More Education About Guardianship Needed in MO

The question of guardianship may seem like a simple decision to be made, but being placed under guardianship can have devastating effects for a person with developmental disabilities. It’s often seen as the only option when a person needs assistance or support in making decisions, but disability advocates say it can lead to a loss of freedoms.

Preliminary results from a project on guardianship in Missouri show that more work needs to be done to educate the public about the rights of people with developmental disabilities.

Five years ago, Cristal Chapman says someone filed a petition to place her under full guardianship when she began having some personal difficulties as a result of her disabilities. She says she was forced to live hours away from her husband in a locked-down facility and had to give up some of her civil and human rights, even though she had done nothing wrong.

“They took away my freedom of religion. There was one point where they wouldn’t let me talk to, see or write my husband. It was pretty bad.”

With assistance from Missouri Protection and Advocacy Services, through the Guardianship project, Chapman successfully petitioned the court and restored her rights. Chapman is again living independently with her husband, and making her own decisions.

Full Article and Source:
More Education Needed in MO About Guardianship

Nursing Home Worker Charged With Financial Exploitation

Meredith A. Sharp, 37, a former employee of the Hitz Memorial Home in Alhambra, was charged Tuesday with financial exploitation of an elderly person in a case that officials said cost a resident more than $16,000. Sharp had been jailed in lieu of $75,000 bond.

She resigned from the nursing home in December. Staff contacted authorities on Dec. 17, after the resident received a credit card bill with unexplained purchases that included furniture and a TV.

Full Article and Source:
Nursing Home Worker is Charged

Rita Hunter’s Attorney Fees Appealed

Arguments before the Missouri Court of Appeals on Tuesday focused on fees charged by attorneys for Rita Hunter, former Jasper County public administrator, and whether the attorneys breached a responsibility to county wards.

R. Lynn Myers, representing Emma France and several other wards of the former administrator, contended that fees charged by Gayle Crane and then John Podleski were improper because there was no formal contract between the former administrator and the attorneys. Myers also contended that because wards’ money paid their fees, the attorneys had a duty to “represent” the wards that they did not fulfill.

Attorneys for Crane and Podleski argued that no written contract was required. And, they said attorneys would be guilty of a conflict of interest if they were expected to represent county wards along with the administrator.

Whether attorneys fees are reasonable, he said, is overseen by the probate judge.

Myers argued that the fact that attorney fees come from wards’ estates gives the attorney “some responsibility” to act for the benefit of that disabled person.

Reinbold said the payment of fees does not create an “attorney-client relationship.”

Full Article and Source:
Appeals Court Hears Arguments on Ex-Administrator’s Attorneys Fees

See Also:
Ruling: Court Acted Properly

Ruling: Court Acted Properly

A Jasper County court made the correct decision in 2005 when it named Rita Hunter, former Jasper County public administrator, a guardian for Suzanne Murray, of Joplin, a judge has ruled.

Judge Michael Dawson, in a ruling issued Dec. 30, concluded that the local court had jurisdiction at the time the permanent order was made on Sept. 27, 2005. Dawson, an associate judge from St. Clair County, is serving as an assigned judge after local judges recused themselves.

A Springfield attorney representing Murray has argued that the local court did not have the needed jurisdiction to make his client a county ward more than four years ago, and that the September 2005 hearing did not meet requirements of state law.

“At the hearing on Sept. 27, the personal appearance of the ward was effectively waived by her counsel who was present and participated within the hearing,” Dawson wrote. “The court has reviewed the extensive suggestions prepared by the parties and concludes that sufficient evidence was presented to warrant the decision made. The court is very mindful of the cases cited by the parties, but remains convinced that under the specific facts of this case the correct decision was obtained.”

Lynn Myers, who is representing Murray and several other clients in lawsuits against Hunter, said last week that the decision will be appealed.

Myers had contended that the local court did not have jurisdiction to make Murray a ward of the county because she did not get the proper notice before the hearing. He also has said Murray wanted to be at the hearing.

A Springfield attorney representing Murray has argued that the local court did not have the needed jurisdiction to make his client a county ward more than four years ago, and that the September 2005 hearing did not meet requirements of state law.

“At the hearing on Sept. 27, the personal appearance of the ward was effectively waived by her counsel who was present and participated within the hearing,” Dawson wrote. “The court has reviewed the extensive suggestions prepared by the parties and concludes that sufficient evidence was presented to warrant the decision made. The court is very mindful of the cases cited by the parties, but remains convinced that under the specific facts of this case the correct decision was obtained.”

Lynn Myers, who is representing Murray and several other clients in lawsuits against Hunter, said last week that the decision will be appealed.

Myers had contended that the local court did not have jurisdiction to make Murray a ward of the county because she did not get the proper notice before the hearing. He also has said Murray wanted to be at the hearing.

Full Article and Source:
Ruling: Court Acted Properly

See Also:
Absolute Prosecutorial Immunity

Former Administrator Rita Hunter

"Absolute Prosecutorial Immunity"

A lawsuit filed against two Joplin attorneys involved with the prosecution of a woman jailed two years ago after being charged with “kidnapping” her own mother has been dismissed in federal court.

Joe Hensley and John Briggs were entitled to “absolute prosecutorial immunity” in the prosecution of Delores Forste and Steve Forste, her husband, according to a ruling by Judge James England, of the U.S. District Court of Western Missouri.

The attorney representing the Forstes said that ruling will be appealed. Attorney Lynn Myers, of Springfield, also has appealed the decision dismissing a lawsuit filed by Emma France, Delores Forste’s mother, and other former county wards, against John Podleski and Gayle Crane, attorneys for Rita Hunter, former Jasper County public administrator. That case will be heard Jan. 19, before the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District.

Full Article and Source:
Federal Court Dismisses Suit Against Prosecutors

See Also:
95-Year-Old Fights Back

Business Owner Accused of Swindle

A St. Peters business owner is accused of swindling an elderly woman with Alzheimers out of $41,000.

50-year old Kevin Cullinan was arrested this week – he’s owned and operated KC’s Clock Shop for 20 years.

Police say they’ve received some 30 additional complaints against Cullinan since his arrest.In fact, St. Peters police spokesperson Melissa Doss tells KMOX News the ongoing case has grown so big they’ve turned it over to the state.

“We’re asking from this point forward for people to contact the Missouri Attorney General’s office,” Doss explains.

Their hotline number is 1-800-392-8222.

Cullinan is no stranger to controversy, having had 20 civil suits filed against him over the past decade.

Cullinan’s being held on a $35,000 cash-only bond, charged with financial exploitation of the elderly, seven counts of stealing by deceit and one count of attempted stealing.

They are all felony offenses.

Full Article and Source:
St. Peters Business Owner Charged With Scamming Elderly Customer

Rita Hunter Named in Suit

Rita Hunter, former Jasper County public administrator, has been named in a wrongful death lawsuit filed in connection with the fatal fire in November 2006 at the Anderson Guest House group home.

The fire, which killed 10 group home residents and one worker, has spawned a series of lawsuits, plus federal criminal charges against owners of the group home alleging Medicaid fraud.

This suit filed Wednesday in McDonald County Circuit Court is the first to name Hunter in connection with the group home blaze. Mary Frances Joyce, the mother of Isaiah Lee Joyce, contends that her son’s death was the result of Hunter’s “careless and negligent” actions because she failed to place Joyce “in a facility that was maintained in a manner that allowed for its safe use by residents.” Hunter is named in the suit individually and in her capacity as public administrator.

Isaiah Joyce, 25, was a ward of the public administrator’s office and had been placed in the group home for the mentally disabled.

Other defendants
The suit also names Joplin River of Life Ministries, owners Robert and LaVerne DuPont, Shirley Brannon, group home administrator, and officers of the Missouri Department of Health and Social Services.

“We named her (Hunter) because she was the guardian and conservator of Isaiah, and was responsible for making decisions on his behalf. We believe she knew what was going on there and failed to have his interest in mind and failed to take him out of the facility,” said Eryn Peddicord, the Lee’s Summit, Mo., attorney who filed the suit.

Full Article and Source:
Mother of Victim of Group Home Fire Sues Former Administrator, Others w/ Wrongful Death Lawsuit

See Also:
Federal Probe of Rita Hunter Tenure

Men Plead No Contest

Two Johnson County businessmen entered no-contest pleas this week for a nationwide theft scheme that took more than a million dollars from elderly customers.

Two others involved from Sioux City, Iowa, also have pleaded guilty in Johnson County District Court.

District Attorney Steve Howe said today that the consumer fraud scam hooked thousands of people seeking a discount on prescription drugs or dental work.

After customers turned over their bank or credit card information to the companies involved, scammers would take far more money out of the accounts than authorized, usually $80 to $110 at a time, he said.

They were even still taking money out of accounts of some people who had died, he said.

Grant Wilms, 44, and Hermann Wilms, 74, a son and father who owned ASP Inc., each pleaded no contest Monday to four felonies of false writing and to four misdemeanors.

Kenneth Opstein, 86, of Sioux City, a former consultant for ASP and owner of its predecessor, NHCD, also pleaded Monday to four felonies and four misdemeanors.

His office manager, Shirley Schopp, 71, of Sioux City, pleaded guilty previously to three felonies and two misdemeanors.

The Wilmses and Opstein are scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 6.

Full Article and Source:
Johnson County Men Plead No Contest to Bilking Elderly Customers

Sentenced to 7 Years for Theft

After a stop in Lafayette County to face charges there, William P. Willbanks, 40, of Higginsville, will be spending the next seven years in Missouri Department of Corrections as the result of a sentence handed down by Circuit Court Judge Dennis A. Rolf Monday, Nov. 9.

A grand jury indictment was filed for the case in December 2008; Willbanks pleaded guilty to class C felony theft in Rolf’s 15th Circuit Court in March and was given a five-year term of probation.

Willbanks is accused of class B felony financial exploitation of an elderly or disabled person in Lafayette County and is scheduled for a hearing there Monday, Nov. 16.

Full Article and Source:
Higginsville Man Sentenced to 7 Years for Theft

Jailed Lawyer Seeks Help

A southwest Missouri lawyer is asking the state Supreme Court to intervene after he was sentenced to 120 days in jail for writing in a court document that a judge and prosecutors were potentially abusing their power.

A Douglas County jury convicted Carl Smith, 62, of Ava, of criminal contempt in August. He was sentenced Sept. 28 to 120 days in jail. He cannot appeal the sentence because the case was prosecuted under common law, as opposed to statutory law.

Smith’s attorney has asked the Missouri Supreme Court to intervene, saying that while Smith’s arguments may have been better expressed, the punishment is excessive.

“The key thing here is what is the appropriate sanction when an attorney overstates or inartfully drafts an argument,” attorney Bruce Galloway said. “My position is that the First Amendment right of free speech would prevent the use of a criminal sanction for an attorney who oversteps in his pleadings.”

Full Article and Source:
Jailed Lawyer Seeks Help From Missouri High Court