About one third of these patients, some of which were homeless, were given one-way bus tickets to cities in California. About 200 of the 1,500 mentally ill patients were sent to Los Angeles County, 150 of whom arrived in downtown L.A. Since 2008, patients were bused to cities in every continental US state, even though some had no family, friends or housing at their destination. After the Sacramento Bee published an exposé on the dumping practices of the Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital, the city of Los Angeles announced it would launch a probe investigating the matter.“It’s just an abhorrent practice,” Gil Cedhillo, a candidate for the L.A. City Council and a former state senator, told the Bee. “You can’t just take someone from a facility and dump them downtown.”L.A. has one of the strictest patient-dumping laws in the US, which was adopted in 2007 after a homeless schizophrenic was found walking the streets in his hospital gown while still connected to a catheter bag.The Bee obtained bus receipts from the Nevada Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services and found that the hospital sent its patients away on Greyhound buses, equipped with a small supply of medication and several bottles of a nutritional supplement that only lasted a few days.Health officials claim that most of the patients were sent off to cities where they had a place to stay, but the Bee discovered several cases in which mentally ill patients were forced to go to cities that they had no connection to.James Flavy Coy Brown, a 48-year-old homeless man who had received treatment at Rawson-Neal, was put on a bus that dropped him off in Sacramento – even though he had never been there and knew no one in the city.The former psychosis patient had only been treated for three days before doctors sent him out of state, despite his protests.“I said, ‘I don’t want to leave Nevada,’” Brown told ABC News. “[The doctor] said, ‘California sounds like a really nice state. I think you’ll be happy there.’”Equipped with a $306 one-way bus ticket, six Ensure nutrition shake bottles, and a three-day supply of psychiatric medications, he was sent away, only to end up on the streets of Sacramento – without medication. The man had no Social Security card, food stamp card or Medicaid card, and checked into a homeless shelter, feeling the effects of medication withdrawal and the return of his psychosis.“If I don’t take my medicine, I get really confused and I start hearing voices in my head, and they tell me to, like, jump off a bridge or to do something to purposefully get arrested or go to prison or jail,” he said. The Bee claims that as a result of its initial exposé last month, the hospital modified its procedures to require dispatched patients to be accompanied by a chaperone when bused out of state. In response to the investigations, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval also said that state officials have implemented a new policy that requires at least two physicians and a hospital administrator to approve a dispatch order – rather than just one physician.Still, the Joint Commission, an independent agency that certifies US hospitals, is considering pulling Rawson-Neal’s accreditation for its history of patient-dumping. The city attorneys in L.A. and San Francisco have also launched probes into the hospital’s practices. If the allegations are true, Rawson-Neal would lose federal funding and face steep financial penalties.L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich and his team are currently scouting out former patients to see if they were released in violation of the city’s ordinance against patient-dumping.“This is 150 people allegedly on the streets of L.A.,” Trutanich said, referencing the number of mentally ill patients that the hospital sent to the city. “We’re already stretched as it is.”But if Rawson-Neal is found guilty, the hospital could be convicted of a criminal misdemeanor and charged a hefty fine. … Read More
California cops defend phone confiscations as video of ‘constant bashing’ emerges
The Kern County Sherriff’s Office has responded to allegations of police brutality only by stonewalling reporters and the family of David Silva, 33, who died last week after witnesses say police took turns hitting the supposedly inebriated man in the head with their batons. Observers who phoned 911 to report the police abuse were later visited by detectives demanding they turn over any footage captured in the early morning hours of Wednesday, May 8. The seven Kern County deputies officials say were involved in the incident (the number of California Highway Patrol officers present is still unknown) have not been placed on administrative leave, according to the Bakersfield Californian, and department officials have refused to explain why. “We’re following the same protocol, as far as the administrative process is concerned, that we’d follow in similar-type incidents,” said sheriff’s spokesman Ray Pruitt. Other law enforcement higher-ups echoed a similar sentiment by implying their silence was warranted by an “ongoing investigation” that could last for months. The cause of death will be announced pending a toxicology report from the coroner as well as microscopic studies. But the delay in explanations fail to account for why witnesses told local and national media outlets that Silva appeared to die in front of them, after a police beating and while a canine unit looked on, apparently ready to intervene if Silva would have been allowed to stand. Melissa Quair told the Bakersfield Californian that aggressive deputies showed up at her door and blocked the exit as they seized her boyfriend’s phone, which contained video of the beating. She also asserted that her mother was forced to forfeit her phone, even after the police were told it did not contain any supposed evidence. “They used more force than was needed,” Quair said. “I told them that they didn’t have permission to say who could go in or out of my house. My mom is disabled and has a lot of doctor and medical numbers stored in her phone. But the detective didn’t care and they told my mom to write all her contacts down on a piece of paper and while she did they watched her like hawks.” Only one poorly-lit video of the beating has surfaced, but 19 blows are visibly delivered by three officers.“Constant bashing, this is constant bashing,” Chris Silva, brother of the victim, told KBAK-TV after the tape was broadcast on the local news. “You can count, you know – I can’t keep track. And it hurts my head looking at this.” … Read More
Utah attorney general involved in money extortion, claims convict
Businessman Marc Jenson, who is serving time for swindling millions of dollars from investors, claims he has receipts proving that former Utah Attorney Gen. Mark Shurtleff and his successor, John Swallow, accepted expenses on his behalf.“I’m telling you right now: they were extorting me, and they were from the very beginning,” Jenson told the Salt Lake Tribune in an interview from prison. The former businessman was charged with six felonies and was imprisoned after failing to pay $4 million in restitution.Jenson claims that Shurtleff and Swallow pressured him to provide them with costly vacations, meals and other expenses. The current and former attorney generals allegedly promised to help the businessman with his legal troubles in exchange for lavish gifts.The requests allegedly began after Jenson was convicted in 2009, but before he was imprisoned for failing to provide the restitution.Shurtleff and Swallow vacationed at Pelican Hill, an upscale southern California resort where Jenson had his own villa, on multiple occasions. The fraudster says his receipts show both men signing for thousands of dollars worth of food, massages, golf outings, and supplies at the Newport Beach resort.Jenson also claims that Shurtleff forced him to spend $250,000 on a phantom book deal and make consulting payments to a friend of his. Swallow allegedly also demanded a share an upscale $3.5 billion resort that Jenson had planned to establish in Beaver County, Pa.Jenson said he was “scared to death” of the former attorney general and his successor. He says the men told him that if he had donated to Shurtleff’s campaign, they would never have prosecuted him in the first place.But in response to these allegations, which Jenson relayed to the FBI, they denied having ever accepting expenses from the fraudster and claim he is acting out of revenge.”I was responsible for the investigation, conviction and sentencing of Jenson,” Shurtleff told the Tribune. ” … He has sworn revenge. I suggest you consider carefully whether to believe a desperate, convicted fraudster.”Tim Lawson, a close friend of Shurtleff, allegedly also accepted money and ‘gifts’ from Jenson, including a down payment for a piano and $10,000 in cash. But Lawson claims that nothing the fraudster says is true.”Jenson is in prison because he is a pathological liar,” Lawson said, “because he lied to the people he stole money from.”But if the allegations are proven to the true, the news will strike another blow against Swallow, who was last week accused by the head of the state’s Consumer Protection Agency of engaging in inappropriate communications with someone the office planned to file charges against. … Read More
California dad ‘begged for his life’ as police beat him to death
A California father of four died Wednesday shortly after a group of police allegedly beat him with batons as he lay defenseless on the sidewalk. Cops, before confiscating witness’ cameras, also reportedly unleashed a canine unit on him. … Read More
California Sues JP Morgan for Fraudulent and Criminal Debt-Collection Practices
A lawsuit alleges that Chase engaged in widespread, illegal robo-signing, among other unlawful practices, to commit debt-collection abuses against approximately 100,000 California credit card borrowers over at least a three-year period. … Read More
British Olympic sailor dies in yacht accident
http://www.youtube.com/v/-iHZejJG9Pk?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata Link: British Olympic sailor dies in yacht accident
California sues JPMorgan for allegedly harassing credit card customers
The US state of California filed suit Thursday against JPMorgan Chase, accusing the Wall Street bank of illegally abusing credit-card customers and misusing the court system to harass them with lawsuits. California Attorney General Kamala Harris filed the suit in Los Angeles Superior Court,…
