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| Jack Meagher says his court-appointed guardian, Rebecca Fierle, doesn't respect his wishes, and he doesn't need someone to make decisions for him. Click to Watch Video |
Attorneys for professional guardian Rebecca Fierle
appeared before Circuit Judge John D. Galluzzo Friday at an emergency
hearing. It was not immediately clear how many cases Fierle resigned
from because the hearing was closed to the public.
Guardians
are court-appointed decision-makers for minor or incapacitated adults,
known as wards. An investigation released by Florida’s Office of Public
and Professional Guardians determined one of Fierle’s wards, 75-year-old Steven Stryker, died
in a Tampa hospital after staff could not perform life-saving
procedures because of a DNR order filed against his wishes by Fierle.
Another
of Fierle’s wards, 73-year-old Jerry Manczak, brought to the Friday
hearing a copy of a DNR order Fierle filed for him at the Sanford
assisted living facility where he resides.
“She never asked me,” Manczak said. “I didn’t know about it until now.”
Manczak
said he used to have a DNR order in place when he still had all his
legal rights, but Fierle had never spoken to him about it or sought
permission to file one with his current facility. Raymond Branch,
Fierle’s attorney in Manczak’s case, said in an email that he was unable
to comment due to attorney-client privilege.
The
18th Judicial Circuit was alerted to the issue after Circuit Judge
Janet C. Thorpe sought to remove Fierle from nearly 100 Orange County
cases.
In
emails to Galluzzo’s office, an attorney with the Office of Criminal
Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel, said the office spoke with all of
Fierle’s wards with cases in Orange County and some were “quite adamant”
about not wanting a DNR.
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| Gerald
Manczak, a ward of Rebecca Fierle, said this "do not resuscitate" order was filed without his permission by the professional guardian. (Monivette Cordeiro / Orlando Sentinel) |
“Many of them did not want a DNR,” wrote attorney Polly McIntyre, according to court records.
Neither
Fierle nor her attorney have responded to multiple requests for
comment. At a July 11 hearing before Thorpe that was also closed to the
public, Fierle resigned from all her cases in Orange and Osceola
counties, according to court minutes.
The
hearing before Galluzzo came as courts across Central Florida are
grappling with how to react to the allegations against Fierle, who had
many active cases across multiple jurisdictions.
Michelle
Kennedy, a spokeswoman for the 18th Judicial Circuit, which includes
Seminole and Brevard counties, had earlier in the week said the courts
there had been “alerted to the allegations” against Fierle, which were
under review.
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According
to the Clerk of Court & Comptroller, Fierle has been appointed as a
guardian in 82 cases in Seminole County, though some are no longer
active. Some wards were the subject of multiple cases, meaning the total
number of wards Fierle managed in Seminole is less than that figure.
Mark
Weinberg, a spokesperson for the 7th Judicial Circuit, said Tuesday
that Fierle had seven active cases in Volusia County, but was in the
process of resigning. All seven cases are due in court later this month
for status updates, he said.
Fierle also had one case in St. Johns County, but was discharged from it in 2015, Weinberg said.
In
Hillsborough County, a courts spokesperson said he had “no way of
knowing” in which cases Fierle was assigned and doesn’t discuss with
judges any actions they “may or may not be considering.”
In
the 6th Circuit, which serves Pasco and Pinellas counties, spokesperson
Stephen Thompson said Fierle was a guardian in two cases. The judge in
those cases, Sherwood Coleman, appointed a court monitor to investigate
both cases and report any findings, Thompson said.
"The judge will schedule further proceedings to enter any orders necessary to protect the wards,” he said.
In
Polk County, a judicial assistant for Circuit Judge John K. Stargel,
who oversees probate and public health cases, said the judge was made
aware of the situation by the Orlando Sentinel asking about it.
“No
motions have been filed on any of the cases at this time,” said the
judicial assistant, Elizabeth Medina. “The Court will be reviewing the
cases and setting status conferences as appropriate for each case.”
Full Article & Source:
Orlando guardian accused of filing unauthorized ‘do not resuscitate’ orders resigns from Seminole cases
See Also:
Guardian filed DNR orders without permission, says judge who seeks her removal from nearly 100 cases
Judge removes professional guardian from nearly 100 cases for alleged violations
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