‘I’m kidnapped.’ Vietnam veteran fighting Michigan guardianship system

By: Heather Catallo , Johnny Sartin

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — Prosecutors have called court-ordered guardianship a superhighway that you can’t exit from and that’s exactly what one Macomb County combat veteran says has happened to him.

Gerald F. Harten says he survived the horrors of the Vietnam War only to now feel like he’s been captured by the enemy decades later. But this time, he says the enemy is Michigan’s guardianship system.

Harten admits he’s fully into his golden years and he’s not quite as physically capable as he once was, but he insists he is not mentally incapacitated. Harten says he wants his voice to be heard by the American court system that he fought for so many years ago.

“This is not right. This is illegally keeping me. Might as well go to jail — at least got more people there to talk to. Get three squares there, they'll give you your medicine. I've been in ‘jail’ for a year. That's the way I feel,” Harten told the 7 Investigators.

The 77-year-old Army veteran’s journey into guardianship started last November after he had back surgery and other health complications.

According to court records, his wife, Mary, had power of attorney to make Harten’s medical decisions, but she was hospitalized at the same time, so she could not care for him.

“I was in a hospital and my boy stepped up to be my overseer of the medicine,” Harten said.

Harten’s son became his legal guardian. When a judge approved that petition for guardianship, Harten was declared legally incapacitated.

“The court says I'm not allowed to go to the bank, take any money out or do anything,” Harten said.

If a judge appoints a guardian and conservator for you, you lose your rights, meaning you can no longer make your own medical or financial decisions, you can’t get married, you can't get divorced or decide where to live.

Harten says his son did a good job taking care of him at his home in Madison Heights after his surgery, but as Harten and as his wife both got better, Harten says he started asking to go back to his own home in Harrison Township.

“I was a millwright by trade. Worked seven days a week for 31 years. And I had everything paid for — my house. I have… three motorcycles, the pool in back, jacuzzi. I was made for my retirement. I'm not allowed to go home,” Harten said. “It’s just been a nightmare.”

Things in court then got messy. According to court records, Harten’s wife tried fighting the guardianship, his son hired a lawyer and there are allegations Harten’s wife ignored court orders and refused to pay for Harten's care. The judge later terminated the wife’s power of attorney over her husband.

In May, the judge put Macomb County professional guardian George Heitmanis in charge of Harten’s life.

Harten says he was furious Heitmanis kept him at his son’s house, even though police records show that the family started feuding so much that officers were called to the home repeatedly last summer.

“I'm kidnapped. I am really kidnapped,” Harten said about his guardianship.

Through their attorney, Harten’s son and his family declined to speak to the 7 Investigators, but police records show they alleged that Harten was often the aggressor during their conflicts.

According to court records, the allegation that Harten has dementia has been used to justify the need for guardianship.

The doctor’s note filed with the court that was used to start the proceedings last fall says Harten was suffering from “likely underlying vascular dementia …”

A report later ordered by the court that was conducted by a gerontologist who also works as a professional guardian states Harten’s “need for a guardian and conservator... has been clearly noted by four different evaluators.” For at least two of those evaluations, court records show Harten was on opioid pain killers, and he alleges those were the cause of his confusion at the time, not dementia.

“Do you think you are mentally deficient,” 7 Investigator Heather Catallo asked.

“No! Just no,” Harten said. “I remember everything.”

Whether he’s been talking to the 7 Investigators or the police, Harten consistently insists he’s not mentally incapacitated and he says to anyone who will listen that he just wants to go home.

“Do you remember the last time we talked,” one officer asked Harten while his body camera was recording back in August.

“I sure do. I don't have dementia,” Harten said.

Harten later told the officer while he was in the back of the police car, “It is a real bad situation. I don't want to be there.”

In the police bodycam footage, as officers moved Harten to the hospital, the video shows him remembering the officer who’s a fellow veteran from past police runs to the house.

“You’re the Army guy,” Harten said.

“Yeah, yeah,” the officer said.

After that exchange with police in August, Harten was evaluated by more neurologists at the hospital, and doctors regularly noted in his records that he was alert and oriented to person, place and time. Doctor’s notes indicate there had not been an “outpatient workup for dementia ...”

In September, Harten arranged his own transportation to get to the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Detroit to meet his regular doctor who wrote a letter saying “... Mr. Harten is competent and able to make his own decisions ...” and that Harten understands “the consequences of his actions.”

“Everybody that I know would say that I'm not crazy,” Harten said.

Harten’s guardian eventually transferred him from the hospital to a group home, which he says he’s not happy about. And other than one hearing on Zoom in July, Harten says he has not been allowed to attend his own court hearings.

“They always get me away from court deals. And that's what made me mad. I said, ‘what? I can't see the judge?” Harten said.

Harten has written two letters to Macomb County Judge Sandra Harrison asking to be heard in court, and his fellow veterans have filled the courtroom to support him even though he says he has yet been allowed to attend in person. Instead, his guardian speaks for him.

“Mr. Harten has significant neurological issues,” Heitmanis said at a September hearing.

Regarding a ward’s attendance at court, “It's not up to their guardian. It's not up to their loved ones. It's not even up to their doctors. Only that person gets to make that call," Michigan Elder Justice Initiative attorney Nicole Shannon said.

Shannon says someone who’s under guardianship has the statutory right to attend key hearings, and she’s helped write new legislation to reinforce that right for anyone facing guardianship.

“This is not just a legal technicality. This is a very substantive, important right that folks need to exercise. And if somebody is prohibited from attending their own hearing, it can have devastating consequences,” Shannon said.

“I am really almost crying out for desperation. I want to go home,” Harten said.

On Tuesday, the 7 Investigators reached out to both Harten’s professional guardian and his court-appointed lawyer. Within hours, a new hearing was scheduled on the court docket to discuss a new petition to terminate the guardianship.

Heitmanis told the 7 Investigators, the court wants Harten to go home as long as it can be made safe.

The hearing to terminate the guardianship will be held in December.

On Thursday, the Michigan state senators are expected to discuss proposed guardianship reforms during a committee hearing. Those reforms include increasing access to court hearings for people under guardianship, and other safeguards.

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‘I’m kidnapped.’ Vietnam veteran fighting Michigan guardianship system