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Former Circuit Judge Martin Colin, his finances in shambles in the fall of 2009, asked an attorney who appeared regularly in front of him to step out from the courtroom into the hall.
There in the corridor, Colin’s wife, Elizabeth “Betsy”
Savitt, waited. The judge then asked lawyer Sheri Hazeltine to represent his
spouse, a tennis instructor who aimed to become a professional guardian — a court-appointed
overseer of the finances, health care and living arrangements of incapacitated
seniors and disabled adults.
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Now nearly a decade later, the state of Florida spells out
in an administrative complaint how Colin, a guardianship judge, was involved in Savitt’s cases. Court records indicate
that his was an invisible hand establishing his wife in the lucrative field.
The Office of Public and Professional Guardians is taking
action against Savitt based on a confidential report by the Palm Beach County
Clerk & Comptroller’s Office.
“While we can’t comment on ongoing litigation, the department
takes seriously its statutory authority to investigate complaints made against
professional guardians,” said Ashley Chambers, communications director for the
Florida Department of Elder Affairs, which oversees the guardianship office.
“Guardians are entrusted with an immense responsibility, and
we will steadfastly pursue disciplinary action – up to and including revocation
of a guardian’s registration – when appropriate. Protecting vulnerable adults
from exploitation or harm is our utmost priority.”
The guardianship office alleges Savitt abused her power as a guardian and violated state
guardianship statutes regarding conflicts of interest because she was married
to Colin and failed to disclose that fact. She is also accused of failing
to act in good faith and behaving in a manner contrary to her
wards’ best interests.
Savitt continues to serve on cases in which she should have
been disqualified, according to the complaint.
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Colin is not the only judge the state says Savitt had a conflict with: Judge David French, who oversaw many of Savitt’s cases, went on vacation with her at least once.
The state is asking an administrative law judge to impose
sanctions on Savitt. Those penalties could include suspending or revoking her
guardianship registration and ordering her to pay restitution. The complaint
notes Savitt has earned $190,000 in fees in at least 13 cases in Palm Beach
County.
Guardians cannot practice in Palm Beach County without being
registered with the state, according to an order issued by the chief judge in
the wake of a 2016 Palm Beach Post investigation involving Colin and
Savitt, Guardianships: A Broken Trust.
A three-day hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in West Palm
Beach.
The action against Savitt is the first of its kind against
any guardian by the guardianship office, which was bestowed new regulatory
powers by the Florida Legislature in 2016 after an avalanche of complaints
about predatory guardians statewide.
The guardian office points to two of Savitt’s earliest
guardianships in which Colin appointed Hazeltine as an attorney for another party
and then Hazeltine’s actions paved the way for his wife to become a guardian or
guardian advocate for a disabled adult. The state accuses Colin of improperly
transferring cases to fellow jurists, avoiding random assignments by the
clerk’s office.
In the case of a developmentally disabled woman, Carol
Dobrzynski, now 75, Colin never entered an order of transfer and therefore was presiding when his wife was appointed, the complaint says.
The clerk formally reassigned the case, involving a $290,000 trust, nearly four years later.
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The Post found another judge’s signature appeared on key orders in one of Savitt’s cases over the printed name of Judge Colin. Savitt tapped the joint account of the senior ward and his wife for $18,000 and overdrew it, leaving his widow complaining to the court to no avail, court documents show.
In another case, Colin appointed Hazeltine, positioning
Savitt to take over a guardianship attached to a trust worth about $680,000.
Judge French approved at least four petitions for Savitt in
which she had taken retainers from the life savings of her incapacitated wards
without prior court approval and before doing any work, the complaint states.
According to a motion by the state, Savitt said in her deposition that she went on vacation with
French, but Savitt’s attorney Ellen Morris denied in court papers that Savitt
ever went on vacation with French.
The Post previously reported that French’s second ex-wife,
Christine Connelly, said she and Judge French were friends with Colin and Savitt.
The two couples had planned a cruise vacation, but it fell through when Colin
didn’t have his passport.
Colin and French also often lunched together when both were
on the bench in south county.
But French wasn’t the only one signing Savitt orders. The
guardianship office’s complaint claims Colin signed orders in cases where
Savitt was appointed as either a professional guardian or guardian advocate.
Colin denies conflict
Colin in 2015 told The Post he never presided over cases
involving his wife. He also denied any conflict of interest in granting fee
requests for attorneys who represented his wife and appeared in front of him in
other cases.
Colin, though, recused himself from 115 cases that involved his wife’s
lawyers in the last six months of 2015 after The Post started asking questions
in its investigation. And the complaint uses the term “conflict of interest”
more than 30 times.
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“There definitely came a time when Judge Blanc became aware
of this issue,” Marx said.
Blanc said in his recollection Colin came to him to say
Savitt would be a professional guardian. Blanc advised Colin to be sure his
wife didn’t appear in front of him and that it would be up to other judges if
they would recuse themselves or not from her cases.
Husband, wife communications
How extraordinary is this first-ever hearing on a professional
guardian? Consider the wrestling match between the two sides prior to the
hearing.
The guardian office asked for all communications Savitt had
with her husband, Judge Colin, about the cases in question. It also
sought from Savitt any communications and “photographs or video
recordings” where Savitt is seen with current or former judges outside her work
as a guardian.
As for the pillow talk, Morris, claimed spousal privilege for the upcoming proceeding to
keep such communications secret — even though claiming that privilege would appear
to support the state’s point that it was an inherent conflict of interest.
Morris’ response to the initial complaint asked the guardianship office to
admit that there is “no law which requires a guardian to disclose a marriage to
a judge who is not presiding over any of the guardian’s cases.” She also asked
that the guardianship office admit that the orders Colin signed in Savitt’s
cases were only “perfunctory.”
The guardianship office responded that Colin signed two
mandatory annual plans for guardianships submitted by Savitt and denied that
they were routine.
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Morris said in a court document that Savitt’s actions were not within the purview of the state guardianship office since it wasn’t established by law until March 2016. She challenges the clerk’s authority to determine how judges transfer cases and holds fast to her position that Savitt had every right to take retainers before doing any work.
“There are many court documents which disprove the
allegations in the complaint,” Morris writes in Savitt’s objection.
Morris adamantly objected in a motion to the use of the
clerk’s confidential report during the hearing, dismissing the report, saying
it “contains hearsay … statements and conclusions that are
highly objectionable throughout.” The administrative law judge, Mary Li Creasy,
late Friday denied the motion.
Colin, Savitt and Hazeltine are listed as witnesses for the
upcoming hearing. So is Anthony Palmieri, deputy inspector general for the
clerk’s office.
Morris has defended Savitt as families repeatedly have
alleged the guardian puts her and her attorneys’ own monetary wants above
caring for the needs of their loved ones. The accusations from families include missingmoney, overbilling and unnecessary litigation to generate
fees. No court has found Savitt responsible for any missing money or that she
engaged in unnecessary litigation to generate fees.
Post asked 'to defer writing'
Savitt did not return a phone call or email, but in the
past, dismissed The Post’s stories about her as “fake news.”
Colin said the allegations in the complaint lack merit but
said he felt commenting on the allegations was inappropriate with the pending
hearing.
“The Post was requested to defer writing a story on mere
allegations against Ms. Savitt until the final hearing when all sides will be
heard and the judge will make a decision,” Colin said in an email.
“Regrettably, the Post said it was declining to wait, stating that the reporter
was instructed to write the story before the hearing would be held. That is
unfortunate but not surprising.”
After the publication of The Post’s initial investigation,
Colin was moved out of the guardianship division. He later announced his
retirement. All of Savitt’s cases were moved to the north county courthouse and
the south county judges, including French, were directed to recuse themselves
from Savitt’s cases. French also was moved to another division and has
announced his retirement as of the end of this year.
Palm Beach County then adopted new requirements for
guardians that addressed the problems highlighted by Savitt’s behavior — such
as taking thousands of dollars as “retainers” from the life savings of her
elderly wards without prior court approval.
Savitt’s reign as a guardian started when Colin approached
Hazeltine in the hallway of the South County Courthouse in 2009.
“I was leaving the courtroom and he hopped off the bench and
asked me to meet him in the hallway outside the courtroom,” Hazeltine recalled.
“His wife was there and he asked me to sit down with him and her in a side
conference room, just outside the courtroom. He introduced me to her and then
asked if I would represent her in guardianship cases. That is how it began.”
At the time, the judge’s finances were marked by foreclosures, liens
and unpaid debt. Colin even borrowed money repeatedly from a wealthy client —
Helen Rosburg Rich, heir to the Wrigley gum fortune — from his days as a
divorce attorney, records show.
Rich said she initiallty balked at one $20,000 request, and
the judge threw a “diaper baby fit.” Securing the loan for Colin from Rich was
his former law partner, Kirk Friedland, who was to net more than $500,000 fees
in a probate case where he was appointed by Colin as a “neutral fiduciary”
between warring heirs of the founder of the Wet ‘n’ Wild cosmetic line. In
2008, the IRS placed liens on Colin for about $67,000 in unpaid income taxes.
Another judge's signature
A look at Savitt’s early cases by The Post indicates Colin’s
role in steering guardianships to his wife.
Irving Stone, 83, of Boynton Beach suffered from Alzheimer’s
disease and was alive for only eight days during the guardianship, court
documents show.
Colin appointed Hazeltine as attorney for Stone on Nov. 30, 2011,
after Stone’s son petitioned to be the guardian. On the emergency temporary
guardian petition filed two days later, the name of Stone’s son is crossed out and Savitt’s name written
above in pen.
Colin’s name is printed on the order as the judge making the
decision, but the signature is of Circuit Judge James Martz, The Post found
in court documents.
Judge Colin then asked the clerk on Dec. 6 to transfer the case but
makes the transfer effective five days earlier. But by that time, Savitt had
already been appointed and taken the $18,000. Stone died four days later.
Court documents show Savitt received $3,240 in fees for less than two weeks of work as
a guardian. Hazeltine got $4,600. Two other attorneys brought into the case were awarded fees
for nearly $10,000.
The bill of Clifford Hark, who represented Stone’s children,
notes he reviewed a “fax from Judge Colin.” He ended up charging
more than $7,100 and would later refer other guardianships to Savitt.
“Retired Judge Colin never asked me to assist his wife in
establishing herself as a guardian, nor did I ever assist her in establishing
herself as a guardian,” Hark said.
Hazeltine’s bill notes that she was in touch with the
judicial assistant, who instructed her to prepare a notice “so it reflects it is in front of Judge Martz.”
Jean Stone, the spouse for 17 years of the deceased and a
retired school teacher, pushed back on the fees requested by Savitt and the attorneys.
She said the guardian ignored her husband’s living will, which gave her power
of attorney and named her his health care surrogate.
The widow Stone also demanded Savitt return $18,000 taken from a joint bank account,
causing it to be overdrawn.
“This woman belongs in jail. She is just an evil, evil
person,” said Jean Stone, now 87.
The widow said she first heard from Savitt by phone on
Thanksgiving night 2011 — a week before the judge’s wife was appointed. “She
said you better be in court at 8 a.m. or else,” Jean Stone said. “I didn’t know
what to do.”
In her husband’s last days, she said Savitt showed up at her
door with members of Irving Stone’s estranged family and a sheriff’s deputy at
2 a.m. Savitt demanded to take inventory of all the possessions in the home,
but the widow Stone had her husband’s will leaving everything to her and the
deputy would not allow the guardian to enter, she said.
As for the $18,000, Jean Stone said, “I figured that was
lost. There was no way to recoup it.”
She said Savitt treated her — the wife of a dying man —“like
I was that something that crawled out from under a rock. They (Colin and
Savitt) deserve to be punished.”
Another early Savitt guardianship involved Jennifer Keller,
a woman who suffered from schizophrenia and who, according to documents, had a
$680,000 trust after a personal injury settlement that financed her
guardianship.
Keller was 48 when she called Hazeltine in September 2009,
wanting out of an assisted care facility full of elderly people that her
current guardian had placed her in. In addition to her mental illness, Keller
was a diabetic and had to have kidney dialysis. The administrators of the trust
had sought the guardianship after Keller was involuntarily hospitalized and
wasn’t taking care of herself.
It was around the same time Colin had asked Hazeltine to be
his wife’s lawyer.
Colin appointed Hazeltine to represent Keller. Within the
year, Hazeltine was to initiate proceedings to remove Keller’s guardian and
bring in Savitt. The guardianship office’s complaint says Colin entered an
“order of transfer” to Circuit Judge Charles Burton and bypassed a random
assignment by the clerk’s office.
Documents showed that the administrator for Keller’s trust
paid $25,000 a year for the guardianship in 2008.
Other accusations against Savitt in the complaint include
her promise incorporated in a court order that she would serve as a
co-guardian to Wendy Schmid — a 45-year-old mentally disabled woman — without
compensation, only to later submit a petition and be paid $903 from a ward whose income was about $1,000 a
month from Social Security.
Morris in court papers says that Savitt indeed agreed to
take no compensation and received money but denied it’s a violation of the
court’s order. (Continue)
Full Article & Source:
See Also:
Judge in Post series moved from guardianship cases
Chief judge keeps public waiting on details of guardianship shakeup
Guardianships: A Broken Trust: Attorney: "Courts Have Allowed This Culture"
Guardianships: A Broken Trust, 115 Recusals in Six Months
Guardianships: A Broken Trust: Judges Socialized, Planned Trips Together
Chief judge keeps public waiting on details of guardianship shakeup
Guardianships: A Broken Trust: Attorney: "Courts Have Allowed This Culture"
Guardianships: A Broken Trust, 115 Recusals in Six Months
Guardianships: A Broken Trust: Judges Socialized, Planned Trips Together
1 comment:
I am glad to see this evidence come out. We knew, of course, that he did have his hand in his wife's business. They were a team. And I am glad to see this exposed.
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