A New Jersey man is in the hospital with COVID-19 — just five weeks after being vaccinated.
Francisco Cosme, 52, was ecstatic when he booked an appointment for the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the Javits Center on March 6.
After Cosme was vaccinated, he continued to wear a mask and follow
social distancing guidelines but he became “very confused and began
doing things that were not normal,” his daughter, Michelle Torres, told
The Post.
“April 1 was the very first day he started to have symptoms,” Torres said. “He had a cough, fever, chills, everything.”
The 31-year-old drove her father to a clinic where he tested positive
for COVID-19 and he was instructed to quarantine for 10 days.
Francisco Cosme, the New Jersey man who was hospitalized with COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated. Michelle Torres
Last week, his condition worsened and Torres noticed he had trouble
breathing and called 911 during a visit to his home in Edison, New
Jersey.
After giving Cosme oxygen, the ambulance crew rushed him to John F.
Kennedy Medical Center, where he is in critical condition and is also
being treated for pneumonia.
“I’m trying to hold it together, every day you don’t know what is happening,” said a tearful Torres.
“The doctor said they did all they can do it and it’s up to him to fight and up to God.”
Torres told The Post her mother, husband and children ended up
testing positive for COVID and are in quarantine until next Sunday.
“We survived the whole year without it [vaccine] doing all the things
we are supposed to so do — social distancing, washing hands and masking
up,” she explained.
“It’s crazy and we need answers,” Torres concluded.
The Post also reported that a Brooklyn woman who got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the Javits Center on March 10 contracted COVID-19.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese
An East Flatbush man has been
indicted by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office on a grand larceny
charge for allegedly stealing the down payment for the purchase of a
Brownsville home whose seller he represented. The defendant also
allegedly separately borrowed $14,000 from the client and never paid it
back. Gonzalez identified the defendant
as Gerald Douglas, 52, of East Flatbush. He was arraigned today before
Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Sharen Hudson on an indictment in which
he is charged with second-degree grand larceny. He was released without
bail and ordered to return to court on May 12, 2021. According to the DA’s Office, the
defendant represented a 76-year-old woman in the sale of her
Brownsville home, negotiating the contract for her in September 2018. A
down payment of $71,700 was allegedly deposited into the defendant’s
escrow account.
The closing occurred in August 2019,
by which time the defendant had allegedly stopped returning his client’s
phone calls, and she was forced to retain new counsel to close the
transaction. The client received the sale proceeds at the closing but
not the down payment, despite repeated requests to the defendant,
according to the charges. It is further alleged that in
June and July 2018, Douglas asked the same client if she would loan him
money, first $6,000 and then $8,000. He allegedly told her he was
expecting a rental payment for a property he owned in Flatbush, although
in fact the property had gone into foreclosure five years earlier and
he was no longer the owner.
Gonzalez commented, “The victim in
this case was allegedly defrauded of a large sum of money by her own
attorney, who had a legal duty to protect her interests. I would like to
thank my Public Integrity Bureau for its hard work in seeking to hold
the defendant accountable for his alleged criminal act and betrayal of
trust.” Douglas was disbarred by the Appellate Division Second Department in 2019. The case is being prosecuted by
Senior Assistant District Attorney Adam Libove of the District
Attorney’s Public Integrity Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant
District Attorney Laura Neubauer, bureau chief, and Assistant District
Attorney Michel Spanakos, deputy chief of the District Attorney’s
Investigations Division.
BOCA RATON, Fla. — A
Palm Beach County healthcare agency is seeing a new demand for a
different type of home care: professional companions.
Henry and September are great pals.
“She’s got a very nice nature,” Henry said.
The 95-year-old Holocaust survivor says they have a lot in common.
“Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune,” Henry said.
September is a professional companion.
“Companion
care are services provided to seniors who are semi-independent, but
they may need someone to be like a buddy or an assistant to them,”
Marissa Gordon said.
Gordon is an administrator at JFS at Home, a licensed private duty home health agency serving Palm Beach County.
“We
always knew there was a tremendous need for this, but families were
reaching out to us expressing the need for someone to get their eyes on
their loved one because they were unable to travel,” she said.
With 160 clients, she says seniors in isolation also increased the demand for companions.
"Increased
loneliness and depression,” Gordon said. “I think that the pandemic
opened the door a little wider for senior to accept help.”
Creating new bonds in a new world.
“We know each other, basically like we are best friends,” September said.
If you'd like to apply to be a professional companion, visit ralesjfs.org/
The state police are asking for the public’s help in finding a home
health aide suspected in the beating death of a 75-year-old Rocky Hill
man this week.
Melissa Feliciano, 31, is wanted for arrest on charges of felony
murder, murder, first-degree robbery and sixth-degree larceny in the
death of Robert Iacobucci.
Her mugshot, from June 2020, is the most recent picture police have of Feliciano, they said.
Melissa Feliciano is wanted on murder charges in the beating death of Robert Iacobucci, 75, of Rocky Hill, state police say. (Provided by the Connecticut State Police)
Feliciano is described as 5-foot-2, 85 pounds with brown hair and brown
eyes. Police said they don’t know if she has any weapons.
State police said Feliciano has moved around a lot, with various
addresses on file, but is known to frequent the Hartford and Manchester
area.
Feliciano, a native to Delaware, may have left the state, police added. “It’s always a concern,” they said Thursday afternoon.
The 31-year-old has two pending cases in community court in Hartford,
according to online court records. She was arrested in Rocky Hill on
Dec. 28, 2019, and charged with second-degree criminal trespass. A
second-degree failure to appear charge was added to the case Feb. 4,
2020.
In the second case, Feliciano was charged by West Hartford police with
interfering with an officer on Nov. 11, 2020. She’s due back in court on
May 27 in both cases.
Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of Feliciano is asked to
call Det. Christopher Scott at the Troop H barracks in Hartford at
860-534-1000.
Melissa Feliciano is a murder suspect in the beating death of 75-year-old Robert Iacobucci of Rocky Hill, state police say.
Feliciano is one of three people who police believe were involved in
the homicide earlier this week. Franklyn Cruz, 42, and Madeline Dickey,
35, were arrested after a witness alerted police to what had happened in
Iacobucci’s house on Pondside Lane, state police said.
Iacobucci was found dead on the second floor of his home Monday, with
his hands tied and injuries to his face and head, state police said.
A police report released Tuesday recounted the series of events that
led to Iacobucci’s murder, including interviews from the witness and
Dickey and Cruz themselves.
Cruz and Dickey told police that Feliciano was Iacobucci’s home health
aide, but they haven’t been able to verify that information yet, state
police said.
Dickey also told police that the attack began when Feliciano complained
about how she was treated poorly by Iacobbuci and convinced her and
Cruz to “scare him” into giving them money. The trio went to Rocky Hill
around 1 a.m. Monday, and Cruz and Feliciano tied up and beat the
75-year-old, while Dickey waited in the garage and played with his dog,
she said.
Following the attack, the couple said they dropped off Feliciano in Hartford. She hasn’t been seen since.
Later Monday morning, Cruz and Dickey returned to Iacobucci’s home to
check on him, Dickey said. They discovered the attack had left the man
dead. The couple decided to steal Iacobucci’s German shepherd, one of
his cars and other items, instead of calling 911, the police report
said.
They then met up with an acquaintance and Cruz told him about a plan to
move the body, to make “it appear [Iacobucci] voluntarily left with a
prostitute, then move themselves into his residence, essentially taking
it over,” the police report said.
The acquaintance called Rocky Hill police to conduct a wellness check,
and officers found that one of Iacobucci’s two vehicles was stolen and
his phone was answered by a woman who said her name was “Melissa,” but
she couldn’t explain why she had Iacobucci’s phone, police began to
investigate further.
Police interviewed the acquaintance Monday, and he added that he
recently met with the couple again that day and that they were planning
to go home, change clothing, change the license plate on the stolen
vehicle then dispose of Iacobucci’s body, the police report said.
Police arrested Dickey and Cruz outside their New Britain residence.
Inside the home, they also found Iacobucci’s dog, who is safe, healthy
and with Iacobucci’s family members, Brian Foley, a spokesman for the
state police, said Thursday afternoon.
Cruz’s bail was set at $2 million and his next court date is scheduled
for April 28. Dickey’s was set at $1 million; she is due in court April
27.
CLEVELAND,
Ohio — A state disciplinary attorney issued a 118-page complaint
against a Cleveland Municipal Court judge who, in spring 2020, ignored a
directive to stop holding hearings because of the pandemic.
The
new complaint filed Friday against Judge Pinkey Carr says she routinely
flouted court rules and antagonized defendants, lawyers and court staff
from the bench. It accuses the former city and county prosecutor of
making inappropriate jokes about fictional strip clubs and says she
issued arrest warrants for people who did not show up to court hearings
that she scheduled without telling them.
Carr
ran afoul of rules that require judges to conduct themselves fair and
impartially, uphold the public’s confidence in the judiciary and
maintain proper courtroom decorum.
The sweeping complaint comes as Carr is already facing disciplinary proceedings for
violating an administrative order limiting court hearings due to the
coronavirus. She also made false statements to a TV station and another
judge denying that she issued warrants for people who did not show up
for hearings after the court announced it was postponing them.
Other findings in the complaint say Carr:
Negotiated plea deals with defendants without a prosecutor or defense attorney present
Cracked jokes at the expense of defendants
Waived court costs and fines without asking whether they could afford to pay them and filing fictitious paperwork with the court
Presided
over court hearings in workout clothes and no robe, prompting one
defendant to ask court staff if a judge planned to attend the hearing
Assistant
disciplinary counsel Michell Hall wrote that Carr’s conduct violated
multiple rules of professional conduct. Hall requested that the Board of
Professional Conduct and the Ohio Supreme Court sanction Carr.
Carr has until April 15 to file a response to the amended complaint.
A request for comment from Carr sent to court spokesman Ed “Flash” Ferenc was not immediately returned Friday evening.
Friday’s
complaint says Carr conducted several improper hearings with defendants
charged with low-level misdemeanor charges who appeared without an
attorney. She quizzed them about the facts of their cases, the complaint
says.
Many
of the cases involved people charged with alcohol-related offenses. She
mocked one man charged with violating open-container laws for drinking
cheap beer and joked in the courtroom about how long it would take him
to pay a $25 fine.
She
also prevented defendants from leaving her courtroom so she could
continue to joke about them with her staff, the complaint says. One man
was accused of violating a protection order for texting a woman that a
man she was with was a “f--k boy.” After he left, Carr joked with her
bailiff about asking him what that term meant. She then directed someone
from the court to get the man from the hallway and bring him back so
she could ask him. When he returned, she asked him what it meant, then
told him not to bother answering and told him to leave again. She then
laughed with her staff and continued talking about the case while the
next defendant waited for their hearing, the complaint said.
Carr
also made jokes from the bench about P-Valley, the name of a Starz TV
show about a strip-club in Mississipi, the complaint said. She joked
about taking a court bailiff there and then asked about a female
attorney who appeared in her courtroom who she referred to as “cute.”
The
complaint also said that Carr once yelled at an assistant public
defender when he told a man charged in connection with a shootout that
he didn’t have to answer when Carr asked what the word “firefight”
meant. Carr chastised the attorney and said she could ask any question
she wanted to.
The
attorney asked Carr to wear her mask if she was going to yell. The next
day when the same attorney was in her courtroom, Carr wore her mask
below her chin and asked her bailiff to use a tape measure to count the
number of feet the attorney was away, then continuously mocked the
attorney for his concern over the coronavirus.
She
routinely berates defendants who call her “ma’am” by referring to them
as “little boy” and “little girl.” One elderly defendant repeatedly
answered Carr’s questions with “yes ma’am” and “no ma’am.” As the woman
walked out of the courtroom, Carr muttered loud enough for people in the
courtroom to hear about how she wanted to punch the woman in the face.
The
complaint also criticizes Carr for abusing the capias process in cases
where she ordered people to pay fines without going through the clerk of
court’s office. She regularly orders defendants to pay fines by a
specific date, then schedules a hearing on their ability to pay a few
days later if they fail to meet the deadline. If the defendants don’t
show up to the hearing, she issues an arrest warrant that also includes
an order barring them from qualifying for programs that allow them to
pay their fines through community service, guaranteeing their arrest,
the complaint said. In at least one case, Carr never told the defendant
that she set the hearing, the complaint said.
When
he didn’t show up, she issued the warrant, and he spent a total of five
days in jail because he didn’t pay a fine for a misdemeanor traffic
case, the complaint said.
Friday’s
complaint is in addition to disciplinary counsel Joseph Caligiuri’s
complaint recommending Carr be disciplined for violating six rules of
judicial and professional conduct. Among other things, those rules
require judges to promote public confidence in the judiciary and bar
attorneys from engaging in “conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit
or misrepresentation.”
Cleveland.com reported last March
that Carr held court hearings in violation of the order that
Administrative Judge Michelle Earley issued order postponing all court
hearings for defendants who were not already in jail to prevent the
spread of COVID-19. The March 13 order was posted on the court’s website
and distributed to media outlets, who reported that the court hearings
had been closed.
Cleveland.com
reported on March 17 that Carr had held hearings that did not follow
Earley’s order on the previous two days and issued capiases -- or arrest
warrants -- for people who did not show up.
Carr, who did not return requests for comment from cleveland.com at the time, granted an interview to WJW Channel 8 reporter Peggy Gallek and said while on the bench in her courtroom that cleveland.com’s
report was false and that she worried it would make people think they
had to come to court or else she would issue arrest warrants for them.
After the interview concluded, courtroom video obtained by cleveland.com
showed Carr went on to issue arrest warrants for 17 people who did not
show up to her courtroom and issuing bonds for their eventual arrest.
The video also showed Carr mocked an assistant public defender who had
asked if he could tell his clients they didn’t need to come to court the
next day in keeping with Earley’s order. Carr rejected his requested,
and after the lawyer left the room, Carr turned to a member of her staff
and referred to him as “little idiot.”
Cleveland.comlater reported on the videos, and Carr, who again did not return cleveland.com’s
requests for comments, told WJW Channel 8 that she did not know that
when she marked a defendant’s failure to appear that a warrant would be
issued for that person’s arrest.
Caligiuri’s complaint also included a text message exchange between Carr and Earley later that day. Carr again called cleveland.com’s
reporting “reckless” and “inaccurate.” Earley asked Carr if she issued
arrest warrants, and Carr responded that her journal entries clearly
stated “no warrant to issue,” according to the complaint.
When Rita
Meredith was younger, she had earned the distinction of being the first
woman to serve as a mounted police officer in the United Kingdom. But
clearly, working alongside horses was something far more than just a
job.
And decades later, her love for those animals never faded. And it showed.
Meredith,
who later moved to Australia, passed away earlier this month at a New
South Wales hospice facility. But her final days were among her most
joyous, thanks to a very special surprise visit she received.
"Her main wish before she passed was to smell/see a horse for one more time," Sykes wrote.
Learning
of Meredith's desire to be in the company of horses one last time,
members of the NSW mounted police decided to drop by the hospice
facility for a meet and greet.
"They travelled all the way to
Newcastle today to see Rita and make her wish come true," Sykes wrote.
"Police officers Graham and Nicole were accompanied by the very handsome
Hollywood and Don, and they sure made Rita’s day."
Meredith reportedly
passed away two days after that special surprise. The legacy of her
lifetime of love for horses, however, lives on in the hearts of all who
knew her. And to see her final with fulfilled is something Meredith's
family won't soon forget.
"I cannot thank the NSW police for
making this happen," Sykes wrote. "You have made this lovely lady's wish
come true, and did it with such professionalism, respect and grace. On
behalf of Rita’s family and friends, THANK YOU!"
New Mexico’s governor on Thursday signed a bill legalizing assisted suicide in the state.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) signed the “Elizabeth Whitefield End
of Life Options Act,” named for a late state district court judge who
died of cancer in 2018, and who became an advocate for assisted-suicide
in her final years.
The bill allows licensed physicians, osteopathic physicians, nurses,
and physician assistants to prescribe a lethal dose of medication for
terminally-ill patients who are deemed capable of self-administering the
dose.
New Mexico is now the eighth state to have legalized
physician-assisted suicide, along with California, Colorado, Hawaii,
Montana, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. The District of Columbia has
also legalized the practice.
The state’s Catholic bishops had strongly opposed the bill, which was
passed by the House in February and by the Senate in March, largely
along a party-line vote.
Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe stated on March 3 that the legislation was “the worst in the nation.”
“God’s law calls us all to recognize and protect the life and dignity
of each and every human being, especially the most vulnerable. This
includes unborn children and those at the end of life,” he stated. “We
are promised that God’s law will ultimately bring peace and new life,
especially to those who are suffering.”
The bill requires two licensed health care providers, one of them a
doctor, to determine a patient’s terminal illness. Patients in hospice
do not require a second confirmation.
If the patient has a history of a mental health disorder or
intellectual disability – or if the providers believe they have a
disorder – they must be referred for a mental health assessment before a
prescription is filled.
For the request for a lethal dose of medication, two witnesses must
be present, and only one may be a relative of the patient. The bill
requires a 48-hour waiting period between the prescription being written
and it being filed.
Some amendments in the bill were struck before it passed the state
Senate. Amendments allowing for insurance collection and waiving
liability for health care providers were removed, AP reported.
The bill still contains a state residency requirement, which a 2019
version of the legislation did not include. Some critics warned that the
previous bill would have enabled “suicide tourism” where patients would
travel from out-of-state to receive a lethal prescription. That bill
also allowed for lethal prescriptions to be issued remotely through
telemedicine.
The 2021 bill does include a conscience exemption for health care
providers who refuse to provide a lethal prescription, but it requires
them to inform the patient and refer them to another provider who will
provide the prescription.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A
Los Angeles County judge with a history of bad behavior has been
disciplined for being irritable with defense lawyers and telling an
acquitted man that “there’s no question in my mind that you’re guilty.”
Judge
Patrick Connolly was publicly admonished for displaying improper
demeanor toward two criminal defense lawyers and for an inappropriate
remark after a jury verdict, the Commission on Judicial Performance said
Friday.
It was
the third time Connolly has been disciplined since he became a Los
Angeles County Superior Court judge in 2009. He was admonished in 2016
for abusing his authority by conducting a hearing to determine if a
defense lawyer should face contempt charges. He was privately admonished
in 2010 for using profanity with lawyers.
Connolly, a former
gang prosecutor who presides in the Compton courthouse, told a man
acquitted in a shooting case in 2018 that he was lucky.
“Let
me tell you, you’ve been given a gift from God,” Connolly told Eugene
Germany. “Because there’s no question in my mind that you’re guilty of
this crime.”
Germany
and a co-defendant had been charged with opening fire at a fleeing
vehicle after the driver had stabbed one of their friends.
Connolly
appeared to chastise Germany, for not accepting a plea deal that would
have sent him and a co-defendant, Dalisha Monique Jordan, to prison for
six years if they both agreed to plead guilty.
Jordan wanted to accept the plea offer, but it was relinquished when Germany rejected it.
“I’ll
tell you, chivalry is not dead,” Connolly told Germany. “If you’d taken
the deal, Ms. Jordan would have had that six-year deal. She’s going to
get a lot more time than that. So, you know, take that into
consideration.”
Jordan was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
In
another instance last year, Connolly was irritable with defense lawyers
who had requested to appear at an arraignment by telephone because they
feared they had been exposed to COVID-19. Connolly had agreed to the
telephone hearing but then appeared to hold it against the lawyers and
their clients.
The
attorneys for brothers Jorge and Felipe Ramirez, who were charged with
assaulting a police officer, asked that their clients be released
without bail because of concerns they could be susceptible to
coronavirus in jail.
Defense
lawyer Martin Lijtmaer said he had letters attesting to his client’s
health and the judge repeatedly snapped: “How am I going to see that
letter, if you’re not in my courtroom?”
Lijtmaer tried to respond, saying, “Your honor, respectfully, the reason I didn’t ... ” before being cut off.
“Respectfully?” Connolly said. “You have not come to the courtroom.”
Connolly refused to release either man without bail.
Lijtmaer
said his client and brother had to post “ridiculously high bail” that
has nearly bankrupted their family. He said the cases both ended without
prison time and the charges will ultimately be dismissed.
Connolly
acknowledged he “spoke too sharply” to the lawyers and asked the
commission to consider “the highly unusual circumstances” that the
hearing was just a day after Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a stay-home order.
The commission said Connolly did not acknowledge his misconduct or show contrition.
Connolly did not immediately return a message seeking comment left with his courtroom clerk.
By Cindy Krischer Goodman, Kate Santich and Adelaide Chen
Nurse Eva Diaz administers the Pfizer vaccine to Pam Peters a nurse
practitioner at John Knox Village, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020, in Pompano
Beach, Fla. Many long term care workers have declined the COVID vaccine.
(Marta Lavandier/AP)
At Florida’s long-term care facilities, more workers are now infected
with COVID-19 than elderly residents, a dramatic shift from earlier in
the pandemic.
Despite state and federal attempts to offer vaccinations at all nursing
homes and assisted-living centers in the state, 62% of staffers have
declined — posing the single biggest threat to the more than 25,000
elderly people in those facilities who are also unvaccinated.
“These are the folks from the beginning that were bringing it in,” said
Mary Daniel of Jacksonville, a caregiver and advocate for families of
residents. “It’s frustrating. Staff members are choosing not to get the
vaccine and it’s the residents who are getting punished because their
families are getting locked out again.”
As of April 9, 344 of Florida’s long-term care workers tested positive
for COVID, compared to 276 residents. The good news is overall cases are
down — only a tenth of what they were in January, according to state
data.
But while infections in residents continue to decline,
cases among workers have plateaued, or in some instances, begun to tick
upward in recent days. These are mostly low-paid workers who are in
close contact with elderly residents.
Nursing homes are mandated to test their workers regularly for COVID-19
but assisted living facilities are not. So it’s possible not all cases
are reported. Most homes continue to require masks and check the
temperatures of staff daily to spot symptomatic workers with COVID
before they expose others.
But mandating vaccination is highly controversial.
“Some workers are totally against it,” said Pascal Bergeron, chairman
of North Lake Assisted Living in Hollywood and CEO of ALF BOSS, an
assisting living resource agency. “They are scared to death of it, and
forcing it on them would probably cause some to quit.”
The low vaccination rate is worrisome in workers who care for the group
most vulnerable to COVID-19, particularly when some residents did not
get vaccinated either. The Agency for Health Care Administration reports
that 82% of residents are vaccinated.
Kristen Knapp, communications director for the Florida Health Care
Association, which represents nursing homes, said a combination of
factors exists for why some of these vulnerable residents still aren’t
fully vaccinated: Some are new admissions, others declined as a personal
choice or their family declined for them. And some have underlying
conditions that put them at risk.
But the effort to inoculate both residents and staff isn’t over, Knapp said. (Click to continue reading)
