grandchildren of entertainment legend Walt Disney. Lund, who is developmentally disabled and beneficiary of a trust worth hundreds of millions of dollars, is at the center of a vicious family feud.

Relatives, including his twin sister Michelle, have petitioned the court to appoint an independent guardian for Brad, saying they believe he is being financially exploited by his father, his stepmother and her children.

But his father, Valley real estate developer Bill Lund, denies those claims. He and his wife, Sherry, have vowed to fight the petition, which they say is motivated by greed. They say the court has wrongly intruded into their lives and Brad's.

Full Article and Source:
Judge In Disney Case Orders Arrest of Lawyer at Hearing

See Also:
Grandchildren of Walt Disney, Father, Battle for Control

15 comments:

Thelma said...

The doctor is part of the Guardian Grabbing Game!

sosorrymom said...

Yes, 'they' are; but in Oregon it is even more profuse.

Anonymous said...

Very sad that the Federal Government is letting this happen across the country.

So when is Washington going to have hearings?

Sherry Lund said...

The judge has now issued sanctions on our attorneys! They have done nothing wrong and have fought for our rights so strongly that we are now being punished. This is unbelievable! We asked for documents from an 'expert' witness that we are legally entitled to ask for under the 'subpoena' rule. The judge is just mad at us for now exposing the fact that Dr. Pamela Willson has been the 'court appointed expert witness' in over 700 cases in the past 5 years and find the majority of the clients 'incompetent'. She makes her living off the victims of the Probate court! She sees over 3 clients per week! If she charges the normal fee which runs from $5,000 up per patient, she has made from $3,500,000 to 7,000,000 in the last 5 years! She is the courts 'sweetheart' and gets most of the cases. Does this sound right to you?
Not to mention what happens to the clients she finds 'incompetent' and their estates are turned over to the corporate fiduciaries and attorney's and drained. This is horrible!On top of this, there is absolutely NO accountability to any of them from the judge down.
We have the right to due process of law but this judge is denying us that due process and sanctioning our attorney's for following the law! This is what our courts are turning into...dictatorships where your rights, the Constitution, Civil Rights and due process mean nothing.
Don't stand by and let this happen to our country, let your legislators, senators and the Judicial Review Committee know we will not allow this to continue.
When our family is fighting for our rights, we are fighting for yours as well.
We need to stand united and fight for total reform of our court system and see that there is accountability for judges, fiduciaries and attorneys who commit crimes against the people who pay their salaries.
May justice prevail for all,
Sherry Lund

Sue said...

I agree Themlma, people need to realize that NO ONE in the guardianship racket is to be trusted.

Case after case, sets a pattern that is impossible to ignore.

The judge is wrong, I say: show me the cases!!!

Taylor said...

This case is another tragedy. I believe the daughter is being misled right into the lion's den.

Martha said...

I hope the Lunds have sent a copy of the video tape of the hearing to the judicial discipline committee.

Donna said...

Sherry, what you are describing is usually the case, sadly. It's a cozy system with the good old boys all playing a part, including the judge, the lawyers, the doctors, etc.

Many of these doctors are "experts" at numerous hearings.

I applaud your lawyers for standing up!

Anonymous said...

You called it right, Thelma. Look at what Sherry described about this doctor Pamela Wilson.

Larry said...

I will pray for you, Sherry, and for your family.

Misty said...

I am afraid the vultures smell the money, Sherry, and will stop at nothing to get it. Tell Brad to stay strong. We are pulling for him. And for you and your husband.

Jenny said...

Where does the sanctions money go to? The court?

This is an outrage!

Wondering said...

I hope the video of this event also makes it to the media!

Sherry Lund said...

TAfter Judge Meyers removed Judge Donahoe from our case, he has personally stepped into the role of distruction and abuse and taken over our case. Over two weeks after he removed Judge Donahoe and put himself in as our judge, he issued a 'Minute Entry' affirming all of the violations against us by Judge Donahoe! He also repremanded our attorney Sandra Slaton for her 'behavior' in court. She was distaught and passionate when she spoke about what Donahoe had done by arresting our attorney! She also put on the record every violation she could think of at that very immotional moment...thank God she did. She acted like a human being with morals and ethics!! Something Meyers has lost touch with.
These judges stick together, lie for each other and protect each other at all costs. The laws, rights of the people and their Oathe are all forgotten.
What they need to remember is that they are paid by 'the people', by our taxes. They should be elected officials, not appointed by their co-conspirators.
Awareness and outrage by the public will create change.
Call your State Representatives and State Senators and demand Probate reform.
I think our Bill here in AZ is a good start.
Thank you all for your support and our family sends you our prayers and support as well. This should NEVER happen to anyone.
We will fight for change, accountability and transparency!
God Bless, May truth and justice prevail!
Sherry Lund

jerri said...

the ring of colluders is huge just read what is presented here in nasga blog and nasga website but there is so much more being discovered with legs into many areas that have been hidden but what they never considered is that we are mad as hell we have united and are we are uniting more and more every hour of every day with a national team we have the proof of the collusion the fraudulent petitions for guardianship and oh so much more God Bless the Lund family i am so sorry that your family was dragged into this national shameful disgrace of criminal activities condoned under color of law and keep in mind the legislators in washington dc are aware of this and yet they sit on their campaign war chests and do absolutely nothing what they knew when they knew it and what if anything they did about it there are many reasons the suspect judges are going along with this injustice we need feds to audit and review case files long overdue