Brooke Astor home auction fetches $18.8M in NYC

NEW YORK (AP) — An auction of the contents of philanthropist Brooke Astor's two homes brought in over $18.8 million, Sotheby's said Tuesday.

Sotheby's offered 901 objects in all, including European and Asian furnishings, Old Masters, Qing Dynasty paintings, tea sets, silverware, jewelry, a porcelain menagerie, more than 100 dog paintings and even the uniforms of her domestic staff at a two-day auction that began Monday.

Proceeds will go to institutions and charities, including the New York Public Library and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, under a settlement negotiated by the state attorney general's office.
The collection had expected to fetch just $6 million to $9 million.

The sale concluded Tuesday evening with a selection of jewelry from Astor's personal collection. Among the highlights was Astor's emerald engagement ring, which sold for more than $1.2 million.

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Brooke Astor home auction fetches $18.8M in NYC

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Too Sick for Court?

Judge says Minnesota man with guardian can vote

A Hennepin County judge on Thursday ruled that a man under guardianship may vote, saying the Minnesota Constitution's removal of voting rights from people with guardians violates the U.S. Constitution.

Judge Jay Quam's order is a victory for Brian W. Erickson, who suffers from schizophrenia and is under guardianship but remains high-functioning. It's the second court ruling in the past two months that affirms voting rights among people who have court-appointed decision-makers.

An attorney for Erickson's guardian this year challenged Article VII of the state Constitution that bans a number of classes of people from voting, including those "under guardianship." That article contradicts language in state statutes that guarantees wards' right to vote unless it's taken away by a judge.

An estimated 22,000 Minnesotans have guardians because of advanced dementia, mental illness and other disabilities. In a 26-page order, Quam ruled that the language in the Minnesota Constitution is too broad.

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Judge says Minnesota man with guardian can vote

Mary Sudovar: The Children at War

Born in the early 20th Century, Mary has lived through a major depression, two World Wars, Korean War, Cold War, Bay of Pigs, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and war in Afghanistan, but most likely none of these prepared her for the war between her children. Children that she had cuddled lovingly to her breast. Children she saw as precious gifts to be loved unconditionally & protected with all the energy and might of her heart and soul. Children she laughed with and cried with, while always delighting in the tiniest of accomplishments of each.

 

The years from the first time Mary saw her wee ones to now have been many. Not all have been delightful. Some have been touched with sadness and desperation. One can only wonder just how much Mary knows about the war between her children and what her response would be, if she were actually aware of the entirety of what has taken place. Perhaps, for her, it is better that she not know, but for the wounded — there may be no return from the brink of hell that denies one child the ready comfort of a mother’s arms and elevates the others to a perch of temporary control they shall never be able to undo or be free of. The dark cloak of decisions made shall forever be theirs to haunt them in the night as they perhaps wonder if their decisions were made in good faith and for good cause or if they denied their mother her child for wrongful reason.

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Mary Sudovar: The Children at War

Modena to Announce Discipline on Judge's DUI Stop

Bibb County's sheriff will announce Thursday whether he'll discipline the officers who reportedly let a judge drive home after he failed a DUI test.

Jerry Modena has scheduled a news conference for 2 p.m. Thursday, according to a spokesman Sean DeFoe.

He said Modena is meeting Wednesday with the officers involved in the traffic stop for Bibb County Superior Court Judge Howard Simms. The sheriff says Simms registered a .083 on a breathalyzer test -- above the normal standard for drunken driving.

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Modena to Announce Discipline on Judge's DUI Stop

Former court-appointed guardian charged with Grand Larceny

A trial is scheduled to begin on September 18, 2012, for attorney Raymond Alfred Jones, who has been charged by the Kings County District Attorney’s Office with Grand Larceny in the 2nd degree. Mr. Jones will be represented by defense attorney Anthony Ricco. The trial will be presided over by Judge John Walsh. The charge against Mr. Jones arises from his alleged mishandling and ultimate breach of his fiduciary duties as the court-appointed guardian and trustee of the estate of various incapacitated persons.

In 2011, in two separate cases, Matter of Jones 2011 NY slip Op 50501(U) and Matter of Josephine R., 2011 NY Slip OP 51046(U), Mr. Jones was found to have abused his role as fiduciary. In Matter of Jones, Mr. Jones served as the court appointed trustee and guardian for Mr. Roy L., an incapacitated person who was born with devastating bodily deformities and received a lump sum net settlement of $684,700.00 in a wrongful life lawsuit. Mr. Jones also served as legal counsel to Mr. Roy L. and his mother, Ms. Elaine DeJesus. During his role as guardian, Mr. Jones offered to purchase, on behalf of his ward, a home located at 1079 Sterling Place and retrofit the home to accommodate the ward’s disabilities. The home, in alleged disrepair, was owned by a business associate of Mr. Jones. In 2009, Mr. Jones purchased 1079 Sterling Place from his business associate for the purchase price of $111,00.00 (approximately $36,000.00 more than Mr. Jones previously attested the home was worth) and hired his associate to renovate the home for $121,800.00. According to court documents, Mr. Jones did not seek prior court approval to purchase or renovate 1079 Sterling Place. Mr. Jones did, however, receive court approval approximately nineteen months after the purchase of the home. During the renovation, Mr. Jones convinced his ward and Ms. DeJesus to rent the basement apartment of his business associate in the interim. The guardianship order and judgment for Mr. Roy L. limited monthly rent contributions to $300.00. The rent paid to Mr. Jones‘ associate for a basement apartment was $1,200.00 per month, in excess of the ward’s allotted rental contribution and was paid exclusively from the ward’s estate. Approximately two years after the renovations began, the ward and Ms. DeJesus were allowed to move into 1079 Sterling Place. The renovations, however, were never fully completed under Mr. Jones‘ tenure as guardian. In 2004, Mr. Jones was removed as guardian/trustee for Mr. Roy L.

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Former court-appointed guardian charged with Grand Larceny

Supreme Court Upholds Damages Against Judge

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - The Nevada Supreme Court has upheld a $50,000 defamation judgment against a former Clark County judge.

Justices on Wednesday rejected an appeal by Elizabeth Halverson seeking to overturn the damages awarded to her former assistant, Ileen Spoor.

Spoor sued the judge in 2007. She claimed Halverson defamed her with reports to police and media that Spoor was conducting an illegal ticket-fixing operation and was arranging for friends to avoid jury duty.

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Supreme Court Upholds Damages Against Judge

New Book in Progress!

KILL MOM, KILL DAD;
Disposing Of The Elderly For Profit

~The following is the second chapter of my latest book, which is a work in progress.

~This is an expose that provides a panoramic view of the devastation and corruption of exploitation crimes that even seasoned criminal investigators are unaware of.

 

~I would appreciate your ideas and comments so feel free to contacct me via email from my website.

~A new chapter will be posted on the 1st of each month. I hope that you enjoy these few pages and get a few "I didn't know that's" along the way!~

_________________________________________________

The elderly account for over a third of the economic crimes victims in the nation.  Of these, exploitation victims are the most devastated.  Bank  accounts and multi-million dollar estates can be quickly wiped out with little risk to the predator because victims, due to the infirmities of aging, are often incapable of understanding financial matters. The problem is compounded due to tight police budgets that prevent the additional manpower, time, and training necessary to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

While elderly crime is widespread, few specific details are provided due to confidentiality issues and lack of reporting. The media can have access to arrest affidavits that focus on financial charges that are actually filed, but abuse and neglect may not be mentioned because the evidence was insufficient for additional charges.  The point is that violent abuse crimes can go unreported, even when financial charges are levied against an exploiter.

The following case provides a more detailed account of a predator who was finally charged with both financial and violent crimes. She was a bold woman on a brazen crime spree.  Although her crimes were reported in a timely manner, it took 10 months for the police to arrest her.

See  FinancialAbuseOfTheElderly

Read Joe Roubicek's First Book, "Financial Abuse of the Elderly: A Dective's Case Files of Exploitation Crimes"

In a sentence, Florida's exploitation law (FSS 825.103) states that when someone maliciously takes the property of an "elderly person," they are committing exploitation. That's the essence of the law. 

 

Elderly Man Can Sue Conservator, Attorney for Nursing Home Stay

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that a court-appointed attorney and a conservator involved in an elderly man’s improper conservatorship were not entitled to absolute federal quasi-judicial immunity.

The plaintiff in the case, Daniel Gross, sued after spending 10 months in the locked ward of a Connecticut nursing home while under involuntary conservatorship.

Gross, an octogenarian New York resident, sought treatment in a Waterbury, Connecticut hospital in 2005. While there, a hospital employee filed an application for appointment of a conservator in Waterbury Probate Court. No one knows why.

The probate court appointed Jonathan Newman to represent Gross in the involuntary conservatorship action. Despite the fact that the hearing did not conform to the proper notice procedure, that Gross was not a Connecticut resident, and that Gross appeared to be alert and intelligent at the time of hearing, Newman concluded that there was no legal basis to deny the application
.
The probate court named Kathleen Donovan as Gross' conservator. Soon thereafter, Donovan placed Gross in a "locked ward" in Grove Manor Nursing Home, where he stayed until the Connecticut Superior Court granted his habeas petition. (The Superior Court described Gross' conservatorship as a "terrible miscarriage of justice.")

Gross sued Donovan and Newman for civil rights violations. The district court dismissed his claims, reasoning that all three enjoyed quasi-judicial immunity.

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Elderly Man Can Sue Conservator, Attorney for Nursing Home Stay

See Also:
The Daniel Gross Case Decision: Standing Up for the Elderly and Infirm
 

REVIEW OF LAWYER PENALTIES ORDERED

The state Supreme Court is taking a tougher stand on how lawyers are being punished, ordering the State Bar of California to take a second look at more than three dozen cases of disciplined attorneys.

The court’s move to turn back so many cases is unprecedented, and has sent a jolt through the state’s legal community.
 
The justices did not say what it was about the misconduct cases that required additional review, but bar officials and lawyers who follow the discipline process said it is clear the court questioned whether the punishments were too lenient.

That means the cases against 42 lawyers, including four from San Diego, that once appeared settled are now in doubt. The misconduct in the cases runs the spectrum:

• A lawyer in Berkeley who represented a man charged with murdering a journalist smuggled a letter out of jail for him, then lied about it to police. Prosecutors said the letter was a hit list for witnesses against him in his upcoming trial. The bar settled the matter with a six-month suspension.
 
• A Newport Beach lawyer collected more than $100,000 in fees for working on loan modifications for clients in nine states. He wasn’t licensed to practice law in any of the states, and in some of the cases did little or no work. The lawyer received a one-year suspension.

• San Diego lawyer Steven A. Guilin agreed to a six-month suspension of his license for misconduct in two instances, including forging a client’s signature and another lawyer’s, State Bar records show. He referred questions to his attorney, who declined to comment while the disciplinary matter is pending.

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REVIEW OF LAWYER PENALTIES ORDERED