Pauper v. Probate: Tennessee on Trial

 

IN THE FIRST CIVIL COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION

 

Pauper Case No. : PD2

v. 

                                                                          

Probate Court Filed: September 25, 2012

(The Biggest Business in the World)

JUDGE “WE, THE PEOPLE…”, PRESIDING

________________________________________________

Federal Lawsuit

 

So far, this federal lawsuit filed in the US District Court of Kentucky seems to be gaining traction. Considering the pro se litigant is typically summarily dismissed, it appears the magistrate has found good cause to demand responses from all Defendants. 

 

Also, a legal mind with a substantial cirriculum vitae has blogged about the Conservatorship of John Daniel Tate confirming that Judge Randy Kennedy “pretended to terminate” the conservatorship.

 

Probate Judge Randy Kennedy: Nashville’s one-man wealth redistribution machine (TN) – Estate of Denial

 

Gerry W. Beyer :: Texas Tech University School of La

 

Further orders entered in Kennedy’s court have left the conservatorship “open” and the conservator, David E. Tate, under fiduciary oath. This defies logic and common sense, shows an abuse of power, judicial retribution, and, most importantly, invokes distrust with the citizenry bringing the entire judiciary into disrepute.

 

Conservatorship/guardianship should never be adversarial. In the ex parte hearing, before Danny Tate had ever been in the court room, Judge Randy Kennedy announces this as a “contentious conservatorship”.

 

Impeach Judge Randy Kennedy: October 23, 2007 Ex Parte Hearing vs. Danny Tate- Part 1.m4v – YouTube

 

This reveals motive and why probate creates a legal fiction to justify their legalized racketeering. Advocate groups refer to it as “the protection racket”, i.e. looting of estates before one is in the grave under color of law and guise of protection.

 

Also, conservatorship/guardianship is not meant to be punitive. This, and all known conservatorships in the 7th Circuit Court, Davidson County at Nashville, TN, have exemplified just the opposite, proving egregiously punitive.

 

State bar association hears horror stories about problems with Tennessee’s conservatorship law

Full Article and Source:
Pauper v. Probate: Tennessee on Trial

See Also:
State bar association hears horror stories about problems with Tennessee's conservatorship law

Chester County Man Found Guilty of Bilking Elderly Parents of $500,000

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (CBS) — A Chester County jury has convicted a man on 80 counts of theft and fraud — against his own parents and other family members.

The Davis family had a successful heating oil business.

When parents Boyd and Nelda took ill years ago, their son, Boyd Jr., was granted power of attorney and, through various means, skimmed more than half a million dollars from their bank accounts.

“This is money that he probably would have gotten anyway, when his parents died,” notes Chester County DA Tom Hogan. “It became clear to us that his parents just weren’t dying fast enough for him.”

Full Article and Source:
Chester County Man Found Guilty of Bilking Elderly Parents of $500,000

T.S. Radio: The Kidnapping of Dorothy Wilson

Listen to internet radio with Marti Oakley on Blog Talk Radio

On Sunday, September 23, 2012 we were privileged to have Diane Wilson, daughter of Dorothy Wilson as a guest on TS Radio. The discussion centered around the kidnapping, imprisonment and isolation of Dorothy Wilson. While isolated and moved from one home to another, her home was mortgaged, her personal possessions sold or given away.

At one point, Bristal Assisted Living facility charged Dorothy’s estate $53,000 for one month’s stay.

Her home was used to receive a reverse mortgage for $275,000. This, along with $2300 a month in income all disappeared with no acounting by the guardian. Two years after Dorothys’ initial kidnapping, the guardian had burned through $350,000 of the estate.

On October 23, 2011 after two years of abuse, neglect and isolation, Dorothy Wilson died of loneliness and despair. This woman who had lived a good life and had planned her retirement, had an ample income and valuable assets, was left penniless by the guardian. At this point the guardian petitioned the court to allow her to resign as Dorothy’s guardian. Dorothy died just one week before she might have been reunited with her daughter, Diane.

Source:
The Truth Squad: The Kidnapping of Dorothy Wilson

See Also:
NASGA:  Dorothy Wilson, NY Victim

Source: YouTube: Judicial Destruction of Dorothy Wilson

Source: YouTube: In Remembrance of Dorothy Wilson, Guardianship Victim

State Bar notifies judges of attorney Kip Lamb’s suspension

The Commission for Lawyer Discipline, an arm of the State Bar of Texas, recently filed a letter notifying Jefferson County district judges of the suspension of Beaumont attorney Kip Lamb.

As previously reported, the petition to suspend the attorney’s practice was filed July 10 in Jefferson County District Court.

Judge Bob Wortham, 58th District Court, granted the petition on July 25, court records show.

On Sept. 6 the commission filed a letter, asking District Clerk Lolita Ramos to disseminate the information to the Jefferson County District Judges.

According to the petition, on April 14, 2008, Lamb received $1,094,611.02 into his trust account as his client’s (New Life Tabernacle Church) portion of a settlement.

Lamb later transferred the funds to other bank accounts for his own personal use and his law firm’s use, the petition states.

“In this case, (Lamb’s) conduct is unbecoming of a lawyer and will unquestionably place any client or prospective client at risk … of having their settlement misappropriated,” the petition states.

“Accordingly, (Lamb) must be suspended from the practice of law pending a final disposition of the disciplinary proceedings currently pending against him.”


Full Article and Source:
State Bar notifies judges of attorney Kip Lamb’s suspension

The Financial Exploitation of Seniors: What You Should Know

"If elder abuse happened to me, Mickey Rooney, it can happen to anybody."


Source:
The Financial Exploitation of Seniors: What You Should Know. Stonington TRIAD , a national partnership between law enforcement, seniors and community ...

Recommended Website: Probate Sharks

Our mission is to expose and remedy corruption in the Probate Court of Cook County, Illinois. We assist, educate and enlighten families of the dead, the dying, the disabled and the aged to better understand their rights in order to protect themselves from the excesses of the Probate Court of Cook County. ProbateSharks.com is dedicated to networking the human element of people to people. We join together in reforming the corrupt Cook County Probate Court system.

Source:
ProbateSharks

Paralegal Blows Whistle on Ex-Boss, Says Cash Went in Book on Shelf; Lawyer Suspended for One Month

A paralegal who once worked for Iowa attorney Sara Anna Kersenbrock blew the whistle on her former boss, filing a 2010 disciplinary complaint that resulted in a one-month license suspension.

In a Friday opinion (PDF), the state supreme court imposed the sanction, rejecting a public reprimand proposed by the court's attorney grievance commission.

The paralegal was a witness for the prosecution in the attorney discipline case, testifying that Kersenbrock didn't deposit a number of client retainers into her trust account when she worked for the attorney between 2005 and 2010. Instead, Kersenbrock put retainer checks into her law firm operating account and put cash retainers into a drawer or in books on her bookshelf, then spent them when she needed money, the paralegal testified.

Testifying on her own behalf, Kersenbrock said she wasn't required to deposit most of the retainers into her trust account, because they had already been earned when she put them into her operating account. She acknowledged some record-keeping issues, which she said she had taken steps to correct. She also said she had temporarily put one $3,000 cash retainer in her "sock drawer" for several weeks.

Full Article and Source:
Paralegal Blows Whistle on Ex-Boss, Says Cash Went in Book on Shelf; Lawyer Suspended for One Month

Rise in Traumatic Brain Injury in Veterans and Athletes Prompts New Research

Since 2000, approximately 245,000 men and women who have served in the military have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury, otherwise known as TBI.

The majority of those cases were mild; but, even mild traumatic brain injuries can be highly disruptive to daily life. Unlike severe brain injuries, mild TBI can be harder to detect. Sometimes a mild TBI is not recognized for weeks or even months after an accident. Recent publicity has focused attention on studies demonstrating that TBI is often not recognized in athletes until long after the injury occurs. For example, we now understand that even with specially designed helmets, NFL players may manifest severe disability years after their careers are over.

With nearly a quarter of a million service members suffering a TBI over the last decade, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has been funneling money into brain injury research. With a better understanding of traumatic brain injury, TBI sufferers stand to benefit from a broader range of treatment alternatives.

All of this groundbreaking research could help TBI sufferers lead more normal, healthy lives. But one thing it won't do is reduce the significant costs associated with treating TBI or eliminate the significant impact TBI has on issues involving quality and enjoyment of life.

Source:
Rise in Traumatic Brain Injury in Veterans and Athletes Prompts New Research

Use of Chemical Restraints in Nursing Homes Called an Epidemic

Nearly 25 percent of the residents in California's nursing homes are placed on antipsychotic drugs, often used as sort of a chemical leash to control behavior in a trend a watchdog called an epidemic Thursday at a symposium.

The drugs can double the risk of death for seniors with dementia and cause side effects ranging from stroke to delirium, according to speakers at an Oxnard conference called "Toxic Medicine." Often the drugs are given in nursing homes or other facilities for dementia without the informed consent of residents or surrogates and are used as a restraint rather than to treat psychiatric conditions.

Over the past decade the use of the drugs has evolved from a sniffle to a flu to something much worse, said Sylvia Taylor Stein, of the Long Term Care Services of Ventura County ombudsman program.

"By 2010 we had an epidemic," she said in a symposium organized by her group and the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform. It was attended by a packed house of nursing home leaders, assisted-living administrators, elder abuse lawyers and state licensing agencies.

Some at the conference linked the use of antipsychotics to staff shortages that make it impossible for employees to properly care for patients, state cuts in mental health programs that have brought more patients with psychiatric problems to long-term care facilities and doctors who have a drug-first mentality when it comes to long-term care residents.

Anthony Chicotel, an attorney with the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, said there are appropriate uses of the medication, such as when a patient has illnesses like schizophrenia. But Medicare statistics from the second quarter of last year showed 24.2 percent of the residents in the state's nursing homes were on antipsychotics. Medicare statistics from 2009 showed the use of the medication fluctuated greatly at different Ventura County nursing homes — from a low of 7 percent of the patients on the drugs seven days over one week to a high of about 30.6 percent.

Often, use of the drugs becomes ingrained in a long-term care site's culture, Chicotel said. When patients with dementia or other issues yell in the middle night, hit other residents or try to flee the place, staff members call the physician.

"Hey doc, we have a new resident. He's out of control. He's throwing feces. We need a pill," he said.

Full Article and Source:
Use of Chemical Restraints in Nursing Homes Called an Epidemic

See Also:
CANHR.org

State Bar Says It Will Seek Discipline of Lawyer Targeted in Federal Suit

The State Bar said Friday it will seek to discipline a Los Angeles attorney who is being sued by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for loan modification fraud.

A spokesperson said a 30-count notice of disciplinary charges had been filed against Mid-Wilshire lawyer Chance Gordon. Gordon, 41, allegedly committed 30 counts of misconduct in 13 cases, most related to promises of foreclosure relief or loan modification.

Among the State Bar’s accusations are that Gordon:

Failed to perform with competence on behalf of six distressed homeowners whose cases were either dismissed or improperly filed. In one case, Gordon submitted a falsified document in a loan modification application;

Accepted illegal fees for loan modification services in Illinois, Florida and North Carolina, jurisdictions where he was not authorized to practice law;

Wrote three checks that bounced from his client trust account and misrepresented the facts about the overdrawn funds to the State Bar;

Falsely advertised on his now-disabled website that his firm, Resource Law Center, provided nationwide real estate legal services when he was only admitted to practice in California, and made unsubstantiated claims of successful loan modifications involving 42 lenders; and

Promised to pay clients $100 for new client referrals, in violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct.

 

 

Full Article and Source:
State Bar Says It Will Seek Discipline of Lawyer Targeted in Federal Suit

Nurse Indicted for Patient Abuse, Drug Possession

A Berwick, Maine woman who authorities say deprived an elderly patient of morphine so she could take the drug at a Portsmouth elderly care facility has been indicted by a Rockingham County Grand Jury.

Nina Perez, 31, of 93A Rochester St. in Berwick, Maine was indicted in September for one felony count of possession of a controlled drug and indicted for another felony count of abuse of facility patients while she worked as a nurse in May at the Edgewood Centre in Portsmouth.

Full Article and Source:
Nurse Indicted for Patient Abuse, Drug Possession

Santa Clara County judges set new curbs on fees for court-appointed care of disabled, elderly

Santa Clara County judges on Thursday took a major step toward cracking down on runaway costs that elderly and disabled adults can face for court-appointed care, setting new curbs on fees and stepping up scrutiny of inflated charges.

The proposed new rules, which would start next year, come 2½ months after an investigation by this newspaper revealed how the local court has been lax in stopping estate managers, known as fiduciaries, from running up six-figure bills on mostly voiceless adults.

"These are some of the most vulnerable members of our community, many left with very little assets to see them through their lives," assistant presiding Judge Brian Walsh said in announcing the new rules Thursday. "Our court must be the guardian of those assets by overseeing how they're spent."

Walsh said the new rules would give Santa Clara County's court "the most comprehensive rule affecting private professional fiduciaries in the state of California." Critics say the changes are long overdue. The newspaper's investigation found that, unlike other Bay Area counties, Santa Clara County has had few local rules restricting conservators' fees.

Full Article and Source:
Santa Clara County judges set new curbs on fees for court-appointed care of disabled, elderly

See Also:
San Jose: Judge rejects nearly $30,000 attorney fee to disabled man's trust

Santa Clara judge reconsiders his early ruling on a trustee excessive fee case

The Mercury News' "Loss of Trust" Series (Anchor article)

Taxpayers left holding the bag on Adult Protective Service program

Congress passed the Elderly Justice Act but didn’t fund it. The state, in turn, underfunded the service providers required by the law, leaving counties to pick up the tab.

In the case of Tippecanoe County taxpayers, they’re going to have to pay nearly $27,000 by the end of 2013 to pay for two Adult Protective Service investigators, which are required by the federal Elderly Justice Act.

“I lost approximately $10,000 a year,” Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington said. “We get a grant from the state. It’s a two-year budget cycle.”

Adult Protective Services operate out of the prosecutor’s office and fall under Harrington’s budget.

“Basically, I need $15,000 a year to stay even,” Harrington said of the two-year cuts that unexpectedly pulled money from the local APS office. “They pulled $10,000, which puts me upside down in 2012. I’m now going to be deeper in the hole in 2013.”

“The truth is APS statewide is inadequately funded,” Harrington said. “I’m not saying they cut my budget on purpose. They’re addressing immediate needs and doing triage.

“The real issue is since the United States Congress is not funding the Elder Justice Act, the state is going to have to step up and increase funding to all APS across the state.”

But that’s not happening either.

Full Article and Source:
Taxpayers left holding the bag on Adult Protective Service program

State bar association hears horror stories about problems with Tennessee's conservatorship law

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Members of the Tennessee Bar Association heard an earful on Thursday from Tennesseans upset over the state law that they say allows unscrupulous people to take advantage of vulnerable adults.

The conservatorship law is meant to protect adults with diminished capacity because of age, disability, mental health issues or addiction. It allows a judge to appoint someone as a guardian to oversee their affairs. But the system does not always work as intended.

At the Thursday hearing in Nashville, Jewell Tinnon, who is 82 years old, said two grandsons took over her affairs through a conservatorship, selling her car and her house and everything in it. She eventually was able to get out of the conservatorship, but only after she had lost everything.

Tinnon begged the panel of attorneys listening to her testimony for help in finding somewhere to live.
"Next month, I'll be outdoors," she said. "I ain't got nowhere to live."

Songwriter Danny Tate told the panel he was placed in a conservatorship in 2007 by his brother, who felt he was a drug addict.

"They had no medical evidence, no police reports, no calls to 911, no complaints from neighbors," he said.

Tate said he was a millionaire before the conservatorship began, with all his bills paid and near-perfect credit. Now he is in bankruptcy and the house where his children were born and raised was sold at auction.

Under a conservatorship, he said, "you cannot vote, marry or enter into a contract. Your signature is not valid.

"A death row inmate has more rights than a conserved ward of the state."

Another speaker, Ginger Franklin, said a conservator was appointed for her in 2008 after she suffered a traumatic brain injury from a fall.

Although she recovered, the conservatorship process already was under way.

"I lost my home, my car, my job, the majority of my possessions; my credit was trashed — all because I fell down the stairs at my home. If it happened to me it could happen to you or anyone."
Loretta Threatt and Jeanette Bryant told the panel one of their sisters had taken control of their 88-year-old father's estate and placed him in various nursing homes and assisted living facilities. They said they are only allowed brief, supervised visits with him and that his pastor is not allowed any visits.

"It's been done unfair and inhumane, and I feel like it's unconstitutional," Bryant said.

National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse President Elaine Renoir said problems with guardian and conservator systems are nationwide. Some people really do need a guardian, she said, but there are not enough protections for those that do not.

She said Tennessee needs better due-process protections that would allow someone who is being considered for a conservatorship to fight it. That includes allowing them to use their money to hire an attorney and letting a jury hear their case if they request it.

Full Article and Source:
State bar association hears horror stories about problems with Tennessee's conservatorship law

Bar suspends local lawyer Edwin Tilton

The Florida Bar has suspended a Gainesville lawyer after he pleaded no contest in two crimes.

Edwin Richard Tilton, 58, was suspended for 30 days from a June 19 court order, according to a release sent out by The Florida Bar.

 

Tilton, who listed his last known address as 2066 NW 20th Lane in Gainesville, was arrested on Nov. 20, 2011, and charged with burglary of a structure and violation of pretrial release for domestic violence, according to published reports. He was also arrested on Nov. 11 and charged with domestic violence.

 

Police said the same victim was involved in both of Tilton’s arrests. In the Nov. 20 incident, police found Tilton “disheveled, dirty, intoxicated and disoriented” inside the residence of the victim, who told police she was asleep when he broke in, according to a police report.

 

Full Article and Source:
Bar suspends local lawyer Edwin Tilton

DOJ, D.C. Bar Counsel at Odds in Ethics Case Against Ex-Prosecutor

A clash between the U.S. Justice Department and the D.C. Office of Bar Counsel over a former federal prosecutor's alleged ethics transgression is playing out in front of a Washington attorney ethics board.

Andrew Kline, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Washington, is challenging an ethics committee's conclusion in March that he didn't play by the rules in a shooting case when he kept certain information to himself that the victim had earlier provided to police.

The Justice Department is backing Kline in the dispute, pending before the D.C. Court of Appeals Board on Professional Responsibility. DOJ lawyers argue that the hearing committee too broadly interpreted a prosecution conduct rule, opening the door for ethics cases and "unwarranted sanctions" against prosecutors. Kline is no longer in government service.

The D.C. Office of Bar Counsel this month filed a response to Kline and DOJ, which submitted an amicus brief in the case supporting the former assistant U.S. attorney. You can read bar counsel's brief here and the DOJ brief here.

Full Article and Source:
DOJ, D.C. Bar Counsel at Odds in Ethics Case Against Ex-Prosecutor

T.S. Radio Tonight!

 

Linda Kincaid will be co-hosting this show.
 

Our guest  tonight is Diane Wilson, daughter of Dorothy Wilson. Jim Fargiano will also be joining the show.
 

Dorothy Wilson died of loneliness and despair after being put under a guardianship and isolated by a predator guardian. Once inside Bristal Assisted Living, Dororthy's estate was billed $53,000 for one month. Then on to Meadowbrook where she was isolated from family and friends. Next came Maria Regina Nursing home after Dorothy had an unnecessary surgery.
 

During these events, Dorothy Wilson's home was mortgaged, her personal possessions given away to those who cooperated with the predator, her car included. Abuse was documented, as well as the failure of the predator to provide required financial reporting documentation to the probate court.

 All of this was reported to the New York State Judicial Commission, a commission which did absolutely nothing to protect the life of Dorothy Wilson.

Source:

Dorothy Wilson, Stolen by New York Guardian

The Forgotten Ones: Compassion for the Elderly

Today I was thinking that I am 89 and have alzheimers, but I am still alive and useful. I have written on here before about a group I belonged to that sat with dying patients...our belief was no one should die alone. Doctors who knew about our group, or nurses, some ministers and priests sometimes a hosptial aide would contact us and we would go sit with the patient in their last hours. Sometimes it would be for a few hours, sometimes a couple of days. Most of these people had no family, or their friends had all died or were too old, or some were AIDS patients that their families had disowned them...for some reason they were alone and our group wanted someone to be with them at the end of their journey. Sometimes the patient didn't know we were there, sometimes we would talk, play music, hold hands, talk about their life, call people to say goodbye, I would write letters for them, some so sad and heartbreaking, some thought I was their mother, others their wife...some just would look at me and smile. I have crawled in bed with some and held them, some fought death, others were ready to go, some were never awake when I was with them.

I found much peace with this group. I learned alot from these strong people, I made many new friends. People would ask me, isn't it depressing and I would say, oh no, it is an honor to spend the last hours with these people. No one should die alone. I know some people say they would prefer to die alone, but, in the end I have seen that change and people tell me before the end they were glad I was there.

I wish I could still do this act of volunteering...but I can no longer do it.......I wish I could still volunteer....it was an honor.

Source:
The Forgotten Ones: Compassion for the Elderly

Why Patient Harm is One of the Leading Causes of Death in America

Medical care has its own code and culture, which often does not put patients first, according to Dr. Marty Makary, a cancer surgeon and researcher at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the School of Public Health. And providers who speak against that code can pay a heavy price.

Makary’s new book, “Unaccountable: What Hospitals Won't Tell You and How Transparency Can Revolutionize Health Care,” explores why patient harm persists in the medical system and what can be done about it.

Full Article and Source:
Why Patient Harm is One of the Leading Causes of Death in America