Ciavarella Found GUILTY!

Former Luzerne County Common Pleas Court Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. has been found guilty of 12 of 39 counts of corruption filed against him, a federal jury in Scranton announced today.

The 12 men and women, who deliberated for an estimated 12.5 hours, returned to U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania Edwin M. Kosik’s courtroom to announce their findings, which included decisions that Ciavarella was guilty of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, honest services mail fraud, money laundering conspiracy and a host of tax fraud charges. Ciavarella was cleared of extortion, bribery and honest services wire fraud charges, however.

In the indictment, Ciavarella was charged with racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, four counts of honest services wire fraud, four counts of honest services mail fraud, 10 counts of corrupt receipt of bribe/reward for official action concerning programs receiving federal funds, money laundering conspiracy, five counts of money laundering, eight counts of extortion under color of official right, conspiracy to defraud the United States and four counts of subscribing and filing a materially false tax return.

Ciavarella admitted during testimony on Tuesday that he was, in fact, guilty of filing false tax returns for tax years 2003, 2005 and 2006 as alleged by prosecutors. Prosecutors also argued during trial that Ciavarella filed a false return for tax year 2004, but Ciavarella is disputing that charge.

He fought the majority of the charges by arguing that the kickback alleged by prosecutors was no more than a finder’s fee paid by Mericle as a thank you for putting him in touch with Powell. He fought the extortion claims by attempting to insulate himself from the actions of fellow former Luzerne County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael T. Conahan and claiming that any money paid by Powell was for the use of a condominium owned by a company controlled by the former judges’ wives.

Conahan, who faced an equally damning indictment and opted to plead guilty to one racketeering charge in relation to the alleged crimes, was a name that arose often during the trial. He was, however, conspicuously absent in person.

Neither side called him as a witness.

Full Article and Source:
Ciavarella Guilty of Racketeering

Priest Scrutinized in Property Transaction

Rev. Thaddeus Dzieszko took ownership of an elderly parishioner's home, with help from a law firm that is being probed for similar transactions.

By her bedside, Waleria Krzemien kept a photograph of her trusted pastor, the Rev. Thaddeus Dzieszko of St. Constance Roman Catholic Church on Chicago's Northwest Side.

Now authorities are examining the circumstances under which "Father Ted" became trustee of the 93-year-old parishioner's home after delivering Communion to her there.

Dzieszko told the Tribune the property transaction was completely innocent, and he has not been accused of wrongdoing in any public court proceeding.

But Sunday, Dzieszko agreed to step aside from his parish responsibilities, pending the outcome of the investigation. Dzieszko's decision came after the Tribune interviewed him several times recently about the disputed trust.

Full Article and Source:
Priest Scrutinized in Property Transaction

Illinois Law Firm Probed Over Estate Dealings

The law firm of Przybylo and Kubiatowski faces two additional cases where the Cook County public guardian alleged that the firm drew up legal documents putting the assets of disabled elderly women in the hands of caretakers who may have exploited them financially. The firm vigorously defends its professional conduct.

Case 1: Anna Polachanin
A wheelchair-bound 94-year-old widow with no children or living relatives, former railroad company clerk Anna Polachanin in 2008 hired an in-house caretaker: Iryna "Irene" Bochko, a Ukrainian-born 25-year-old who had worked as a dental assistant and bartender.

Bochko took Polachanin to firm partner Stephen Kubiatowski, who prepared legal documents giving Bochko power of attorney for Polachanin, according to the public guardian. Bochko and a second Ukrainian woman then drained Polachanin's bank accounts of at least $300,000, according to court records. The women transferred an estimated $265,000 to unknown sources in Ukraine, court records show.

Convicted of financial exploitation of the elderly, Bochko is serving a four-year prison sentence.

On Polachanin's behalf, Cook County Public Guardian Robert Harris filed a claim against Kubiatowski and recovered a confidential settlement, interviews show.

Case 2: Sylvia Maciejewski
Once a Marshall Field's draperies department supervisor, Sylvia Maciejewski turned to the law firm to help her prepare estate documents.

In 2007, the law firm helped Maciejewski make changes to her estate, giving broad powers to manage her finances to two neighbors who are St. Constance Church lay ministers.

By then, Maciejewski was 91 years old and beginning to suffer from dementia, court records and interviews show. According to the public guardian, the neighbors opened at least six separate accounts at three banks starting in 2007 and transferred about $196,000 of Maciejewski's funds through those accounts. By June 2010, Maciejewski's cash assets had dropped to $20,000, the public guardian wrote in court papers.

The neighbors have not been charged with any crime, although the matter is being examined by county prosecutors, according to government officials.

Full Article and Source:
Law Firm Probed Over Estate Dealings

Press Release: Disney Grandson Speaks Out for Reform

KNAPEREK CONSULTING, LLC
Phone (602) 531-8938
Fax (623) 505-1383
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 17, 2011
Contact: Kim Owens
(602) 689-9449

Grandson of Walt Disney seeks probate relief from Arizona State Legislature

February 17, 2011-Phoenix, ARIZONA – Speaking in support of an effort to reform the Arizona Probate Courts, Bradford Disney Lund testified today before the House Judiciary Committee of the Arizona State Legislature in favor of HB2424. Lund, 40, the grandson of Walt Disney has been embroiled in an Arizona probate court action that he has fought for over a year. Saying that “the last 16 months have been like Never-Never Land in a nightmare that never ends,” he was among several who spoke in support of the bill. When asked by committee chair Rep. Eddie Farnsworth-R-22, what the cost of his legal defense has been, Mr. Lund testified he has spent in excess of $1 million.

Mr. Lund related the awareness of a need for reform was made very real when he found himself required to defend his rights after an estranged aunt, the sister of Lund’s deceased mother, filed an order with the court to appoint a guardian to oversee Lund’s affairs and has attempted to have him declared incapacitated. He explained, “I hadn’t seen my aunt in over 7 years when she filed this action. Such a malicious use of the courts is just one of the reasons why I feel it is so important for this bill to pass.”

The bill passed the committee with 8 members voting for it and only Rep. Tom Chabin, D-Flagstaff, voting present. Opposition to the bill by the Arizona Supreme Court was voiced by their lobbyist citing an objection to the legislature involving itself in the courts. In conclusion, Farnsworth spoke to the courts objections saying, “We do not make laws for the people who do the right thing but for those that don’t. There are bad actors in this process and we need to protect the people from the abuses we have heard today.”

# # #
Knaperek Consulting, LLC is a government affairs firm specializing in issue advocacy and campaign services.

Press Release: Competing Reform Bills Face Off in Legislature This Week

KNAPEREK CONSULTING, LLC
Phone (602) 531-8938
Fax (623) 505-1383
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 15, 2011
Contact: Kim Owens
(602) 689-9449

COMPETING REFORM BILLS FACE OFF IN LEGISLATURE THIS WEEK
The courts versus the people in Probate Reform

February 15, 2011-Phoenix, ARIZONA – In another round of highly charged legislative hearings, this week the Arizona Senate and House will face off to determine which chamber will prevail in the effort to reform the probate system that has been the subject of such controversy for over a year. The Senate bill is supported by the courts, fiduciaries, and attorneys. The House bill was developed after private citizens banded together and demanded reform.

Wednesday morning, Feb. 16, the Senate will hear SB1499; it aims to provide disclosures to the process and adds guidelines. Opponents of the bill speak to the lack of accountability or recourse for wrongdoing, the removal of the family in the process and care of their loved ones, and increased layers of bureaucracy and confusion. Sponsored by Sen. Adam Driggs,R - LD-11, the bill is expected to draw criticism from those who have experienced the current probate system. A provision in the bill to exclude the family from notice of changes to the ward’s care is especially disturbing.

“The current probate laws not only have stripped wards of their Constitutional Rights but the courts are now filled with activist judges and lawyers bullying people out of their Constitutional Rights, this bill does nothing to remedy that injustice,” said an angry Denis Ball whose mother died while in the care of a court ordered fiduciary. After caring for his elderly mother for years, a family dispute placed her in probate court where he was prevented from visiting his mother for months prior to her death.

The House version of probate reform, HB2424, sponsored by Rep. David Smith, R-LD7, will be heard in House Judiciary on Thursday morning starting at 8 AM. It would make changes not provided for in the Senate bill. Establishing a Probate Advisory Committee made up of citizens, it would offer recourse for those who feel unfairly affected by the actions of the court and issues direct regulatory provisions. Authorizing wards to request a change of guardian, custodian, or trustee annually would prevent the majority of complaints currently in the forefront of the probate debate and insures the rights of families to visit. Civil liabilities and training for judges are among other primary points in the House bill.

Jayme Mason, who became active in the effort toward probate reform after her grandfather’s estate was placed under the jurisdiction of the courts had this to say about the bill, “We cannot leave so much up to the discretion of the Probate Judges and Commissioners. As it is, they are making decisions based on their own personal opinion and agenda rather than according to the procedures, guidelines, rules, and laws already implemented by the state of AZ, not to mention the Oath they supposedly stand for.”’

# # #
Knaperek Consulting, LLC is a government affairs firm specializing in issue advocacy and campaign services.

Bill to Increase Oversight of Guardians and Conservators Passes in Nebraska

Oversight of guardians and conservators of adults would increase with a bill passed Wednesday on a 49-0 vote of the Legislature.

If signed by Gov. Dave Heineman, it would go into effect Jan. 1.

The bill (LB157), introduced by Lincoln Sen. Colby Coash, came from a task force of senators, judges, attorneys and law enforcement created by Nebraska Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Heavican last year after a case in Omaha highlighted what can happen when a guardian does not act in good faith.
The measure would put more information in the hands of judges so they can make more informed decisions about who's going to serve, and how a guardian or conservator will serve a vulnerable person.

It lays out conditions for information at the time of appointment of a guardian and then ongoing reporting requirements, including these.

* A requirement for criminal history checks.

* A bond, which can be waived by the court or handled in other ways, on the ward's assets if they exceed $10,000.

* Letters of guardianship filed with the register of deeds in every county in which the ward owns property or interest in property.

* An inventory of the ward's assets filed within 30 days of appointment of a guardian to the court, interested persons and bonding companies, if required, and then annual inventories after that.

* Permission of the court to move the ward's place of residence outside the state.

* Authorization of the court to refer guardianship and conservatorship cases to mediation or other alternative dispute resolution.

* A procedure for an interested person to submit an affidavit to the court about concerns regarding a guardian, at the time of appointment or after.

Article Source:
Nebraska Lawmakers Pass Guardianship Bill

Mickey Rooney Conservatorship

Actor Mickey Rooney has been granted court protection from his stepson and his stepson's wife after alleged abuse.

According to court documents filed Monday, the couple is accused of draining Mr. Rooney financially, verbally abusing him, and denying him basic necessities, including food.

At an emergency hearing Monday morning, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Reva Goetz appointed a temporary conservator for Mr. Rooney and his estate. Judge Goetz also signed a temporary restraining order against Mr. Rooney's stepson, Chris Aber and his wife Christina ordering them to stay away from Mr. Rooney.

 

Full Article and Source:
Mickey Rooney Accuses Stepson of Abuse

New York: Judicial Bad Behavior

One judge who was driving drunk led the police on a half-mile chase, and when he was pulled over, asked for “professional courtesy.”

Another said “good boy” when a man who wanted to file a lawsuit made an insulting comment about Jews.

A third repeatedly jailed people without any trial and talked at length from the bench about how the decoration on a woman’s T-shirt made him think of a male sex organ. “I’m bringing down the house,” said the judge, Gilbert L. Abramson of Family Court in Saratoga County, evidently delighted with his own humor.

Those are a few of the cases that were handled over the last year by a secretive state agency, the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, that is at the center of a new dispute about the state’s judicial-discipline system. Last week, the 77,000-member New York State Bar Association called for major changes in the commission’s structure and operations after a Manhattan lawyers’ group criticized the panel as unfair to judges.

The state bar association’s position is expected to set off a campaign in Albany to change the system in ways that could make it more difficult to remove judges, for example by allowing them to question investigators’ witnesses before a hearing. The proposal would also break the commission into two separate agencies, one to prosecute judges and another to rule on the charges. It is also likely to prompt the first detailed review in decades of the way the state handles the roughly 1,800 complaints made against judges every year.

The complaints filed with the 11-member commission vary from nuisance accusations by people who lost cases to sobering claims about judges’ fixing cases and ignoring constitutional rights, the agency’s reports show. Because of the power wielded by the state’s 3,500 full- and part-time judges, any system of policing them would be delicate.

In an interview this week, the chairman of the commission, Thomas A. Klonick, criticized as “unfortunate and kind of distressing” the way the Manhattan lawyers’ group, the New York County Lawyers’ Association, had reached its conclusions that the system was unfair to judges. “I believe they don’t understand the process of how the commission works,” said Mr. Klonick, a lawyer and part-time town judge in Perinton, N.Y., near Rochester.

The president of the Manhattan lawyers’ association, James B. Kobak Jr., said his group had consulted people widely, but “beyond that I really don’t care to respond.”

But the comments of Mr. Klonick, a Republican appointed to the commission by the state’s chief judge, showed that the effort to change the state’s judicial-discipline system is likely to meet resistance as the debate begins in Albany.

Full Article and Source:
Sex Joke and Other Judicial Bad Behavior

Judge Them in Open Court

Some New York judges seem to believe they don't get a fair shake from the agency that polices their actions on the bench. There is one way to find out for sure:

The Legislature should open Commission on Judicial Conduct proceedings to view. All its hearings should be public once the panel has found grounds to vote charges against a judge.

The commission supports openness, as does every court-watching organization in the state. Only the judges balk at lifting the secrecy that bars the panel from releasing any information except a final order of discipline.

Despite this protection, judges complained that the commission has too much power to act against them. They got the ear of the New York County Lawyers Association, which in turn got the attention of the state bar association.

Ever friendly to its judicial brethren, the association is asking Albany to give judges consideration beyond the wildest dreams of due process.

Its proposals include requiring the commission to give judges early notice of probes, as well as almost full access to the work of investigators. The group also calls for limits on the panel's power to expand probes and for taxpayers to bankroll expenses judges incur in defending themselves.

These are not worth a moment's thought. But opening the process to sunlight after the commission has filed charges - a step ignored by the association - would enhance confidence that judges and the public alike are being treated justly.

Source:
Judge Them in Open Court: Legislature Should Open Commission on Judicial Conduct Proceedings to View