NYC woman, 93, left with no money despite owning a 10-unit Brooklyn building, family claims

Story by Kathianne Boniello

A Brooklyn immigrant’s $4 million nest egg is off-limits when she needs it most during her final years because of ineffective court-appointed guardians, her family contends.

Aleksandra Chodowiec, 93, arrived in the U.S. from her native Wroclaw in western Poland by herself in 1973 at the age of 43. She worked two jobs, in an envelope factory and cleaning Manhattan offices.

In just two years, the industrious Chodowiec saved enough dough to purchase what should have been a golden ticket: a five-story rental building with eight apartments and two commercial units in Greenpoint.

“She escaped from communism, which she hated,” said her son-in-law, Andrzej Szymanik. “She came to New York because she always wanted to come to America and fulfill her American dream – which she did!”

Chodowiec plunked down an $8,000 down payment on the Java Street building. 

The $70,000 investment is now worth more than $4 million, court records show.

But now Chodowiec suffers from dementia, and the income from her lucrative property that could pay the constant care she needs is nowhere to be found, her relatives charge.

The elder woman’s affairs became subject to a state guardianship proceeding in 2018, after a family dispute erupted over Chodowiec’s care, records show.

Property guardian William Ellerton was eventually appointed by a Brooklyn judge to oversee the Java Street building, where Eva and Andrzej control one of the commercial units and other relatives live in some of the apartments. 

Ellerton, who was paid $25,000 in 2020 for “temporary” work on the case before he was appointed as property guardian, has a range of powers authorized by the court, including paying for Chodowiec’s home health aides; charging fair market rent for the Java Street apartments, and establishing a budget.

It’s unclear how much Ellerton is paid to oversee the case.

But Szymanik, 71, contends that after years of oversight Ellerton has failed to rent out the units, and takes months to reimburse him and Eva for Chodowiec’s expenses — even her adult diapers.

One two-bedroom unit could rent for $3,000 to $4,000 a month, according to court papers. The building used to generate $100,000 income annually, claimed Szymanik.

He claims Ellerton has ignored prospective tenants who want to rent spaces, including a local baker interested in one of the commercial units.

“He wanted to rent it and he called many, many times and got no response,” Szymanik contended. 

 

The building needs substantial renovation, Ellerton told The Post.

“To produce income on an apartment, I’d think you have to fix it up,” he said, noting one of the available units was occupied by a rent-controlled tenant who died after more than three decades there, leaving it in dire need of repair.

Ellerton said he’s been waiting months for a judge to approve his requests to work with a real estate attorney and broker to determine the future of the building and that the family is opposed to selling the property.

“Among other things, I asked was for the court to address various issues including whether it should be sold,” he said, adding that the Szymaniks don’t pay rent on the commercial unit they occupy.

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NYC woman, 93, left with no money despite owning a 10-unit Brooklyn building, family claims

Woman in legal limbo at Mayo cleared to go home

Disability advocates say Cindy Hagen, who is quadriplegic and has been at Mayo Clinic’s Austin hospital since last summer, underscores continued challenges in the systems surrounding people living with disabilities.

by Catharine Richert

A case closely watched by disability advocates appears to be coming to a close after a judge vacated a court-ordered guardianship and conservatorship for Cindy Hagen, who has been living in Mayo Clinic’s Austin, Minn. hospital since last summer.

Hagen, 49, is quadriplegic as a result of injuries sustained as a child in a car crash.

Earlier this year, a judge put Hagen under emergency guardianship and conservatorship after attempts to discharge her to an appropriate facility failed.

Blue Earth County Human Services petitioned the courts for the guardianship. According to court documents, the county was unable to find in-home care for Hagen, which she had previously had at her apartment in Mankato, Minn., in part due to wide-spread staffing shortages.

Meanwhile, Hagen was offered services in skilled nursing facilities or in an apartment in the Twin Cities but she did not agree to them, according to court documents.

Hagen declined an interview, but said in court documents she instead wanted to go home to her apartment where she lived for years until 2020.

Systemic challenges

Hagen’s situation highlights challenges in some of the systems that surround people living with disabilities, said David Dively, executive director of the Minnesota Council on Disability.

Recent legislative changes make it harder to put people living with disabilities under guardianship. But courts and families have been slow to embrace those changes, he said.

 “We want to move as far away from guardianship as realistically and practically possible, because it is so restrictive. And in Minnesota, we do it pretty heavy handedly,” he said.

Instead, disability advocates say the state — and nation — should be moving toward a process of “supported decision-making.”

That process recognizes that people with disabilities can make their own decisions, said Anita Raymond, program director of the Center for Excellence in Supported Decision Making at Volunteers of America MN. 

“Often when people can approach them and provide the support they need, help them understand the situation and the decisions they face in language they can understand, we are finding — and the research backs it up — that people can make decisions with the support of others without needing guardianship,” she said.

Lack of staff

A big challenge, however, are staffing shortages in assisted living facilities and in the profession of in-home care shortages made worse by the pandemic.

More and more, patients who no longer need acute care end up stuck in the hospital as a result, said Mayo Clinic Dr. Tamara Buechler, who works in Rochester. 

“In these past couple of years with the pandemic, the challenges have only increased,” she said. “In any given quarter we have over 900 delays related to post-acute care. On any given day, in our hospital 10 percent or more of the population are patients who are delayed in the hospital setting because we need to establish a next level of safe care for them.”

Buechler said that means there are fewer beds available for patients who are just coming into the hospital for care.

Still, Raymond said that guardianship doesn’t solve the problem of labor shortages. 

“Let's not use guardianship for a situation where we're basically setting a guardian up to fail because there's nothing they can consent to because there are no resources,” she said. 

Court documents say Hagen's guardianship and conservatorship will be reinstated if she doesn't move home within 45 days.

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Woman in legal limbo at Mayo cleared to go home

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'I just want to go home': Inside a Minnesota woman's fight to overturn a guardianship

'I just want to go home': Inside a Minnesota woman's fight to overturn a guardianship

By Chris Serres Star Tribune

ELIZABETH FLORES, STAR TRIBUNE

Cindy Hagen has lived in a hospital room at Mayo Clinic hospital in Austin for more than six months.

Lying sideways in a hospital bed, in too much pain to sit upright, Cindy Hagen felt a wave of anxiety sweep over her as she stared at the smartphone perched next to her pillow.

There, on her screen, solemn-faced social workers and attorneys were debating Hagen's future on a Zoom court hearing, including whether she was capable of making her own decisions. An adverse ruling could upend Hagen's life. It would mean that someone appointed by the court — known as a guardian — would determine where she could live and what medical care she could receive.

Hagen, who is 49 and quadriplegic from a childhood car crash, waited for her chance to speak — to recount her odyssey and demonstrate that she is of "sound mind" despite her physical limitations. Mostly, she wanted to tell everyone in the remote hearing that it was a severe shortage of home caregivers — and not impaired decision-making — that kept her stuck in a hospital room in Austin, Minn., for more than six months, long after she was healthy enough to leave. But the hearing ended before she could testify, leaving her upset and confused.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with my mind," Hagen said from her hospital bed after the hearing last month. "I don't need a guardian. I just want to go home."

ELIZABETH FLORES, STAR TRIBUNE

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with my mind,” Cindy Hagen said. “I just want to go home.” She says a severe shortage of home caregivers has kept her in the hospital room even though she is healthy enough to leave.

Hagen's struggle to regain her freedom has become a flash point in a broader debate over the guardianship system in Minnesota. Disability rights activists across the state have rallied to her side and spread details of her case on social media sites with the hashtag #FreeCindy. Some have likened her plight to that of pop star Britney Spears, who lost control of nearly every aspect of her life after a court deemed she was unable to care for herself and appointed a conservator, even as she continued to perform for her fans.

"This is a textbook case of everything that is wrong and dehumanizing about the guardianship process," said Jonathan Martinis, senior director for law and policy at a center for disability rights at Syracuse University and a national expert on guardianship law.

Minnesota's system for appointing guardians — for those found unable to care for themselves — has long been criticized as a heavy-handed approach to supervising the care of people with disabilities. For decades, guardians have been granted broad authority over the housing, medical care and even the personal relationships of people they are assigned to protect. Judges often grant this authority based on limited information and assumptions that people with disabilities are incapable of making major life decisions, say legal scholars and attorneys.

In 2020, longstanding concerns over the power of guardians led state lawmakers to amend Minnesota's guardianship law to limit its use. For the first time, courts were directed by statute to appoint guardians only after less-intrusive options had been attempted. The changes were also intended to encourage the use of "supported decision-making," an alternative legal process that allows individuals to retain more autonomy.

But disability rights advocates and some attorneys say the law is not being adequately enforced, and they are calling for greater judicial oversight and state funding of alternatives to guardianship. They point to recent state data showing that court orders to place people under guardianship keep increasing, year after year. As of 2022, some 33,645 Minnesotans were living under the supervision of court-appointed guardians — up nearly 50% since 2019, before the legislation was passed, according to the State Court Administrator's Office.

"We need fundamental change because what's happening to Cindy [Hagen] could happen to any one of us," said Lance Hegland, who has muscular dystrophy and is the former co-chair of a state council on disability services. "You can have all your rights stripped away simply because we lack an adequate safety net."

Hagen didn't used to have regular panic attacks. She is a nature-lover who lived in an apartment in Mankato and led an active life before she was hospitalized with an infection at the Mayo Clinic hospital in Austin last summer. Confined to a second-floor room, Hagen has not ventured outside in more than 200 days. She misses the sun on her face and the chirping of birds. She spends many of her waking hours staring out a window with a view obscured by a hospital wall. On a sunny day, she may catch 20 minutes of sunlight through her bedside window.

"There are times when these walls feel like they are crushing in around me," said Hagen, recounting a recent panic attack. "You get to the point where you feel like you just can't breathe because nothing is happening, and the doors around you seem permanently shut."

Hagen was medically cleared for release from the Mayo Clinic hospital on July 8, 2022, but she says that a lack of home care staff has prevented her from returning home. Several of her longtime caregivers have moved on, and Hagen's limited mobility makes it difficult for her to recruit new ones. Unable to move her fingers, Hagen uses her tongue and tip of her nose to tap out emails and texts on her smartphone to home care agencies.

The crash that left her paralyzed at age 15 also damaged her vocal chords, which makes every conversation a physical strain. And because she has been bedridden for so long, Hagen said she has developed a painful pressure sore that further limits her mobility.

ELIZABETH FLORES, STAR TRIBUNE
Cindy Hagen’s hospital room is covered with messages and how-to posters, including a Valentine’s Day note.

But the chief source of her anxiety is a court petition filed early last month by Blue Earth County Human Services, seeking an emergency guardian "to protect and supervise" Hagen. A day later, a judge appointed an Owatonna-based business, Alternative Resolutions, Inc., as her guardian for 90 days. The judge cited Hagen's mental health problems and struggles accessing personal care support at home as evidence that her health and safety were at risk.

Suddenly, and with no opportunity to testify on her own behalf, Hagen learned that many of her basic rights had been stripped away and handed to an entity she had never heard of. The judge granted the newly appointed guardian all the powers allowed under Minnesota's guardianship law, including control over where she lives and her medical care. She has hired an attorney and is contesting the guardianship order.

But Hagen said she now lives in fear that, on any given day, she could be removed from the hospital and shipped off to a nursing home or other institution. "How is this any different from a kidnapping?" she asked.

Her experience is far from unique. A survey by the Minnesota Hospital Association found that, in a single week in December, nearly 2,000 patients were stuck in hospital rooms, despite being well enough to be sent home or to less-acute settings, largely because of a statewide shortage of health care workers. Unnecessary hospital stays had surged 33% since the association surveyed hospitals in September 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic was still raging.

Hagen's situation has been complicated by her independence and refusal to be discharged to another institution. Hagen has spent the past 21 years living on her own in an apartment with a lush backyard and easy wheelchair access to a nearby park. She volunteers at a local activity center for adults with disabilities and has been a visible advocate for the community — at times testifying at public meetings in Mankato on safer sidewalk access for people who use wheelchairs.

ELIZABETH FLORES, STAR TRIBUNE

Cindy Hagen’s case has become a rallying cry for disability rights activists, who say Minnesota’s system for appointing guardians in heavy-handed.

But Hagen's insistence on living independently, instead of in institutions, is now being used against her in court proceedings — a scenario her lawyer describes as "Kafkaesque."

In its petition for emergency guardianship, Blue Earth County cited her repeated refusal to be discharged to skilled nursing homes, assisted-living facilities and other institutions as evidence that she had "impaired decision-making" and was "lacking sufficient understanding of the reality of her situation," and hence was in need of a guardian, according to the county's petition. An attorney for Blue Earth County declined to comment further on the case.

Now, Hagen finds herself caught in another quandary: The longer she stays at the hospital, the more she exhibits so-called "behaviors" that can be used to justify the appointment of a guardian. In a recent statement filed with the court, a Mayo Clinic physician maintained that Hagen's purchase of a Christmas tree and stocking for her hospital room was evidence that Hagen had "impaired decision-making," and failed to see that the hospital was not a suitable living option, the statement said.

"The threat is very clear," said Hagen's attorney, Misti Okerlund. "If you don't act in the way we expect you to act, then we have the power and the means to deprive you of your rights."

In response, Hagen said that celebrating Christmas had always been a cherished tradition in her family, but she denied ordering a tree for her room. Instead, she asked hospital staff if they could give her a printout of a Christmas tree to brighten up her room. They never did, she said. But one morning, she woke to discover that someone had scribbled a Christmas tree on the white board.

Now, as Valentine's Day approaches, the tree has been erased and replaced with the black outline of a pierced heart below the initials "V.D."

The line on the board for her anticipated discharge date is blank.

Staff researcher John Wareham contributed to this report.

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'I just want to go home': Inside a Minnesota woman's fight to overturn a guardianship

Texas lawyer, Netflix lose defamation appeal concerning multimillionaire's court-appointed guardianship

by Juliette Fairley

Netflix and the Bexar County attorney who were sued for defamation over an episodic called Dirty Money featuring the court-appointed guardianship of an elderly Texas multimillionaire have lost their first appeal.

The Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio issued their opinion on Aug. 31 in favor of Tonya Barina who sued attorney Phil Ross, his paralegal Jo Anne Rivera and Netflix alleging they participated in a conspiracy that destroyed her name and reputation pertaining to Bexar County probate court proceedings of 83-year-old Charles Thrash.

“Media outlets that accurately report allegations made by a third party about matters of public concern can assert the truth as a defense,” wrote Appellate Judge Patricia Alvarez in the opinion. “However, media outlets must be careful not to accuse, malign or take the extra step of implying an accusation that forfeits the substantial truth defense.”

The Guardians Inc. episode about Thrash aired on March 11, 2020, but has since been removed from Netflix menu offerings.

“Because the media appellants [Netflix] have not established that they are entitled to dismissal through any affirmative defense, we conclude that the trial court did not err in denying their [Texas Citizens Participation Act] TCPA motion to dismiss accordingly,” Alvarez stated. “We affirm.”

Appellate justices Beth Watkins and Irene Rios concurred.

As previously reported in Southeast Texas Record, Thrash was worth some $3 million after owning an automotive shop on West Avenue in San Antonio for 50 years and had been in the news for marrying his divorcee girlfriend, Laura A Martinez, without his court-appointed guardian’s permission.

"There is no actual evidence of Barina committing wrongdoing,” Alvarez further stated. “Therefore, if the gist of the show unfairly defames her, the immediate appellants cannot avail themselves of the Fair Comment privilege to obtain dismissal of appellee’s defamation suit.”

In the defamation lawsuit against Netflix and Ross filed in Bexar County's 285th Judicial District, Barina also named Martinez and her adult children from a previous marriage: Brittany A. Martinez, Jose H. Martinez, and Michelle C. Martinez as defendants along with director Alex Gibney and Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions.

Gibney is one of America's most successful and prolific documentary filmmakers, according to the New York Times.

“In the episode, Ross, Laura, and Brittany present Thrash’s plight impugning his guardian,” Alvarez wrote. “Ross sits behind his desk and states confidently that Thrash has been exploited through his guardianship. His statement is featured and never challenged throughout the course of the documentary.”

Barina’s original complaint stated that nearly a year before the episode aired in May 2019, Attorney Ross and Laura Martinez were sanctioned by the Bexar County Probate Court in the sum of $222,974 for allegedly conspiring to fleece the Thrash estate.

Ross is reportedly subject to disciplinary proceedings.

“The trial court had found Ross, Laura, and Brittany not to be credible and the media appellants had been made aware of this finding,” Alvarez concluded.

Now that the appellate court has ruled on their appeal, Netflix is free to file a Petition for Review with the Texas Supreme Court.

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Texas lawyer, Netflix lose defamation appeal concerning multimillionaire's court-appointed guardianship

Nurse, Valencia teacher in Central Florida accused of neglecting elderly mother

by Greg Fox

 

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Rebecca Lassiter, 70, is facing a felony charge for mistreatment of her mother, who is in her 90s.

Lassiter was formally charged by the state attorney after her arrest in November. Records show that she was previously the "court appointed guardian" for her mother.

When she was arrested a few weeks ago, Lassiter was a nursing school teacher at Valencia College.

According to licensing records with the Florida Department of Health, Lassiter is a registered nurse with an active license.

She's charged with felony neglect of an elderly or disabled adult as recently as September 2018, according to court records obtained by WESH 2 Investigates.

She allegedly wasn't providing her medications and an officer described the victim as "weak and feeble."

Those records also show St. Cloud Police previously recommended charges in 2019 of theft from a victim 65 and older, and exploitation of the elderly.

Police found withdrawals by Lassiter from her mother's bank account totaling more than $24,000, but Lassiter was not charged until now.

According to a Valencia spokeswoman, Lassiter was a part-time teacher in the nursing school. She resigned Dec. 3 but mentioned nothing of her arrest.

In an email to a supervisor, she wrote: "I am resigning from Valencia immediately due to personal and health reasons."

The fact that she never mentioned the arrest is a violation of campus policy.

Lassiter is set to be tried next month and referred all questions to her attorney.

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Nurse, Valencia teacher in Central Florida accused of neglecting elderly mother

Houston probate judge sued for estate trafficking, racketeering and abuse of 91-year-old

By David Yates

HOUSTON - The Honorable Judge Michael Newman turned a blind eye to the alleged estate trafficking and elder abuse of a 91-year-old woman who was under a court-appointed guardianship when she died, according to an amended complaint submitted by her physician daughter.

“The temporary guardian [Dana Drexler] stated publicly that her goal was not to return Hattie Owens to her home as promised but to put her in a nursing facility and sell her house with attached attorney fees,” stated Dr. Sheila Owens Collins in her revised Feb. 5 lawsuit. “Judge Newman aided and abetted this scheme by approval of excessive fees and fees that were for personal use by the temporary guardian.”

As previously reported, Owens Collins named Harris County Probate Judge Michael Newman in her complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Texas, alleging he violated her mother, Hattie Owens’ rights under the U.S. Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“Judge Newman refused to allow testimony on the specific lack of performance of job responsibility that was attached to the contest of the fee schedule,” Owens Collins wrote in her complaint. “He expressed a greater interest in protecting Associate Judge that presided at the start of the guardianship proceeding, which severely hampered mounting a sufficient argument that the fees should not be paid.”

The physician executive daughter further accuses the Honorable Judge Michael Newman of recklessly awarding without justification some $90,000 to the court-appointed guardian and attorneys who allegedly looted her mother’s estate with excessive legal fees.

“The defendant recklessly approved all of the fees and closed the guardianship without giving notice to the plaintiff, leaving unsettled bills and without providing findings of fact and conclusion despite two requests, which decreases the transparency and trust in the judicial system by the lay community that it supposes to serve,” Owens Collins stated.

Among the causes of action are violations of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which includes abuse of the vulnerable, and violations of Canon 1 and 2 of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct upholding the integrity and independence of the judiciary and avoiding impropriety.

“There was important evidence [the Defendant did] not allow to be presented,” Owens Collins alleges. “Dana Drexler was the most toxic and sociopathic of the appointed attorneys. There was a conflict of interest as [Drexler] is a former board member of Adult Protective Services, which was investigating the plaintiff for false allegations made by her niece, Aisha Ross.”

The Texas physician isn’t the first to sue over the court-appointed guardianship of an elderly or disabled individual. Other plaintiffs in Texas as well as plaintiffs in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, California, New York, North Carolina, and Ohio have increasingly cried afoul in recent years. In response, U.S. Representatives Darren Soto, Charlie Crist, and Gus Bilirakis of Florida as well as Debbie Dingell of Michigan introduced HR 4174 in 2019 to assist states in guardianship oversight but the bill was not enacted into law.

“Mrs. Hattie Owens was the victim of elder trafficking perpetrated by stakeholders in the Harris County guardianship and probate court system,” Owens Collins wrote.

The plaintiff seeks punitive damages, costs of the suit, and interest on costs of the suit as well as a judgment in her favor on all the causes of action in the suit.

“Attempts to promote good health and well-being by the plaintiff for her mother were communicated to the tribunal as interference and evidence of unsuitability,” Owens Collins said. “As a guardian, the extent that Dana Drexler went to paint this false narrative is nothing short of pathological.”

Litigation is currently pending with Magistrate Peter Bray and U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes who was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan.

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Houston probate judge sued for estate trafficking, racketeering and abuse of 91-year-old

Father, son sentenced in death of disabled Missouri man

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A Missouri father and son have been sentenced in federal court for their roles in the death of a developmentally disabled man and covering up his death.

Anthony Flores was sentenced Wednesday to about 15.5 years in federal prison for failing to provide Carl DeBrodie with medical care.

DeBrodie's body was found encased in concrete in April 2017 in Fulton.

Authorities believe he died months earlier.

Flores' son, Anthony R.K. Flores, was sentenced later Wednesday to three years of probation for helping to cover up DeBrodie's death by lying to authorities.

Sherry Paulo, the men's wife and mother, led the scheme and was sentenced Tuesday to 17.5 years in jail.

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Father, son sentenced in death of disabled Missouri man

See Also:
Former guardian not eligible to bring DeBrodie lawsuit, judge rules

Carl DeBrodie was killed by injuries from forced fighting, court documents reveal graphic details

Carl DeBrodie case: Family attorney says the charges didn't surprise him

Federal Judge Denies Plea to Release Mom from Guardianship

• The elder Ms. Bush resides in a care center where the Plaintiff Daughter says she is only allowed one paid visit per month for one hour.
• “This legal form of kidnapping is happening in communities across the country, in many cases with little or no recourse available."
• Ms. Bush has appealed Judge Savage’s decision to dismiss and the case is currently pending before the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.

A federal judge in Pennsylvania has denied a forlorn daughter’s pleas for the release of her aging parent from court appointed guardianship. In filing a petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Mary Bush was seeking redress for the right of communication and association with her 89-year old mother Genevieve Bush.

The elder Ms. Bush resides in a care center where the Plaintiff Daughter says she is only allowed one paid visit per month for one hour, which is court ordered to be monitored by a Sheriff and an Adult Protective Services (APS) supervisor.

“The petitioner [Mary Bush] seeks to end her harassment and terminate her mother’s guardianship arrangement,” wrote U.S. District Judge Timothy Savage in his Nov. 18 Memorandum. “Because the petitioner [Mary Bush] is not in custody, she is not entitled to habeas relief. The petitioner, as a non-attorney, cannot proceed with this action on behalf of Genevieve.” 

A Writ of Habeas Corpus is typically reserved for prisoners incarcerated in a penitentiary but in her Oct. 15 Motion for Reconsideration of the federal judge’s dismissal, the Plaintiff Daughter Ms. Bush stated that the goal of her petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus is not just for the release of her mother but to ensure due process under the US Constitution.

“Petitioner Mary Bush filed as next friend on behalf of her mother Genevieve, clearly telling this court that her mother is isolated and has no means to communicate out of her incarcerated situation,” she said.

Ms. Bush’s federal complaint is one of many filed by adult children under various causes of action across the country that are highlighting the emerging downsides of adult guardianship programs, which are designed to help the elderly and people with disabilities to manage their lives. Instead, these programs have been plagued with allegations of neglect, abuse, starvation, over medication, wrongful isolation and financial exploitation.

In response to the increased number of adult children who are crying for federal authorities to intervene, members of Congress introduced HR 4174 on August 7, which is currently pending before the House Committee on the Judiciary.

“H.R. 4174 is definitely a step in the right direction,” said Richard Green, author of Agents of Deceit: The True Story of Life Inside Today’s Chaotic and Dysfunctional IRS, who rescued his own mother from court appointed guardianship in Tennessee. “It provides online resources for guardianships and makes grants for state oversight program that are independent of state courts, which are often corrupt.”

If enacted, HR 4174 would activate protections against elder abuse, exploitation and neglect under court appointed guardianship.

“This legal form of kidnapping is happening in communities across the country, in many cases with little or no recourse available, and recently in Florida directly resulting in a death,” said Florida Congressman Charlie Crist in a joint statement.

 In most American states, it is not uncommon for the elderly and people with disabilities to lose their individual rights around residence, visitation, choice of meals, health insurance, marital status, medical care, assets and property once they become a ward of the State under a guardianship ordered by a state or county Judge.

The plaintiff daughter in this case named Chester County Court of Common Pleas Judge Katherine B.L. Platt as a defendant, alleging that her mother has been allowed to suffer neglect, abuse, improper medical care and treatment.

“Defendant Judge Katherine B.L. Platt cannot provide any legitimate reasons or grounds for the restraint and detention of Genevieve Bush and Mary Bush,” wrote the Plaintiff Daughter in her petition. “This writ thus stands as a safeguard against ongoing imprisonment, loss of rights and liberties of both mother and daughter being targeted in violation of the law and guaranteed rights.”

When asked for comment, Stacy Witalec, spokesperson for Pennsylvania courts and judges, said that no information can be provided.

“Defendant [Judge Platt] has been maliciously inciting public hatred towards petitioner that has resulted in physical attacks, injury, further identity thefts, financial destitution and continued irreparable harm,” stated Ms. Bush in her brief.  “Petitioner can prove that she and her mother have been intentionally targeted by defendant, Judge Katherine B.L. Platt, for cash and property.”

However, the Honorable federal judge Savage ruled that even legal or factual error, personal malice or the performance of an act in excess of jurisdiction will not remove the cloak of the Honorable Judge Platt’s judicial immunity.

“The Defendant [Judge Platt] is protected by judicial immunity,” Judge Savage wrote. “Only when a judge performs a non-judicial act or acts in a “clear absence of all jurisdiction” is the protection of judicial immunity lost.”

Ms. Bush has appealed Judge Savage’s decision to dismiss and the case is currently pending before the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.

“Convicted felons have more rights, freedoms and protections,” she said. “Mary and Genevieve Bush have committed no crimes.”

Full Article & Source:
Federal Judge Denies Plea to Release Mom from Guardianship

See Also:
Daughter names Pennsylvania judge in federal suit over elderly mom's guardianship

'We were shocked:' I-Team investigates how doctors can take parents to court over guardianship

RALEIGH, NC (WTVD) --

This may be the most painful symptom of mental illness and its impact on North Carolina families.

According to North Carolina law, health care professionals can petition a court to revoke guardianship from a patient's parents or legal guardian, and instead assign a public guardian to manage the patients' medical care.

'Our thoughts were, no way'

David Bankert and Joanne Luterman are two such parents who approached the I-Team about their experience losing guardianship for their son, Ian.

"We were shocked and blown away," Luterman told ABC11. "We want Ian to have some joy, to come home, lead a life with his family and have some sense of normalcy.

Ian, 24, suffers from schizophrenia, and his parents say they first noticed signs of mental illness in high school. Though he did graduate, Ian spent the next several years going in and out of the hospital instead of going to college. Despite doctors' recommendations for more medication and long-term care, Bankert and Luterman instead insisted that a good diet, exercise and faith could restore Ian's sense of self.  (Click to Continue)

Full Article & Source:
'We were shocked:' I-Team investigates how doctors can take parents to court over guardianship

Former guardian not eligible to bring DeBrodie lawsuit, judge rules

A Callaway County judge has dismissed a wrongful death suit filed by Carl DeBrodie's former guardian Mary Martin.

Judge Jeff Harris ruled July 2 that as Mary Martin and her husband, Bryan Martin, were not DeBrodie's birth or adoptive parents, they did not have standing to bring a wrongful death claim under Missouri statute, according to court documents.

"We already knew we were going to be denied, so it's not such a blow," Mary Martin said Friday. "We'll carry it as far as we can."

She said she, her husband and her lawyer are exploring legal options to continue pursuing the suit.

The Martins filed the wrongful death suit April 13, claiming as "psychological, 'de facto'" parents of DeBrodie, they should be among the beneficiaries entitled to participating in the wrongful death suit.

DeBrodie, the developmentally disabled man found dead in April 2017 after vanishing from a Fulton group home, lived with the Martins from ages 13-21. The Martins attempted to adopt DeBrodie when he was 25, but the petition was rejected by the Circuit Court of Cole County. The legal battle dragged from 2011-14.

Harris cited the failed adoption attempt in his July 2 decision.

"Plaintiffs' claims are barred in that their attempt at equitable adoption has already been adjudicated and rejected in other proceedings," he wrote.

Additionally, Harris noted, DeBrodie's mother, Carolyn Summers, already has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the case.

"Only one action may be brought under the wrongful death statute for the death of Carl DeBrodie," he stated.

Summers and DeBrodie's aunt Carol Samson filed their own wrongful death suit in January and have opposed the Martins' involvement in it. The Martins' civil suit was filed April 9.

On April 13 the Martins filed to intervene as plaintiffs in the Summers/Samson civil suit. At the time, Mary Martin said she hoped to change legal precedent to allow non-adoptive and birth parents more legal recourse in cases like this. She also mentioned plans to use money won through the suit to start a foundation to help people like DeBrodie.

The motion to intervene was terminated April 16.

In May, Samson filed a motion to dismiss the Martins' lawsuit. She and Summers also filed a motion to support its dismissal before the July 2 hearing.

The Martin suit was dismissed with prejudice, court records show, meaning the Martins will have to pay for costs associated with the suit.

"It hurts that the laws do not see us as the psychological parents," Mary Martin said Friday.

Full Article & Source:
Former guardian not eligible to bring DeBrodie lawsuit, judge rules

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Carl DeBrodie was killed by injuries from forced fighting, court documents reveal graphic details

Carl DeBrodie case: Family attorney says the charges didn't surprise him

Grandson says a court appointed a stranger to care for his grandmother without telling him

LARGO, Fla. — A Pinellas County man is fighting to care for his grandmother after he wasn't notified of a court hearing that stripped away her rights.

The family called the ABC Action News I-Team, hoping we could get to the bottom of why nearby close relatives were left out of the process.

“I love you, grandma,” Jesse Locke told his grandmother Eloise, as he gave her a hug.

He recently reunited with her for the first time since she had been removed from her home by a professional guardian earlier this month.

Jesse says he and other family members were banned from seeing her in the assisted living center for 17 days.

“God it was a nightmare,” Eloise said, describing her recent ordeal.

A professional guardian who was appointed by the court obtained an ex-parte order, normally used to detain mentally ill people, to remove her from her home on June 4.

“I knew I couldn't fight the handcuffs. And there were three big policemen,” Eloise said.

Records indicate she was transported by ambulance from her home to a Largo mental hospital, before being taken to the memory care center at an ALF.

A Pinellas County Probate Judge earlier determined Eloise was incapacitated based on a petition filed by her guardian’s attorney.

Among the allegations in the petition were that she has dementia and lived in an uninhabitable, dirty home.

“It might not look like much to the average person, but I have a million memories here,” said Jesse.

He admits the home is small and old but believes it is a clean, safe place for his grandmother to live.

“My grandpa built it with his two hands 69 years ago. She wants to die in there,” Jesse said.

The guardian also reported Eloise was paranoid, confused and malnourished.

“Oh, baloney. The refrigerator was full of food,” said Eloise.

She says her daughter-in-law, who lives down the street, regularly goes grocery shopping for her.

Another grandson lives directly behind her home.

Eloise’s guardian tried to get the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office to remove her from her home on June 1, saying it was an emergency situation since she was living in deplorable conditions.

A deputy visited the home and said in his report, “We made contact with Eloise right after and she let us look around her residence.”

“While Eloise’s residence didn’t appear spotless, it did seem livable from my perspective. The residence had working water and electricity. The fridge had food and Eloise stated she has friends to bring her to and from grocery stores,” the report goes on to say.

He informed the guardian that based on his observations, he did not find it uninhabitable.

That’s when the guardian sought the court order to have her forcibly removed.

“Literally you could have thrown a rock from Eloise's house and hit one of those people's houses,” said attorney Gerald Hemness, who represents Jesse.

Hemness says Jesse and three other children of Eloise’s late son should have been given notice of her incapacity and guardianship hearings, arguing they are legally considered “next of kin” in Florida.

The Florida Guardianship Law says “Next of Kin” means those persons who would be heirs at law of the ward or alleged incapacitated person if the person were deceased and includes the lineal descendants of the ward or alleged incapacitated person.

“Had notice been done properly, he would have been aware of the proceeding. He could have pointed out that he wanted to help his grandmother,” said Hemness.

Eloise's two sons, who live in other states, were notified and did not object to the guardianship.

“The family members she checked with are thousands of miles away. Why didn't you check with anybody in the area? “ Jesse said.

The guardianship attorney declined an on-camera interview but says he doesn’t believe he was required to give notice to the local relatives since Eloise’s two sons are alive and agreed Eloise should be cared for by a professional guardian.

He told us that Jesse has the right now to petition the court to become involved in the process, which Jesse plans to do.

But he says he wishes he had been included in the original process, so he would not have had to hire an attorney at a personal cost of thousands of dollars.

“Jesse the grandson is having to come in and struggle to get back into a conversation that's essentially over already,” said Hemness.

“My client is completely eligible to serve. He had no blemishes that would cause the court concern about him,” said Hemness, who hopes Jesse will be given the chance to oversee his grandmother’s care through a family guardianship.

“We're all willing. Everybody's willing to help out,” Jesse said, indicating his brothers and other relatives also want to be part of the process.

“I can tell they love me and everything,” Eloise said, indicating nobody in her family has ever abused or exploited her.

“I’m not gonna stop until I get my grandma back,” Jesse said.

His attorney says he hopes Eloise can eventually have some of her rights restored.

He doesn’t believe she needs to be in a lock-down Alzheimer’s unit.

“Even when you're under a guardianship, what you want still matters. It's not supposed to be prison. It's not supposed to be a stripping of all of your life,” Hemness said.

“If she wants her grandson to take care of her instead of a stranger, that is, if not the most important thing, one of the most important things the court has to consider,” he said.

Full Article & Source:
Grandson says a court appointed a stranger to care for his grandmother without telling him

Carl DeBrodie was killed by injuries from forced fighting, court documents reveal graphic details

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FULTON, Mo. - New allegations released in a civil lawsuit reveal Carl DeBrodie was forced to physically fight another resident for the "benefit and amusement of Paulo and her family," those events eventually causing his death. Sherry Paulo was the manager of Second Chance Homes, where Carl was living before he died.

As a result of these forced fighting engagements, Carl suffered serious injuries, including at least six broken ribs. Carl also regularly suffered black eyes and other bruising.

Sometime after October 25, 2016, but before November 24, 2016, Carl and a resident stayed overnight at Paulo's residence to sleep in the basement on the concrete floor. During the middle of the night, Anthony Flores, Paulo's husband and employee of Second Chance homes, was awakened by Carl's scream. Carl was found unresponsive and convulsing on the floor of the basement, appearing to have a seizure.

Documents say instead of calling 911 or other emergency assistance, Flores and the resident carried Carl upstairs and placed him in a bathtub with the shower running. Carl was bleeding from his nose and mouth and continued to convulse in the bathtub. Documents say "no life-saving measures were attempted that night with respect to Carl, Carl died as a result of the episode. Carl remained in the bathtub for two or three days until he was ultimately placed into the City of Fulton trash can, encased in concrete, and placed into a storage unit."

Court documents say for several months leading up to October 2016, Sherry Paulo, group home manager would regularly and frequently take Carl and another facility resident to overnight at her own personal residence in Fulton. Paulo allegedly forced Carl to stay at her own personal residence, require him to perform manual, unpaid labor around her home.

Carl and another resident were forced to stay and sleep in Paulo's basement, where no beds or mattresses were provided.

On April 17, 2017, the Fulton Police Department received a missing report for Carl, who had gone missing from the Facility.

Due to the decomposition of Carl's body, it was determined he had been missing and/or deceased for several months before the missing person report was filed.

The names below are the defendants in the case:

• Second Chance Homes of Fulton, LLC
  • Rachael Rowden, Owner
  • Sherry Paulo, Manager
  • Anthony Flores, Sr., Employee and husband of Paulo
• Callaway County Public Administrator's Office
  • Karen Digh Allen, Callaway County Public Administrator
  • Robin Rees Love, Employee
• Missouri Department of Mental Health
  • Mark Stringer, Director
• Missouri Department of Mental Health - Division of Developmental Disabilities
  • Valerie Huhn, Director
  • Wendy Witcig, Deputy Director, Community Operations
  • Marcy Volner, Assistant Director of Central Region
  • Wendy Davis, Director of Central Missouri Regional Office
• Callaway County Special Services (CCSS)
  • Julia Kaufmann, Executive Director
  • Melissa Delap, Employee and Carl's community RN
  • Tiffany Keipp, Employee and Carl's case manager

Keipp and Delap were required to report to appropriate authorities, including the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Mental Health Division of Disabilities, any suspicions or allegations of physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, or neglect of Carl, and also any misuse of Carl’s funds or property.

For several months leading up to Carl’s reported disappearance, Allen, Love, Keipp,Rowden and Paulo prevented the plaintiffs in the case, Carolyn Summers and Carol Samson, from seeing or visiting with Carl.

Instead of conducting the required face-to-face contact, Keipp and Delap made false reports saying that face-to-face contact was made with Carl.

In her false reports, Keipp said she had made face-to-face contact with Carl in October 2016, November 2016, December 2016, January 2017, February 2017 and March 2017. None of these meetings took place.

Delap said in her false report she had made face-to-face contact with Carl in October 2016, November 2016, December 2016, January 2017, February 2017 and March 2017. These meetings also never took place.

In 2016, Second Chance, Rowden, Paulo and Delap did not submit consistent monthly reports about Carl to Keipp, CCSS, Allen, Love and the Public Administrator.

Keipp and Love did not make contact with Carl to check on his health and well-being, even though Paulo reported Carl was not in good health.

Keipp and Love were aware of verbal abuse towards Carl, but didn't report it. They were also aware of physical abuse occurring between Carl and another resident that they didn't report.

Rowden, Paulo, Keipp, Delap and Love waited several months to report Carl’s disappearance so they could continue to receive and collect state and federal monies for the provision of residential services for Carl, according to the court document.

To read the entire document, click below:

Carl DeBrodie Death

Full Article & Source:
Carl DeBrodie was killed by injuries from forced fighting, court documents reveal graphic details

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Carl DeBrodie case: Family attorney says the charges didn't surprise him

Carl DeBrodie case: Family attorney says the charges didn't surprise him

Click to Watch Video

"I assured my clients that the prosecutor was working on it and something probably would happen," Ruday Veit,, the DeBrodie family's attorney said. "And it has."

Fulton Police arrested five people associated with the Carl DeBrodie case.

“I knew a long time ago that charges would be filed because I saw the documents,” Veit said. “I had been anticipating that for a long time they were going to make an arrest, it's just a matter of when the prosecutor could coordinate with the other parties involved in the case."

Veit said this process has taken a long time.

“Its been a while and each step shows that somebody is doing something and someone cares,” he said.

Veit said these charges set a precedent for care facilities across the state.

"One of the things we want to do is make sure this action doesn’t happen again, and by him prosecuting them all it sets a good message to other facilities not to do this kind of conduct,” Veit said.

Veit thinks the charges for this case will be staying, ”In this case the evidence is pretty clear that these charges will be met In every one of these cases.”

Veit said these criminal charges do not affect the civil case with the DeBrodie family.

“It should not affect the outcome, but it will help us reach the goals we want to reach,” Veit said. "Except now I know where to find them."

Former Cole County Prosecutor Bill Tackett said that civil and criminal cases are "different animals" and agrees that the new charges wouldn't affect really affect the civil case. Fulton police already said they didn't find evidence DeBrodie was forced to fight other residents of the group home, even though the civil suit accuses that.

"When you file a civil suit, you're making allegations. If you make a fact, you make exaggerate that fact and it's accepted within the bounds of a civil lawsuit," he said. "With criminal law, you have to be very specific. You're talking about putting someone in prison, taking away their liberties. In civil law, you're talking about taking away their money. Nobody goes to jail with civil law."

Full Article & Source:
Carl DeBrodie case: Family attorney says the charges didn't surprise him

Attorney for Carl DeBrodie's family says "whole system failed him"

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Attorneys for Carl DeBrodie's biological mother, Carolyn Summers, said Wednesday that they filed a wrongful death lawsuit on her behalf in order to find out what truly happened to DeBrodie and prevent what happened to him from happening to another vulnerable member of society.

"One of our desires is that it does not happen to other people, and that this be a wake up call," said attorney Rudolph Veit. "We see it all the time... individuals with mental conditions, they're so easy to take advantage of and to ignore."
The lawsuit claims those involved in DeBrodie's care failed to provide for his safety and attempted to cover up the circumstances of his death. The claims include wrongful death, negligence, civil rights violations and civil conspiracy.

On April 17, Fulton police received a missing person’s report from Second Chance Homes. They quickly realized DeBrodie had been missing a lot longer than the Second Chance workers had reported.

A week later, his body was found in a storage facility encased in a box of cement.

According to court documents, the wrongful death lawsuit was filed against 23 defendants, including Second Chance Homes, its' operator Rachael Rowden and the Missouri Department of Mental Health.

The number of defendants could shrink based on the depositions.

"If they haven't done something wrong, we would like their names not to be part of it," said Veit. "We only want to get to those people who breached their duty in the care of Mr. DeBrodie."

Veit said that the investigation on the federal level with the U.S. Attorneys office was taking longer than they expected and they wanted to start getting answers. Veit and fellow Carson & Coil attorney Gabe Harris are working as a team on the case.

"We felt like if we filed now, most of their work will have been completed," said Veit. "We can start depositions and do thorough depositions and find out truly what happened in this case, putting people under oath."

Veit said they have a viable case, and right now, they just have to determine who was responsible for DeBrodie's death, and try to bring awareness to the whole system.

"While in a state-paid institution, because of the challenges in his life, he basically ended up in a concrete block," Veit said. "We know that's not supposed to happen, we know that his guardian should have checked on him and there are state regulations on how often his well-being was supposed to be checked and they were not."

The investigation continues but no criminal charges have been filed yet.

Full Article & Source:
Attorney for Carl DeBrodie's family says "whole system failed him"

See Also:
The Case of Carl DeBrodie: The Investigation

Man whose body was found encased in concrete may have been missing months

Advocates: Guardianship law should focus on well-being