Judge Grants Conservatorship for Eagles Co-Founder

A judge today established a temporary conservatorship over Eagles co-founder Randy Meisner, saying he was worried that the musician’s longtime substance abuse problems could cause him to harm himself.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Cunningham also ordered both sides to mediate a possible solution to their differences.

Cunningham noted that a psychiatric report by Dr. David Trader showed Meisner was vulnerable to the undue influence of others. The judge instructed Trader in May to prepare the mental capacity report, and delayed until today a decision on whether to appoint a temporary conservator.

He named Frumeh Labow, who has a lengthy background in social work, to fill the role pending a hearing on Sept. 29 on whether the conservatorship should be made permanent.

Cunningham’s ruling also includes an order that Meisner receive 24-hour assistance from a caregiver.

“We’re obviously pleased,” said Troy Martin, an attorney for James Newton, a longtime friend of Meisner who filed the petition to place the 69- year-old bassist under a conservatorship. “He obviously has mental impairments and needs the protection of the court.”

Martin said Meisner’s suicidal thoughts once prompted him to say he wanted to kill people with an AK-47 and then take his own life.

Labow will make medical decisions on behalf of Meisner, but the judge did not give her the additional power sought by Martin and Newton to also have her oversee his finances.

Martin argued in favor of the more expanded conservatorship, saying changes were recently made in the Meisner family trust giving Meisner’s wife, Lana Rae Meisner, more authority that she previously had.

Meisner and his lawyers objected to the appointment of a temporary conservator. Lana Meisner walked out of the courtroom in protest while Cunningham was making his ruling.

Newton and Martin allege that Lana Meisner has done little to help her spouse of nearly two decades battle addiction issues, primarily involving alcohol, but also including cocaine.

Martin included in his court papers a declaration from a nurse, Marla Dodd, who said she has known Meisner for about a year and that she and her husband, Bobby, are longtime fans of the Eagles.

Dodd stated that on April 14, Lana Meisner left a voice message in which she said in a slurred voice that she used cocaine and worried that Dodd’s husband, a police officer, might arrest her for doing so.
“You know, I do it, but I’m a functioning person,” Lana Meisner said, according to Dodd.

Lana Meisner also said her neighbors were spying on her and that the night before, there were two children in her back yard, one of whom was wearing a clown suit, according to Dodd.

Meisner’s court-appointed attorney, John Rogers, and his private lawyer, Bruce Fuller, both said they have talked to their client and found him to be lucid. They said he does not need anyone to look after his personal and financial needs.

Before today’s hearing, Fuller filed court papers asking that Lana Meisner be named her husband’s temporary conservator instead of Labow if the judge determined he was in need of one. That petition also will be heard in September.

Meisner’s son said that he, too, is concerned about his father’s health. In a sworn declaration, Dana Scott Meisner claimed his stepmother is “providing (his father) with the alcohol that is slowly killing him” because she believes she can more easily “influence and manipulate” her husband when he drinks.

He also accused his stepmother of trying to isolate the musician from family members since the two married in the mid-1990s.

“This is a pattern with Lana,” according to Dana Meisner. “Ever since she has been married to my father, she has thrived on conflict and has attempted to create conflict within the family.”

The Eagles were founded in 1971 by Meisner, Glenn Frey, Don Henley and Bernie Leadon. Meisner co-wrote and sang the hit, “Take it to the Limit.”

--City News Service; Image credit Asylum Records

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Judge Grants Conservatorship for Eagles Co-Founder

Joni Mitchell’s health better, but judge extends conservatorship

Joni Mitchell performing in 1983

A Los Angeles judge Wednesday extended a conservatorship over Joni Mitchell, but noted that the singer has made “remarkable progress” in her recovery since being found unconscious in her home in late March.

“That’s extraordinary,” Superior Court Judge David Cunningham said when apprised of Mitchell’s improved condition by the entertainer’s court- appointed lawyer, Rebecca Thyne.

Mitchell’s longtime friend, Leslie Morris, will fill the role as the singer’s permanent conservator until another hearing on July 8, 2016.

In May, Cunningham named Morris, of Sherman Oaks, as temporary conservator, giving her interim authority to oversee Mitchell’s care, but not her finances and business interests.

Morris declined to comment after the hearing.

“I have nothing to say,” Morris said.

Mitchell was not present for the hearing.

In court papers filed Wednesday, Thyne said Mitchell’s health is on the mend.

“While (Mitchell) has made great progress toward recovery, the capacity declaration of (neurologist Paul Vespa) indicates that she lacks capacity to make informed medical decisions,” lawyer Rebecca Thyne wrote. “I agreed that (Mitchell) still needs assistance with such decisions.”

On March 31, Mitchell was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center to undergo tests after collapsing at her Bel Air home. People magazine has reported that she suffered a stroke.

Thyne says in her court papers that Mitchell was unresponsive when she visited the singer at the hospital on April 30. But when she went to the “Big Yellow Taxi” singer’s home on June 26, Mitchell was sitting at her kitchen table eating lunch.

The 71-year-old Mitchell said she was pleased with Morris’ role as her temporary conservator and that she would like her friend’s authority to be extended, according to Thyne.

“She also told me that she receives excellent care from caregivers around the clock,” Thyne stated in her court papers. “It was clear that she was happy to be home and that she has made remarkable progress. She has physical therapy each day and is expected to make a full recovery.”

—City News Service

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Joni Mitchell’s health better, but judge extends conservatorship

3 workers at Far Rockaway nursing home charged with abuse

FAR ROCKAWAY, NY (WABC) -- Three workers at a Queens nursing home were arrested for allegedly abusing patients.

Authorities say the abuse happened at the Peninsula Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on Beach Channel Drive in Far Rockaway.

Two nurses and a nurse's aide were reportedly caught on camera by the facility's surveillance system either abusing the patients or doing nothing to help.

In one instance, a nurse is seen dragging a 51-year-old debilitated man on the floor by his arm. The patient is bleeding and in obvious pain, and other nurses are seen standing around and watching.

"My office will not tolerate nurses who callously fail to treat or endanger injured patients under their care," Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said. "Caregivers must know that we will vigorously prosecute behavior that endangers our most vulnerable citizens. New Yorkers in nursing facilities deserve quality care and their loved ones deserve to know their caregivers act like the professionals they are."

In another video, the male patient is shown crawling on the floor, obviously bleeding from the neck or arm. Other nurses are seen standing by, doing nothing.

Management at Peninsula turned the video over to law enforcement, and all three defendants were either terminated or resigned.

The three health care workers surrendered to authorities on Wednesday morning.

The suspects are nurses Funmiloloa Taiwo, 34, and Esohe Agbonkpolor, 39, and 36-year-old aide Emmanuael Efot.

All three are charged with endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person and willful violation of health laws.

They are all state registered health workers.

According to the state health department, there have been 112 complaints filed against the nursing home since 2011, which is double the statewide average. Inspections turned up 79 deficiencies, also double the statewide average. And in 2005, the home was fined $2,000 for an unspecified quality of care violation.

The victim was not identified and his family could not be reached for comment.

Here are more details of the alleged incident, attributable to the Attorney General's Office. All of these details are allegations: On October 23, 2014, Taiwo and Agbonkpolor were both working as nurses at Peninsula Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, and Ufot was working as a certified nurse aide. That evening, the 51-year-old resident, who suffered from multiple debilitating conditions including altered mental status, fell in front of Agbonkpolor while in a hallway at Peninsula. After the resident was left lying on his back on the floor for 12 minutes, Ufot grabbed the injured resident by the arm and dragged him down the hallway into his room.

Around 25 minutes later, the resident, wearing only a backless gown that was pulled up over his unclad waste, emerged from his room, crawling along the floor on his back, bleeding profusely from a wound to the back of his head and another serious wound on his jaw. For the following 20 minutes, Taiwo and Agbonkpolor, working just a few feet away, largely ignored the resident and never appropriately treated the resident's wounds, including never attempting to stop the bleeding from his head and neck wounds.

Instead, Ufot, in another attempt to get the resident back into his room, allegedly grabbed the resident by his hospital gown that was by then twisted around his neck and dragged him along the floor and dropped him abruptly in front of his room.

Elliot Norman, the Administrator at Peninsula Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Cardiff Bay Center LLC released a statement saying,

"Peninsula Nursing and Rehabilitation Center has a zero tolerance toward any type of misconduct, abusive or negligent behavior by staff toward patients. When the state appointed Cardiff receivers of the facility in February 2013, which had been in bankruptcy and had been devastated in Superstorm Sandy, one of our first actions was to invest in a state-of-the-art video surveillance system covering every inch of the building to ensure patient safety and security. As part of our established protocol, we review these tapes on a daily basis, and it was through this review process that we discovered the alleged inappropriate activity by three former employees. We immediately provided the surveillance footage to the New York State Attorney General's office and terminated the employees. We will continue to fully cooperate with the Attorney General with his ongoing investigation. Here at Peninsula, we will also continue to maintain absolute vigilance including the extensive use of our video surveillance system to ensure patient safety and the high standard of care we demand our employees deliver to our residents."

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3 workers at Far Rockaway nursing home charged with abuse

Families Go to Battle in Probate Court, Only to Leave Without Anything

By Steve Jansen

Fred Harper

In October 2007, Willie Jo Mills of Houston suffered a stroke that paralyzed the right side of her body. A widow with two daughters and a son, the 80-year-old woman was prescribed a variety of pain medications, but doctors couldn’t find the right cocktail.

Six months later, Mills’s son Larry filed an application with the Harris County Probate Court to become his mom’s legal guardian. Mills’s youngest daughter, Sherry Johnston, who wasn’t getting along with Larry, contested her brother’s guardianship request. With the case at a standstill, Judge Christine Riddle Butts, one of the newest of Harris County’s four elected probate judges, selected the third-party guardians David R. Dexel, a Houston-based attorney, and Ginger Lott, a certified guardian in Texas, as Mills’s legal caretakers.

Johnston says that’s when the family’s five-year horror began.

According to documents filed with the Harris County Probate Court, Johnston alleges her mother was miserable and overmedicated and shriveled to 89 pounds while under the care of the court-appointed guardians. “She looked like a concentration camp victim,” says Johnston, who adds that she was barred from visiting her mother at Silverado Kingwood Memory Care Community after she complained about the lack of attention paid to her mom.

Following her complaint to the court, Johnston was allowed to visit with her mother. In the next six months, she put 30 pounds on her mother, but Willie Jo eventually moved to hospice and died on September 27, 2014, at the age of 86. Johnston thinks the pitiful treatment by the third-party guardians is part of the reason her mother stopped talking the last four months of her life.

“[Probate Court] isn’t about protection or appointing someone to act in the best interest of a person. It’s about ownership of a human being and all their assets. It’s starting to look like they’re running a business rather than taking care of elderly people,” says Debby Valdez, president of the San Antonio-based Guardianship Reform Advocates for the Disabled and Elderly.

By law, a person in the clutches of a guardianship loses his basic rights such as the ability to drive, spend money, marry, choose a place to live and make medical decisions for himself. Instead, the bill of rights is transferred to the appointed guardian.

A professional caretaker through a county guardianship program, or a certified — or even uncertified — guardian such as a private lawyer can carry out a court-appointed guardianship, which dissolves a previous power of attorney that a relative may have obtained. (The Texas Judicial Branch Certification Commission requires the completion of a four-hour course to become a certified guardian. Until recently, it had been only three hours.)

Before he became the legal guardian for his mother, Olga, Gregory DeFrancesco, a retired Houston Police Department sergeant, had been fighting a grueling guardianship battle in Harris County probate court.

In July 2012, Judge Loyd Wright of Harris County Probate Court No. 1 appointed Dexel to take care of the now 88-year-old woman’s affairs. The court became involved because Gregory and his sister Donna couldn’t agree on specifics regarding their mother’s care (or anything else, for that matter).

According to a complaint filed by Donna with the State Bar of Texas’s Chief Disciplinary Council, after Dexel sold Olga’s house, he hawked her belongings in a poorly run sale. Sentimental possessions, like their grandmother’s rocking chair and a piece of jewelry that contained their father’s ashes, were sold before Gregory and Donna had a chance to run over and rescue the items.

The barely legible, hand-scrawled itemized receipt looks as if a six-year-old kid had run the sale. Purchased items include “crystol plate” for $7, “3 oval” for $5 and “sieve,” “foil,” “napkin hold” and “SS gravy body” for $1 apiece. One of the few items that didn’t sell was an X-ray of Olga’s shoulder, which Gregory found with a $3 price sticker slapped on it, according to Donna’s complaint with the State Bar of Texas.

When Gregory confronted Dexel, who didn’t respond to a Houston Press interview request, about the X-ray that also listed Olga’s date of birth and Social Security number, “He told me that they tried to sell it so that parents could teach their children how to play doctor.”

A month after Gregory usurped Dexel as his mother’s guardian, Donna’s State Bar of Texas complaint alleges that Dexel withdrew $16,340.18 from Olga’s Wells Fargo account (because he was still listed as a co-signer) and made out a cashier’s check payable to himself, according to a bank statement and check image examined by the Press. The withdrawal took Olga’s account down to a big fat $0.

“The whole system is rigged. It’s one big scam,” Gregory says about Harris County probate court, which critics allege is a corrupt, freewheeling operation that allows judges’ favorite appointees, who are also close friends and campaign donors, to bleed the estates of the helpless and vulnerable. Naysayers of court-appointed guardians believe that attorneys prey on family drama to charge astronomical fees and that judges aren’t doing enough to stop them.

Even though probate law is a complicated field that requires specialized attorneys, only 20 of the judges in Texas’s 254 counties have legal-studies degrees and professional law experience, according to Judge Mike Wood, who’s in charge of Harris County Probate Court No. 2. “The rest are farmers, car dealers and insurance salesmen, so probate law is written to be run by non-lawyers,” says Wood. Travis County Probate Court Judge Guy Herman, one of Texas’s presiding state statutory probate judges, adds, “Non-lawyer judges sometimes don’t seem to know or understand their duties and obligations” because of a lack of resources in rural areas.

Unlike probate courts out in the sticks, Harris County’s four probate judges and Herman think that statutory probate courts in Texas’s resource-rich metropolitan areas — which include Bexar, Collin, Dallas, Denton, El Paso, Galveston, Harris, Hidalgo, Tarrant and Travis counties — are well-oiled machines. Herman, who has been a point person for probate legislation since 1985, says Texas’s revamping of probate statutes in 1993 brought kudos from other states.

“The system is geared to help people,” says Wright. “Sometimes things aren’t fixable when there’s dysfunction and family animosity.”

Herman couldn’t agree more. “The driver of the expense is a family feud and the children who are arguing about who should be the guardian. There’s not a single judge that likes these fights. It’s wasting the family’s money,” says Herman, who adds, “I don’t think judges are sitting around trying to be corrupt.”

However, state lawmakers thought something was awry during the 2015 Texas legislative session because Governor Greg Abbott signed yet another try at legislation designed to help families in guardianship proceedings.

“We need some sort of oversight of these court appointees, because right now, I don’t know of any,” says state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, a Democrat from Laredo who sponsored or co-sponsored several guardianship bills.

Harris County’s four probate judges and Travis County’s Herman aren’t thrilled with many of the new laws, which force more accountability on the judges and go into effect September 1.

Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht says there’s one bulletproof way to avoid potential probate court messes. During a hearing for the eventually inked House Bill 39, which will provide families with less-restrictive alternatives to guardianships, Zaffirini asked Hecht for probate court and guardianship avoidance techniques.

His response: Get along with your family members.

Good luck with that.  (Continue Reading)

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Families Go to Battle in Probate Court, Only to Leave Without Anything

The Vegas Voice: Our Rana Appointed to Nevada Supreme Court's Guardianship Commission

The telephone called ID said Nevada Supreme Court but our Vegas Voice political editor had no idea when she answered the telephone that the voice on the other end would be Nevada Chief Justice James. W. Hardesty.

Judge Hardesty invited her to serve and be a member of the newly created  "Commission to Study the Administration of Guardianship in Nevada's Court."  The Commission will review the process for creating guardianships, the court documentation and tracking and any resources available or needed to assist Nevada's courts on administering guardianships.

Commissioner members will assist in hearing testimony, writing proposed rules and developing a new model for Nevada guardianships.  AS always, we'll keep our readers updated!

Congratulations, Rana!


Source:
The Vegas Voice - July issue

State establishes call center, one number to report adult maltreatment

Part of pending legislative action for months, July 1 marked the official rollout day of the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center (MAARC), which provides one, central number for the entire state that people can call to report suspected abuse of vulnerable adults: 1-844-880-1574.

Mille Lacs County Adult Protection Supervisor Charlotte “Char” Kohlgraf said about the new way of reporting, “It gives people a place to go 24 hours per day.”

In the past people needed to call the county social services  department during business hours. She said all 87 counties in Minnesota were taking the reports, and probably not all of them used the same procedures.

The center enables people to call anytime and creates continuity and consistency among reports. Kohlgraf said it will also expedite reporting because everything goes through one, central agency for collection and processing.

She gave “rough estimates” of the numbers of vulnerable adults in Mille Lacs County judging by approximately 175 reports made in 2014, and the county was the “lead investigative agency in about 75 of those cases. Minnesota established the Vulnerable Adult Act in 1981 as a means to protect people after a mute, bedbound, woman victim was raped. The law has continued to evolve since then.

In addition to the central number everyone can call, the MAARC includes a Web-based form for mandatory reporters such as doctors, nurses, teachers, social workers, licensed professionals, law enforcement and other such professionals or professionals’ delegates that is available 24 hours daily.

Kohlgraf explained the technical definitions of “vulnerable adult,” several of which involve people cared for in licensed facilities by licensed professionals. Generally a vulnerable adult is a person 18 years of age or older who has a mental, physical or emotional infirmity that prevents them from providing for their own care and safety. The definitions cover anyone who is a resident of or receiving services from some type of licensed facility, as well as those with age-related disability, frailty or memory issues.

The website www.safemn.org offers elder abuse statistics that say one of every 10 senior citizens will be the victim of some kind of abuse and that the financial exploitation of seniors results in the loss of $2.9 billion annually.

These are the three, main types of vulnerable-adult maltreatment the state defines in more detail at its website:

• Abuse of a physical, emotional or sexual nature including the use of restraints and involuntary seclusion or punishment, slapping, kicking and hitting.
• Neglect including failure to give necessary food, shelter, clothing, medical care or supervision.
• Financial exploitation including use of the person’s money that is not to their benefit, theft and the withholding of funds.

When a call comes into the MAARC, operators create a report and send it to the lead investigative agency: 1) law enforcement if there has been criminal activity or a suspicious death; 2) county social services if the person has immediate protection needs; 3) to the state department of health if the person is under the care of a person or facility licensed by that agency such as a hospital, nursing home or home-care provider; and 4) the state department of human services if the person is cared for in a setting licensed by DHS such as a chemical-dependency treatment center or an adult day or foster care.

After people submit a report, it is routed to the proper investigative authorities. Average individuals can make reports anonymously, but mandatory reporters usually cannot. Sometimes the person who made the report will be contacted by the responsible agency, which issues a finding once the investigation is complete.

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State establishes call center, one number to report adult maltreatment

Liberty Terrace Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center forced to shut down after resident complaints

LIBERTY, Mo. - Staff and residents at a Liberty healthcare center are forced to leave by next month after complaints from patients claim negligence and abuse.

The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services sent the director a letter last month informing her they were terminating their agreement with the center.

The center has 134 beds, and patients are now being transferred to other places by the August 7 deadline.

Documents reveal that surveyors from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services visited the site multiple times and found numerous violations.

In the documents from May, one resident complained to surveyors saying a "staff member yelled and slammed the snack cart into one resident.”

The center has 134 beds, and patients are now being transferred to other places by the August 7 deadline.

Documents reveal that surveyors from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services visited the site multiple times and found numerous violations.

In the documents from May, one resident complained to surveyors saying a "staff member yelled and slammed the snack cart into one resident.”

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Liberty Terrace Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center forced to shut down after resident complaints

Opinion: Love & Mercy, the Croatian Way

Marica

NEW YORK, Jul 6 2015 (IPS) - Last week, I went to see the new flick “Love & Mercy,” about the life of Brian Wilson, a singer, songwriter, and the genius behind The Beach Boys. I hadn’t heard much about the film. In fact, I was expecting a summer movie about surfing and fun; The Beach Boys playing Kokomo, Good Vibrations, and Surfin’ U.S.A. on sunny California  beaches.

I was wrong. Instead, lives of hundreds of people I’ve met unfolded on the screen.

Love & Mercy depicts Wilson in two narratives: in the first, he is portrayed at the height of his fame as the leader of The Beach Boys in the 1960s. The second features a middle-aged Wilson misdiagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia by Eugene Landy, Wilson’s therapist and legal guardian.

In the movie, Landy keeps Wilson heavily medicated as he controls every aspect of his life, including his finances, residence, family relationships and social interactions, and other basic life decisions. In one scene, Wilson talks about not speaking to his mother and daughters for years because Landy “doesn’t think it is a good idea.”

In another, Landy tells Wilson when and how much he should eat and whom he should date. Landy himself explains his influence:  “I’m the control. He is a little boy in a man’s body… It is my job, my duty to approve everyone Brian is spending time with.”

Wilson did not argue against Landy taking charge for fear that Landy would have him committed to an institution. As Wilson explains in the movie: “I can’t do that [disobey Landy]. He is my legal guardian. He can do things to me… He can send me away… There’s no way out.”

As the movie unfolded, it wasn’t solely Wilson’s story that I saw on the screen. I was reminded of Tatjana and Ivan, whom I met in Croatia. They are among the 18,000 people with disabilities placed under guardianship there and denied their right to make decisions about their lives.

More than 90 percent live under full guardianship, under which the guardians – often nominated by the government – make all life decisions for them.

Tatjana was diagnosed with schizophrenia in her early 30s, deprived of her legal capacity and placed under guardianship. She is now 47 but can’t visit her daughter or her mother without the permission of her guardian – in her case, a social worker.

It is the same if she wants to move to another house, get married, sign an employment contract, make health care decisions, or even officially publish her poems. Tatjana lived for nine years in an institution against her will because her legal guardian placed her there.

Ivan is 30 and was diagnosed with mild mental health problems. He was just 16 when he was placed indefinitely in Lopaca, a psychiatric hospital where 168 people, including 20 children, are confined. He still lives there.

Ivan and Tatjana told me that they did not consent to their confinement to an institution. They were, in fact, never asked about their preferences, wishes and wants. Both of them were stripped of their right to make decisions about their lives and appointed legal guardians.

Neither Tatjana nor Ivan was present during the court proceedings determining their legal capacity so they could  provide their input for this major decision about their life.  While guardians are supposed to only oversee decisions with legal consequences, such as signing contracts, in Croatia – just like what was depicted in Love & Mercy –guardians can monitor and control every move a person makes.

I saw firsthand that people with disabilities trapped in institutions in Croatia can experience a range of abuses including verbal abuse, forced treatment, involuntary confinement in hospitals, and limited freedom of movement.

At a pivotal point in the movie, Landy forbids Wilson and Melinda Ledbetter, his current wife, from seeing each other. That triggers Ledbetter, the true heroine of the movie, to intensify her efforts to free Wilson from Landy’s control. She learns that Wilson’s will would have awarded the vast majority of his wealth to Landy. The good news: Wilson’s family files a lawsuit successfully challenging the guardianship.

Sadly, there are no heroines to free Tatjana or Ivan of their guardians. There is a chance of a happy ending though. Croatia, unlike the U.S., has ratified the U.N. Disability Rights Treaty, which requires governments to move away from guardianship and instead provide a system of assistance and support for decision-making that respects the autonomy, will, and preferences of the person with the disability. Croatian laws, however, don’t reflect this.

Key policymakers in the Croatian government should see “Love & Mercy.” Maybe then they will abolish Croatia’s guardianship regime and provide a wide range of support measures. Who knew that The Beach Boys’ influence could go so far beyond their music?

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Opinion: Love & Mercy, the Croatian Way

Bilked by a grandson, man becomes face of new law

Scott Anderson

Dementia landed Perry Bitzel in the Gilman Healthcare Center more than a year ago. It also placed the 82-year-old under the legal guardianship of a family member who allegedly wiped out his bank accounts and sold two of his houses.

Perry was a victim of fraud, and charges have yet to be filed against one of his grandsons. He was one of many senior citizens throughout the United States who lose a combined $3 billion every year, according to past studies.

However, Monday marked a breakthrough. State Rep. Tom Bennett and Sen. Jason Barickman, whose district includes Livingston County, announced a bill, known as “Perry’s Law,” that would enable Perry and his family to move directly to civil court. It is awaiting Gov. Bruce Rauner’s signature.

Previously, families or guardians would have needed formal charges to be filed before they could pursue a civil case.

“It’s a sad reality that the most vulnerable in our community are often targeted for financial abuse and fraud,” Bennett said. “To add insult to injury, the high burden of proof in criminal cases often discourages prosecution and leaves victims and their loved ones without a good way to seek justice and to recover financially.”

That’s how “Perry’s Law” started. Perry’s other grandson and current guardian, Shawn Bitzel, learned of the scheme after it was too late. The accused grandson sold Perry’s home behind his back for a measly $5,000.

“I was devastated when all of this happened,” Shawn said. “With this new law, we were able to find a positive in the situation. It helped me get back on my feet, and hopefully it will prevent other situations like this from happening.”

Shawn eventually repurchased the house and discovered further indications of fraud. He obtained temporary guardianship of Perry in December 2014 and permanent guardianship this March. Yet, his family has not recovered the other finances that were lost.

Shawn met with a relative, Susan Wynn-Bence, Perry’s niece who works under Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti. She arranged a meeting with Bennett and Barickman that eventually led to the creation of “Perry’s Law.”

Barickman explained that the law removes a loophole that did not protect people similar to Perry. He said he encourages those who do not agree with certain laws to contact state representatives and senators.

“It’s our job to figure out how to make sure those problems don’t exist in the future anymore,” Barickman said.

Bennett said he is confident Rauner will sign the bill, and allow elderly fraud victims to find justice.

"This change will help those victimized get the justice they deserve and their finances restored," Bennett said. "By making those responsible financially liable for more than the actual damages they cause, it also sends a strong message to those who would target the most vulnerable members of our community."

If Rauner signs the law, Shawn said he hopes legislators in Springfield will print several copies of it and display it at every nursing home throughout the state so that people are aware.

“A lot of elderly people in our society sometimes become the forgotten,” Shawn said. “They are the ones who put up with more than we have today. They went through the Great Depression, the wars, the economy. I think it’s great that we are protecting them now.”

Shawn said his family intends to pursue a civil suit against the ne'er-do-well relative, who has been held at the Iroquois County Jail since late May on felony charges unrelated to Perry’s case.

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Bilked by a grandson, man becomes face of new law