Mark Zahner, chief elder abuse prosecutor for CA AG Kamala Harris’ DOJ, steps down amid criticism of selective enforcement

California’s chief elder abuse prosecutor is leaving office amid sharp criticism that he has selectively enforced criminal elder abuse laws against a small number of vulnerable, small-fry defendants while sparing the principal malefactors of systemic elder abuse, the wealthy, politically connected, corporate-owned nursing homes.

According to reliable sources, Deputy Attorney General Mark L. Zahner, who, since at least 2003, has been the chief of prosecutions for the Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse (BMFEA), in the California attorney general’s Department of Justice (DOJ) in Sacramento, is stepping down from his position at the end of this month. Mr. Zahner is reportedly leaving his office to head an association of district attorneys in California.

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Mark Zahner, chief elder abuse prosecutor for CA AG Kamala Harris’ DOJ, steps down amid criticism of selective enforcement

Couple wins custody of Jenny Hatch

Couple wins custody of Jenny Hatch

The custody battle of a 29-year-old woman with Down Syndrome came to an end Friday afternoon.Jenny Hatch has been in and out of court for months, fighting to live with her friends, couple Kelly Morris and Jim Talbert, instead of at a group home. Friday a judge granted that wish and gave the couple custody of Jenny for the next year.

The verdict was revealed in a Newport News courtroom a little before 4 p.m. Full guardianship of Jenny was taken away from her mother, Julia Ross, who wanted Jenny to live in a group home. After a year under the guardianship of Morris and Talbert, Jenny will be able to make her own decisions.

Morris and Talbert have a history of caring for Jenny, and say they will gladly take her in.

"It's awesome. We're ecstatic," said Morris. "At first, I thought it wasn't going in our favor, but then the judge said 'however.' It brought up a glimmer of hope. We're ecstatic."

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Couple wins custody of Jenny Hatch

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Jenny Hatch's courtroom battle continues

Jenny Hatch shouldn’t be treated as a prisoner

Jenny Hatch shouldn’t be treated as a prisoner

Monday, July 29, 4:25 PM

 

The guardianship system in our country raises serious concerns.

The July 21 front-page article “Jenny’s declaration of independence” is a strong illustration of the system’s overreach in action. The story focused on Jenny Hatch, a vibrant 29-year-old in a battle over who controls her life. As Ms. Hatch said clearly: “I don’t need guardianship. I don’t want it.”

 

If anyone else had been required to live somewhere against her will, with limited communication with the outside world, as Ms. Hatch was, she would either be able to lodge a charge of kidnapping or would be a prisoner convicted of a crime. But because Ms. Hatch is a person with a disability, such actions are completely legal, even though she has done nothing wrong.

Guardianship can, and often does, deprive a person of the ability to choose where she lives, whom she sees, when she gets up in the morning, what she eats for breakfast, whether and where she works and whether she can vote.

Less restrictive options are available, including powers of attorney for health care or financial matters, and “supported decision-making.” Both options give people with disabilities greater control of their lives. We should explore these options first, rather than reflexively stripping people of their fundamental right to live with independence, freedom and dignity. Disability is no excuse to deprive someone of her basic civil liberties.

 

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Jenny Hatch shouldn’t be treated as a prisoner

Jenny Hatch's courtroom battle continues

Jenny Hatch's courtroom battle continues

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) - The custody battle of a woman with Down Syndrome continued in a Newport News court Monday and Tuesday.

The verdict on whether 29-year-old Jenny Hatch will be her own guardian or continue to live under the guardianship of her mother will be revealed Friday.

Hatch has been in and out of courtrooms for months -- her mother is fighting for full guardianship and to keep her in a group home, but Jenny has repeatedly said she wants to live with her friends, couple Kelly Morris and Jim Talbert, who say they will gladly take her in.

Jenny told WAVY.com outside court Monday, "I am coming home. I have had enough. I am coming home today or tomorrow. I have had enough. Thank you all...I want to live at Jim and Kelly's."

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Jenny Hatch's courtroom battle continues

Minneapolis conservator accused of mishandling vet’s finances quits

A prominent Twin Cities guardian and conservator has given up his caseload after an investigation was launched into his handling of a veteran’s finances.  

Stephen Grisham, founder of Alternate Decision Makers Inc. in Minneapolis, stepped down as president of the company after the allegations arose about a month ago, said Jacob Kamenir, who took over as president after Grisham’s departure. Kamenir said the Department of Veterans Affairs is investigating Grisham.

 

“ADMI is fully cooperating with all parties that are investigating and all assets are fully secured,” Kamenir said. “ADMI is being transparent to all parties that are looking into this matter. Our primary focus right now is making sure that our clients are taken care of.”

 

Kamenir said all clients were immediately notified and “all client assets are secured.” He declined to comment further on the allegations, saying he would provide more information once the investigation is complete.

 

Grisham founded ADMI in 2000. Court records show the company has been involved in at least 293 cases. Mark Thompson, Hennepin County court administrator, said the investigation is limited to one file in Hennepin County.

 

“It’s substantial and we take it seriously, but it does not seem like a widespread problem here,” Thompson said. “I am not terribly concerned that things won’t be handled and investigated properly.”

Guardians and conservators are appointed by judges to make life and financial decisions for people suffering from dementia or other incapacitating conditions. In recent years, revelations of theft and neglect by some court-appointed caretakers have prompted new laws to increase oversight of what has been a lightly regulated profession.

 

In 2010, an Apple Valley woman who was an appointed fiduciary for some veterans was sentenced to federal prison for stealing their money. After the woman’s sentencing, Grisham told KARE-11:  “When you’re appointed as a fiduciary for someone, there is a lot of trust and a great responsibility that needs to be taken seriously and unfortunately in that case she broke that trust.”

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Minneapolis conservator accused of mishandling vet’s finances quits

Judge Jones tries to stop discipline hearing over alleged mishandled relationship

Longtime Family Court Judge Steven Jones,
third from left, declines to talk to the
 news media outside the
 Lloyd George Federal Courthouse
 in Las Vegas after pleading not guilty
 to a slew of felony charges in this Nov. 1, 2012,
file photo.

Embattled Family Court Judge Steven Jones is mounting an 11th-hour campaign to put off a hearing next week before the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline on allegations he mishandled a romantic relationship with a prosecutor who appeared before him.

The judge’s lawyer, Jim Jimmerson, has filed papers asking the Nevada Supreme Court to halt the proceeding, which is set to begin Monday.

Jimmerson also has filed suit against the judicial commission in District Court and is seeking a temporary restraining order to stop the panel from disciplining Jones. A hearing on the restraining order was set for 11 a.m. today before District Judge Michael Villani.

In a mass of court papers, Jimmerson contends the seven-member commission has blatantly violated Jones’ constitutional due process rights.

“Not only is the petitioner (Jones) worried about his own fate before a commission that, left unchecked, has so quickly and repeatedly abandoned the principles of due process, but he also is very fearful that without meaningful intervention from the court, no judge in the state of Nevada can be secure from the wrongful actions of the commission,” Jimmerson told the Supreme Court.

The commission has a “storied history” of violating the rights of judges it has investigated, Jimmerson added in his District Court papers.

In Jones’ case, Jimmerson said, the commission has “sullied itself” and “brought shame on the very institution the public relies upon to protect them from dangerous judges.”

Lawyers for the commission responded that the judge’s due process rights have been protected during the commission’s investigation and that his last-minute bid to derail the disciplinary proceeding is a ploy to avoid possible sanctions for his alleged misconduct.

Special Counsel Kathleen Paustian said a District Court order at this time blocking the hearing would “usurp the role of the commission” and “irreparably” damage public policy.

“The judge fails to address the fact there is also at stake the reputation of the judiciary and the public confidence in the judiciary as an institution,” Paustian wrote.

Jones, 54, who also is under federal indictment, is accused of violating Nevada’s Judicial Code of Conduct and faces possible sanctions ranging from a private reprimand to removal from office. He has been the subject of a more extensive commission investigation into other allegations of misconduct dating to 2006, but has not been charged.

The commission suspended the longtime judge in November after the federal indictment charged him with participating in a $3 million investment fraud scheme. Jones, who is to stand trial in the criminal case on March 3, has continued to receive his $200,000 annual salary.

The judicial discipline hearing, which could last most of next week, is being held at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority on Paradise Road.

Jones, first elected to Family Court in 1992, has denied the latest allegations of wrongdoing, which were brought to light in a 2011 Las Vegas Review-Journal story.

According to a complaint filed by commission lawyers in December, former Deputy District Attorney Lisa Willardson “actively litigated cases” in the judge’s courtroom while she maintained a relationship with him in 2011. Jones failed to disqualify himself from those cases.

The State Bar of Nevada, which regulates lawyers, declined to formally discipline Willardson over the relationship.

The bar, however, sent Willardson a “letter of caution” that will remain in her professional file for three years.

“While the panel found no clear and convincing evidence that your developing romantic relationship with Judge Jones changed the result of any case, and found it hard to clearly define when your relationship with Judge Jones began,” the letter stated, “the public was left to speculate on what effect the relationship might have had in any matter, and public trust in the justice system was undermined.”

The letter of caution, made public this week by the Judicial Discipline Commission in its court papers, reminded Willardson that she did appear before Jones in an uncontested matter several days after she acknowledged in emails that she was dating him.

“We hope that the foregoing serves as a reminder of your ethical obligations and that no similar problems will arise in the future,” the letter concluded.

Willardson last month filed a federal lawsuit against the district attorney’s office seeking to clear her name and denying she and Jones saw each other socially while she appeared before him.

Former District Attorney David Roger asked the commission to investigate the relationship between Jones and Willardson, a deputy in the child welfare unit.

Roger, who has been subpoenaed to testify before the commission next week, removed Willardson from child abuse and neglect cases before Jones after the relationship became public in October 2011. Later, he fired Willardson.

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Judge Jones tries to stop discipline hearing over alleged mishandled relationship

Life and Death in Assisted Living: "Close the Back Door"

On Sept. 30, 2008, an employee at the Emerald Hills assisted living facility in Auburn, Calif., made an entry in a company computer log: “pressure ulcer/wound.”

Joan, who had spent just 19 days in the facility, had developed the wound on her foot. The fall eight days earlier had hospitalized her and left her with bruises and an abrasion on her right temple. This, though, could be much, much worse.

Pressure ulcers — also known as bed sores — can form when a person loses the ability to move about freely. Lying in bed or sitting in a chair for long stretches of time diminishes the blood flow to the skin, causing it to break down and die. A hole grows. If bacteria creep into the wound, the bugs can devour flesh or invade the blood and bones. Pressure ulcers can turn fatal, particularly in older people.

Because of the lethal potential of pressure ulcers, the federal government monitors them closely in the nursing home business. In the eyes of experts, the sores are often an indicator of poor care. Attentive caregivers can prevent many pressure sores by making sure that people don’t spend too much time in the same position.

“We know that most bed sores are avoidable,” said Kathryn Locatell, a forensic geriatrician who investigates allegations of elder abuse for California Department of Justice. “That is the consensus of experts in the field.”

Emerald Hills was supposed to contact Joan’s doctor when she developed the ulcer. But nobody from Emerald Hills called a doctor. No nurse came to salve Joan’s wound. And nobody told Joan’s relatives — her husband, Myron, who lived in the same facility, or her son who lived nearby — about the development.

Joan’s short, painful stay at Emerald Hills seemed to be accelerating her decline.

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Life and Death in Assisted Living:  "Close the Back Door
See Also:
Life and Death in Assisted Living:  "A Sinking Ship"

Life and Death in Assisted Living:  "They're Not Treating Mom Well"

Life and Death in Assisted Living:  "The Emerald City"

Court: Guardians can order end of life support

MINNEAPOLIS -- A Minnesota appeals court has ruled legal guardians can order the end of life support for their wards.

The ruling overturns a Hennepin County District Court finding that end-of-life decisions are too important to be made by the guardian alone. The appeals court disagreed, saying those decisions should not be dictated by the courts.

The case involves Jeffers Tschumy, who was mentally disabled and living in a group home. In 2011 he was declared severely brain damaged after choking on some food. A Hennepin County judge denied his guardian the right to end life support, but ordered that it be discontinued.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/30/5607678/court-guardians-can-order-end.html#storylink=cpy

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Court: Guardians can order end of life support

Contra Costa judge slapped for action in son's case

A veteran Contra Costa County judge disciplined twice by a state legal watchdog agency has been publicly admonished for meddling in a case in which his son failed to comply with a court order that he perform volunteer service.

The state Commission on Judicial Performance said Tuesday that it had reprimanded Superior Court Judge Bruce Mills for "engaging in judicial misconduct" by having private conversations with court staffers on his son's behalf. The panel voted 10-0, with another Contra Costa County judge on the panel abstaining.

The commission said it decided against more severe discipline, such as ordering Mills' removal from the bench, because the judge "was acting as a concerned parent."

The commission also said it had heard testimony from witnesses describing Mills as "hardworking, conscientious and fair."

But the panel - made up of three judges appointed by the state Supreme Court, two attorneys named by the governor and six members of the public named by the governor, a state Senate committee and the Assembly speaker - revealed that this was not the first time Mills had been disciplined for using his position as a judge to bypass normal channels on behalf of his son.

Attorney 'outraged'

In 2011, Mills received an "advisory letter" for allowing his son to accompany a police officer executing a search warrant the judge had signed "without going through the ordinary application process for going on a ride-along," the commission said.

Mills' attorney, James Murphy, said Wednesday that he is "outraged" by the commission's decision and said the special masters - three judges who investigated the case and turned over their findings to the panel - had concluded that his client's actions were improper but did not constitute misconduct.
"Judge Mills never requested any favors," Murphy said. "I don't think the judge obtained due process."

The case that led to Mills' reprimand began in October 2010 when his son, who was a juvenile, was cited for illegal possession of tobacco. He pleaded guilty to an infraction in March 2011 and was ordered to perform 20 hours of volunteer service, but did not complete the work after enrolling in an out-of-state treatment program, the commission said.

Clerk, judge visited

A hearing on the youth's noncompliance was scheduled for October 2011 in the same Walnut Creek courthouse where his father worked.

On the day of the hearing, the commission said, Mills spoke with court clerk Jane Sims and later with Helen Peters, a temporary judge hearing the case, asking that his son's out-of-state program count as credit for the volunteer work that he had been ordered to do.

The judge agreed and gave Mills' son credit without holding a hearing, the commission said.
The judge's private conversations on his son's behalf "created an appearance of impropriety" and constituted "prejudicial misconduct," the commission said.

The panel said the resolution "was not more lenient than likely would have occurred" if an attorney for Mills' son had appeared in court before Peters.

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Contra Costa judge slapped for action in son's case