Freedom

Once a Soldier....ALWAYS a Soldier

Every year, NASGA likes to post this picture for Veterans' Day as we believe it says it all better than any graphic we've ever seen. 

Our elderly Veterans gave their youth to service of our country.  Now they need our country to protect them as they face a new enemy.  This time the enemy is elder and guardianship abuse.

We are delighted to see this wonderful picture memorialized in cake!

Pause today and give thanks to our Veterans!

See Also:
Watch "The Unforgivable Truth" documentary
NASGA: Veterans in Peril The Elder Abuse Reform Now Project (The EARN Project)

To Be a Genius, Think Like a 94-Year Old

In 1946, a 23-year-old Army veteran named John Goodenough headed to the University of Chicago with a dream of studying physics. When he arrived, a professor warned him that he was already too old to succeed in the field.

Recently, Dr. Goodenough recounted that story for me and then laughed uproariously. He ignored the professor’s advice and today, at 94, has just set the tech industry abuzz with his blazing creativity. He and his team at the University of Texas at Austin filed a patent application on a new kind of battery that, if it works as promised, would be so cheap, lightweight and safe that it would revolutionize electric cars and kill off petroleum-fueled vehicles. His announcement has caused a stir, in part, because Dr. Goodenough has done it before. In 1980, at age 57, he coinvented the lithium-ion battery that shrank power into a tiny package.

We tend to assume that creativity wanes with age. But Dr. Goodenough’s story suggests that some people actually become more creative as they grow older. Unfortunately, those late-blooming geniuses have to contend with powerful biases against them.

Full Article and Source:
To Be a Genius, Think Like a 94-Year-Old

FIGHTING B.A.C.K. WITH Sandra Grazzini-Rucki

You have seen her on 20/20 and read the articles now join Sandra as she hosts Fighting B.A.C.K.

On this Episode Sandra welcomes Martin Jack Patterson

Martin Jack Patterson is a former U.S. Army Ranger hear his story about his horrific Journey in the system.

LISTEN to the archive of the show!  Fighting Back With Sandra Grazzini-Rucki

See Also:
Former Army Ranger Claims Forced Guardianship

Tonight on T. S. Radio:  Martin Patterson~Military Veterans are Caught in this Trap

Stunning Reversal in Former Army Ranger's Guardianship Case

Guardian in Controversial Case Tells Court She Has Conflict of Interest

Mysterious Signature Adds Confusion to Patterson Guardianship Case

4 quit after Oklahoma veteran with maggots in wound dies

Owen Reese Peterson

TALIHINA, Okla. – Four staff members have resigned from a southeastern Oklahoma veterans facility rather than face the possibility of getting fired, after a resident was found to have maggots in a wound.

Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs executive director Myles Deering said the maggots were discovered while the patient was alive at the facility in Talihina, about 130 miles southeast of Tulsa. Deering said the maggots were not the cause of his death.

Deering said the veteran came to the center with an infection and died of sepsis, the Tulsa World reported.

The agency said a physician's assistant and three nurses, including the director of nursing, resigned after an investigation was conducted. Spokesman Shane Faulkner said all four chose to resign before the termination process began.

The incident was reported to the Oklahoma State Department of Health and the district attorney for LeFlore and Latimer counties to determine if any charges should be filed.

Raymie Parker identified the late veteran as his father, Owen Reese Peterson. He died Oct. 3 at age 73.

"During the 21 days I was there ... I pled with the medical staff, the senior medical staff, to increase his meds so his bandages could be changed," Parker said. "I was met with a stonewall for much of that time."

Deering said the agency has been considering moving from the nearly 100-year-old facility, because fixing the existing building would take millions of dollars. Sen. Frank Simpson said the facility was also faced with the inability to find and retain staff.

Full Article & Source:
4 quit after Oklahoma veteran with maggots in wound dies

Hundreds of local vets misdiagnosed in Veterans Affairs traumatic brain injury exam mishap

DETROIT (WXYZ) - In a letter, sent to 25,000 vets nationwide, the Department of Veterans Affairs admits traumatic brain injury (TBI) examinations between 2007 and 2015 were mishandled.

They were not conducted by properly qualified neurological and psychiatric specialists, resulting in not only potential misdiagnosis, but disability compensation claims that may have been unfairly denied.
  
"It doesn't surprise me at all," says veteran Kenneth McDonald, who detailed the trouble getting a diagnosis at Detroit's VA. "I knew they weren't gonna recognize it."

The 7 Investigators learning the Detroit region ranks in the top 15 nationwide for those affected - nearly 500 vets (485 to be exact) got the letter.

It has led to lawmakers on Capitol Hill raising questions.

"Do you think sending one letter to veterans about this is enough?," asked U.S Rep. Dina Titus.

For the VA right now, it appears it is.

We don't have numbers on how many of those contacted have actually shown up to get retested. We've also learned, vets have less than 7 months from today to do so and apply for benefits if rediagnosed.

"TBI is caused by trauma to the brain and can be mild or serious," says Rep. Ralph Abraham.

It is the signature injury of the Iraq and Afghanastan wars.

"TBI is also referred to as the invisible disease, because it can be difficult to detect," says Abraham.

Making the proper diagnosis, by the proper doctor, is essential.

If you are a veteran concerned about your original TBI exam, you can call the VA hotline at: 1-800-749-8387.

Full Article & Source:
Hundreds of local vets misdiagnosed in Veterans Affairs traumatic brain injury exam mishap

Senator Kirk Calls On VA Inspector General To Open Investigations Into Mental Health Treatment in Illinois VA Hospitals

Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission Finds Forced Administration Of Medication To Combat Mental Health Illness

WASHINGTON –(ENEWSPF)–July 8, 2016.  U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) today sent a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Inspector General Michael Missal on recent investigations into VA hospitals in Illinois. The Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission found that rights violations were committed against Illinois veterans with disabilities at the Edward Hines Jr. and Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Hospitals. Senator Kirk called on Inspector General Missal to address and investigate reports of forced administration of medication without direct correlation to a veteran’s mental health needs and the issuance of criminal citations for a veteran exhibiting mental health related behavioral symptoms.

“Our veterans, especially those seeking treatment for mental health issues, deserve the best health care available and must be treated with dignity,” said Senator Kirk. “Addressing disturbing reports of violations at VA facilities should remain a top priority for IG Missal and receive immediate attention. Mistreatment of veterans at the VA is unacceptable.”

The full text of the letter is below:

July 8, 2016

The Honorable Michael Missal
Inspector General
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C.  20420

Dear Mr. Missal,

Please find enclosed the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission’s recent investigations into ongoing rights violations committed against Illinois veterans with disabilities at the Edward Hines Jr. and Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Hospitals.

The Commission is particularly concerned with the forced administration of psychotropic medication, sometimes with VA police presence, without adequate cause to a veteran’s mental health needs and the issuance of criminal citations for a veteran exhibiting mental health related behavioral symptoms.  As the Commission explains it, the VA Hospitals use the Illinois Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code (405 ILCS 5/2-107) to involuntarily commit veterans, however, they fail to uphold the same Code’s rights protections for these veterans.

The Guardianship and Advocacy Commission was created to protect the rights and promote the welfare of Illinois disabled citizens.  I am confident you share my concerns over the violations the Commission has investigated and ask that you open an investigation.   Specifically, please focus on the following questions:

1. The report details a complaint where VA police were present during the administration of medication “to hold the patient (sic) down if he refused.”  What is the VA policy regarding the involvement of VA police officers in the administration of treatments with patients?

2. As a federal agency, what is the standard for VA facilities to follow state laws that govern how patients in mental health units must be treated and how medications are administered?  This report suggests that violations of Illinois Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code (405 ILCS 5/2-107) occurred when staff administered forced psychiatric medication to veterans.  Were the rights of the Illinois veterans mentioned in this report violated while in the care of the VA hospitals?  What Illinois and federal laws, as well as VA policies, were overstepped or disobeyed by the VA health care professionals or the VA police officers during the incidents described in the report?

3. This report indicates that staff in the Behavioral Health Unit at Hines VA Hospital “have stated that forced medications are given on an emergency basis at the first sign of agitation.”  The report states that upon investigation in Authority case #14-030-9023, the veteran did not meet the standard for dangerousness before forced medication was administered.  What is the VA policy for administrating emergency medication without veteran consent?  What assessments are employed to determine if/when a veteran is exhibiting dangerous or self-harming behavior requiring emergency medical intervention?  Is there a VA standard for such assessments? What training is VA staff provided to identify these behaviors?

4. This report includes testimony from a VA physician who states “I wouldn’t use emergency medications at all.  But these are trained killers.”   Is this standard VA policy when interacting with veterans with mental illness?

5. This report states that upon investigation in Authority case #15-030-9003, the Jesse Brown VA Hospital inappropriately issued a criminal citation for a veteran who exhibited behaviors related to his documented mental illness.  This report indicates this is a direct violation of protection guaranteed by the Illinois Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code (405 ILCS 4/1 et eq.)  Were the rights of the Illinois veterans mentioned in the report violated while in the care of the VA hospitals?  What Illinois laws or policies were overstepped or disobeyed by the VA health care professionals or the VA police officers during the incidents described in the report?

6. The Commission states that “attempts to resolve the violations at these hospitals have either been unsuccessful or ignored.”  Additionally, this report states that “even after repeated requests the VA has failed to respond to these substantiated findings of rights violations for Illinois veterans with disabilities,” and that the two above mentioned cases were closed and published without any VA response. Why was there no response by the VA to these reports?  What action has the leadership at Hines and Jesse Brown VA hospitals taken to address the Commission’s concerns and recommendations?  Does the VA have a policy in place requiring response to state investigations based on violations against veterans in the VA’s care?

7. There is a reported practice of issuing criminal citations to in-patient veterans with mental illness.  This report indicates that the Commission’s Legal Advocacy Service Program has represented veterans at both Hines and Jesse Brown VA in involuntary commitment and court ordered medication hearings, one of which the veteran could not attend his hearing due to his in-patient status in the VA Behavioral Health Unit, but it took painstaking steps by the legal team to get the citation dropped so the veteran patient would not be held in contempt.  What are the VA policies governing VA police issuing criminal citations to veterans on the premises of VA hospitals, and most importantly, those veterans who are receiving in-patient treatment?

I am concerned that these practices may be widespread and only thanks to the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission these violations were uncovered.  Veterans with mental health problems should not be treated with less respect or without protections of their rights. Finally, I request that the VA establish a working relationship with state agencies like the Commission who provide important services to our less fortunate and disabled veterans.  The wellbeing and humane treatment of veterans in need of mental health care is of vital importance.  Federal and state agencies should be working together in the best interest of our nation’s heroes.

I look forward to receiving timely updates on your investigation and learning of your findings and recommendations to protect the rights of veterans who are seeking or in need of treatment at a Behavior Health Unit at Hines and Jesse Brown VA Hospitals.

I appreciate you opening an investigation into these allegations.

Sincerely,
Mark Kirk
United States Senator

Source: http://www.kirk.senate.gov

Full Article & Source:
Senator Kirk Calls On VA Inspector General To Open Investigations Into Mental Health Treatment in Illinois VA Hospitals

The Vegas Voice: "My Family's Nightmare"

My father’s guardianship nightmare began in 2009, a result of not being able to find dad after mom died; someone took advantage of him being in shock and grief after the sudden loss of his wife of 63 years. Mom had been ill-advised to become guardian of my father’s “person” due to his physical disabilities; my father was never incompetent. I called Guardianship Commissioner Norheim’s office for help. I knew nothing of the Family Court’s bad reputation at the time. Norheim’s office gave me Jared E. Shafer’s phone number. Shafer said I needed an attorney to help my father and sent me to Elyse Tyrell, who assured me that if Shafer were to be made temporary guardian he would get my father away from the person hiding him and in no time I could take my father back to California. Tyrell did not tell me she was Shafer’s attorney.

As soon as Shafer became guardian, Tyrell, who I had a legal agreement with, told me she did not work for me, she worked for “Jared” and to go find another attorney! This “temporary” guardianship turned into a permanent one and any objections I had were consistently dismissed by Norheim. Shafer and his attorneys made false statements about me to the court which Norheim accepted.

Thus began a long expensive battle to free my father of Shafer’s guardianship over person and estate. Shafer and his attorneys told the court that their extensive legal fees billed to my father were my fault for challenging his guardianship!

Several state statutes were violated during my father’s guardianship, in particular NRS Chapter 160, which restricts guardians to having no more than five wards and limits how much they can bill if they have even one veteran as a ward. Our attorneys pointed out these violations but Norheim approved all of Shafer’s actions.

Shafer did not provide an attorney for my father and prevented dad from attending his own hearings. When we finally brought dad to court Shafer and his attorney laughed at him and Norheim was reluctant to let him speak. My father stated in court that he wanted to go back to California but his testimony was ignored.

After that hearing my father asked my husband and I to take him back to California because he was fearful and wanted to be with us. Shafer immediately had the judge issue a bench warrant on me for contempt of court but he told everyone it was for kidnapping. He spent thousands of dad’s money trying to have the warrant transferred to California without success.

No family member should fall for the threats and false statements made by any guardian. The guardians are experts at intimidating families from taking action. I believe we were the first to save a parent from Shafer. Despite the losses we are happy we did what was necessary, resulting in my father spending his last years as a free man. His final years were happy; he enjoyed his family, his VFW Post and his friends. He never went anywhere without his WW2 Veteran cap and loved all the attention and “thank you for your service” comments.

Source:
The Vegas Voice:  

See Also:
NASGA:  Lupe Olvera, CA/NV Victim

1-year term for former conservator who stole from vulnerable veterans

by James Eli Shiffer

On Aug. 10, Stephen Grisham will report to federal prison to begin serving a 12-months-and-a-day term for stealing from vulnerable veterans and others. The sentence, handed down Friday in Minneapolis by Chief U.S. District Judge John Tunheim, is half of the lower end of the presumptive sentence, of 24 to 36 months, that he faced when he pleaded guilty to misappropriation by a fiduciary.

Grisham may end up serving only nine months, if he behaves himself in prison. Yet it's quite a comedown for the former conservator whose reputation for integrity made him a go-to guy when other appointed decision-makers bungled the job. When he entered his plea last July, he said he used the money to feed a gambling addiction.

"They trusted me. They came to me in trust," Grisham told the judge. "I violated that in every way possible."

The revelation of Grisham's thefts and subsequent collapse of his company, Alternate Decision Makers, resulted in a costly mess as lawyers and court officials probed the scope of the damage.

Grisham has pledged to pay restitution as quickly as he can to the still-unnamed victims, whose benefits he was hired to handle. That figure has climbed to $157,961, although the figure would decrease because of a $1,000 check that Grisham's lawyer said he brought to court.

The potential for making victims whole persuaded Tunheim that Grisham would not abuse his relatively brief loss of freedom. "I don't feel the need to protect the public from further criminal action by you," the judge said.

"I want to wish you the best. I appreciate the commitment to pay these people back," Tunheim told Grisham. "I hope you've learned a lesson from this."

Full Article & Source:
1-year term for former conservator who stole from vulnerable veterans

See Also:
Former Minnesota Conservator Stephen Grisham Faces Federal Theft Charges

Lawyers Still Unraveling the Depth of MN Conservator Stephen Grisham's' Theft

Throw Back Thursday: 96-Year-Old WWII Connecticut Veteran's Plight Brings Call for Probate Court Reform

Note: Originally published October 24, 2014:

Ideally, when 96-year-old Louis Russo had to leave his home temporarily, the probate judge would have appointed someone who understood his wishes and who wanted to carry them out.

Instead, under the care of a court-appointed conservator, the World War II veteran, who had always lived independently, was stripped of his rights, relegated to a nursing home and drained of his life savings.

Russo's friends and supporters are channeling their energy into getting him back into his New Fairfield house by Veterans Day.

Meanwhile, their outrage has intensified calls for review, reform and legislation to ensure that there aren't more cases like his.

"I have great respect for the vast majority of conservators in Probate Court, but I am aware that there have been a few very bad cases, and that is a few too many," said Keith Bradoc Gallant, a New Haven attorney and leading authority on probate procedure. "We just need to work on fixing that."

At issue is how to prevent misconduct when a court-appointed conservator is given full power over a person deemed disabled by age or mental incapacity.

Connecticut can learn from other states that use social workers as conservators, because they are trained to navigate the social service system, Gallant said. There is also a growing sense nationwide that the power of conservators should be checked, he added.

Although experts argue that misconduct is rare among conservators in Connecticut probate courts, activists warn that as the population ages, the demand for conservators is going to grow.

All the more reason to be sure that conservators are well-qualified and well-monitored, a top court official said. "I would like to build a program for statewide training and support for conservators," said Probate Court Administrator Paul Knierim. Knierim, who manages the state's 54 probate courts, said he is open to establishing a licensing program for conservators, like those in other states.

Russo's story
Had there been kin in Russo's life following a fall at his home two summers ago, when a social worker reported to Probate Court that he could no longer manage his affairs, the judge possibly would have considered naming a family member as conservator.

Besides wanting a conservator competent enough to manage a person's financial and health affairs, the probate judge typically looks for someone compassionate enough to keep the person's best interests at heart.

"You are talking about a combination of factors that really are challenging," said Gallant, who serves as the American College of Trust and Estate's representative to the National Guardianship Association. "The problem is how you find individuals with integrity to take on these very difficult tasks."

Since Russo never married and his closest kin was an 88-year-old sister in Florida too frail to care for him, Housatonic Probate Judge Martin Landgrebe appointed as conservator a man Russo had never met, Mark Broadmeyer, whose qualifications for the post were not clear.

Instead of putting Russo in a veterans home, where he could have stayed without charge while repairs to his own home were made, Broadmeyer placed Russo in a Danbury nursing home, where he racked up bills he could not afford.

Broadmeyer spent Russo's $35,000 in life savings and $10,000 in Social Security income on repairs and his own fees over the next 16 months, ignoring Russo's pleas to return home.

Broadmeyer even rented Russo's home out without the judge's permission.

Probate reform Connecticut's probate courts were reformed most recently in 2009, when more than 130 courts were consolidated into today's 54. And for the first time, judges were required to be attorneys. Complaints about conservators are handled in Probate Court by the same judges who appointed them.

In Russo's case, as soon as Landgrebe learned that Broadmeyer had rented out the home behind his back, the judge ordered Broadmeyer to evict the tenants and pay the eviction costs himself. Broadmeyer quit instead.

Knierim refused to comment on the case, because Broadmeyer is being investigated by Russo's newly appointed conservator, Danbury attorney Dean Lewis. Lewis' solution was to reimburse part of the tenants' expenses if they agreed to leave by Oct. 20, which they did. Lewis plans to begin his investigation of Broadmeyer once Russo is back in his home. State Sen. Michael McLachlan, R-Danbury, said the judge would have seen red flags much sooner with stricter reporting requirements that could have spared Russo months of suffering. "I'm hopeful to have some legislation to introduce soon," he said.

Source: a href="http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/WWII-veteran-s-plight-brings-call-for-probate-5847546.php#photo-7046513">WWII Veteran's Plight Brings Call for Probate Court Reform

*******

The story of a 96 Year Old WWII Combat Veteran, his battle for dignity and justice, and those that would become his new family and his new alliance.

Operation Vet Fit founder and Veterans Advocate, US Marine Veterans, Daniel R. Gaita assist 96 year-old, WWII Combat Veterans Louis Russo during his Jan 28th, 2015 Probate Court Hearing. This video is a short segment from a 5 hour hearing.


Source: YouTube


Source:  YouTube

New Reports Shine Light on Long-Term Care Problems

For a couple decades now, advocates for seniors and aging Californians have warned that long-term care problems will get larger and more numerous if government and health industry officials don't make some policy changes.

Three new reports are turning up the pressure on policymakers:

A study published this month in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggests the country's health care system is getting worse rather than better at dealing with patients in the last year of life. The number of U.S. residents who experienced pain in the last year of life increased by nearly 12% and reports of depression and periodic confusion during that period increased by about 26% between 1998 and 2010, according to the study.

A new study from UC-San Francisco predicts the long-term care industry will experience substantial growth in coming years but notes that more people are leaving long-term care jobs than entering them.

A report titled, " A Shattered System: Reforming Long-Term Care in California," from the state Senate Select Committee on Aging and Long Term Care said California's fragmented system for caring for aging residents needs to be overhauled soon. The critical assessment makes several policy recommendations, including consolidating programs and improving workforce and training efforts.

"A lot of us have been yammering about all this for decades," said Bonnie Burns, veteran training and policy consultant for California Health Advocates, a not-for-profit advocacy and education program for Medicare and long-term care.

"We have a huge number of people heading into the part of their lives when they're going to need long-term care and we're really not ready for it," Burns said.

Ten thousand people a day will turn 65 over the next 17 years in the U.S., according to Pew Research Center projections. By the year 2030, 24% of California's population will be 60 or older.

"It's not like anybody didn't see this coming," Burns said. "But everybody's been kicking the can down the road for years."

The comprehensive 211-page state Senate committee report makes several concrete suggestions for improving California's long-term care system, but the committee does not suggest how the state might pay for making changes.

Gov. Jerry Brown (D) has repeatedly demonstrated resistance to new spending and many legislators agree with him.

Sen. Carol Liu (D-Glendale), chair of the committee, said she's confident legislators and the governor are willing to talk about ways to pay for improving the system.

"The state budget is finally getting better, and recent forecasts from the Legislative Analyst's Office indicate that revenues for the upcoming fiscal year will be even larger than anticipated," Liu said. "And most forecasts expect the economic recovery to continue for several years."

"I think there is room for discussion about implementing the recommendations. We are all getting older, and we need to have an honest talk about how to improve services to our aging population," Liu said.

While all Californians face similar challenges involving health care for themselves or family members as they age, the hurdles for low-income people tend to be higher and more numerous than those for middle-class and wealthy people.

"Upper- and middle-income families already have more options to provide care for their aging family members. The harder burdens fall on the poor, and that's not right," Liu said.

Full Article & Source:
New Reports Shine Light on Long-Term Care Problems

The Vegas Voice, Rana Goodman: Private Guardians vs Family

Rana Goodman,
Political Editor

I would like to give you a brief update on the people I wrote about last month. One is great news, the other, not so much.

If you recall, I wrote of a veteran who had been hospitalized for a short time in California.

He came home and discovered his wife had been placed under the care of a private guardian she neither needed nor wanted. Legal action was instituted after several attempts to rid themselves of the private guardian failed.
 
Within days after our February “Special Edition” about private guardianships came out, the vet’s attorney was contacted with an offer to drop the opposition’s legal fees from $14,000 to fees from $14,000 to $5,000 – and more importantly, no more guardianship authority or control. A victory indeed.

I’m sorry to say the other family we featured (who were legally kidnapped one evening by their guardian) has not fared as well.

Last month, they were moved from an assisted living facility to a much smaller one. The couple went from a two room apartment to sharing one tiny room.

Visitation with their only child had been limited by their guardian and the mother ended up in the hospital where she currently remains. Her daughter also was hospitalized and is now slowly recovering. Our prayers go out to them and we hope the family can have some semblance of unity soon.

In the interviews we conducted over the past few weeks, I thought about what the “experts” had to say.

Although some of the people were well-meaning, it still hit me that most of the time, the assumption was that the family member was always looking for a way to abuse or steal from the senior, and the guardians were always good and caring.

I feel certain that most of us were raised to honor and respect our elders and we do just that. I believe there are far more people that have cared for their parents and family members (as I have) and, as in the case of child abuse, elder abusers are the minority among family members.

Full Article and Source:

The Vegas Voice: Special Report Part II -GUARDIANSHIP: Now Get Angry!







See Also:
The Vegas Voice - Rana Goodman:  What Would You Do?

WWII Veteran Louis J. Russo Battles for Justice at 96

The story of a 96 Year Old WWII Combat Veteran, his battle for dignity and justice, and those that would become his new family and his new alliance.

Operation Vet Fit founder and Veterans Advocate, US Marine Veterans, Daniel R. Gaita assist 96 year-old, WWII Combat Veterans Louis Russo during his Jan 28th, 2015 Probate Court Hearing. This video is a short segment from a 5 hour hearing.


Source: YouTube


Source:  YouTube

See Also:
WWII Veteran's Plight Brings Call for Probate Court Reform

No Police Accountability in Police Shooting of Illinois 95-Year-Old WWII Vet

By John Kass
IF you've ever heard the sound of a broom on a shop floor, sweeping up right before closing time, you would have heard it in the raspy voice of Cook County Associate Judge Luciano Panici reading his decision in the Wrana case. 

It wasn't crumbs or dust bits or sawdust from under the chopping block. Instead, he was sweeping accountability for one human life, and perhaps saving another life in the process. 

That was the effect of his decision in the case of Park Forest police Officer Craig Taylor, charged with felony reckless conduct in the July 2013 shooting of John Wrana, the 95-year-old World War II veteran who died after being shot four times at close range with beanbag rounds from a 12-gauge shotgun.

"It is a tragedy whenever there is loss of life that follows a confrontation," Panici began, reading from his papers in a South Side voice, a voice like my own, our vowels aligned by neighborhood. 

Panici had frowned from the moment he began presiding over the case. But on Wednesday he'd stopped frowning. He offered no admonition to the police officers involved.

And Taylor walked. 

"The force used by Craig Taylor was not excessive," Panici said. "There was nothing reckless. There was nothing criminal about his actions." 

There were five cops in Wrana's room at the Victory Centre assisted living facility. Wrana had a knife and a shoehorn and a cane. They had guns and a riot shield and Tasers and muscle and youth and that 12-gauge Mossberg pump-action police shotgun loaded with beanbag rounds.       

They're called "less-lethal" rounds, since the rounds aren't designed to penetrate the skin and explode, but merely to thump the body and put it down. Police in Ferguson, Mo., are experimenting with similar technology, where anger and fire and protests and looting erupted after the police killing of Michael Brown. 

But there were no protests for John Wrana, were there? World War II veterans didn't form up and scream. That's not their way. They're old and dying every day. And then there was that bit from Taylor's defense counsel, Terry Ekl, who said he was sick and tired of hearing about Wrana's war service. 

Ekl is an excellent lawyer, one of the best around, with amazing skills of argument. He's so good he could argue a 5-pound chunk of bologna right through the smallest buttonhole on your lapel, and you wouldn't even taste it.

"I've heard enough about World War II," Ekl said during the trial. "It's nothing but an attempt to create more sympathy for Mr. Wrana." 

But John Wrana didn't get any sympathy, did he? Not really.

He was old and delirious, suffering from a suspected urinary tract infection, which can lead to delusions. He didn't want to be taken to the hospital. He waved a knife and a shoehorn at cops. He swore at them. And they said they were afraid for their very lives. 

They didn't give him sympathy. They didn't give him respect. And at trial, his service to his country was deemed irrelevant. 

But they did give John Wrana something: 

They gave him four beanbag rounds to the abdomen, chest and arms at a range of 6 to 8 feet, with Taylor racking rounds and pulling the trigger, pumping and firing and pumping and firing. 

Part of the old man's intestinal wall ruptured, and he bled out. 

In his decision, it was clear Judge Panici bought into the defense's argument that Wrana prompted his own death by refusing surgery that could have repaired the rupture.

True, Wrana refused it, personally and through his stepdaughter. But focusing on that alone is dealing with only half the truth of the situation. 

Wrana had asked the doctor if he could be guaranteed he wouldn't end up on a ventilator in a vegetative state, and the stepdaughter has told me that the doctor would not make that guarantee. 

So John Wrana said to let him go. And that's what they did. They let him go. He didn't want it that way. But he didn't want to end his days with tubes down his throat. 

But in court and out of it, I got the sense from the legal experts that Wrana had killed himself. 

If only he'd obeyed officers. If only he hadn't become angry when they shot the Taser at him and failed. If only he hadn't waved that knife or the shoehorn that the terrified cops thought was the machete of a jungle ninja warrior. 

If only. If only. 

Then maybe they wouldn't have shot him down in his own room and then handcuff him to a chair and taken photos of him bleeding on the carpet. 

The problem with this case from the beginning was that Taylor was alone in court. But he wasn't alone in Wrana's room. 

They were other cops with him, formed up in "stack" formation behind the guy with the riot shield, so they could rush the old man two weeks shy of his 96th birthday, that deadly ninja who terrified them so. 

By charging only Taylor, and not his superior, the whole thing seemed unfair. 

I didn't want Taylor to go to prison. 

But I don't think he should be a police officer — any more than the commander who set up the stupid attack plan. 

A guilty verdict could have ruined Taylor's life, and those of his wife and children, and I didn't want that either. 

But there's got to be some accountability for what happened to John Wrana. 

And there is none. 

All accountability, all official shame, all official sorrow, it was all just swept away, by those broom stalks in Judge Panici's voice. And that's the tragedy.

 

Source:
No Police Accountability in Police Shooting of WWII Vet, 95

Prosecutors dismiss charges against Solon attorney accused of stealing from military veteran

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cuyahoga County prosecutors dismissed charges Monday against a Solon attorney who was accused of stealing from the bank account of a disabled Army veteran.

Gary Bakst, 59, was indicted earlier this month on charges of theft and tampering with evidence in connection with what prosecutors had said was the $1,218 theft from Kevin C. Hart, 54, in October. Bakst served as Hart's guardian since 2006, as Hart suffers from schizophrenia.

"This is exactly what we had said: Mr. Bakst did not steal any money from Mr. Hart,'' said defense attorney Andrea Whitaker.

The case is the second involving Bakst's work with veterans. In December, he pleaded guilty in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court to identity fraud and tampering with government records. He admitted to using another attorney's identity to bill for legal work in the cases of the veterans.

Prosecutors said Bakst did that to circumvent Probate Court rules that limited his ability to generate fees as both guardian and lawyer of the disabled veterans. He illegally billed $15,301 using the attorney's identity last April. Judge Pamela Barker is expected to meet with lawyers and Bakst on Thursday for a hearing in that case.

On Monday, Matthew Meyer, an assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor, dismissed the theft charges his office brought against Bakst. Meyer said an investigation into the theft allegations began when Hart's daughter, Alisha, gave multiple statements to authorities that Bakst had failed to reimburse her for the cost of buying her father a mattress for $1,218.

Meyer said that records indicate that Bakst withdrew that amount from Kevin Hart's bank account Oct. 6 by writing a check to cash. After a Probate Court judge removed Bakst from serving as Hart's guardian Oct. 17, Alisha Hart told the new guardian, Paul Silver, that Bakst had failed to reimburse her for buying her father's mattress, Meyer said.

The prosecutor said Silver then wrote Alisha Hart a cashier's check for the $1,218, which was drawn from Kevin Hart's bank account. Last week, Alisha Hart sent an email to prosecutors that she also had received a check for a similar amount from BCH Management Group, a business owned by Bakst.

Hart told prosecutors that she had confused the check with an insurance settlement for property damage to her home and had not realized that Bakst had sent it Sept. 19 as a reimbursement for the bedding because of "the lack of any identifying information on the check or communication from Bakst.''

Hart realized the mistake when she was preparing to file her taxes, Meyer said.

"Although it is unclear why Bakst would have chosen to give money to Ms. Hart from funds that he personally controlled (instead of directly from the guardianship account) or why he would have written a check to cash from the guardianship account to reimburse himself later, the evidence does not indicate that Bakst kept the money taken from Kevin Hart's account,'' Meyer said.

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Prosecutors dismiss charges against Solon attorney accused of stealing from military veteran

Judge sets $50,000 bond in the case of a second lawyer accused of fleecing disabled veteran

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A judge Wednesday set bond at $50,000 for a Solon attorney accused of stealing from the bank account of a disabled Army veteran who suffers mental illness.

Gary Bakst, 59, was indicted this week in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court on charges of theft and tampering with evidence. He is accused of taking $1,218 from Kevin C. Hart, 54, in October. Bakst served as Hart's guardian since 2006. Hart suffers from schizophrenia, according to court records.

Bakst pleaded not guilty to the allegations Wednesday before Common Pleas Judge David Matia, who set the bond and ordered that Bakst surrender his passport. The case is the second involving Bakst's dealings with Hart.

Common Pleas Judge Pamela Barker is scheduled to sentence Bakst next week over the attorney's work with Hart and three other disabled military veterans. Bakst's attorneys, William and Andrea Whitaker, have asked to re-schedule that hearing, based on the new charge.

In the initial case, Bakst pleaded guilty in December to identity fraud and tampering with government records. He admitted to using another attorney's identity to bill for legal work in the cases of the veterans.

Prosecutors said Bakst did that to circumvent Cuyahoga County Probate Court rules that limited his ability to generate fees as both guardian and lawyer of the disabled veterans. He illegally billed $15,301 using the attorney's identity last April.

Based off evidence in that case, prosecutors pieced together a second indictment against Bakst. Authorities accused him of stealing from Hart's bank account Oct. 6, just as his attorneys were working out a negotiated plea deal in the initial case, said Matthew Meyer, an assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor.

Meyer said his office will push to stop the sentencing in the first case and seek to vacate the plea, a move that could bring a trial.

"Why should he get the benefit of a plea when there was a requirement that he stop stealing from people?'' Meyer asked.

Because of the timing of the theft allegation and Bakst's financial means, Meyer urged Matia to set a $100,000 bond.

"The only thing that he respects is money,'' Meyer told the judge.

Bakst's attorney, Andrea Whitaker, fought the request for the high bond. She told Matia that her client's "risk of flight is zero. He absolutely denies that he stole from this veteran.''

In each case, Bakst was appointed as the guardian by a judge in Probate Court. Prosecutors said the tampering charges in both cases stem from Bakst submitting fraudulent documents to Probate Court and Hart's family. Hart's daughter, Alisha, could not be reached for comment.

Records show Bakst first became Hart's guardian in 2006. By then, he already was the guardian for disabled veterans Debra Presley, Arthur Huffine and Brent Walker. The three, as well as Hart, were named in the original identity-fraud case.

The new charges against Bakst come days after Common Pleas Judge Timothy McCormick sentenced Rocky River attorney Timothy Purcell to 16 months in prison for fleecing $262,000 from the estate of a disabled veteran. Like Bakst, a Probate Court judge appointed Purcell to handle the case. Purcell initially served as the veteran's guardian and later as the administrator of the estate.

"You need to be held accountable for the money you stole,'' McCormick told Purcell. "There has to be some consequences.''

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Judge sets $50,000 bond in the case of a second lawyer accused of fleecing disabled veteran

95 Year-Old WW 2 Hero Liberated from Exploiter/Guardian Jared Shafer, Celebrates New Year with Family

On September 23, 2010, WW 2 hero Guadalupe Olvera, then 91, ordered his daughter Becky and son-in-law Bob Schultz to rescue him from the quasi-legal guardianship of Las Vegas for-hire "guardian" Jared E. Shafer of Professional Fiduciaries of Southern Nevada (PFSN).

Guadalupe and his late wife Carmela moved to Sun City Anthem several years before her death, leaving family and friends in California, lured by promises made in glossy brochures sent to them by Del Webb Corporation.

Weeks after Carmela's passing, it was revealed that the Olveras were wealthy. appointed Clark County Guardianship Commissioner Jon Norheim was notified, and Guadalupe was immediately made a ward of the court and assigned PFSN guardians Jared Shafer and Patience Bristol (Bristol is now in Nevada State Prison for elder exploitation.)

Pleading in open court to be allowed to move back to Santa Cruz, California to spend his final years with his loving family (link to video transcript below), Norheim complied with the wishes of Shafer who had by then converted over $300,000.00 of Olvera's savings for his own use, and ignored Olvera's plea.

Olvera went into action, and within days of his family's compliance with his order to move him out of Nevada, Clark County Family Court Judge Charles Hoskin who appointed Norheim, issued a warrant for Becky Schultz' arrest.

Then, using funds he withdrew from Olvera's Las Vegas Wells Fargo bank account, Jared Shafer paid his over priced attorneys in Las Vegas to fight to have Olvera returned against his will to Nevada to be placed into a rest home of Shafer's choice.

The Schultz' went to court in California, and a Superior Court Judge their ruled that Olvera was competent to handle his own affairs, and removed Shafer as his guardian. With Shafer removed and his civil rights fully restored, Mr. Olvera has lived happily and healthfully for the past five years in the home of his only child Becky, while enjoying yearly honors bestowed on him by chapters of the Santa Cruz County VFW and other veterans groups as Santa Cruz County's oldest living veteran.

Olvera has also filed a federal law suit against Shafer to try to recover his converted assets.

Had Olvera not been liberated from Shafer's exploitation, he would have lost his half million dollar home in Sun City Anthem, his savings, and his life expectancy would probably have been less than six months while confined to a rest home hundreds of miles away from his family and friends.

At the next Nevada Legislature, a bill will be presented to limit the unfettered power of court appointed guardians over the persons and fortunes of wealthy retirees who have the misfortune of losing a spouse while living in Southern Nevada away from family members. The law will allow relatives who live outside Nevada to, for the first time, become the judiciaries for their loved ones living in our state.

Up until "Shafer's Law" is repealed, no one living outside Nevada could manage the assets of a parent or relative who is deemed a ward of the court after the loss of a spouse, opening the way for unscrupulous private guardians and guardianship commissioners to bilk the senior's fortune while out of state relatives helplessly watch this occur under color of Nevada law.

Source:
95 Year-Old WW2 Hero Liberated From Exploiter/Guardian Jared Shafer, Celebrates New Year With Family

See Also:
Guadelupe Olvera's War
Background

WWII Vet's Death a Textbook Case of Excessive Force, but no Hashtag for Him

By John Kass

And trial is scheduled to begin this week in south suburban Markham in the courtroom of Associate Judge Luciano Panici. A Park Forest police officer, Craig Taylor, stands accused of felony reckless conduct in connection with Wrana's death.

Veteran Wrana

Wrana served his country in India and Burma in the U.S. Army Air Forces and built a business and liked to play cards and shoot dice, and even have a drink on occasion. He died just weeks shy of his 96th birthday.

And he was in his room alone at an assisted living center in suburban Chicago on a night in July 2013. That's when five suburban cops rushed him.

One officer had a Taser and police riot shield, others had handguns, and one was armed with a 12-gauge Mossberg pump shotgun. The police said later they were afraid for their lives, though Wrana used a walker to get around.

What bothers me is that Taylor is the only cop charged by Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez.

There were others there with him. Police supervisors, others with higher rank.

Yes, Taylor pulled the trigger. He pumped the shotgun and pulled the trigger again and again, firing beanbag rounds at close range into the old man's guts, according to state investigators. So Taylor should wear the jacket, yes. But he wasn't in command. And he wasn't alone.

Unlike other, more celebrated police killings I mentioned above, the Wrana case hasn't generated all that much national attention, even though it is perhaps the perfect illustration of excessive force by law enforcement.

And someday perhaps, someone will explain to me why this one hasn't generated more discussion.

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WWII Vet's Death a Textbook Case of Excessive Force, but no Hashtag for Him

Appreciate Our Veterans When They Get Old as Much as We Appreciated Them When They Served

 

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