Charlie Fink's Battle With the State of Texas is Over -- and He Won!

An elderly man taken against his will into state custody has won his legal battle and his freedom.

Charlie Fink, 85, left the nursing home on Friday where he had been in state custody since Feb. 26. The Department of Aging and Disability Services opted not to seek permanent guardianship of Fink after it evaluated him and reviewed his medical records.

A judge had already said he felt Fink could take care of himself.

Fink said he felt “like a million dollars” when he heard he won his battle against the state.

“Now I’m free, I ain’t coming back, I'm not coming back,” Fink said.

Fink’s case has been extensively covered by FOX4, revealing a system where independent elderly adults can be forced against their wishes into state guardianship with the state seizing control of their assets.

Fink had more than $1 million worth of assets.

Fink had been placed in a psych ward at Richardson Methodist Hospital after going in for hernia surgery in early February. Doctors were concerned he could not make good decisions concerning his health.

“Obviously we've had our ups and downs, but at the end we were able to get Charlie out and hopefully he'll be able to move on with his life and be able to continue the way he had before, but hopefully in a better way,” said Fink attorney Lysette Rios.

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Elderly Man Wins Freedom After Battle With State

Nurse accused of stealing drugs from nursing home

BULLITT COUNTY, Ky. — A nurse is accused of taking advantage of her job and elderly patients to fuel her drug habit, authorities said.

Laura Morrow, 36, worked at a nursing home in Mount Washington for just a few days before the staff became suspicious and called authorities.

An investigation by the Bullitt County Drug Task Force revealed Morrow sought hydrocodone, oxycodone, and OxyContin, the sheriff’s department said.

“She just started as (a registered nurse in November),” said Lt. Mike Murdoch of the Bullitt County Sheriff's Office.

One week into the job, Morrow’s new bosses at Green Meadows Health Care were already suspicious, Murdoch said. New on the job and the facility, Morrow insisted on distributing pills to patients on her own, authorities said.

“She said she didn’t need anybody going with her – she’d done it before, she knew what she was doing – is what she stated to them so they didn’t follow her around,” Murdoch said. “And they started noticing discrepancies the next day.”

Morrow allegedly stole 26 dosages of narcotics in five days by forging the names of nine different nurses and pocketing drugs she claimed to have dispensed, Murdoch said.

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Nurse accused of stealing drugs from nursing home

Charges Filed Against Randolph County Judge in Reported Affair with Former Community Corrections Director

The West Virginia Judicial Investigation Commission has charged a Randolph County circuit court judge with violating the code of judicial conduct in connection to an alleged affair with a former community corrections director for the county.

(Click here to read the Judicial Hearing Board's court filing) 

The commission cited Judge Jaymie Godwin Wilfong for violating four canons of the code of conduct including upholding the integrity and independence of the judiciary, avoiding impropriety and the appearance of impropriety, perform duties of the judicial office impartially and diligently, and conducting extra-judicial activities as to minimize the risk of conflict with judicial obligations.

The Judicial Hearing Board said it received five complaints regarding Wilfong's affair with former community corrections director William Travis Carter, including a self-report complaint from Wilfong herself.   Wilfong contacted the Judicial Investigation Commission on Oct. 14, 2013 about a romantic and sexual relationship between her and Carter, which spanned the previous two years. Carter resigned as the Community Corrections Director in Dec. 2013.  Other people who filed complaints about Wilfong's conduct include Wilfong's office staff and attorneys who work within the county.

"My relationship with William Travis Carter did not affect my work as a judge.  I did my job and I continue to do my job.  The Statement of Charges does not allege that my work on the bench was compromised by the relationship; it alleges that the appearance of the judicial system and its integrity were harmed and I admit that," said Wilfong in a formal response to the charges.

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Charges Filed Against Randolph County Judge in Reported Affair with Former Community Corrections Director

Florida Guardianship Ward, Marie Winkelman, Attends Holocaust Remembrance

We are deeply proud of our beloved Survivors and hope that you will cherish this article (Bradenton Herald, April 28, 2014, Page A1) and pass it along to all of your contacts!  Especially significant is the fact that the article features our dear Marie Winkelman, who was placed into an illegal guardianship in Sarasota County via a mediation agreement amongst multiple lawyers (without due process of law), through which she was made a Ward of the State of Florida. 

In truth, Marie is extremely bright and articulate, as we all  witnessed at the AL KATZ Center Yom HaShoah observance on April 27, when Marie was handed a microphone and extemporaneously gave a penetrating, emotive speech to the rapt audience.  Please note that Marie's continued fate in guardianship is before Manatee and Sarasota County Probate Judge Deno Economou on June 3, 2014. 

Please pray for her immediate release from state guardianship and the return of her freedom and dignity, which she feels she has lost due to the legal actions taken against her by her stepson-in-law, Robert Szychowski (of the Rutgers University administration), whose wife and sister-in-law are the primary beneficiaries of Marie's multi-million-dollar Trust (now controlled by the guardianship stipulated mediation agreement, signed by Attorneys Christopher Likens, Kim Bald, Barry Spivey, Gary Larsen [mediator], and Rebecca Proctor, without Marie's knowledge or consent).

~Beverly Newman

See Also:
NASGA:  Marie Lubowski Winkelman, Florida Victim

El Paso lawyer Theresa Caballero wins in disciplinary matter before appeals court

AUSTIN - El Paso attorney Theresa Caballero's law license is headed for probation after she won a motion in the Eighth Court of Appeals.

A divided appellate panel on Wednesday granted Caballero's request for a writ of mandamus, which orders a judge to sign a disciplinary order he had refused to sign. The court ordered a visiting judge to sign an agreement putting Caballero's license on probation for nine months and charged her $1,000 in fees.

Two members of the three-justice panel ruled that the judge, George D. Gilles of Midland, did not have the discretion to reject a 2012 punishment agreement between Caballero and the State Bar of Texas' Commission for Lawyer Discipline.

Caballero and her co-counsel, Stuart Leeds, faced punishment stemming from their behavior in a 2011 trial in which their client, 448th District Judge Regina Arditti, was acquitted of bribery.

Caballero was accusing the judge, Steven Smith of College Station, of racism even before the trial started. In 2012, Caballero and Leeds were convicted of criminal contempt after a weeklong long trial of charges Smith filed against them.

During the Arditti trial, Caballero improperly accused the judge and the prosecutor of being in cahoots and she intentionally impeded the trial, the judge in the contempt case ruled. Caballero was fined $900, but the judge probated the fine.

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El Paso lawyer Theresa Caballero wins in disciplinary matter before appeals court

Palm Beach senior in Toronto ‘Glitter Girl’ exploitation case dies

Palm Beach Sheriff's Office Photo

The death of an elderly Palm Beach woman who was allegedly bilked out of millions of dollars by a once-prominent Toronto socialite “probably” won’t damage the police’s case, according to the Florida town’s top investigator.

Helga Marston, 92, died last week at her West Palm Beach retirement home, an employee confirmed to the Star. Police allege Nancy Tsai, one of the so-called “glitter girls” of Toronto’s high-society charity galas in the 1980s and 1990s, used money from Marston’s trust account to fuel her lavish lifestyle, purchasing a $170,000 Bentley and a $2.3 million penthouse suite, among other things. A doctor quoted in a police affidavit said Marston had “zero” mental capacity due to dementia when Tsai was making purchases with money from her account.

Tsai, 66, whose former name was Nancy Paul, is charged with exploiting an elderly person for more than $100,000, as well as grand theft of more than $50,000 from someone over 65. None of the allegations have been proved in court.

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Palm Beach senior in Toronto ‘Glitter Girl’ exploitation case dies

Maryland Family Loses Loved One; Inheritance Disappears

In June 2012, the Roberts hired an attorney to settle the $263,000 estate of his late father, William Roberts Sr.

"I just put my trust in him. He was a nice guy," William Roberts Jr. said.

The attorney, Charles Kountz seemed well respected. His office on Hollins Ferry Road in Baltimore County was convenient.

After Kountz paid the estate's debts, there was a balance of $235,000.

That huge chunk of money was to be split among William Roberts Jr. and four other heirs, but the Roberts said nearly two years later, they still didn't have their money. Kountz kept stalling and, in January, he died.

"Everyone got their money except when it came down to the people willed the money. There's nothing now," William Roberts Jr. said.

All the money is gone. That stunning news came in a letter from an attorney appointed by the court to close out Kountz's law practice. He said, "I am very sorry to have to advise you that there is no money in the estate to pay the amount to you or any other heirs." He suggested they get legal advice. First, they contacted him.

"I asked him where's it at. He said, 'I don't know.' I asked if it was stolen. He said, 'I presume yes, it is.' He said, 'If it's not there, it's stolen,'" William Roberts Jr. said.

So where did all that money go? Just one day after the estate account was opened, bank records indicate Kountz wrote a check to himself for $100,000, and he used it to settle someone else's estate.

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Family Loses Love One; Inheritance Disappears

Older American's Month Starts Today!

Palm Beach County Judge Barry M. Cohen reprimanded by Florida Supreme Court

 Palm Beach County Judge Barry Cohen stood Tuesday before the Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee and received a harsh public reprimand for making various remarks that raised doubts about his impartiality on the bench.

The discipline came about 13 months after Cohen admitted violating five areas of the state code of conduct for judges, including always avoiding the appearance of impropriety.

“This should be a sad day for you,” Chief Justice Ricky Polston told a glum-faced Cohen, who previously said he regretted and apologized for his actions. “It is a sad day for us. But most importantly, this is a sad day for the entire judiciary.”

The Judicial Qualifications Commission, which examines judicial misconduct claims, recommended the reprimand and no further sanctions, noting “despite Judge Cohen's statements, his rulings and decisions were not adversely affected.”

The independent agency’s investigative panel in October 2012 had filed formal charges against Cohen, charging him with using his position as a “bully pulpit” and undermining the role of a judge “as a neutral and detached magistrate.”

In a signed stipulation in March 2013, Cohen stated he merely wanted to “engage in a dialogue designed to improve the law and the administration of justice.”

The judge said he never intended to make it appear he was not impartial when he criticized the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office for its handling of several criminal cases, alleged racial profiling by police and racial bias in the justice system, and made published comments about the 2012 election for state attorney.

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Palm Beach County Judge Barry M. Cohen reprimanded by Florida Supreme Court