Exam finds Thrash “severely impaired”

Charlie Thrash, 81, who is legally mentally disabled is shown in a December 2018 photograph from FaceBook. Thrash's girlfriend Laura Martinez has been accused of undue influence and also spending the wealthy man's money. The case is in court.Photo: Courtesy

BY John MacCormack - San Antonio Express-News

For the past 10 months, the issue of Charlie Thrash’s mental competence has dominated a marathon guardianship case in probate court that already has burned through at least $500,000 in legal fees.

Thrash, 81, the longtime owner of a specialty auto repair shop on West Avenue, was placed in a guardianship two years ago after allegations of possible financial exploitation arose.

In March, a guardian concerned about his safety removed Thrash from a home he shared with his girlfriend, Laura Martinez, and several of her children.

Based on a mental capacity exam done in 2017, Thrash has since been deemed incapable of handling his own affairs. Nevertheless, lawyer Phil Ross, who represents Martinez and other parties, repeatedly has argued he does not require guardianship.

“Charlie still retains the mental capacity to make his own financial and health care decisions, to manage his daily living activities and to engage in his livelihood and hobby activities at his place of business, CT Thrash Differential and Axle Service,” Ross asserted in a motion filed two weeks ago.

Psychiatrist Jason Schillerstrom recently contradicted the assertion in a medical evaluation of Thrash.

In his report, the doctor concluded that Thrash “does NOT have decision-making capacity, “ and suffers from moderate dementia as well as “severely impaired executive function.”

“His insight and judgment are very poor. (He) grossly overestimates his self-care abilities, states he is ready to fly planes again despite his struggles to get out of a chair and need for a walker. (He has) no appreciation for his medical conditions and treatments,” Schillerstrom wrote.

The report adds that Thrash failed three of five “neuropsychological” tests and says “he has the problem-solving ability of a small child.”

Noting Thrash’s expressed desire to resume work at his now-idle repair shop, Dr. Schillerstrom recommended that he “not be exposed to the opportunity to use heavy, potentially dangerous machinery.”

It concludes that Thrash requires continued “24-hour supervision and a nursing home level of care.”

Laura Cavaretta, who represents Tonya Barina, the guardian of Thrash’s estate, said she doubts the latest medical exam will resolve the ongoing legal struggle.

“With any other opposing counsel, this would end it, but I just don’t see Mr. Ross letting go. He fancies himself a crusader for the poor underdogs who are being taken advantage of by the guardian process,” she said.

“I think the person doing harm to Mr. Thrash is Mr. Ross. Every time he files this stuff, we have to file a response and it incurs legal fees and prevents the guardians from doing their jobs,” she added.

Ross said Wednesday by email that he intends to ask for a second expert opinion on Thrash’s mental status.

“It is not fair to Charlie,” he said.

“I still have hope that justice will prevail. Hopefully, Charlie can recover his freedom and liberty again, like he recovered his capacity last year, before it’s too late,” he added.

Still unresolved in the case are appeals by Ross of rulings by Judge Oscar Kazen, including whether Thrash’s March 4 marriage to Martinez — contrary to court orders — should have been annulled.

Also pending is a motion for contempt filed by Barina, complaining of continued misconduct by Ross and members of the Martinez family, who this summer were ordered to pay more than $220,000 in sanctions by Kazen.

Contrary to the judge’s orders, Barina says, Ross and the Martinez family continue to be in contact with Thrash, have filed another complaint in federal court against his guardians and continue to file motions in probate court.

Barina has asked the court to impose stiff sanctions, including incarceration and fines. No date has yet been set for a hearing on her motion.

Ross also is the subject of two complaints to the State Bar of Texas.

On Dec. 9, a visiting judge will preside over a hearing on the bar’s lawsuit. It accuses him of “deceit, dishonesty or misrepresentation” in a guardianship case involving Sybil Sims.

In his response to the suit, which, if successful could cost him the suspension or loss of his law license, Ross has denied any misconduct and requested a jury trial.

Separately, Barina has filed a grievance with the bar over Ross’ alleged misconduct in the Thrash case. Thus far, the bar has not acted publicly on her complaint.

Full Article & Source:

Exam finds Thrash “severely impaired” 

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Judge sanctions lawyer, clients $222,000 in Thrash case

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Attorney vows to appeal sanctions imposed in case involving incapacitated millionaire

By John Breslin
SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio attorney has vowed he will appeal against sanctions of more than $200,000 imposed on him and his clients in a case involving an incapacitated millionaire, his apparent sham marriage and adoption of his former wife's adult children.

Phil Ross maintains there is no evidence he did anything wrong in his dealings with 81-year-old Charles Thrash, the former owner of an auto repair shop with an estate valued at more than $3 million.

But Judge Oscar Kazen of Bexar County Probate Court, before imposing more than $220,000 in sanctions, found that Ross misrepresented himself as Thrash's lawyer and helped to marry the millionaire to Laura Martinez and the adoption of her children. Both have since been reversed.

Thrash was mentally incapacitated at the time of the marriage, and both Ross and Martinez knew of a court order two months previously stating that he was incompetent, the court found.

The wedding was held in another country, Ross served as best man, and signed the marriage certificate, according to a report in the San Antonio Express News.

But a defiant Ross told the Southeast Texas Record that he "did not exploit Charlie Thrash and did nothing to cause him harm."

On the wedding to Martinez, the attorney said, "It was Charlie's choice."

Ross described the judge's opinion as "erroneous," including the order to cover the attorney fees of the court-ordered guardians.

The judge imposed various sanctions, including $187,500 on Ross, Laura Martinez and Brittany Martinez, to cover the attorney fees. He also ordered Ross to pay back $30,400 in attorney fees and a further punitive $5,000.

According to the San Antonio Express News, Martinez first met Thrash in 2012, some years before a court found that he was mentally incapacitated. A court investigator report earlier this year said that Thrash did not want to marry.

"The marriage caused no harm or injury," Ross said. 
 
Full Article & Source:
Attorney vows to appeal sanctions imposed in case involving incapacitated millionaire 

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San Antonio Lawyer Sanctioned for Fraudulent Conduct Involving Elderly Millionaire

San Antonio Lawyer Sanctioned for Fraudulent Conduct Involving Elderly Millionaire

“The sanctions order is designed and intended to silence the only people asking for a second medical opinion,” said San Antonio solo practitioner Philip Ross.

 

By Angela Morris

 

Photo: Ocskay Bence/Fotolia

A San Antonio attorney will appeal a $227,000 sanction in which a probate judge found the lawyer and his clients “participated in a fraud upon this court” by lying and filing groundless pleadings in bad faith during a guardianship proceeding involving an elderly, incapacitated millionaire. The judge then struck the clients’ pleadings with a so-called death-penalty sanction that killed their case.

The attorney, Philip Ross, allegedly participated in a scheme to have the millionaire’s long-time girlfriend marry the elderly man, and then have her new husband adopt her children, hide his assets from his guardians, lay claim to his property and divert his Social Security assets, among other things.

But Ross said that Charles Inness Thrash is not incapacitated and he argued that doctors misdiagnosed Thrash with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. And now Ross is fighting to restore the millionaire’s legal capacity.

“The sanctions order is designed and intended to silence the only people asking for a second medical opinion,” said Ross.

However, Bexar County Probate Court No. 1 Judge Oscar Kazen described Ross and his clients’ behavior as an “ongoing pattern of fraudulent conduct.”

Kazen’s May 24 order granting a motion for sanctions explains that the guardianship involves Thrash, whom the court in January found totally incapacitated and unable to marry or enter contracts. The court had appointed two guardians to oversee Thrash and his estate.

Ross represented Laura Martinez, who is Thrash’s long-time girlfriend and companion, as well as her children, Brittany and Jose Martinez. Ross also claims he represents Thrash, but the judge has told him repeatedly that he can’t be Thrash’s attorney.

The judge found that Ross, Laura Martinez and Brittany Martinez are jointly and severally liable to pay $187,529 to the guardians, and Ross must pay $30,445 himself. The court also issued punitive sanctions: $5,000 to Ross, $2,500 to Laura Martinez and $1,500 to Brittany Martinez. They’ll have to pay more if they appeal, and lose.

The sanctions barred Laura Martinez from pursuing future claims or offering evidence that she was ever married to Thrash. The judge also struck all of their pleadings that asserted claims or defenses.

‘Fraudulent Conduct’

The order said that in March, Ross and Laura Martinez schemed to make Thrash marry Martinez. Ross was the best man at the wedding and he signed the marriage certificate.

On March 5, Ross filed a petition for adoption that falsely claimed Ross was Thrash’s attorney, and falsely claimed that no court-ordered relationships impacted the parties, when the truth was that Thrash was under a court-ordered guardianship, according to court documents. Without permission from Thrash’s guardians, Thrash adopted Brittany and Jose Martinez.

Separately, Laura Martinez and her children have sued the probate judge.

Later, in the guardianship case, Ross filed a second motion to recuse the judge from Thrash’s case. During a hearing on the motion on sanctions, Martinez testified that suing the judge separately was part of a plan by Ross to create grounds for recusal in the guardianship case.

In February, Ross wrote two letters and then made Thrash copy the words in his own handwriting to file in the court case, the order said. Ross wanted it to look like Thrash wrote the letters, and didn’t tell the court those were Ross’ words, the order said.

Ross and the Martinez family have failed to comply with court orders by interfering with the guardians’ duties, and concealing some of Thrash’s assets, the judge found.

They wanted to gain control of Thrash’s property, and they appeared before a justice of the peace to assert rights under an alleged lease, according to the ruling. Opposing counsel confronted Ross, who admitted the lease document was “reconstructed from memory,” the order said.

The judge ruled, “Respondents designed and carried out a vexatious litigation campaign involving litigation against Thrash and his property, the guardians and the court.”

Read the sanctions order

Full Article & Source:
San Antonio Lawyer Sanctioned for Fraudulent Conduct Involving Elderly Millionaire

Judge sanctions lawyer, clients $222,000 in Thrash case

Laura Martinez, her attorney Phil Ross and her daughter Brittany Martinez wait outside Probate Court No. 1 for the start of a Friday hearing over the annulment of the recent marriage of Charlie Thrash, 81, a ward under a guardianship, and Laura Martinez.
Photo: Carlos Javier Sanchez /Contributor

by John MacCormack, San Antonio Express-News

In a stern rebuke, a judge ordered maverick lawyer Phil Ross and his clients to pay more than $220,000 in sanctions for their serial misconduct during an ongoing guardianship case involving Charlie Thrash, a mentally incapacitated millionaire.

In handing down the hefty penalty, one of the largest in courthouse memory, Bexar County Probate Court Judge Oscar Kazen ruled that Ross and his clients, Laura and Brittany Martinez, had “designed and carried out a vexatious litigation campaign … against Thrash, his property, the guardians and the Court.”

In addition, the judge said, the conduct of Ross and the Martinezes was “intentional, knowing and outrageous.”

The 35-page order cited dozens of specific acts of misconduct. Among the more serious:

Ross assisted in the improper marriage of Thrash and his girlfriend Martinez, which he knew was forbidden by the court because of Thrash’s mental incapacity. The marriage was soon annulled by Kazen.

Ross also was involved in a improper adoption by Thrash of Martinez’s two adult children, which he knew was forbidden, also dishonestly representing himself as Thrash’s lawyer, when he was not. The adoptions were also undone.

Ross improperly interfered with Tonya Barina, the guardian of Thrash’s estate, by attempting to divert Thrash’s Social Security benefits from her.

Ross filed a second recusal motion against Judge Kazen that he knew was groundless, solely “for the purpose of harassment” and to “avoid a hearing on the motion for sanctions.”

Kazen also imposed additional punitive financial sanctions of $2,500 against Laura Martinez and $1,500 against her daughter Brittany.

He ordered all the money be paid to Thrash’s two guardians and his estate.

Ross, who claimed nothing he has done harmed Thrash, said the sanctions just raise more questions about the case.

“How did the judge allow the guardians’ lawyers to bill more than a quarter-million dollars to Charlie’s estate trying to stop his common-law wife Laura and Brittany from trying to help him restore his capacity and to remove the guardians?” he asked.

“The other question is why are they so afraid of us? They are trying to silence us. All we’re saying is that Charlie is not incapacitated and the guardians should be removed,” he added.

Les Katona, one of the lawyers who represented Barina, the guardian of Thrash’s estate, however, said that given the egregious misconduct, the strong sanctions imposed by Kazen were almost predictable.

“Phil Ross and Laura Martinez and her family engaged in utterly outrageous behavior that necessitated the court respond in a very forceful way, in order to preserve the integrity of our judicial system and to protect people like Mr. Thrash from being taken advantage of,” he added.

$3 million estate

Thrash, 81, who since last year has been under the care of guardians, is the longtime owner of a now closed specialty auto repair shop on West Avenue.

For the last four months, he has been at the center of a contentious legal battle between Ross and lawyers representing the two court-appointed guardians.

Thrash’s estate is worth more than $3 million and Martinez says she is the only beneficiary.

The guardians and a court investigator claim that Martinez, who was briefly married to Thrash and claims she loves him, was exploiting and socially isolating him.

In his pleadings, Ross argued that the guardians ruined Thrash’s life and should be dismissed because Thrash has somehow regained his mental competence.

On March 6, guardian Mary Werner, with police assistance, removed Thrash from the spacious home he shared with Martinez in Shavano Park. Werner said she took the extreme action because she feared for Thrash’s safety.

Ross is known for his aggressive and unconventional legal tactics, which have led before to sanctions against him.

During the months of intense litigation, Kazen repeatedly admonished Ross over his behavior, warning at one point that some of his conduct might be criminal.

The judge was also given to repeating the cautionary remark: “We have to be careful that zealous advocacy doesn’t turn into the exploitation of the individual.”

Over the past four months, Ross filed more than 70 pleadings in the probate court, many attacking the two guardians.

All of Ross’s efforts to get rid of them have been rejected by Kazen, prompting additional pleadings by Ross to the 4th Court of Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court, thus far to no avail.

Kazen has also stricken many of Ross’s filings, after ruling that neither he nor his clients qualified for intervenor status.

Along the way, Ross also tried twice to force Kazen’s recusal, failing both times.

And despite the immunity given state judges, Ross recently sued Kazen in state district court, claiming misconduct. That case is pending.

Ross also filed a suit in U.S. District Court against the two guardians. That case is also pending.

Also still pending is an anti-SLAPP case (Stragetic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) filed by Ross against the guardians.

The type of suit is typically filed by whistle blowers or outspoken citizens seeking protection against corporate intimidation.

And although Ross’s filings are often redundant, rehashing old issues, most have required a legal response from the five lawyers representing the guardians.

They claim that Ross’s voluminous filings have already cost Thrash’s estate more than $250,000 in unnecessary legal expenses.

There have also been more than two-dozen court hearings on the case thus far.

And the legal fight is hardly over. On May 30, another hearing will be held, this time on another motion by Ross for a new trial.

Ross, who has received nothing from the estate, says he is representing his clients without charge.

Full Article & Source:
Judge sanctions lawyer, clients $222,000 in Thrash case

See Also:
Judge orders girlfriend of incapacitated millionaire to vacate his estate

Attempt to recuse probate judge fails in Thrash case

Lawyer seeks to remove judge in Thrash case

Judge nullifies mentally incompetent San Antonio man’s adult adoptions, scolds lawyer for misleading him

San Antonio millionaire marriage annulled after abuse, exploitation and ‘abduction’ claims