Danny Tate's Day in Court

I haven’t been in the 7th Circuit Court for well over two years. I got a good night’s sleep and walked in feeling alright. It was great to be met with friends wearing Free Danny Tate !!! t-shirts. Thanks to all who showed up. It had an impact. We were still out numbered by lawyers petitioning for fees and conservatorships. But even those not connected to my case seemed to be saying with their faces, “Hell, yeah, free him! I wanna get out of here alive.”

Everyone was respectful, but convicted. More importantly, I think it was an education for all.

I must give Judge Kennedy credit. He handled it diplomatically and we both treated each other with respect. The courtroom should be an arena where personal opinions are held in check out of respect for the judiciary.

Though met with some resistance at first, once procedure was clarified by attorney Hoskins, I was allowed to make a statement in court. Here’s what I pled:

“Your honor, I would like to respectfully request that you award my attorney his current outstanding attorney’s fees. He has worked diligently and honorably in his representation of me. And I am of the firm opinion that he is not only entitled, but is in need of these fees to continue his zealous representation.

I would also like to respectfully request that the court unconditionally terminate this conservatorship and save me the undue burden of expense from ongoing proceedings.

The expenses leading up to the final hearing scheduled for May 24-25 will further deplete my assets. As it stands today, when the outstanding legal expenses are paid, my monetary and stock assets, including my retirement account and children’s college funds, will most likely be exhausted and possibly leave me in debt. As it stands today, I will most likely have to sell my home, or at the least, take out a second mortgage in order to meet the outstanding legal costs and financial commitments necessary to begin my life over.

In closing, I again, respectfully ask the court to terminate this conservatorship unconditionally and immediately. I believe it is in the best interest of all parties involved.

And I truly believe it would be in the best interest of me, the ward, and my children.”

After the hearing, the supporters all stayed around for a little education on conservator law and how easily an individual can be stripped of their Constitutional rights and individual liberties. My attorney, Michael Hoskins, deliberated this thirty minute lesson while standing on the court house steps. And we gathered for a group photo for the Westview.Though Judge Kennedy ruled against the termination of the conservatorship, he did grant my attorney his fees. I believe this was important. Mr. Hoskins has been working on my case for 7 months without pay.

Then I settled in for a long weekend flood…

Source:
Free Danny Tate!!!

See Also:
Facebook: Friends for Danny Tate's Defense

'An Act to Protect Nursing Home Residents'

The author of a bill aimed at protecting nursing home patients is praising state Rep. Harriett Stanley for her role in moving the legislation forward in a new form.

Dr. Rachel Geller penned An Act to Protect Nursing Home Residents over three years ago to protect people in nursing homes from abuse after Geller had a bad experience with her aunt, Sally Miller.

Sally Geller Miller, living with advanced Alzheimer's disease, was shuttled between five nursing homes in a seven-year period before being stranded for weeks in a hospital's locked psychiatric ward after being kicked out of one home.

It is an experience that has led state Rep. Ruth B. Balser, a Newton Democrat, to propose a law to better inform patients and family members about nursing home regulations.

"The existing problem is there are already very good laws on the books, yet nursing homes routinely lie, break the laws, follow illegal procedures and omit information," Geller said. "Because we as 'consumers' of nursing homes are unfamiliar with the nursing home regulations, we are automatically inclined to believe everything told to us by a nursing home."

Full Article and Source:
Stanley Puts Her Stamp on Nursing Home Bill

Miami Artist Purvis Young Dies at 67

He was one of South Florida's most storied artists, a man who transformed a troubled life with brush strokes, painting the joys and sorrows of his people on objects discarded in his Overtown neighborhood -- a copious body of work that brought Purvis Young international recognition.

Yet Young, who died at Jackson Memorial Hospital after a long battle with diabetes, was penniless and friends were raising money to bury him.

He was 67.

Full Article and Source:
Miami Artist Purvis Young Dies at 67

'The Danny Tate Story'

Source:
YouTube: Changing Lives Feat.'The Danny Tate Story'

See Also:
Facebook: Friends For Danny Tate's Defense

Activist Calls for Probe of PA Judicial Conduct Board

A self-styled citizen activist is pushing prosecutors to probe the state Judicial Conduct Board for obstruction of justice in its handling of misconduct allegations against former Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Conahan.

Gene Stilp urged the U.S. Attorney's Office and the state Attorney General's Office to launch separate investigations into the deliberations and decision making that led the conduct board to ignore allegations Conahan engaged in nepotism, cronyism and case-fixing.

"If the federal investigators found corrupt judges in Luzerne County, why would it be any surprise to find corrupt judges on the Judicial Conduct Board?" Stilp said. "The Judicial Conduct Board cannot investigate itself, and the actions of the Judicial Conduct Board have obstruction of justice written all over it."

Stilp, a Wilkes-Barre native living in Harrisburg, filed the state Supreme Court case overturning the 2005 legislative pay raise that sparked public outrage. He was the original complainant in the so-called "Bonusgate" scandal that has led to charges against nearly two dozen people in state government. Many might recognize him from the times he brings a giant inflatable pig with him to protest government abuse and waste.

Full Article and Source:
Story from Citizens Voice: Activist Calls for Probe of Judicial Conduct Board

Lindsay Lohan Headed for Britney Spears Style Conservatorship?

The father of Lindsay Lohan wants a Britney Spears-style conservatorship hold over his daughter, he told a US radio show.

Michael Lohan appeared on the Kidd Kraddick show where he confirmed to the host he was meeting with his lawyer to ask a sentencing judge to force Lindsay into a rehabilitation centre or give him control over his daughter's finances and many of her decisions.

Full Article and Source:
Michael Lohan Seeks Conservatorship Hold Over Lindsay

Nebraska: Panel Named to Probe State Guardian System

Judges, attorneys, investigators and accountants will probe what changes need to be made to the state's guardian and conservator system in the wake of a World-Herald series and an Omaha police investigation that revealed shoddy oversight of the health and wealth of wards.

Nebraska Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Heavican appointed 14 people to a committee to examine -- and suggest changes to shore up -- the state's guardian and conservator system, after the investigation revealed hundreds of thousands of dollars missing from wards' estates.

Under state law, guardians are charged with overseeing health care for incapacitated people; conservators are charged with overseeing their finances.

Among the issues, The World-Herald found that judges and court staff failed to: check conservators' accountings and question inflated numbers and cryptic entries; require conservators to post bonds that could have insured the estates against thefts; scrutinize care decisions of guardians; and spot-check bank records of conservators.

In turn, at least eight wards, most of them in Douglas County, have lost more than $400,000.

Full Article and Source:
Panel Named to Probe State Guardian System

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Guardian Ignored Woman's Last Wish

Legalized Elder Abuse - Guardianships and Conservatorships

The American legal system has established “guardianships” for the specific purpose of protecting vulnerable individuals–called “wards”–when a judge or judicial officer determines that the ward’s decisionmaking capability is so impaired that another person–the “guardian”—needs to be given the right to make these decisions. A guardianship is particularly appropriate for wards who are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia, as well as advanced alcoholism and similar afflictions that render the person unable to care for his or her health and other needs. A “conservatorship,” twin to the guardianship, is set up to conserve the ward’s assets; the conservator acts as a custodian.

The legal obligations of the guardian and conservator. As defined above, these legal vehicles seem completely sensible and necessary. After all, people who are so incapacitated that their decisionmaking is unreliable obviously need professional assistance; left unprotected, their health and wealth are at risk. The law considers the connection between the guardian (or conservator) and the ward to be “fiduciary” in nature, a legal relationship of confidence or trust between two or more parties. Indeed, for legal purposes, a “fiduciary” duty requires the highest possible standard of care. It recognizes that the ward needs to have utmost confidence, reliance and trust in the guardian or conservator, whose aid or protection is essential. The fiduciary, therefore, is required to act at all times for the sole benefit and interests of the ward, with absolute loyalty to those interests.

The reality of guardianships and conservatorships. Unfortunately, vulnerable individuals are easy targets for the unscrupulous. Equally unfortunate is the fact that the legal system, having established these processes, frequently fails to supervise how they actually work.

Full Article and Source:
Legalized Elder Abuse - Guardianships and Conservatorships

Kim Rothstein Vacates 'Palace'

Kim Rothstein has left the building.

Well, almost.

​Rothstein attorney Scott Saidel told me that the bride of the Ponzi schemer has moved everything out of their palatial estate off Las Olas Boulevard. He said she is living with family and friends now, though she might spend one night a week in what she described a few months ago as a "tomb."

"It's empty, it's a shell, and it's depressing," Saidel said of the former Casa de Rothstein. "She's almost completely out of the house."

Kim's life has been further complicated, Saidel said, by the bankruptcy court's dogging of her for all of the marvelous things she bought on Broward's big swindler's dime since 2006.

Full Article and Source:
Kim Rothstein Packed Out of Palace, Hounded For Shoes