Victims -Justice for Nye Frank Racing, Riverside County Corruption to Seniors

National Organization for Victims Advocates

Subject: My letter to Nova
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From: Dawn Breedlove
Date: Mon, Jul 21, 2008 at 6:07 PM
To: lisa@lisanerenberg.com

Regarding my Father Gordon Nye Frank and Lee Frank 16789 Valley Hi Dr, Banning CA 92220
Elder Homicide in Riverside County- case closed by exception. Da said they called it a mutual combat when the only person who hit was the 27 year old.

Aug. 5 2007 my 68 yr old father was attacked in front of my 72 year old mother. Both Nye and Lee Frank have never been involved with the law. The 27 year old( 40 years diff) Ty Reddish has professional wrestling training. He admits on the audio tapes he used signature choke holds on my dad. The police interviews reveal that the guy has a combative disorder. Also it reveals a personal relationship with the father of the guy and the DA office. The case was closed without investigation as a mutual combat. There is not any proof that my father hit ever. And the injuries show a person who was beat with rage. The guy and family have followed my mother, told people not to visit her, or let her in her house. The Riverside Sheriff said that there is nothing they can do. My father led a very public life without violence. This is a terrible experience. We have tried getting help. We were always told by DA also that there is not a elder advocate when the DA just got a award for that division. The fire department put down no injuries on the report. The coroners report has homicide with natural causes as cause of death. The DA kept telling us it was a heart attack when the coroner said it was not. Attorneys say it will take too long to sue and too much money. Where is there justice for my father and mother? We have requested the lab, photos, and xrays and DA says no because we could sue them. The internal affairs was contacted by nova. They gave us the police report and autopsy as the sheriff and DA refused. After listening to the audios we asked them if they are investigation this. They said no they do not investigate just giving us the information. And stated that now that we made a complaint they cannot talk to us. The 27 year old also was never drug tested while on probation for DUI. DA refused to let the judge know before released off probation, and was let out of jail in three days without bail. We keep being told the DA has to be the one to do something. What if they wont as a favor to a friend. Where are my parents rights and protection. Also it is a area with a lot of other seniors. My mothers house is two doors from where this guy plans to put a house. Right across from the mail boxes and news stand. Can anyone or department help. The idea of a private attorney has not worked as it will take my mothers life time income and assests and she will be dead before end of case. Dawana Breedlove 310 619-6260, I can email any documents I have on this case.

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From: Lisa Nerenberg
Date: Sat, Aug 9, 2008 at 11:25 AM
To: Dawn Breedlove

Dear Dawn,
I read your letter with great sympathy and frustration. As you may imagine, I get emails like yours almost daily describing situations that cry for investigation and follow-up. Unfortunately, I don't have the skills or expertise, not to mention the time, to serve as an advocate for everyone who contacts me. Your note has, however, inspired me to follow up by sending out a call to colleagues to help develop guidelines to help family members like yourself find help and recourse when systems fail. I realize that that doesn't provide the immediate help that you need, but possibly it may help others in the future. I will also hold on to your email and let you know if I come upon any resources or ideas. Good luck to you.
Sincerely,
Lisa

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Archive for Wednesday, April 07, 1999

Riverside County Fires Public Defender

By Tom Gorman
April 07, 1999 in print edition B-1

Riverside County’s public defender was fired Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors, concerned about allegations that a private conservatorship company skimmed tens of thousands of dollars from infirm or mentally incompetent county residents.

Bonnie Spencer, who was head of the 86-attorney public defender’s office for three years, is not under criminal investigation herself in a growing probe into the affairs of West Coast Conservatorships Inc., Assistant Dist. Atty. Randy Tagami said Tuesday.

However, her office serves as the county’s legal watchdog on behalf of residents whose affairs are handled by conservators. Three deputy public defenders are assigned to oversee 1,000 conservatorship cases.

“We are gravely concerned over allegations regarding the effectiveness of the county’s conservatorship program in safeguarding the interests of citizens incapable of looking after themselves,” the county supervisors said in a statement announcing Spencer’s removal.

The firing occurs in the wake of a series of allegations that some county residents unable to care for their own affairs have been the victims of fraud and embezzlement by their court-appointed conservator.

Typically, a probate judge appoints relatives to serve as conservators for people who can no longer manage their estates. But judges–including Superior Court Judge William H.Sullivan in Riverside–also order many estates to be managed by the county’s public guardian’s office or by private companies who specialize in it and receive a fee.

The owner of one such company doing business in Riverside County, West Coast Conservatorships, has admitted to investigators that she skimmed “as much as $100,000” from her clients, according to a search warrant affidavit filed by an investigator for the Riverside County district attorney’s office.

The court affidavit alleges that company owner Bonnie Cambalik embezzled funds from unreported bank accounts, took clients’ property for herself, submitted inflated bills for services rendered, and submitted bills for services that were not performed.,

The affidavit also alleged that Cambalik is a general partner in a home health care business that the county has allowed to be used by the conservatorship company, but that Cambalik had denied that relationship.

Cambalik, who according to the affidavit once worked for the county’s public guardian’s office, declined to comment Tuesday when reached at her home in Crossville, Tenn.

There have been no charges filed in the investigation so far.

The investigation was prompted by an unsolicited report to county officials by a San Francisco probate attorney, who had been contacted by relatives of Riverside conservatees concerned about discrepancies in how estates were managed.

The Riverside County district attorney’s office began looking into West Coast Conservatorships, and in his court declaration, the supervising investigator described activities of the firm as “a major fraud and embezzlement scheme.”

“Equally troubling,” county investigator Larry E. Thayer wrote in the affidavit, “is that my investigation also implicates the Riverside County probate system as being complicit with the fraudulent scheme that I and my department have uncovered.”

He added that the “scheme … succeeds because of the ‘cracks’ ” in the county’s probate system.

County supervisors said in their statement Tuesday that they were firing Spencer “because we firmly believe that local government must earn and retain the confidence of the public it serves. That’s a tall order, and there’s absolutely no room for deviation from this most basic requirement.”

Board members said they would hire an outside consultant to conduct a management audit of the public defender’s office, which is better known for representing indigent defendants. They said a task force will evaluate the county’s probate system, and they will seek to privately contract the civil functions of the public defender’s office.

Spencer reacted bitterly at her removal, saying her office has been made a scapegoat in the escalating scandal over how the conservatorships are monitored to protect against fraud.

She said that others–including probate examiners, attorneys for the conservatorship firm, the insurance company for the firm, and the county’s sole probate judge, Sullivan–also play a role in evaluating and monitoring the work of West Coast Conservatorships.

Spencer said her office has been diligent in detecting irregularities in the conservatorship program, and the allegations against West Coast Conservatorships were unknown to her until the San Francisco attorney brought them to light last month.

Spencer was placed on paid administrative leave last week, when the allegations surfaced publicly and she refused an order by the Board of Supervisors to place on leave the three probate attorneys in her office.

In a 14-page response to the supervisors’ concerns about her management, Spencer denied allegations that her office gave short shrift to its oversight duties.

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