Groups say development in abuse suit against Vt.

MONTPELIER - Vermont Legal Aid and Disability Rights Vermont are planning to announce the details of a settlement with the state Adult Protective Services Division.

The two groups will hold a press conference today in Montpelier.

The groups filed the lawsuit last December, saying Adult Protective Services routinely violates the law that requires it to begin investigating reports of abuse, neglect and financial exploitation of vulnerable adults within 48 hours of receiving them.

The state had filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

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Groups say development in abuse suit against Vt.

Ken Anderson appears for civil hearing in Morton case

WILLIAMSON COUNTY -- A civil hearing for former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson was held Friday afternoon.

Anderson faces felony charges with how he handled Michael Morton's murder trial back in 1987.

On Aug. 30 Anderson will be in court in Georgetown so a visiting judge can hear a motion from the State Bar of Texas' Commission for Lawyer Discipline. The result could be Anderson being disbarred.

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Ken Anderson appears for civil hearing in Morton case

Report Says Texas Nursing Homes Are the Worst in the Country, And This Video Might Just Convince You

Minnie Graham, a 98-year-old great-great-grandmother, kept telling her family that people were hitting her at Garland's Winters Park Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. When her loved ones found her eyes blackened and her arms bruised, they demanded answers. Graham, they were told, had fallen out of her wheelchair. Her granddaughters didn't buy it.

So, they set set up a clock with a hidden camera in her room and waited. What it documented was horrifying, as you'll see in the CBS News video above. Graham was slapped, pushed, pulled, sprayed in the face with water and gagged with a towel that had just been used on her body. At one point, she's crying out, "Somebody help me." She died not long thereafter. Because of her treatment, her granddaughters think she had simply lost the desire to live.

Her case may be extreme, but it's a symptom of a far larger, just as insidious pattern of neglect and lax oversight in Texas. According to a report from the organization Families for Better Care, which analyzed staffing data, performance measures from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and complaints from the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, Texas nursing homes are the worst in the country.

Fewer than 15 percent of its facilities are staffed at above-average professional nursing levels, while nearly 70 percent hire below the minimum number of caregivers needed to properly meet the needs of its residents.

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Report Says Texas Nursing Homes Are the Worst in the Country, And This Video Might Just Convince You

Galveston judge arrested for contempt

GALVESTON – A Galveston judge already suspended and awaiting trial on criminal charges was arrested Wednesday for contempt of court and ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
County Court-at-Law Judge Christopher Dupuy was sentenced to 45 days in the Galveston County Jail for using his Facebook page to make personal attacks on the prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General David Glickler.

Harris County District Judge Ryan Patrick, who is overseeing Dupuy's criminal case in Galveston district court, also ordered Dupuy to cease using the Internet, any social media platforms or any electronic media to communicate about his case.

A gag order prevents Glickler and Dupuy's attorneys from commenting.

The gag order was already in effect when Patrick on July 25 ordered Dupuy in court to refrain from discussing the case or posting information about it on Facebook, according to the order issued Wednesday. Nevertheless, Dupuy attempted to file criminal complaints against Glickler with the Galveston County District Attorney's Office alleging witness tampering and contacted the media about the complaints, Patrick said in his order. Dupuy filed the complaints even though he has two attorneys appointed by the court, Adam Brown and Matthew Fox Curl. There was no indication that either attorney was aware that their client was filing complaints against Glickler.

"The court finds that Christopher Michael Dupuy has willfully and wantonly refused to comply with this court's lawful order," the order reads.

Patrick also chose a doctor to conduct an immediate psychiatric evaluation of Dupuy.

"It is the court's opinion that there is evidence to support a finding of incompetency and that the defendant should be examined" as provided by law, the judge said in his order. The examiner was ordered to furnish a report saying whether Dupuy is competent to stand trial and whether he has a mental illness.

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Galveston judge arrested for contempt

Open Letter to the Guardian, Guardian’s Attorney, and Both Court Appointed GAL’s

"Shame on you. Shame on ALL of you. The arrogance and cruelty you have showered upon my mother has reached a new subterranean level by even the subpar standards applied in this guardianship.

You have the gall to allow an eighty-three year old woman to believe she would be able to visit with her ninety-four year old sister today - for a meager one hour visit allowed by the guardian. Then, at the last minute, you pull the rug out from under her? If there was ANY issue regarding supervision, this should have been dealt with weeks ago.

May I remind ALL of you, Judge Connor’s reprimanded the guardian on more than one occasion to be sure that her mother was NOT being isolated or kept apart from her family. You have all had the audacity to allow Judge Stuart to believe that my Aunt is not being isolated, when in fact, you know the opposite is true.

You have been complicit in the viciousness and spitefulness with which a tyrannical daughter has separated her mother from the people whom she loves and cherishes. Your aiding and abetting of the guardian’s actions has allowed her to punish her own mother for crimes unknown, while at the same time inflicting emotional pain throughout what was once a peaceful and loving family.

In your eagerness to have my Aunt guardianized, you erred grossly and placed her with the one person whom she asked to be protected from. It is time you step up to the plate, and do the right thing
As Judge Stuart has said, you are the ‘Eyes and Ears of the Court’, but remember, Judge Stuart is the Supreme Guardian."

~Kathie Bakken

Medical examiner rules suicide in death of guardian accused of stealing from clients

APPLETON — A former Appleton guardian accused of stealing about $500,000 from his elderly and disabled clients committed suicide Wednesday morning, according to Calumet County authorities.

Medical Examiner Mike Klaeser declared Jeffrey Schend, 46, dead from hanging at the home, 501 Mitchell Ave., which is listed as Schend’s address on court records. Appleton police Sgt. Dave Lund said officers were called to Schend’s home about 4:30 a.m.

Schend was charged in Outagamie County with 15 felony theft counts and 12 misdemeanor counts of falsifying accounting records. His was scheduled to appear in court for a status conference at 11 a.m. Nov. 12.

Guardians are appointed by courts to oversee assets when it is determined that individuals are unable to manage their finances. The investigation of Schend began after Outagamie County officials received complaints in late 2010 that bills weren’t being paid.

Following a series of exclusive Post-Crescent Media reports, prosecutors hired a forensic accountant to comb through Schend’s finances. The accountant found his expenses significantly exceeded his income with spending that included vacations, yacht club costs and limousine rentals, according to the criminal complaint.

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Medical examiner rules suicide in death of guardian accused of stealing from clients

See Also:
Trial for ex-guardian Schend delayed for fourth time

More on Jeffrey Schend

Jeffrey Schend Revoked From Guardianship Practice

WI: Jeffrey Schend Theft Case Prompts Tougher Guardian Rules

Suspended Florence lawyer indicted on federal charges

The United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina announced Wednesday that William Rivers, III of Florence has been charged in a three count indictment with Mail Fraud.

The indictment says between October 2006 to November 2012 Rivers and his late law partner John Schurlknight failed to tell clients when their cases had been settled and failed to pay the clients' medical providers, but instead forged clients' signatures on releases and kept all of the money received in the clients' settlement.

Rivers and Schurlknight were partners at the Schurlknight and Rivers Law Firm in Florence, which is no longer in operation.

Rivers was suspended from practicing law by the South Carolina Supreme Court last December following complaints filed by former clients about missing money.

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Suspended Florence lawyer indicted on federal charges

Police Investigate Probate Lawyer Over Disabled Man's Missing Funds

Police are investigating a probate court-appointed lawyer who allegedly tried to cover up his improper handling of a disabled man's finances by filing false accounting statements — as the man's assets dwindled by tens of thousands of dollars over the years.

The Newington Police Department's investigation of Michael Schless, a retired Newington attorney now living in Florida, began after the Aug. 4 publication of a Government Watch column about Schless's longtime role as probate conservator for John Fritz, 64, of Wethersfield, who suffers from cerebral palsy.

Fritz once had assets worth more than $100,000, but now his money market and stock accounts have shrunk to about $20,000 — even though his family says they should have remained stable because his living expenses are covered by Social Security payments and part-time employment.

Newington Probate Judge Robert A. Randich also wrote in a ruling last spring that Schless attempted to "hide his transgressions by filing knowingly false accountings."

Despite that ruling, however, Randich had declined to exercise his option to request a criminal probe, and Fritz's family had been unable to persuade law enforcement authorities to investigate.
That soon changed.

Days after the column appeared, a Newington police detective was assigned to the case. A member of state's attorney's office in New Britain "took notice of [the] newspaper column ... and independently requested that the matter be investigated," according to an Aug. 8 letter to a state prosecutor from David A. Ruth of Bolton, a lawyer representing Fritz's family.

A state prosecutor independently confirmed Ruth's assertion that the police investigation is underway.

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Police Investigate Probate Lawyer Over Disabled Man's Missing Funds

See Also:
Deceit, Improprieties By Probate 'Conservator' Deprive Disabled Man Of Inheritance, Court Finds

Former Upper Arlington Attorney Charged For Allegedly Forging Guardianship Documents, Stealing From Retirement Fund

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A former attorney is charged with theft, forgery, tampering with records and money laundering.

According to the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office, Lindsey T. Burt, 33, was indicted Tuesday in connection with stealing from the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System.

The prosecutor's office said that Burt was supposed to file paperwork for a client which would make the client the guardian of his son after the mother passed away.

Burt allegedly altered documents, making it that she was the guardian, and then she allegedly sent paperwork to OPERS to collect death benefits intended for the child.

The alleged theft from OPERS was during a five-year period and totaled $67,183.03.

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Former Upper Arlington Attorney Charged For Allegedly Forging Guardianship Documents, Stealing From Retirement Fund

Ohio hospital wants to force Amish girl’s cancer treatment after parents stop chemotherapy

An Ohio hospital is fighting to force a 10-year-old Amish girl with leukemia to resume chemotherapy after her parents decided to stop the treatments.

Akron Children’s Hospital is appealing a judge’s decision that blocked an attorney who’s also a registered nurse from taking over limited guardianship and making medical decisions for the girl.

The hospital believes the girl will die without chemotherapy and is morally and legally obligated to make sure she receives proper care, said Robert McGregor, the hospital’s chief medical officer.

“We really have to advocate for what we believe is in the best interest of the child,” he said Friday.

The parents initially allowed chemotherapy treatment in May but stopped treatment in June. The parents said the effects on their daughter were horrible and that they were now relying on natural medicines, such as herbs and vitamins, The Medina Gazette reported.

The girl told a probate and juvenile judge that she didn’t want chemotherapy because it made feel ill, can damage her organs and make her infertile, the newspaper said.

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Ohio hospital wants to force Amish girl’s cancer treatment after parents stop chemotherapy

Artist Robert Rauschenberg's foundation, trustees in court fight Monday over money

Captiva artist Robert Rauschenberg left his $600 million estate in the hands of three friends, including another artist, but now these trustees are suing to collect millions they say they’re owed.



Robert Rauschenberg

Darryl Pottorf, himself an artist and one of Rauschenberg’s closest friends, inherited Rauschenberg’s $3 million Captiva home upon the artist’s death in 2008. He also was named executor of Rauschenberg’s will and a trustee, charged with ensuring his late friend’s money and charitable foundation would run as planned.

Pottorf and two other trustees — Bill Goldston, who met Rauschenberg in 1969 and partnered with him for a fine-art-print publishing company, and Bennet Grutman, Rauschenberg’s accountant since 1989 — are seeking $60 million for what they call “extraordinary services” they’ve provided to Rauschenberg’s legacy, according to court documents.

A court hearing is planned Monday morning in Lee in regard to the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation’s request for a protective order and to discuss fees sought by trustees.

The history

The court battle began in Lee County in 2011, when the trio filed the lawsuit against the foundation. It has been a contentious back-and-forth between the groups, trading jabs over competency of the trustees, allegations of harassment and whether Rauschenberg actually meant for the three men to pocket millions meant for his charitable efforts.

Pottorf, who would not comment to The News-Press for this article, also filed paperwork Wednesday in a New York court, seeking additional money for handling Rauschenberg’s Manhattan property, which includes the gallery and studio where the foundation is housed, and a Mount Vernon, N.Y., property that houses some of Rauschenberg’s art.

Court documents show Pottorf, Goldston and Grutman have paid themselves $5.7 million from the trust, divided evenly at $1.9 million.

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Artist Robert Rauschenberg's foundation, trustees in court fight Monday over money

Attorney who admitted theft still has law license

Since November, attorney Randy Wynn has been telling pretty much everybody he was a thief.

He has fessed up to the Milwaukee County district attorney's office, the state Office of Lawyer Regulation, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge and the Journal Sentinel, which in January reported that Wynn acknowledged pocketing client funds. In an interview last week, the 60-year-old lawyer said the amount he took in the past few years is "estimated to be under $1 million, over $500,000 but spread over hundreds of clients."

"I'm expecting to be charged, and I'll probably be in prison," Wynn testified last month in a bankruptcy hearing for one of his former clients. "What I did was wrong. I deserve whatever punishment I get."

A partial accounting that Wynn gave to regulators in May "showed that Wynn had taken $784,734 from numerous clients," Keith Sellen, director of the Office of Lawyer Regulation, wrote in a report filed with the state Supreme Court last month. "Wynn estimated his ... partial accounting was '90% complete.'"

Still, Wynn remains a licensed lawyer — he participated in a courtroom conference call just a month ago — and is in the center of a testy bankruptcy fight in which his testimony has gotten a former client in hot water. During the bankruptcy hearing, Jonathan Goodman, the bankruptcy attorney for Wynn's former client, referred to Wynn as a "lying snake" and a "lying weasel."

Wynn's case provides insight into the glacial speed of Wisconsin's secretive attorney regulatory process, a system in which the time between the receipt of a complaint about a lawyer and court action on that complaint can take years.

Wynn is not the only attorney who has kept his law license after admitting to committing felonies involving clients. Grafton lawyer Richard Kranitz remains a member of the state bar, even though three months ago he agreed in federal court to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Kranitz was arrested in December 2011; this month he was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison.

Like Wynn, Kranitz is listed as being in good standing on the state bar's lawyer search website as well as the one operated by the Office of Lawyer Regulation, the policing arm of the state Supreme Court.

On June 19 — about seven months after Wynn says he first told regulators and prosecutors of his thievery — the Office of Lawyer Regulation filed Wynn's petition for voluntary revocation of his law license.

The petition is pending before the state Supreme Court.

William Weigel, the OLR's litigation counsel, defended the pace of the agency's investigations.
"The lawyer regulation process is rules-based, accurate and thorough," Weigel wrote in an email. "... If OLR is perceived sometimes as not publicly jumping on a case from the get-go, well, we place a premium on getting it done right rather than rushing to get it done quickly."

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Attorney who admitted theft still has law license

Bergenfield senior found, but a troubling trend grows

Donald Wicklund

Last Wednesday, Connie  Wicklund was downstairs in her Bergenfield home when she heard a main-floor door open and shut. Her husband, Donald, had likely taken the trash out, she reasoned.
                    
But when she came upstairs, he was gone, sparking what started as a desperate search by family and friends — and then early the next morning by law enforcement.

Those four days of anguish and uncertainty ended happily early Sunday evening when Wicklund, 81, was found in a back yard less than seven houses away from his own home. He was “conscious and verbal” but “dehydrated and malnourished,” police said.

The 5:51 p.m. discovery was sparked in part by a reverse emergency call the police initiated on Sunday — the third since Wicklund was first reported missing at 12:34 a.m. on Thursday — asking residents to check their back yards.

One of Wicklund’s neighbors, following the police advice, found a shoe next to a koi pond in his back yard. Upon further investigation, the neighbor located Wicklund and called 911, said Capt. Cathy Madalone.

Madalone said dogs had helped search that area before Sunday.

“He was probably trying to get back home,” she said late Sunday. “We don’t know for sure. We are waiting for him to get back from the hospital, and we are waiting for him to be coherent enough to speak with him.”

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Bergenfield senior found, but a troubling trend grows

Police Investigate Probate Lawyer Over Disabled Man's Missing Funds

Police are investigating a probate court-appointed lawyer who allegedly tried to cover up his improper handling of a disabled man's finances by filing false accounting statements — as the man's assets dwindled by tens of thousands of dollars over the years.

The Newington Police Department's investigation of Michael Schless, a retired Newington attorney now living in Florida, began after the Aug. 4 publication of a Government Watch column about Schless's longtime role as probate conservator for John Fritz, 64, of Wethersfield, who suffers from cerebral palsy.

Fritz once had assets worth more than $100,000, but now his money market and stock accounts have shrunk to about $20,000 — even though his family says they should have remained stable because his living expenses are covered by Social Security payments and part-time employment.

Newington Probate Judge Robert A. Randich also wrote in a ruling last spring that Schless attempted to "hide his transgressions by filing knowingly false accountings."

Despite that ruling, however, Randich had declined to exercise his option to request a criminal probe, and Fritz's family had been unable to persuade law enforcement authorities to investigate.

That soon changed.

Days after the column appeared, a Newington police detective was assigned to the case. A member of state's attorney's office in New Britain "took notice of [the] newspaper column ... and independently requested that the matter be investigated," according to an Aug. 8 letter to a state prosecutor from David A. Ruth of Bolton, a lawyer representing Fritz's family.

A state prosecutor independently confirmed Ruth's assertion that the police investigation is underway.

Full Article and Source:
Police Investigate Probate Lawyer Over Disabled Man's Missing Funds

See Also:
Deceit, Improprieties By Probate 'Conservator' Deprive Disabled Man Of Inheritance, Court Finds

State Bar: Bill Belk violated conduct rules

RALEIGH The N.C. State Bar concluded Friday that former Mecklenburg District Judge Bill Belk violated rules of professional conduct while on the bench.

Belk was accused of lying during a 2009 investigation into possible misconduct. He appeared Friday before a hearing panel of the bar’s Disciplinary Hearing Commission.

Belk, the grandson of the Belk department store chain founder, said he was “disappointed” with the hearing panel’s decision.

Another hearing will be held on Sept. 26 to decide the appropriate discipline. The possible disciplinary actions include admonition, reprimand, censure, suspension and disbarment.

Belk, facing misconduct charges, resigned from the bench in November 2009. Five months later, the N.C. Supreme Court banned him from ever returning to the bench.

The case revolved around Belk remaining on the board of Sonic Automotive, one of the nation’s largest auto retailers, while serving as judge. Judges are prohibited from serving on business boards of directors to avoid conflicts of interest.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/08/23/4257851/state-bar-bill-belk-violated-conduct.html#storylink=cpy

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State Bar: Bill Belk violated conduct rules

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/08/23/4257851/state-bar-bill-belk-violated-conduct.html#storylink=cpy

Ohio hospital wants to force Amish girl’s cancer treatment after parents stop chemotherapy

An Ohio hospital is fighting to force a 10-year-old Amish girl with leukemia to resume chemotherapy after her parents decided to stop the treatments.

Akron Children’s Hospital is appealing a judge’s decision that blocked an attorney who’s also a registered nurse from taking over limited guardianship and making medical decisions for the girl.

The hospital believes the girl will die without chemotherapy and is morally and legally obligated to make sure she receives proper care, said Robert McGregor, the hospital’s chief medical officer.

“We really have to advocate for what we believe is in the best interest of the child,” he said Friday.
The parents initially allowed chemotherapy treatment in May but stopped treatment in June. The parents said the effects on their daughter were horrible and that they were now relying on natural medicines, such as herbs and vitamins, The Medina Gazette reported.

The girl told a probate and juvenile judge that she didn’t want chemotherapy because it made feel ill, can damage her organs and make her infertile, the newspaper said.

Medina County Probate and Juvenile Judge John Lohn said he could only transfer guardianship if the parents were found unfit.

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Ohio hospital wants to force Amish girl’s cancer treatment after parents stop chemotherapy

Zsa Zsa Gabor's daughter questions conservator's use of money

LOS ANGELES — In newly filed court papers, an attorney for Zsa Zsa Gabor’s daughter questions how money from the 96-year-old actress’ estate is being spent by her husband, who also serves as her court-appointed temporary conservator.

Kenneth Kossoff, who represents Constance Francesca Gabor Hilton, is recommending that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Reva Goetz reject the inventory of income and expenses offered by Frederic Prinz von Anhalt and his lawyer, William Remery.

“The conservator (von Anhalt) throws frequent, lavish parties at (Gabor’s) house attended by strangers to (her), while (she) is confined to her bedroom,” Kossoff’s court papers state.

Von Anhalt also restricts Gabor’s daughter to entering the home through one door and does not invite her to birthday parties held for her mother, Kossoff wrote.

Gabor’s daughter filed her own conservatorship petition in March 2012 after learning the Bel Air home of her ailing, bedridden mother allegedly was in default over missed mortgage payments and that von Anhalt had obtained a six-figure loan against his wife’s equity in the property.

But both sides last summer reached an interim solution in favor of appointing von Anhalt as Gabor’s temporary conservator.

In May, Goetz approved the sale of the couple’s home for $11 million in an agreement that allows Gabor, an actress and contemporary of well-known celebrities and Coachella Valley residents such as Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra who once owned a home in Palm Springs, to remain at the Bel Air estate for three years.

Under law, von Anhalt is required to submit an accounting of expenses and income to Goetz.

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Zsa Zsa Gabor's daughter questions conservator's use of money

The History of Nursing Homes

In the twenty-first century, nursing homes have become a standard form of care for the most aged and incapacitated persons. Nearly 6 percent of older adults are sheltered in residential facilities that provide a wide range of care. Yet such institutions have not always existed; rather, their history and development reflect relatively recent demographic and political realities that shape the experience of growing old. Before the nineteenth century, no age-restricted institutions existed for long-term care. Rather, elderly individuals who needed shelter because of incapacity, impoverishment, or family isolation often ended their days in an almshouse. Placed alongside the insane, the inebriated, or the homeless, they were simply categorized as part of the community's most needy recipients.

In the beginning of the nineteenth century, women's and church groups began to establish special homes for the elderly persons. Often concerned that worthy individuals of their own ethnic or religious background might end their days alongside the most despised society, they established—as the founder of Boston's Home for Aged Women (1850), explained—a haven for those who were "bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh". Advocates for these asylums contrasted their benevolent care with the horrors of those who were relegated to the almshouse. "We were grateful," wrote the organizers of Philadelphia's Indigent Widows' and Single Women's Society, one of the nation's earliest old age homes, in 1823, "that through the indulgence of Divine Providence, our efforts have, in some degree, been successful, and have preserved many who once lived respectfully from becoming residents of the Alms House".

Although designed for those without substantial familial support, these early homes still generally required substantial entrance fees and certificates of good character. Through these policies, the founders strove to separate their own needy poor from, as the Boston founder explained, foreigners who "have taken possession of the public charities. . .as they have of the houses where our less privileged classes formerly resided".

Not surprisingly, perhaps, throughout the nineteenth century the numbers of elderly people who found shelter in these institutions was rather limited. In 1910 the state of Massachusetts, reported that 2,598 persons resided in such asylums. The great majority of these individuals were widowed and single women who had lived their entire lives, or at least a great proportion, as citizens of the state. Although the institutions were hardly palatial, the amount spent on each resident was far greater than the allocation for each almshouse resident. Much as their founders had hoped, the nineteenth-century old-age home operated to differentiate the "worthy" old of a particular religion or ethnic group from the most needy and desperate of the aged population.

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FATE: The History of Nursing Homes