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Saturday, April 29, 2017
More than one-fourth of SNF residents colonized with drug-resistant bacteria, analysis shows
More than 25% of skilled nursing facility residents have
multidrug-resistant bacteria lurking within them, including E. coli, a
new research review has found.
Researchers with the Columbia University School of Nursing
analyzed 12 studies and found the 2,720 nursing home residents whose
data was included in the review had drug-resistant bacteria prevalence
rates ranging from 11.2% to 59.1%. The study found a 27% average
colonization rate, with E. coli accounting for the largest proportion of
colonizations.
The review's results, published in the May issue of the American Journal of Infection Control,
also identified factors such as advanced age, gender, comorbidities,
increased interaction with healthcare workers and delayed initiation of
antibiotics to raise residents' colonization risk.
“This study underscores the importance of having strong
infection prevention programs in all nursing homes and long-term care
facilities,” said Linda Greene, RN, MPS, CIC, FAPIC, president of the
Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.
“Understanding the dynamics and cause of MDR-GNB transmission is crucial
to identifying effective infection control strategies specific to these
settings.”
The research teams encouraged providers to identify which
residents are most at risk for multidrug-resistant gram-negative
bacteria, and allow infection preventionists to tailor efforts
specifically for those residents.
Full Article & Source:
More than one-fourth of SNF residents colonized with drug-resistant bacteria, analysis shows
Nursing home negligent in death of resident who fell into hot laundry water, state rules
Allenne Hookom, 90, reportedly wandered into the laundry room at Auburn Manor in Chaska, MN, on Dec. 31, 2016. Hookom eventually fell backward into a concrete basin on the floor of the room that collects hot runoff water, and was discovered by a nursing assistant who heard her calls for help.
Hookom suffered second-degree burns from the scalding water, and died the next day at a local hospital from “thermal injuries,” the report shows.
The state health department ruled that Auburn Manor was negligent in the incident, since Hookom was known to wander. The department's report also showed that facility staff had left the laundry room door open with a magnetic latch meant to “make it easier to go in and out of the laundry room.”
Mike Senden, CEO and president of Auburn's parent company Auburn Homes and Services, told The Minneapolis Star Tribune that he understands the state's report, and considers the incident “a really heartbreaking accident [that] affected our staff greatly and the family greatly.”
Following Hookom's death Auburn Manor has removed the magnetic latch from the door of the laundry room, and now requires it to be locked at all times unless a staff member has direct view of the door, the newspaper reported. A screen has also been placed on top of the wastewater basin.
Full Article & Source:
Nursing home negligent in death of resident who fell into hot laundry water, state rules
Friday, April 28, 2017
Man whose body was found encased in concrete may have been missing months
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| Carl DeBrodie |
A body that likely will be identified as Carl DeBrodie, 31, was found Monday in the dumpster in a storage unit in Fulton, about 100 miles west of St. Louis. A positive identification has not been made but Fulton Police Chief Steve Myers said Wednesday he is "95 percent" certain the body is DeBrodie's. A cause of death has not been determined.
DeBrodie, who had lived in a home for the developmentally disabled for nine years, was reported missing April 17. At the time, the residential home housing four or five residents was operated by a private contractor called The Second Chance but ownership was transferred recently to Finck & Associates.
The former director for The Second Chance reported DeBrodie missing but it is unclear how long he was gone and it's possible he was missing for months, Myers said.
"We have several different people we are talking to about that," Myers said. "We're getting conflicting information and are trying to establish some sort of timeline."
Rudy Veit, an attorney for the DeBrodie family, said DeBrodie's mother used to meet him at restaurants or parks but Second Chance officials stopped those meetings a year or two ago, telling her they caused her son to become anxious and were not in his best interests. The mother, who was not her son's legal guardian, was not aware of her legal rights and assumed the home had the authority to prevent the visits, he said.
A woman who was once DeBrodie's legal guardian and cared for him from age 11 to 21 reported to authorities that she believed DeBrodie was being abused at the home but did not get any response, Veit said. Her visits with him also were stopped.
A phone number for The Second Chance in Fulton was disconnected on Wednesday.
"Finck & Associates were not involved in DeBrodie's care at the time he went missing and have been extremely cooperative with our investigation," Fulton police said in a news release.
Law enforcement and private individuals conducted several searches for DeBrodie before the body was found inside the storage unit after investigators received a tip, Myers said. No further searches for DeBrodie are planned in Fulton and volunteers were planning a memorial service for next week.
The family appreciated the many people who helped search for DeBrodie and had hope until Monday that he would be found, Veit said.
"To find out they were all misled, and now to have the agony, anger, and fear of what he went through in the time period he was gone and who would do this, it's very difficult," Veit said.
Police were to meet with DeBrodie's mother Wednesday to obtain DNA, Myers said. The body was badly decomposed and police had not found dental records, so DNA will be needed to confirm the identity.
Investigators have pursued over 150 leads and are interviewing several people of interest, Myers said.
"At some point we're going to bring this to a conclusion, but we need a cause of death first," said Myers.
On Tuesday, a cousin, Rebecca Bell, told The Columbia Daily Tribune that DeBrodie had mental disabilities, difficulty communicating and was legally blind.
Bell said it's likely DeBrodie was dead for a long time because the body was so decomposed the family won't be able to have an open casket funeral.
DeBrodie belonged to a "good, loving family that would've done anything for him," Bell said. "He was a very sweet, caring young man, and all he wanted was to be loved and cared about."
Full Article & Source:
Man whose body was found encased in concrete may have been missing months
Lafayette attorney arrested
An arrest warrant was issued Thursday by Lafayette Magistrate Thomas Frederick for Harold Register Jr., and was the result of a Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office investigation that developed into probable cause that Register forged one of his client's checks.
The check was valued at $12,500 and deposited into his account.
Register surrendered himself to the LPSO Friday evening, and his bond is set at $50,000.
Full Article & Source:
Lafayette attorney arrested
Is $370 million in fines right way to stop dementia patient dumping?
But we’re skeptical that our two freshman Democratic legislators have a good grasp of the solution.
State Rep. LaToya Greenwood, D-East St. Louis, and Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, are sponsors on House Bill 3392. It adds fines for nursing homes that fail to follow staffing levels mandated in a state law passed in 2010. It also gives due process to patients that the nursing homes claim cannot be managed.
By their estimate, about 1,000 patents face the problem in our state of 12.88 million people. If the 2010 law were enforced, there would be 5,463 new jobs in Illinois.
So will adding more than five times the number of low-wage workers ensure those 1,000 difficult patients receive the proper care?
Matt Hartman, vice president of the Illinois Health Care Association, throws a lot of doubt on that. He also sees the bill creating a big state money grab of about $370 million in fines and penalties. That is about a fourth of the state’s Medicaid spending, he said.
He also said the state lawmakers numbers are off, and only about half as many people as they claim are affected.
Any time the state tries to dictate one standard to fit every single nursing home from Chicago to Washington County, there will be large expense to target a limited problem.
Maybe the state lawmakers need to work with the industry to figure out how to prevent patient dumping. Maybe they don’t need to take away 25 cents of every dollar spent on the care for all nursing home residents.
Full Article & Source:
Is $370 million in fines right way to stop dementia patient dumping?
Thursday, April 27, 2017
The Passing of Gary E. Harvey
Our hearts are heavy with sadness as we mourn the passing of Gary E. Harvey this past Sunday, April 23, 2017 and we pray for peace and strength for his loving wife, Sara, who was only permitted to see her husband for only 20 minutes in the last four years.
Gary committed no crime but was kept in isolation as if he were a prisoner and he was denied the comfort and love of his wife when he needed her most.
For 11 long and torturous years, Sara never stopped fighting for Gary; he couldn't have picked a more loving and dedicated wife.
Gary committed no crime but was kept in isolation as if he were a prisoner and he was denied the comfort and love of his wife when he needed her most.
For 11 long and torturous years, Sara never stopped fighting for Gary; he couldn't have picked a more loving and dedicated wife.
High court’s guardianship panel plans first meeting
The 16-member guardianship study commission will take public comment from 9:30 a.m. to noon on suggested changes and improvement to the state guardianship system. The meeting is expected to run until 4 p.m.
Barry Massey, a Supreme Court spokesman, said the guardianship commission has not yet mapped out the full scope of its work, but there have been preliminary discussions about reviewing the efforts of other states to improve their guardianship systems.
One noted program is in Palm Beach County, Fla., where court clerk and comptroller Sharon R. Bock, who is elected, has made guardianship fraud enforcement a priority. She oversees a staff of guardianship auditors who look for fraud, waste and financial mismanagement despite office budget cuts of 36 percent since 2009.
Bock, in a recent interview with the Journal, said her agency has been asked to provide information on best practices to groups around the country, from Portland, Ore., to Tennessee. Last May, she and her staff spent several hours speaking with the Nevada Supreme Court commission studying guardianship reform.
In March of this year, a former court-ordered financial guardian from a private firm in Las Vegas, Nev., was arrested and charged in an exploitation scheme involving more than $550,000 allegedly stolen from 150 people.
Bock’s agency, which runs a guardian fraud hotline, has identified more than $5.1 million in missing assets and fraud involving guardianships since 2011.
The Palm Beach County program last fall was recognized at the 4th Congress for Adult Guardianship in Berlin.
“We know there are honorable, hardworking guardians out there, but when you have a $270 billion industry that is unregulated, you’re always going to be getting your bad apples,” Bock told the Journal. “This is literally taking us by surprise, and we’re not prepared as a society for this.”
District courts in New Mexico oversee thousands of cases in which relatives or nonrelatives, including for-profit companies, are appointed as guardians or conservators for a adults deemed incapacitated or for those who lack the capacity to manage some or all of their personal or financial affairs.
The state Supreme Court earlier this month decided to appoint the commission, which includes current and former judges, to recommend changes in state statutes, funding, administrative practices or other proposals to improve the guardianship system. Wendy York, an Albuquerque attorney and a former state district judge, is chairwoman of the commission.
The commission is to submit an initial status report to the Supreme Court by Oct. 1 and continue its work until completing a final report and recommendations.
The commission’s creation comes amid an ongoing Journal investigation into criticism from family members whose relatives have been placed with for-profit guardians and conservators whose fees typically are deducted from the incapacitated person’s assets.
Some families complain their relatives have been neglected by court-appointed guardians; they question expenses that have drained their loved ones’ estates, and they say they’ve been stymied by confidentiality provisions in the law from learning about their relatives’ living status and finances.
Those who defend the current system say that the secrecy is designed to protect the privacy of the incapacitated persons and that guardians and conservators appointed by the courts serve an important role, particularly in cases involving feuding family members.
Full Article & Source:
High court’s guardianship panel plans first meeting
Cook County Judge Removed From Bench Amid Federal Fraud Charges
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| Judge Jessica Arong O’Brien |
Judge Jessica Arong O’Brien, 49, was charged last week with one count of mail fraud affecting a financial institution, and one count of bank fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago.
On Wednesday, Chief Judge Timothy Evans announced that O’Brien has been “reassigned to administrative duties in the office of the Presiding Judge of the First Municipal District, Judge E. Kenneth Wright Jr.” The action followed a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Circuit Court of Cook County on Tuesday.
Administrative duties can include performing marriage ceremonies and reviewing petitions for reduced court-filing fees for indigent parties, a statement from Evans’ office said. The action is effective immediately and until further notice.
“The committee is aware that a federal grand jury indicted Judge O’Brien on April 12, and she is accused of fraudulently obtaining loans related to the purchase, maintenance and sale of properties in Chicago,” the statement said. “That same day, on April 12, Judge Wright reassigned Judge O’Brien to administrative duties until the Executive Committee could consider the matter.”
Evans said last week that he was unable to comment further on the matter, citing Supreme Court Rule 63, which states, “A judge should abstain from public comment about a pending or impending proceeding in any court…”
The alleged crimes occurred before O’Brien was elected the first female Filipino-American judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County in 2012.
Federal prosecutors allege O’Brien got lenders to provide loans “by making false representations and concealing material facts in documents submitted to the lenders.” An attorney at the time, she used the loans to buy and refinance about $1.4 million in mortgage and commercial loans, including the purchase of an investment property in the 600 block of West 54th Street in the Back of the Yards, prosecutors said. (Click to Continue)
Full Article & Source:
Cook County Judge Removed From Bench Amid Federal Fraud Charges
Disabled man forced to crawl out of store after being denied electric cart
The incident occurred at Mills Fleet Farm on Monday.
Customer Shane Zahn said that he was told he couldn't ride the electric cart into the store's parking lot, despite his handicap.
A Facebook post that shows Zahn leaving the store has accrued more than 20,000 Reactions and almost 5 million views. (Click to Continue)
Source:
Disabled man forced to crawl out of store after being denied electric cart
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Ohio among worst states for nursing home inspections, report says
The Plain Dealer cites records it obtained showing that a key deadline for inspecting nursing homes hasn't been met since fiscal year 2011. It says Ohio is the fourth-worst state nationally in inspection intervals.
Advocates say inspectors offer important checks on the industry, detecting patient care issues.
The agency that provides inspectors is understaffed. Ohio has one inspector for every six nursing homes, the Plain Dealer reported. Meanwhile, nearby states Michigan, Kentucky and Illinois have one for every four facilities.
The Ohio Department of Health says officials are working hard to improve time intervals and there has been progress in the last two years.
Full Article & Source:
Ohio among worst states for nursing home inspections, report says
Dramatic body cam video shows officer save man from jumping off roof
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| Click to Watch Video of man being saved |
Police said they were called to the Whitney Center retirement community in Hamden for a report of a resident fighting with people the afternoon of April 21.
Officer Justin Martin was meeting with staff members and an elderly male resident on the third floor, when the resident ran upstairs away from staff members.
The officer found the resident going through a 6th floor doorway, leading to a terrace on the roof.
As officer Martin got closer, he saw the man dive head first over a railing. He grabbed the resident by his feet and pulled him to safety. The man continued to fight with the officer during the rescue but was eventually taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital for evaluation.
Source:
Dramatic body cam video shows officer save man from jumping off roof
State Launches New Program to Help Low-Income Elderly Iowans with Establishing a Guardianship
Under the program, which is administered by the Office of Substitute Decision Maker, eligible individuals may qualify to receive a one-time grant of up to $1,000 to pay the legal fees associated with establishing a guardianship or conservatorship in the state of Iowa. To address this need, the Iowa Department on Aging has allocated $35,000 in state dollars for the IAGE Program in State Fiscal Year 2017. Marion County Senior Nutrition Director Dawn Allspach-Kline tells KNIA/KRLS News this funding is beneficial for older adults or family members who may have dementia, Alzheimer’s, or any other documented Medical condition. There are end of life legal issues that have been very difficult to get through for older adults, those reaching the end of life, and their caregivers when the affairs are not in order. Kline adds, the Knoxville Senior Center and Marion County Senior Nutrition are the local level contacts that can help with aging issues.
Full Article & Source:
State Launches New Program to Help Low-Income Elderly Iowans with Establishing a Guardianship
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Indicted Nashville Judge To Receive $4,500 Monthly Pension: Report
Even though he faces trial on three counts of obstruction of justice and witness tampering related to allegations he paid a woman $6,000 in an effort to get her to recant public allegations against him, Moreland could still receive taxpayer-funded benefits. Moreland resigned as one of the county's 11 General Sessions judges as part of a pre-trial release agreement.
Moreland — who can also receive medical insurance coverage and a $10,000 life insurance policy in addition to the pension — would, under state law, forfeit his retirement benefits upon conviction of "a felony arising out of that person's employment or official capacity, constituting malfeasance in office." Metro Law Director Jon Cooper told The Tennessean that Metro's employment benefits board could revoke those benefits even without a conviction.
Full Article & Source:
Indicted Nashville Judge To Receive $4,500 Monthly Pension: Report
Supporters hold rally for suspended Goodsprings judge
“Come out and show your support for our friend and neighbor who is fighting false and malicious charges before the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission,” read fliers distributed ahead of the afternoon event.
The rally was held at Sandy Valley Ranch near Goodsprings. Attendees were offered free food, beer and wine. They were asked to bring a check to donate to Haviland’s defense fund.
Haviland has served as Goodsprings justice of the peace since 1999. She is accused of sweeping ethics violations that include sealing her then-son-in-law’s criminal records, ordering staff to run background checks on her friend’s boyfriend, and using vulgar language to bully employees.
Haviland, in a 14-page response to the charges, answered in detail to each allegation. She blames the charges on a disgruntled employee whose testimony is cited in the state judicial discipline commission’s formal statement of charges.
A disciplinary hearing is scheduled for August. Haviland faces anything from a private reprimand to removal from office, or the charges could be dismissed.
“I would say that Dawn Haviland is the most respected person in Sandy Valley,” said Haviland’s defense attorney, Al Marquis. “She has done so much for the community without ever having asked for anything in return.”
Marquis said Haviland was instrumental in getting a charter school in Sandy Valley so that students did not need to be bused to and from Las Vegas.
“People in the community just want to rally together … to show that they’re behind her,” Marquis said.
The defense lawyer said roughly 100 people responded that they plan to attend the event.
Full Article & Source:
Supporters hold rally for suspended Goodsprings judge
Elder abuse and poor care: The real issue (Guest opinion)
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| Marian Ewins and her daughter Sue Crawford |
In Oregon every year, approximately 1,000 individuals living in long-term care settings experience elder abuse. This is unacceptable. These Oregonians are our grandmothers, grandfathers, parents, siblings, friends, partners and spouses. Aside from abuse, other serious issues - such as violations of licensing regulations - regularly occur. It is infuriating that individuals experience poor quality of care, inattention and sometimes abuse at the very time they are reliant upon a facility, and its caregivers, to assist them with their most basic needs. Often times the fines for these types of abuses and violations are less than $500 (an amount set in the 1970s), hardly sufficient to change the behavior of a non-compliant or abusive long-term care facility.
It is disappointing that we spent a year freely cooperating, providing copious amounts of data, answering hundreds of questions, and participating in hours of interviews, only to be characterized as "concealing, whitewashing, misleading, and keeping people in the dark." Those are outright false characterizations. We supported The Oregonian's research and questions for all this time and never charged a fee. (Click to Continue)
Full Article & Source:
Elder abuse and poor care: The real issue (Guest opinion)
Monday, April 24, 2017
Complaint Details FBI Investigation Timeline
Jan. 25, 2017: FBI opens a federal criminal investigation into Moreland
Jan. 26, 2017: FBI interviews Natalie Amos, who said she began a sexual relationship with the judge in April 2016
Feb. 1, 2017: FBI attempts to interview Moreland. He declines and refers FBI agents to his attorney.
Feb. 3, 2017: Moreland resigns from General Sessions Drug Treatment Court and Cherished H.E.A.R.T.S program.
Feb. 15, 2017: Federal grand jury issues its first subpoena.
Mar. 1, 2017: Moreland meets Confidential Source 1 (CS1) at his sister’s house, asking that he enlist a mutual friend (CS2) to offer money to Natalie Amos to sign an affidavit recounting her allegations. Moreland also asks if CS1 knows an officer who might plant drugs on Amos to discredit her.
Mar. 2, 2017: Moreland tells CS1 he is concerned his phone are being monitored, discusses getting a “burner phone.”
Mar. 3, 2017: CS1 purchases a “burner phone” for Moreland in the name of "Raul Rodriguez."
Mar. 6, 2017: CS2 offers Amos money to sign an affidavit recanting her allegations. Amos reports the offer to the FBI.
Mar. 9, 2017: Moreland sends CS1 a photo of a large pile of cash to show the money was ready.
Mar. 10, 2017: FBI confronts CS1. In hopes of leniency, he places a recorded call to Moreland. The judge urges CS1 to go out with CS2 and Amos in an attempt to get the affidavit signed.
Mar. 11, 2017: Working with the FBI, CS1 meets with Moreland. The judge gives $5,100 to CS1, along with an affidavit for Amos to sign. He advises CS1 to get Amos “liquored up real good before you bring it up.”
Mar. 11, 2017: Moreland provides CS1 with an additional $1,000 for Amos.
Mar. 16, 2017: CS1 tells Moreland he has a law enforcement officer who can assist in planting drugs on Amos and initiating a traffic stop.
Related stories and documents:
Full Article & Source:
Complaint Details FBI Investigation Timeline
Drug court founded by Judge Moreland criticized
WSMV Channel 4 NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - If someone you care about has a problem with drugs and breaks the law, you'd want them to get help and a second chance.
But some are becoming skeptical about Davidson County’s General Sessions Drug Court, which, until recently, was run by Judge Casey Moreland.
Judge Michael Mondelli told Channel 4 he has lost confidence in drug court.
On Feb. 10, Mondelli sent an email to the district attorney’s office and the public defender’s office saying he has not approving any cases where a referral to drug court is involved.
The Channel 4 I-Team’s Nancy Amons recently went to sit in on a session of drug court, without a camera. Within a few minutes, drug court officials told all the defendants in the courtroom they could go home.
“These are trying times,” Nan Casey told the defendants before dismissing everyone from the courtroom.
Full Article & Source:
Drug court founded by Judge Moreland criticized
But some are becoming skeptical about Davidson County’s General Sessions Drug Court, which, until recently, was run by Judge Casey Moreland.
Judge Michael Mondelli told Channel 4 he has lost confidence in drug court.
On Feb. 10, Mondelli sent an email to the district attorney’s office and the public defender’s office saying he has not approving any cases where a referral to drug court is involved.
The Channel 4 I-Team’s Nancy Amons recently went to sit in on a session of drug court, without a camera. Within a few minutes, drug court officials told all the defendants in the courtroom they could go home.
“These are trying times,” Nan Casey told the defendants before dismissing everyone from the courtroom.
Full Article & Source:
Drug court founded by Judge Moreland criticized
I-Team explores connection between Judge Moreland and halfway houses
WSMV Channel 4 NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - The Channel 4 I-Team has learned that a member of
the Davidson County General Sessions Drug Court treatment team also runs
eight halfway houses where judges send defendants for court-ordered
treatment.
The halfway houses are owned by a non-profit, which on paper, is exceeding its projected budget thanks in part to rent paid by clients sent by the court.
The eight halfway houses are on Harrington Avenue in Madison.
Most houses have eight residents each. The clients are primarily people with drug or alcohol charges who were sent there by a judge.
Before Judge Casey Moreland stepped aside from his duties as general sessions’ drug court judge, this is where some of the people he sentenced ended up.
The houses are owned or operated by a non-profit called Recovery Community, Inc. Lyn Noland is the executive director.
Full Article & Source:
I-Team explores connection between Judge Moreland and halfway houses
The halfway houses are owned by a non-profit, which on paper, is exceeding its projected budget thanks in part to rent paid by clients sent by the court.
The eight halfway houses are on Harrington Avenue in Madison.
Most houses have eight residents each. The clients are primarily people with drug or alcohol charges who were sent there by a judge.
Before Judge Casey Moreland stepped aside from his duties as general sessions’ drug court judge, this is where some of the people he sentenced ended up.
The houses are owned or operated by a non-profit called Recovery Community, Inc. Lyn Noland is the executive director.
Full Article & Source:
I-Team explores connection between Judge Moreland and halfway houses
Sunday, April 23, 2017
Tonight on T. S. Radio: Updates: Sandra Grazzini-Rucki & Mike Volpe then, Sharmian Worely
5:00 pm PST … 6:00 pm MST … 7:00 pm CST … 8:00 pm EST
HOUR 1: Federal Marshals involved in a divorce case?
Join us this evening as Sandra Grazzini-Rucki and nationally known reporter and journalist, Mike Volpe, as they discuss the curious interference of federal marshals in the Rucki divorce case.
Sandra Grazzini-Rucki is just one example of the notoriously infamous Dakota County, Minnesota legal system which appears to be joined at the hip with local law enforcement for purposes of harassing and intimidating some individuals unfortunate enough to come in contact with either of them. The Rucki case is just one example of money and connections overriding the law.
At issue this evening is, the interference of federal marshals in a domestic divorce case. Federal marshals are claimed to be an administrative officer of a U.S. judicial district who performs duties similar to those of a sheriff. So how were their services secured against Sandra when the divorce is not a federal issue?
“The duties of the U.S. Marshals Service include protecting the federal judiciary, apprehending federal fugitives, managing and selling seized assets acquired by criminals through illegal activities, housing and transporting federal prisoners and operating the Witness Security Program.”
HOUR 2: What Would You Do?
Sharmian Worely will be updating us on the attempt to compromise her legal standing by the courts. Sharmian has been in a monumental battle for the protection of her mother from a known predator guardian/attorney. Tune in to hear the latest updates in this story which highlights the egregious abuse of the system by a known predator who has made it clear that she controls the system and the courts no matter whom it harms. Sharmian is refusing to back down in her efforts to protect her mother from the abuse of the system even as they attempt to use the system to compromise her efforts.
Sharmian lost her Mom AKA Record promoter for Sharmians Records label, Wanda Worley in Detroit Michigan, to guardianship fraud. After accidentally uncovering her mother’s location while searching public records, Sharmian felt the need to do a welfare check on her mother. To her surprise, her mother was expecting her after being assured by the predatory guardian that a visit would be allowed. Of course Sharmian had never been informed that a visit could happen. It was simply a cruel joke being played on her mother; the guardian knowing that Sharmian would never be notified of the potential for a visit. Sharmian did take her mother from the facility that day without interference of the staff who were also under the impression that the visit had been approved.
Once in the safety of her home with her mother, a few strange things started happening…….strange enough that Sharmian and her mother hid for five hours in a closet until the danger passed. This is a story about how Sharmian and her mother came out of the closet and are doing everything they can to expose the trafficking, kidnapping and cruel treatment of the elderly in America.
Sharmian was also a featured guest on F.A.C.E.U.S. with Robin and LuLu on March 1, 2017
LISTEN TO THE SHOW LIVE or listen to the archive later
Trial date set as twin challenges disabled brother’s husband for guardianship
Right now, the legal guardian job falls to Morris’ husband, Sean Spicer, 41, of Romoland. But Morris’ biological family is seeking to change that relationship and take over legal responsibility for Morris.
As part of their argument, the family offered into evidence a video clip of the couple’s 2014 wedding. The grooms wore matching tuxedos, with white roses in their lapels, but as the official asked Morris to repeat his vows Morris appeared confused and “did not even understand that he was getting married to another man almost twice his age, thinking he was at a baptism,” according to Morris’ twin, Ronald Moore, in a court filing. Moore and others in his family asked again for the Riverside Public Guardian to be appointed as Morris’ temporary guardian – or “conservator,” in California parlance – while the broader custody battle wends its way through the justice system.
Judge Daniel A. Ottolia made no decision on that question, as both sides are in mediation in hopes of forging an acceptable compromise. They’re to wrap up talks in May and report back to the court June 9.
The case raises questions that go beyond whether identical twins should be raised together or apart, or even how much power the state can wield over families. Can a man with cognitive disabilities so serious that he can’t think abstractly, manage money or care for himself, give informed consent to a marriage and intimate relationship? And does the equation change if that disabled person marries someone of normal intelligence, who then becomes empowered to make the most fundamental life decisions?
Morris suffers from a long list of maladies requiring powerful medications. He has the intellectual capacity of a kindergartner. He can’t think abstractly, manage money or make his own medical decisions, according to court documents.
Morris’ identical twin brother, Moore, of San Clemente, and two aunts seeking to oust Spicer as conservator, have “grave concerns” that Spicer “may be sexually abusing and controlling” Ryan, causing irreparable harm, they said in court filings.
Spicer has said that he and Morris love each other and that he’s taking good care of Morris. A publicly-appointed attorney said Morris doesn’t want a change in conservators, and fears his biological family is trying to break up his marriage.
The fate of the identical twins has been in court before. The brothers were swept into state custody shortly after their birth in 1994; their mother had a history of mental illness and had not received prenatal care. Ronald was healthy; Ryan was not. Their grandmother sought custody of both boys, but got only Ronald. Ryan was kept in foster care because of his many special needs, which social workers said were beyond his grandmother’s ability to address.
Foster mother Michelle Morris decided to adopt Ryan, and despite the biological family’s vehement protests, the state approved the adoption in 2002. Michelle Morris cut off communication with the biological family soon after. Ryan Morris’ biological family was stunned, in 2015, to learn that Morris was married, despite having the intellectual capacity of a kindergartner.
Last month, Judge Thomas Cahraman noted that the unusual case involves complex issues of psychology and sociology, and is fraught with strong emotion. The saga was captured in “Twins Divided,” a three-part series by the Southern California News Group. Readers reacted passionately.
Part 1: Twins, divided: Is one man happily married or a victim of sexual abuse?
Part 2: Twins, divided: Confusion, concern and ‘I do’
Part 3: Twins, divided: Brothers will see each other in court
“None of us know how the Ryan Morris case will turn out but it appears to me that once again, a system designed to protect the most innocent and vulnerable citizens of our society has failed,” said Jerry Villanueva, a retired investigator with the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office.
“I am terribly sad for the family of Ryan and Ronald, sad for the twins, and angry at those who did so much harm to a family, and to brothers, for years,” said Pat Colin of Orange. “Ryan clearly did not, and does not, have the capacity to enter into a marriage contract, or any other contract, on his own. I pray he gets the help he will need for the rest of his life, with his brother leading the way looking out for him.”
Full Article & Source:
Trial date set as twin challenges disabled brother’s husband for guardianship
Part 1: Twins, divided: Is one man happily married or a victim of sexual abuse?
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| Ryan Morris & Grandmother |
Identical twins start as a single embryo that collapses in on itself, creating two balls of cells where once there was one. They grow into two genetically identical human beings.
Twenty-three years later, Ryan and Ronald could scarcely be more different.
Consigned to separate childhoods by the state of California shortly after their birth, their disparate lives stand in stark contrast to their identical genes.
Ronald drives a pickup, works as a client-relations and facility manager for an imaging company and practices mixed martial arts. He enjoys making art in different mediums and says family is No. 1.
Ryan suffers from a long list of maladies requiring powerful medications. He has the intellectual capacity of a kindergartener. He can’t make his own medical decisions and requires a legal guardian to protect him.
Ryan also is married to that guardian, Sean Spicer. He is a truck driver 18 years Ryan’s senior.
Despite their differences, one piece of twin lore seems to hold true for Ryan and Ronald. After long separations, reunited twins often report a profound and intense intimacy that one researcher described as being as close to “the coordinated, harmonious relations for which we all strive” as two human beings are likely to get.
When Ryan and Ronald finally saw one another at a Temecula courthouse after more than a dozen years apart, they threw their arms around one another in a powerful embrace captured in family photos and video. Onlookers wept as the twins clung to one another, rocking slowly from side to side. In court, Ryan refused to let go of Ronald’s hand.
“All I know, and have ever known, is that I love my identical twin brother and want so much to see him,” Ronald would later argue in a petition to Riverside Superior Court, seeking to be appointed one of Ryan’s legal guardians.
“I want to hug him, talk to him, play with him, and let him know that he matters to me and the rest of the family. I want a stable relationship with my twin brother, and to be involved and active in his life, as a brother and friend.”
It’s a battle Ronald and his biological family have been waging for nearly two decades – one that has made headlines in years past and is scheduled for a hearing this week that could force a pivotal legal decision in a case that raises uncomfortable questions.
Those questions go beyond whether identical twins should be raised together or apart, or even how much power the state can wield over families.
Can a man with cognitive disabilities so serious that he can’t think abstractly, manage money or care for himself, give informed consent to a marriage and intimate relationship?
And does the equation change if that disabled person marries someone of normal intelligence, who then becomes his court-appointed caretaker, empowered to make the most fundamental life decisions?
Disability-rights advocates approached such questions cautiously. Relationships between the cognitively disabled and those of regular intelligence are rare, but activists have fought to secure the rights of disabled people to marry and fully express their sexuality. The goal has been to give individuals more freedom, not less.
“People with developmental disabilities – particularly intellectual disabilities – have been marginalized,” said Katie Hornberger, director of Clients’ Rights Advocacy for the nonprofit Disability Rights California. “People treat them as giant children. If they have the intellectual capacity of a 5-year-old, well, that’s how they scored on a test.
“But there’s a lot of knowledge that comes from existing in this world,” Hornberger said. “I need help to ride a city bus, but my clients with intellectual disabilities do that every day of their lives. Who’s smarter?
“The right to control marriage and sexual contact are just such fundamental human rights,” she added. “They should not be proscribed.”
Robert D. Dinerstein, director of the Disability Rights Law Clinic at American University’s Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C., said a person under a full conservatorship can consent to a marriage or a sexual relationship, but court tests might be necessary.
The decision is contextual and requires examining a number of factors, including whether the person has “a sufficient understanding, perhaps with the support of others, of the relationship he or she is about to enter,” Dinerstein said. Also important is determining whether he or she can weigh the pros and cons of the choice involved, and “somewhat more controversially whether he or she can appreciate the nature of the decision (and its broader implications).”
And, of course, one would want to make sure that no one was coercing the person to engage in the relationship against the person’s will, Dinerstein said.
Something in the balance of power between Ryan and his husband profoundly disturbs his twin brother, sister, aunts and grandmother. They have “grave concerns,” voiced in court filings, that Ryan’s husband “may be sexually abusing and controlling” him, causing irreparable harm.
Spicer, Ryan’s husband and legal conservator, said that’s untrue. He’s doing his best to take good care of Ryan, he told the court, and Ryan wants him to remain as conservator. “Does he get a say in this matter?” the husband asked.
Indeed, Ryan does have a say, a Riverside County judge said. But the judge ordered the Public Guardian’s office to investigate the situation nonetheless, and explain why a neutral party, such as the Public Guardian’s office itself, shouldn’t step in as Ryan’s guardian.
The unusual case has complex legal and emotional crosscurrents, and those officially charged with assessing Ryan’s well-being have come to opposite conclusions.
The publicly funded attorney appointed to represent Ryan says Ryan is happy living with his husband, and favors the status quo. Under no circumstances does Ryan want his family members as conservators, because he believes they are trying to break up his marriage and are engaged in “heavy-handed harassment against his chosen life partner,” Ryan’s attorney argued in court documents.
The state investigator who recently conducted the judge’s court-ordered review questioned Ryan’s comprehension of his wedding, and gave a positive review to Ryan’s biological family, concluding it could offer “a genuinely viable alternative” to naming the state as Ryan’s legal guardian.
Indeed, every person and every agency that has ever had influence over Ryan’s life – government social workers, the court system, his biological family, the foster mother who adopted him and now Ryan’s husband – insist that they only want what’s best for Ryan, and are striving to give him the freedom he deserves.
But they have very different ideas about what that means.
TWO BIRTHDAYS
Ronald and Ryan were born three months early at Huntington Beach Hospital, as tiny and frail as baby birds. Ronald, the healthy twin, came late in the evening on Jan. 9, 1994; Ryan followed 2½ hours later, after midnight on Jan. 10.
The infants were swept immediately into county custody. Their mother had a history of mental illness and had not received prenatal care, according to a social worker’s report at the time. Grandmother Tamara Mukai Mazzei said she sat vigil most every night for six months as the babies struggled in intensive care, heading to work at a San Clemente beauty salon the next day, bleary-eyed. Mukai Mazzei had been in similar circumstances before: She was raising her troubled daughter’s two older children, and intended to take the boys as soon as they were strong enough to come home.
Mukai Mazzei, an intense Italian immigrant with startling green eyes and shimmering red hair, thought it was only logical that the twins grow up with their big sisters, Jamie and Krystal, and all the aunts and uncles and cousins in their big, extended family.
When the twins were about 16 months old, Mukai Mazzei got half her wish. Ronald was healthy enough to come home. Ryan wasn’t.
Ryan had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, asthma and other maladies, according to court records.
His motor skills and speech were impaired. He was prone to seizures. He required care 24/7, much more specialized care than Mukai Mazzei could give, officials told her. Mukai Mazzei told social workers that she’d be happy to learn whatever skills were necessary. But Ryan was placed in one specialized foster home after another for the first few years of his life – care that cost the county some $5,000 per month. At the time, the state would only provide such financial support to foster care and institutional programs, not to families of patients.
Mukai Mazzei, Ronald and the sisters visited Ryan weekly and often took him home for overnight visits. Ronald’s bedroom was yellow, brimming with books and toys, and optimistically furnished with two beds – one for each twin. “We used to play, go to the beach, sing songs and watch the trains pass in San Clemente,” sister Jamie Moore said in court documents. “I always remembered how Ryan loved the train … he would smile, point and say, ‘CHOO CHOO!’”
The bond between the brothers was obvious, Jamie said. “Sometimes they would just go on and on, mimicking each other and laughing, that they forgot anyone else was even there.”
Family members never gave up hope they’d bring Ryan home for good. Then, as the twins approached their fourth birthday, Ryan was transferred to a foster home in the Tustin foothills that catered to severely disabled children. Most could not walk or speak. Mukai Mazzei worried Ryan would become isolated and lonely, living with children so much more disabled than he.
“Who will he play with?” Mukai Mazzei wondered.
‘IF I SHOULD DIE BEFORE I WAKE’
The Tustin foster home was run by Michelle Morris, who’d worked in the past for Los Angeles County as an adoption social worker. She’d also written “If I Should Die Before I Wake,” a disturbing 1982 novel about father-daughter incest. It was based on a friend’s experience, she said, and she hoped to raise awareness about sexual abuse.
The book evolved into an off-Broadway play, and Morris became a regular at benefits for abused children, she told the Register more than a decade ago. At a Costa Mesa home for medically fragile children, she met a lanky 7-year-old with cerebral palsy who stole her heart. Learning to love the child taught Morris a great deal: “If you’re a religious person … you feel closer to God,” she told the Los Angeles Times in 1992. “These children call out the best in us.”
Morris declined to be interviewed for this story. But in a 2004 interview with the Register, she said that as disabled children in foster care grow up, they’re often moved to different homes. “You need a home all your life, not just when you’re little and cute,” she said.
Morris and her husband, Larry Kerin, formed the Lifeplan Children’s Services nonprofit in the 1990s and opened the Michelle Morris Family Home for disabled children. She was licensed by the state to care for six severely disabled children. The beds filled up quickly.
“Clean, good condition,” concluded the first annual review conducted by the Orange County Regional Center, a quasi-governmental organization that contracts with the state to provide services for the disabled. “Pass with flying colors. Additional staff are on board to provide services above and beyond the call of duty. Good job!”
Some parents who placed disabled children in Morris and Kerin’s home praised the couple as a godsend, saying they finally had peace of mind that their children were being well cared-for.
But there were complaints, too, ranging from neglect and lack of supervision to improper record-keeping, according to state records. In 1997 – the year that Ryan arrived – state investigators said Morris’ husband left a 9-year-old, nonverbal child at a Social Services office in frustration after the state failed to pay for the child’s care for two consecutive months. Kerin apologized, according to state records, but regulators declared his presence “a threat to the health and safety” of the children.
He was forbidden to enter Morris’ foster home. No charges were filed, and he was later granted permission to return.
ADOPTED
Ryan’s grandmother and Morris quickly clashed. Mukai Mazzei feared Ryan wasn’t getting enough positive role models in a home with such severely disabled children. She felt Morris was motivated by the $5,000 a month she received for his care, and that Morris overstated Ryan’s problems to get more money, according to court documents filed in 2000 by Mukai Mazzei as part of the custody fight over Ryan.
Morris argued that Mukai Mazzei was in denial about Ryan’s disabilities and didn’t supervise him adequately when he spent nights at Mukai Mazzei’s house. Morris also alleged that Mukai Mazzei didn’t follow Ryan’s medical regimen correctly and that he would return to Morris’ foster home with scrapes and bruises. Visits with his siblings overstimulated him and made him prone to dangerous seizures, Morris said in court documents.
Mukai Mazzei said that scrapes and bruises happen when children are finally free to run and play, but officials concluded that she was in denial about the severity of Ryan’s disabilities. The biological family’s visits with Ryan were curtailed. When Ryan was 5, Morris declared her intention to adopt him, prompting an all-out war over the little boy with the wire-rim glasses.
“There are so many children out there that need a loving home, why are you going to steal a child from a family that wants him, especially a twin?” asked the twins’ aunt, Monica Mukai.
Generally, the law awards custody to family members, but not when a child has been in long-term foster care. Then, the burden is on the biological family to prove that the foster placement – the stable thing in his life – is harmful.
In Juvenile Court, county social workers again sided with Morris. Grandmother Mukai didn’t have an adequate understanding of Ryan’s special needs and couldn’t provide the level of one-on-one, 24-hour supervision that Morris could, a social worker’s report said. Ryan also had forged a strong bond with Morris and made great developmental strides in her care, Morris’ attorney argued – progress that would be jeopardized if Ryan went to his biological family.
“They said I did it for the money,” Morris told the Register at the time. “That’s a joke. I did it because we love him.”
The adoption was finalized in 2002. Ryan’s biological family had visitation rights as long as it was in Ryan’s best interest.
Morris concluded it wasn’t, claiming Ryan’s biological relatives were trying to turn him against his adoptive family. Communication ceased.
“I was not even allowed to say goodbye,” Mukai Mazzei said. “To him, Grandma just disappeared.”
The twins were 8 that first Christmas after the adoption, when Ronald wrote a letter to Ryan that was turned away by Morris, according to the grandmother. Two smiling stick figures stood tall on a hill.
“I miss you,” the letter said. “I would like to see you again. I love you. We are brothers forever and ever.”
Ronald did not see Ryan again until 2015, after their 22nd birthday. Ronald would be surprised to learn he had a brother-in-law.
Full Article & Source:
Part 1: Twins, divided: Is one man happily married or a victim of sexual abuse?
Part 2: Twins, divided: Confusion, concern and ‘I do’
Video shows two grooms in matching gray tuxedos with white roses on their lapels. They clasped hands beneath a white gazebo festooned with white bunting on that warm fall afternoon in 2014.
“With this ring, I take you as my husband, for as long as we both shall live,” said Sean Spicer, in response to prompts from officiator Susan Bird-Santo, one of Ryan Morris’ legal guardians at the time.
The other groom, Ryan, who state evaluators have concluded has the intellectual capacity of a kindergartener, mumbled and made noises, then stared silently at his hand as Spicer slipped a ring on his finger. Bird-Santo then asked Ryan to repeat the wedding vows.
Ryan hesitated. “I’ve never done this before,” he said in a thick, quiet voice.
“Well, I know,” Bird-Santo said. “Hopefully it’s the last time you’ll do it. … Do you want to just put the ring on Sean’s finger? Are you promising to be his husband forever and love him no matter what?
Until you’re not alive anymore, until you die and even after that probably? Yeah?”
There was some confusion.
“Baptize in the name of Jesus,” Ryan said.
“It’s not a baptism,” Spicer said. “It’s a wedding.”
There was laughter, and Bird-Santo coached Ryan again.
“If you want to take Sean as your husband for the rest of your life, you need to give a symbol so he’ll know that, and he’ll remember it, like you have this ring on your hand,” she said. “So, now you put that ring on his hand.”
Ryan concentrated, trying his best, but the ring wouldn’t slip over Spicer’s knuckle. “It’s hard to get on – push it on there,” Bird-Santo said.
Finally, the ring slid onto Spicer’s finger.
Ryan Morris, 20, and Sean Spicer, 38, were married.
SEPARATION
Ryan’s identical twin brother, Ronald Moore, and their biological family, did not know the wedding took place until four months later.
They had been kept at a distance by Ryan’s adoptive mother for most of Ryan’s life. Ronald only saw the wedding video after the fact. Ryan’s apparent confusion – which Spicer later said was just Ryan joking around – alarmed his blood relatives, and the video later would become a cornerstone of their challenge to oust Ryan’s legal guardian.
Their battle to be part of Ryan’s life had been long and bitter. The twins were taken from their troubled parents shortly after birth in 1994. Ronald — who is not mentally or physically challenged — was allowed to go home with his grandmother, but officials kept Ryan in specialized foster care homes, despite his biological family’s objections. Such homes could better deal with Ryan’s many disabilities, officials said.
When Ryan was an infant, the payment for his day-to-day care – a state-funded stipend of $5,000 a month – could, by law, go to a licensed foster home but not to his relatives. By the time those restrictions were lifted, about six years later, state officials said Ryan had formed a bond with his foster mother and would be harmed if that bond was broken. His grandmother fought for custody, but in 2002 Ryan’s foster mother, Michelle Morris, legally adopted the boy.
Morris cut off contact soon after, saying in court filings and Register interviews at the time that Ryan’s blood relatives didn’t accept his disabilities and were trying to undermine his adoptive family.
His sisters and brother and aunts and grandmother sent Ryan Christmas presents, birthday presents, letters declaring their love and sorrow – but the offerings were never accepted and turned away, his grandmother said.
Until a hearing in a Temecula court, in 2015, the identical twins hadn’t seen each other since they were 8 years old.
PAPER WINDOW
For many years, Ryan’s biological family could only glimpse into his life by reading the public files kept on Morris’ foster home. They watched from afar, and worried.
Between 1998 and 2003, while Ryan was living with Morris, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department received five calls involving reports of possible child abuse, rape, sex crimes and lewd conduct at Morris’ home, then in the Tustin foothills, according to call logs. State records showed that in May 2001, a male staff member was allegedly found naked in bed with a female child.
The Sheriff’s Department investigated the allegations, but made no arrests, officials said.
During the same time frame, the Orange County Regional Center – the quasi-public agency that funds services for the disabled with public dollars – also voiced serious concerns about “the quality of care and health and safety of the consumers residing at the Michelle Morris Home,” according to documents provided to the Register.
Morris denied there were any serious problems. She also fought back, suing the center and accusing officials there of slander, defamation and violations of child-abuse reporting laws. Officials wrongly accused Morris of suffering from “Munchhausen-By-Proxy” – a behavior disorder where caretakers exaggerate children’s health problems to gain attention and sympathy – and of subjecting children to unnecessary or inappropriate medical treatment, among other things, Morris’ suit said.
Lawyers for the Regional Center called her suit “convoluted.” But the agency’s insurer ultimately agreed to settle the case and pay Morris $750,000, with no admission of wrongdoing, rather than face a jury trial where disabled children could take the stand. At the time, Morris’ comment was simple: “We are being persecuted.”
Morris also clashed with the Tustin Unified School District, accusing employees there of harassment and abuse in court paperwork. She staged sit-ins, claimed the district “baby-sits” children with special needs, and subsequently opened a state-funded school in her home run by her husband, Larry Kerin.
The state revoked the school’s license three years later. Kerin was “not found fully competent or credible,” administrative law judge Jaime René Román wrote in 2007. Kerin was manipulative, blamed others for the school’s deficiencies and did not shy from threats of litigation to compel others’ actions, Román wrote.
Morris and Kerin had passionate defenders.
Hogan Hilling, an author and father’s rights advocate in Orange who placed his severely disabled son in their care, called them saints and said he would trust them with his life. An administrative law judge overseeing the placement of a teen accused of physical violence and sexually molesting children praised Morris for exemplary service to the disabled.
Ryan’s blood family fumed. Adopting disabled children had become part of the business model for Morris, they argued, claiming that each time Morris adopted one of her foster-care children she opened an additional foster bed as a source of new revenue. That process, they said, essentially doubled her payments from the state, as she received adoption assistance for her legal children in addition to foster-care payments for her foster children.
At its height, Morris had 10 children in her home, with payments of some $50,000 per month for their care, records show.
Morris at that time told the Register she was sick of the harassment in Orange County. She moved her foster home to Murrieta in Riverside County in 2007.
Ryan’s biological family was crushed.
“My only hope is God,” his grandmother Tamara Mukai Mazzei said that year. “I question him. ‘How can this happen?’
“But I should not start questioning God.”
‘MY BOYFRIEND’
The new $1.57-million, 7,000-square-foot Murrieta house was twice as big as the one in Tustin and sat on more than four acres of scrubby hills. Ryan shared a room with his adoptive brother. There he grew from an awkward ’tween to a young man.
In San Clemente, surrounded by a bustling extended family, Ryan’s identical twin, Ronald, also grew up, missing his brother. “Mentally, emotionally and spiritually – his absence affects me,” Ronald said by email. “Not having contact with him and getting the opportunity to know him affects me. It’s a constant enigma – it’s emotionally walking in the dark.”
Did Ryan feel Ronald’s absence as acutely – or at all? Those were among the questions haunting his biological family.
While Ronald was learning to drive, practicing martial arts and graduating from high school in San Clemente, Ryan was becoming a regular at the Corona house of Morris’ brother, Gregory Morris. It was there that Ryan, then 17, met Sean Spicer, who was 35.
Spicer was the ex-boyfriend of a man who rented a room from Gregory Morris. Spicer installed and serviced automatic doors for a Riverside firm, and stopped by Morris’ place when he had jobs nearby. His email address invoked a Bible verse that speaks to appreciating what you have: “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” A graduate of Riverside’s Ramona High School, Spicer seemed to acquaintances to be warm and self-deprecating, joking about taking college classes and computer courses he didn’t understand.
Ryan was soon smitten.
The relationship was Ryan’s idea, not his, Spicer said in a sworn deposition taken as part of the legal guardian battle.
“I was actually one of the last people to find out. … I told Ryan, ‘Not until you’re 18, kid.’ Those were my specific words. My thought there was, first of all, let’s keep this legal; 17 (and) 35 is illegal on so many levels.”
Ryan, however, was impatient, constantly asking, “‘How many days until I turn 18? That’s when I can have my boyfriend,’” Spicer said.
Two important things happened in early 2012.
While the state’s legal responsibility for young Ryan ended when Morris became his legal mother, the state returned to the picture when he turned 18. When disabled children become disabled adults deemed unable to make major decisions about such things as finance and health care, the court appoints conservators to make those decisions for them. In Ryan’s case, Michelle Morris, his mother, and her brother Gregory, stepped into the role of “co-conservators,” and were granted all the powers a parent has over a child: where Ryan would live, what medical treatments he would receive, and whether he could have intimate relationships. His biological family wasn’t notified about conservatorship proceedings, according to court records.
After Ryan reached legal adulthood, Michelle and Gregory Morris allowed Ryan and Spicer to start dating. Spicer was Ryan’s first and only boyfriend, Spicer said at his deposition, and it was Ryan who decided they should get married.
“I only agreed to it after several times of meetings with his teachers and everybody to make sure that – teachers, therapists, parents – to make sure that he understood exactly what we were getting into,” Spicer said.
Asked if he believed Ryan had the capacity to consent to marriage even though his cognitive skills are akin to a kindergartener’s, Spicer said, “Yes, because Ryan knows who he loves.”
An investigator from the Riverside County Public Guardian’s office, however, wasn’t so sure Ryan knew what he was getting into.
Full Article & Source:
Part 2: Twins, divided: Confusion, concern and ‘I do’
Part 3: Twins, divided: Brothers will see each other in court
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| Ronald Moore & Ryan Morris |
In her arms were gifts for her grandson, Ryan Morris. He was turning 21 and Mukai Mazzei brought a new winter jacket and several slick new shirts. As she walked the drive that day, in 2015, Mukai Mazzei hadn’t been allowed to see Ryan for nearly 13 years, but she still knew which sizes he wore: After all, she had raised Ryan’s identical twin brother, Ronald, since he was a baby.
Mukai Mazzei had fought bitterly for the right to raise Ryan as well, but the state separated the identical twins and allowed Morris, a foster care provider and former social worker, to adopt Ryan.
Through years of court battles, Morris painted Mukai Mazzei as a bit off, saying she refused to acknowledge her grandson’s disabilities, wanted to take him off his medications, didn’t watch him properly.
All untrue, said Mukai Mazzei. She still can’t fathom how the state could take Ryan away, how Morris could refuse to let Ryan’s biological family see him, talk to him or even give him a birthday present for 13 years.
Mukai Mazzei had never been this close to Morris’ Murrieta house, a sprawling 7,000-square foot building on more than 4 hilly acres. It’s Morris’ home and her business, where she operates a state-licensed foster care facility for disabled children. She is licensed to care for five foster children, and she is legally the parent of five adopted disabled children of her own.
Morris’ husband, Larry Kerin, came to the door, Mukai Mazzei said.
She demanded to see Ryan.
Kerin told her to leave, or he’d call the police, she said.
Words were exchanged, but it ended the way her efforts to connect with Ryan usually did: Mukai Mazzei left in tears, still clutching the gifts she hoped to give her grandson.
Through her attorney, Morris declined to comment for this story, citing “multiple and complex” privacy concerns and pending litigation. In court documents and past interviews with the Register, Morris said she eliminated visits with Ryan’s biological relatives because the encounters left him agitated and prone to dangerous seizures.
AN OPENING
After Mukai Mazzei’s abortive visit to Morris’ home, the biological family began researching Ryan’s status now that he was a legal adult. They learned California law provides court-appointed conservatorships, or legal guardianships, to protect disabled adults. Those guardianships are reviewed every two years by a judge.
Michelle Morris and her brother Gregory were appointed Ryan’s conservators when he turned 18.
Morris later asked the court to remove her brother and replace him with a long-time caregiver in her home, Susan Bird-Santo. Ryan’s biological family decided to challenge Ryan’s conservatorship in court in 2015. When they approached Gregory Morris, hoping to secure a statement for their case, they learned Ryan was married and living with his husband, Sean Spicer, in a double-wide mobile home in Romoland, in Riverside County between Perris and Menifee.
News of the marriage stunned Ryan’s biological relatives. Court-ordered assessments of Ryan described him as having the intellectual capacity of a kindergartener and the verbal abilities of a 4-year-old. He was unable to think abstractly, manage money or give informed medical consent. He struggled to keep track of the day, date, season or year, and understand where he was, or why he was there. He was also “substantially unable” to resist fraud or undue influence, the assessments said
.
And yet he was legally married.
Ryan’s biological relatives reached out to Spicer and welcomed him to the family. Spicer received them warmly, and said he was open to having them in Ryan’s life.
But that decision belonged to Ryan’s conservators, Michelle Morris and Bird-Santo.
IN-LAWS
Spicer’s own relationship with Morris was complicated. She was both his employer and, legally, his mother-in-law.
Spicer met Ryan years earlier, through Morris’ brother Gregory, and they started dating after Ryan’s 18th birthday, according to court documents. At times, Morris forbade them from seeing one another. But she also hired Spicer in the summer of 2014 to help care for the disabled residents in her home, Spicer said in a deposition for the conservator battle. She approved of their union, and hosted their wedding in her yard, Spicer said.
But just months into the marriage, Morris accused Spicer of being emotionally unstable, Spicer said in the deposition. Tensions increased when Ronald Moore, Ryan’s identical twin, filed a legal petition in March 2015 seeking to oust Morris and Bird-Santo as Ryan’s legal guardians, and appoint Spicer instead. Morris objected, arguing that conservatorship was not the proper role for a spouse, Spicer said in the deposition.
Ryan confronted Morris, saying he wanted Spicer to be his conservator, according to Spicer.
In July 2015, Ryan for the first time attended a court hearing on his conservatorship at the Temecula courthouse. Ryan’s biological family descended en masse: They hadn’t seen Ryan, now 21, since he was 8.
In court, the judge asked Ryan what he wanted. Ryan said he wanted Spicer as his conservator, and to visit his twin brother. Ryan could visit with whomever he wished, the judge said.
Afterward, his biological relatives poured into the courtyard, weeping, laughing and swarming around Ryan. “I was waiting for this day for so long, bello,” Maukai Mazzei said, stroking Ryan’s cheek. “We didn’t even see a picture of you.”
Morris and Bird-Santo resigned as conservators in the fall of 2015 and were replaced by Spicer. Ryan’s biological relatives felt he was finally free, and they were eager to rekindle a relationship with him.
LOST TIME
Initially, Spicer wanted Ryan’s biological family to be part of their lives. They “all seem like kind, loving people that care about Ryan and myself,” Spicer wrote in an email that became an exhibit at his deposition. “They are supportive of our marriage and are happy that he has found someone to spend forever with.”
The family visited Ryan and Spicer in Romoland. Ryan and Spicer made overnight trips to visit the family in San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente. They traded frequent phone calls. Ryan took to chanting his brother’s name over and over, according to the deposition.
Ryan’s relatives soon grew concerned. Ryan struggled with basic self-care tasks, such as buttoning his shirt and brushing his teeth. He had bouts of violence and didn’t seem to grasp social boundaries, sometimes touching people inappropriately, according to court paperwork. Ryan said he had been sexually abused as a child, Spicer said at his deposition, allegedly involving a man working the night shift in Morris’ home. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department investigated the allegations, but no arrests were made.
The biological family wanted to do more for Ryan, including paying for specialized therapy and training. They worried about Spicer’s emphasis on gaining Ryan’s compliance by withholding electronics or visits with his relatives when he acted out. They argued that Ryan is allowed to see who he wants, without needing permission from Spicer or Spicer’s parents, who lived together in the Romoland mobile home.
Spicer countered that Ryan’s biological relatives had become domineering and difficult.
A NEW SPLIT
“Sean is breaking down here,” Spicer’s mother, Theresa Spicer, said in recorded voice messages left for Ryan’s aunt in December 2015, entered as exhibits at Spicer’s deposition. “He feels you’re giving him absolutely no control over Ryan’s life…. If Sean divorces Ryan, he’s taking him back to Michelle. And if he does that, you’re never going to see him again, you know that.”
Ryan was treated well, she said. When he misbehaved, he was simply grounded for a couple days, “like you would with a normal kid.”
Visits and communication essentially ceased. Last March, Ryan’s brother, Ronald, filed a new court petition, this time seeking to remove Spicer as conservator.
Ryan did not have the capacity to enter into a marriage, the petition argues, “as demonstrated by their wedding video, which clearly shows that Ryan was coaxed into marrying the Conservator and did not understand what was happening at the wedding ceremony, thinking instead that it was a baptism.”
Based on this “obvious lack of informed consent,” as well as the fact that Spicer was nearly two decades older, the petition says, Ryan’s family “has grave concerns that the Conservator may be sexually abusing and controlling him.”
“Do you believe this is a matter of mutual understanding, adult love?” Spicer was asked at his deposition.
“Yes,” Spicer said.
“Although his cognition is significantly less than a 22-year-old, you don’t see it as a matter of sexual opportunism?”
“No,” Spicer said. “Ryan is the one that initiates sexual contact. Ryan knows what he wants in that regard.”
Ryan’s court-appointed attorney said that Ryan objects to his family members being appointed as his conservators, and is angry and resentful over the litigation. He believes his family’s efforts “are designed to break up his marriage…against his express wishes, and serves as heavy-handed harassment against his life partner,” Ryan’s attorney said in court papers.
Spicer did not respond to requests to be interviewed for this story, and Ryan’s attorney declined to make him available for comment.
Spicer entered a new line of work in 2016: long-distance trucking. He was on the road for weeks at a stretch – about 25 days of every 30 – and Ryan went with him, according to the deposition.
His biological family worried Ryan was no longer receiving regular education or therapy services, instead spending long days and nights inside a big rig cab. Was that what he wanted?
Spicer argued Ryan was better off, getting to see America, rather than attending repetitive and dull work programs for the disabled.
But the conflict took its toll: Fearing big legal bills, Spicer resigned as Ryan’s conservator in August, then rescinded that resignation days later, according to court documents.
NEUTRAL EYES
The arguments have piled up for months in the conservatorship battle in Riverside County probate court. A judge ordered the Riverside Public Guardian’s office – the county agency charged with handling the affairs of people who can’t care for themselves – to evaluate Ryan’s situation and report back on whether the state should take over as his conservator.
Investigator Barbara J. Burkhart visited with Ryan and Spicer at the Romoland mobile home. A lock and chain secured the front gate, and she was greeted by several barking dogs. “Initial impression of the property was that it was cluttered with junk and neglected,” Burkhart wrote in a report reviewed by the Register. “The home had minor housekeeping concerns, but overall unremarkable.”
Ryan was alert to his name and partial birthdate, Burkhart wrote, but had difficulty holding his head upright, recalling his address, knowing the date. He rocked back and forth and had “severe difficulty” answering complex questions requiring critical thinking, the report said. He said he liked where he lived, and did not like court hearings. Sean Spicer’s parents, Theresa and Frank Spicer, appeared to have genuine concern for Ryan, “but their knowledge of the needs of persons with intellectual disabilities appears limited. Mrs. Spicer also stated that since Ryan hit her, she no longer will do things for him.”
The Spicers said that Ryan’s aunt, Monica Mukai, wanted to gain conservatorship because she doesn’t feel Ryan is gay, wants to break up the marriage and take Ryan off his medications.
Burkhart asked who was involved in the marriage decision. Spicer said marriage was Ryan’s idea, and was approved by his mother Morris, and by Ryan’s therapist.
Burkhart tried three times to schedule a follow-up visit with Ryan to ask more questions. Her calls were not returned, the report says.
Then Burkhart visited with the relatives seeking to become Ryan’s conservators: twin Ronald and his two aunts. They met at aunt Monica Mukai’s cottage on San Juan Capistrano’s historic Los Rios Street. “The tree-lined street is filled with boutique shops and restaurants,” Burkhart wrote. “The area was bustling with community activities and tourists. The home was clean, nicely decorated with antiques and furnishings.”
The family expressed concern for Ryan’s overall health and welfare, but “at no time whatsoever did they express a desire to break up the marriage of Ryan and Sean Spicer, nor did they desire to discontinue Ryan’s medications.”
The family felt that Spicer, at first, appeared to have Ryan’s best interest at heart, but their concerns over Spicer’s mental stability grew. They felt Spicer became upset when he saw Ryan enjoying his family so much, Burkhart wrote. Ronald said he desperately wants to spend time with Ryan, and feels he can provide him with opportunities and the quality of life he deserves, her report says.
Then the family played the two-minute clip of Ryan and Spicer’s wedding video. “(I)t was evident that Ryan Morris had no comprehension of the marriage ceremony and what he was really getting himself into,” Burkhart wrote.
Ryan lacks the ability to manage his person and estate or resist fraud and undue influence, and “it was a concern that Ryan Morris contracted into a marriage of which he did not have the capacity, nor awareness of his contract,” Burkhart wrote. Ryan spent weeks at a time on a long-distance truck driver schedule, was not enrolled in school, provided “optimum healthcare services,” or activities compelling him to academic growth, she added.
“His family members are requesting an opportunity to provide the stability and resources which they feel Ryan needs and deserves. Family members Ronald Moore, Monica Mukai and Olivia Mukai-Lechner appear to be a genuinely viable alternative” to naming the Riverside County Public Guardian as Ryan’s conservator, Burkhart concluded.
This week, the tangled, emotional odyssey over what’s best for Ryan, and who should be trusted to ensure his welfare, reaches key legal juncture.
After a year of preliminary proceedings, a trial on the biological family’s petition to have blood relatives named as Ryan’s conservators is scheduled to begin Thursday, March 16. A newly assigned judge, Thomas Cahraman, will hear evidence in Department 8 of Riverside Superior Court and decide whether to preserve the status quo of Ryan’s guardianship or change it – for at least the next two years, until the next court review.
The family will ask the judge to appoint the Public Guardian as Ryan’s conservator while the case is heard. They want an outside set of eyes looking at Ryan’s welfare, they said.
Regardless of the outcome, Ryan’s grandmother, Mukai Mazzei, said she’ll never stop trying to bring Ryan back into her family.
“We have lost too much time.”
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Part 3: Twins, divided: Brothers will see each other in court