Zavalidroga stripped of power of attorney status for mother

ROME>> After a two-day guardianship hearing this week in Oneida County Supreme Court, Judge Samuel Hester ruled that Tomas Zavalidroga no longer has power of attorney status over his mother, Margaret Zavalidroga, an attorney connected to the case said.

In court, Tomas faced off against his brothers Victor and Jon Zavalidroga, who sought to have Tomas stripped of his power of attorney status over Margaret Zavalidroga and void recent land transfers from Margaret to Tomas. One of the main issues being two quitclaim deeds filed by Tomas using his power of attorney status, transferring to him two parcels of land on Forward Road in Blossvale, that had previously been in Margaret’s name.

Colin LaReaux, a Utica-based attorney representing Victor and Jon in the guardianship matter said that Tomas did not retain an attorney to represent him for this matter.

The hearing was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday after which Hester ruled that Tomas was not to be his mother’s power of attorney, and neither was Jon or Victor, LaReaux said, adding that “soon” mother Margaret will have a court-appointed guardian.

LaReaux declined to go into specifics regarding why the judge ruled for an independent guardian rather than Jon and Victor handle Margarets affairs, other than saying that Hester felt it best to appoint someone outside the family.

Previously, Hester ruled that the press and public will be barred from the guardianship hearing because of the need to discuss health and financial information of Margaret Zavalidroga.

Related to the guardianship issue, is an ongoing criminal case that began in July, when Tomas was charged with reckless endangerment and making a false report to police, both misdemeanors; after he reported Margaret Zavalidroga, 83 missing.

Police say that Tomas knowingly led his mother into the woods and then made a missing persons report.

They both lived on Forward Road in Blossvale. Margaret was missing for almost three days, before being found partially clothed in a wooded area of Oneida by a search and rescue team.

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Zavalidroga stripped of power of attorney status for mother

See Also:
Judge closes Zavalidroga guardianship proceedings to public

Brothers Seek Control of Mother's Finances

Former Edmonson nursing home employees arraigned

Three former employees at Genesis HealthCare’s Edmonson Center nursing home pleaded not guilty Monday to several charges stemming from allegations of residential abuse.

Jerry Snyder, Kelly Duvall and Kayla Kinser will return to Edmonson Circuit Court on Dec. 15 following their arraignments.

Snyder, 30, of Leitchfield, is charged with 14 counts each of first-degree criminal abuse, knowingly abusing or neglecting an adult and fourth-degree assault, plus two counts of second-degree wanton endangerment.

Duvall, 49, of Sweeden, and Kinser, 22, of Leitchfield, each face charges of four counts of first-degree criminal abuse, knowingly abusing or neglecting an adult and fourth-degree assault, along with two counts of second-degree wanton endangerment.

The indictments against the one-time employees accuse them of abusing two women who reside at the nursing home between August 2013 and February.

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Former Edmonson nursing home employees arraigned

Bibb’s elder, disabled abuse unit a voice for the ‘silent victims’

In fall 2013, then-95-year-old Ella Mae Potts’ bank account was overdrawn, and there was no money to buy groceries or pay bills.

Her granddaughter, 50-year-old Martha Gail Baker, was her primary caregiver.

An investigation later showed that Baker had been forging some of Potts’ checks and forcing her to sign others to steal more than $1,685, according to police records.

Baker’s case is one of about two dozen routed through the Bibb County District Attorney’s Office’s Elder and Disabled Abuse Unit since the unit formed last year.

Prior to last May, the office had handled three elder abuse cases dating back to 2005, said Will Johnson, the prosecutor assigned to the new unit.

Adult Protective Services is Georgia’s agency that investigates abuse to people aged 65 and up or disabled people over 18 who don’t live in long-term care facilities.

The agency’s director, Barbara Pastirik, said Adult Protective Services’ partnership with prosecutors across the state is very important.

“We aspire not just to uncover the abuse and stop it from happening but also to hold people accountable,” she said. “It takes the team.”

District Attorney David Cooke established the special prosecuting unit in May 2013 after taking note of the referrals his office received relating to elder abuse and the increasing elderly population. He saw a need for a specialist.

Bibb County’s program is one of two in the state, Cooke said last week.

“As our population ages, protecting the elderly is one of the best things we can do to protect our families,” he said.

Johnson said Bibb County’s unit is patterned after the other unit in the state that’s located at the De- Kalb County District Attorney’s Office.

DeKalb’s unit was launched about five years ago after its leader, assistant district attorney Jeanne Canavan, prosecuted a group of telemarketers who called 10,000 seniors and tricked them into disclosing their Social Security and bank account numbers.

Listening to recordings of the calls, Canavan said it made her “blood boil.”

Her unit started with only two people but has grown to have three attorneys and support staff.

They’ve handled 157 cases, mostly involving financial exploitation or neglect. Physical abuse cases are handled by other prosecutors, Canavan said.

In Bibb County, all forms of abuse on an elderly or disabled person -- including physical abuse -- are handled by Johnson’s unit.

People found guilty can be sentenced to up to 20 years.

Punishments vary.

In Baker’s case, she was sentenced to 15 years on probation and to complete a residential substance abuse treatment center program after she pleaded guilty to one count of exploitation of an elder person, according to Bibb County Superior Court records.

Attempts to reach Baker were unsuccessful last week.

Johnson said his work on the unit has been rewarding, and it has made him more sensitive to how vulnerable some people can be.

In addition to prosecuting crimes, Johnson has become a clearinghouse for the elderly and disabled who don’t know who to call for information about food stamps, housing or other needs.

Sometimes people need help navigating the system, and “I can get them to people who can provide those services,” he said.

Johnson is part of a new Vulnerable Adult Justice Task Force launched Friday, which brings together representatives from Adult Protective Services, the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, service providers, prosecutors and law enforcement to review how past cases were handled and how investigations and services provided can be improved.

Although the task force initially will only be reviewing Bibb County cases, Johnson said he hopes the group will expand to include Middle Georgia.

“Our elders and our disabled are our silent victims,” Johnson said.

Unlike crimes against children that get publicity, crimes against the elderly rarely are in the spotlight.

“I want to make sure that an elder or disabled person gets a voice and they get justice,” he said. “Just because you’re not a prominent victim doesn’t mean you’re not entitled to justice and to have a voice in the process.”

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Bibb’s elder, disabled abuse unit a voice for the ‘silent victims’

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2014/10/22/3379083_bibbs-elder-disabled-abuse-unit.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

Mother in Coma Heard Everything, Was Scared They’d Turn Off Her Life Support

Kate Allat suffered a stroke at the age of 39 and the mother spent 10 days in a coma afterwards. Now that she is past that frightful ordeal, Allat reveals in a new interview that she heard everything going on around her in her hospital room and she was fearful her life support would be turned off.

Kate Allat

Allat indicates that her mind was functioning normally during her coma but everyone around her thought she was brain-dead as she laid in her hospital bed paralyzed and unable to speak or breathe on her own. She listened in fright as medical staff discussed switching off her life support with her family.

It took two weeks before she was able to communicate with anyone, according to news reports.
LifeNews has focused on these kinds of cases before, where patients heard everything going on around them despite their comatose state. It’s another reason to oppose euthanasia and another reason why doctors and families should take their time before determining someone is “too far gone.”

“They thought I was in a vegetative state. I couldn’t move a muscle. There was no signal I was in there,” She said.

“I was on life support and they might have turned it off.”

“I couldn’t breathe for myself but I could hear conversations that I didn’t want to hear.”

Lucky for Kate, she made a full recovery, and she is urging people to remain aware of the syndrome and strokes.

She also discusses the embarrassment of being in the state.


“There were nurses that spoke over me. They lowered their expectations of me,” she told The Daily Mail.

“It’s fair to call me a control freak so to be in that situation is awful.”

“I’d be left on my shower seat for 20 minutes after a shower, naked.”

 
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Mother in Coma Heard Everything, Was Scared They’d Turn Off Her Life Support

Birmingham law firm employee bilked elderly clients out of $295,000 to fund lavish lifestyle, authorities say

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - A Jefferson County woman employed by a Birmingham law firm stole nearly $300,000 from clients deemed unable to oversee their own finances and used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle, authorities said today.

Janice Davis

A grand jury this month indicted 36-year-old Janice Davis, of Minor, on 35 criminal charges. The U.S. Marshal's Fugitive Task Force arrested Davis at her home Oct. 16. She was released the following day after posting $250,000 bond.

Jefferson County sheriff's Chief Deputy Randy Christian said the law firm of Hand Arendall LLC in July contacted the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office after noticing a discrepancy in the firm's Guardianship Department. The inquiry was handed over to the sheriff's office, which launched an investigation.

Davis, authorities said, was responsible for the disbursement of payments for the firm's attorney who had been appointed fiduciary by the Jefferson County Probate Court or the Veteran's Administration to assist clients who had been deemed unable to oversee their personal financial affairs.

Once the discrepancy was noticed, Christian said, Davis was fired from Hand Arendall. The investigation found almost $295,000 was misappropriated from 34 accounts the firm managed through manipulation of the payment system they had in place.

The theft took place over nearly three years. Authorities said Davis used the money to pay personal bills including a $66,000 credit card balance and she bought two Mercedes.

The case was presented to a Jefferson County grand jury this month. Davis was indicted on the following charges: 10 counts of elderly abuse/neglect, 12 counts of first-degree financial exploitation of an elderly person, eight counts of second-degree financial exploitation of an elderly person, four counts of third-degree of financial exploitation an elderly person, and one count of firs-degree theft of property.

Roger Bates, a managing partner at Hand Arendall, said none of the victims will suffer any financial loss, nor did they suffer any loss of services, medical treatment, care or housing. The firm also had launched additional layers of security to its Guardianship accounts.

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Birmingham law firm employee bilked elderly clients out of $295,000 to fund lavish lifestyle, authorities say

Man indicted for bilking elderly women out of thousands

A Dothan man has been indicted on charges he bilked thousands of dollars from two elderly women. A Geneva County grand jury recently found there is sufficient evidence against Willie N. Williams to take him to trial.

Williams, 50, is charged with financial exploitation of the elderly in connection with allegations he bilked two Geneva women out of more than $2,000 each. One alleged victim is her 80’s while the other is believed to be about 70.

Police say the crimes occurred in mid-June when Norris offered to perform tree trimming and other lawn work for the victims. He is accused of intimidating them into paying $2,700 in one case and $2,070 in the other.

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Man indicted for bilking elderly women out of thousands

Attorney Ken Ditkowsky on Northshore "LIVE": Cooper's Corner

Source:
10-14-14 Ken Ditkowsky

Note:
Attorney Ditkowsky received a four-year suspension for advocating and speaking up against guardianship abuse, specifically the Mary Sykes case, in Cook County, IL.

See Also:
NASGA:  Mary Sykes, Illinois Victim

Northshore LIVE:  Cooper's Corner:  Ken Ditkowsky

Pennsylvania Supreme Court suspends Justice Seamus McCaffery

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday night suspended Justice Seamus McCaffery, who last week publicly apologized for forwarding sexually explicit emails to a state employee.

In its order, the court said it was suspending McCaffery with pay to "protect and preserve the integrity" of the state's judicial system and called on the independent Judicial Conduct Board to complete an investigation in 30 days.

The 4-1 decision, with two recusals, said McCaffery may have sought favors for his wife, who has been his chief legal clerk. Without elaborating, the court said McCaffery "may have attempted to exert influence" in judicial court appointments in his hometown of Philadelphia.

"More recently, Justice McCaffery has publicly accepted responsibility for exchanging hundreds of sexually explicit emails with a member or members of the office of attorney general," which surfaced during the attorney general's review of its handling of the Jerry Sandusky investigation, the court said in its order.

The court also cited a claim by Justice J. Michael Eakin that McCaffery on Thursday had "importuned him" to urge Chief Justice Ron Castille to retract his statements about the emails, or McCaffery would release emails embarrassing Eakin.

In a concurring opinion, Castille said, "It would be impossible for this court to function effectively while Justice McCaffery sits on this court."

McCaffery has referred to the email scandal as a "cooked-up controversy" that's part of a "vindictive pattern of attacks" on him by Castille. In his opinion Monday, Castille suggested that McCaffery displays "pathological symptoms [that] describe a sociopath" who blames others for his "transgressions."

Castille conducted his own inquiry into the emails after an Oct. 2 story in The Morning Call, which reported McCaffery had forwarded sexually explicit emails to a state worker who forwarded them to other state workers.

In its order Monday, the court relied on Castille's description of the 234 sexually explicit emails he reviewed from the attorney general's office as "highly demeaning portrayals of … women, elderly persons and uniformed school girls."

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Pennsylvania Supreme Court suspends Justice Seamus McCaffery

Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Announces New Plan to Raise Awareness of Attorney Discipline

New Procedure Will Work to Ensure Public Knowledge of Misconduct

Harrisburg, Pa. – Demonstrating its commitment to safeguarding the public and the reputation of the legal profession, the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania announces an initiative to make it easier for the public to determine when an attorney has received public discipline. Effective immediately, the Board is issuing a news release to media outlets in communities where an attorney does business when the attorney is disbarred or suspended by order of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Although the Board has a longstanding practice of posting these notices on its website for the public and notifying newspapers of appropriate disciplinary actions, the notices typically appear only in the legal notices section of classified advertising. This latest effort is designed to broaden the reach of the disciplinary notices to boost public awareness of the actions.

The Disciplinary Board was created by the Supreme Court in 1972 to consider and investigate the conduct of any attorney admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania. Funded by annual assessments paid by attorneys licensed to practice in the Commonwealth, it assists the Supreme Court in all matters involving attorney licensing and discipline throughout the Commonwealth.

“As members of the Disciplinary Board, our duty is to assist the Supreme Court in protecting the public, preserving the integrity of the legal profession and safeguarding the reputation of our courts and the legal system,” said R. Burke McLemore, Jr., Chair of the Disciplinary Board. “By raising awareness of attorney discipline, we highlight our commitment to achieving these goals by demonstrating to the public how the profession is policing itself.”

The decision to focus additional efforts on raising public awareness of such actions was partly prompted by events earlier this year when a Dauphin County lawyer failed to notify his clients that he was forced to surrender his law license. Some of his clients claimed significant financial loss.

To stay up to date on the latest notices, the public also is encouraged to visit the Board’s website at www.padisciplinaryboard.org. Designed for easy viewing, the website enables users to search recent actions on attorneys, including Supreme Court orders detailing the actions and reasons under the Look Up – Supreme Court Actions tab.

About the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of PA

The Disciplinary Board's goals are to protect the general public, maintain a high standard of integrity in the legal profession, and safeguard the reputation of the courts of Pennsylvania. The Disciplinary Board was created by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to review conduct and assure compliance by all attorneys to the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct. For more information about the Disciplinary Board, please visit www.padb.us.

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Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Announces New Plan to Raise Awareness of Attorney Discipline