On December 3, 2009; almost 5-1/2 years after I was arrested; I thought I would finally learn what I had done. Judge Haury, Jr. asked Prosecutor Silver to explain how I was involved. The prosecutor stated, “The investigator knows the defendant was involved, but just does not know how”. Judge Haury Jr. ordered us back to court on January 13, 2010, giving Silver an additional 6 weeks to research my involvement or lack of.
On January 13, 2010, Judge Haury Jr. again asked Prosecutor Silver to provide an explanation of my involvement. Silver stated, “Due to the incompetency of the defendant, we are not obligated to provide this information”. The judge seemed surprised, but did not pursue it. Judge Haury, Jr. asked about the taped conversation that was allegedly tampered with. Silver stated, “Due to the incompetency of the defendant, we are not obligated to pursue this”.
Is it a violation of a person's civil rights for a Judge, Prosecutor and/or Court-Appointed Attorney to refuse or withhold the explanation of how a defendant was involved in a case (prior to incompetency and when declared incompetent)?
If it is not a violation of the law to withhold this information due to incompetency, does that mean a person who is declared incompetent has no constitutional rights?
What happens when a prosecutor or an attorney misuses an individual's incompetency to cover-up alleged tampering of evidence; withholding evidence; as an excuse not to move forward; and/or as a legal tactic to prevent the defendant's evidence from being introduced?
Because Mr. Beamer (original court appointed attorney) failed to introduce information and evidence provided to him while I was “competent” the current prosecutor Silver is refusing to provide an explanation to the court as to my involvement or lack of as evidenced by her comments made on January 13, 2010. These comments illustrate a flaw in the legal process, leaving a defendant who is labeled incompetent a victim of attorney and/or prosecutorial misconduct and civil rights violations.
I was declared incompetent by Dr. Brannan in March 2006 while Mr. Beamer was supposed to be protecting my rights. This was about two weeks after my fourth request for a speedy trial; 17 months after I was arrested; and after I asked Judge Lebow, Prosecutor Bell and William Beamer if my 6th Amendment right to a speedy trial was being denied? No one responded. I was ordered to visit Dr. Brannan, who declared me incompetent because I “did not know how” I was involved; which is exactly what Prosecutor Silver said (she does not know how I was involved) almost four years later on December 3, 2009.
Mr. Beamer’s response to my incompetency was “It’s like winning the lottery, you’ll see”. Mr. Beamer had to lie to my doctor in order to obtain a letter from him. This can be verified by my doctor.
Does a defendant have the right to know what they did to be arrested?
.
On July 10, 2009 Mr. Beamer submitted a motion to withdraw as attorney of record. Within this motion to the court and the documents submitted to the Florida Bar Association (FBA), Mr. Beamer clearly shows he failed to review significant evidence submitted by the defendant and the state, he failed to protect my constitutional and civil rights; he was careless and negligent in his responsibility and he committed perjury in order to cover-up his inability to function as my attorney.
The paragraph below is from Mr. Beamer's response to my complaint filed to the Florida Bar Association. Mr. Beamer’s comment reveals he never looked at the evidence or information I provided him. The conversation between me and lead Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) investigator, Officer Joyce Cohen Cavallo occurred after I was arrested, on July 30, 2004 and had nothing to do with why I was arrested. The first time I met Officer Cavallo was on the day she arrested me, July 27, 2004. I was never interviewed or contacted during the investigation. I did not know there was an investigation because I was not working at the facility at the time of the investigation.
I arranged to meet with Cavallo on July 30, 2004 in the hopes of learning why I had been arrested. The conversation was taped. I learned Cavallo was unaware I was not working at the facility during the time of the investigation and she never saw the Medicaid reconciliation for over three million dollars which I prepared for the court-appointed receiver, Alan Goldberg (in 2003). I provided Cavallo copies of the reconciliation, final pay stub, and documents showing I lent the facility my personal monies to pay for the patient's food and staff payroll. I was never paid back. Cavallo stated with this new information she would ask the state attorney to look into dropping the charges. That never happened. In addition, I still did not know what I had done to be arrested.
The following day, July 31, 2004 I received the written probable cause document; it further confirmed there was no probable cause. I was not mentioned in any of the 10 cases, though 3 months after my arrest they revised the probable cause document and added my name as an addendum to each case. The investigator failed to verify any information she had written about me in the probable cause affidavit. Example, the owner of the facility, Mr. Lampert, states in May 2003, "I was his fiancĂ© and clinician" - neither were true and could have easily been verified had Officer Cavallo taken the time to check the facts. On July 5, 2002 (before the investigation began), Mr. Lampert beat me up and threatened to cause further physical harm to me and my son. There are police records, documentation by a physician and numerous eye witnesses who can verify Lampert’s abuse of me and my son. I was not working at the facility during the investigation, I was not Lampert’s fiancĂ© and I had not worked as the clinician at Lampert's facility for many years, I had been working as a biller and journalist out of my home, so I could take care of my son who is a quadriplegia with Cerebral Palsy.
While I was researching the charges, I came across a series of Audits conducted by the Florida Auditor General which would further confirm the MFCU, of which Officer Cavallo represents failed to verify information and financial records. It was one of the original 12 deficiencies noted by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which placed the MFCU on probation and classified the agency as a “high risk” grantee from January 2003 through March 2004. These dates fall within the time of the investigation of the facility. Note, as of the last audit conducted this deficiency remains active (12/2008).
Auditor General, Department of Legal Affairs, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Report No. 2004-033. Reporting Period 07/2001 through 01/2003. Describes the HHS Review, Probation and Deficiencies. http://florida-injustice.com/Support/audit2003.pdf
Auditor General, Department of Legal Affairs, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Report No. 2006-028. Reporting Period 02/2004 through 01/2005. http://www.myflorida.com/audgen/pages/pdf_files/2006-028.pdf. This audit is a follow up on the findings from audit report No. 2004-033, dated August 2003, to determine whether appropriate corrective actions have been taken. The audit indicated that Department management has not implemented sufficient actions to resolve the prior audit findings. Specifically, the Department’s corrective actions have been insufficient to correct findings related to MFCU data systems, the distribution of restitution, staff analyses, fleet management, and evidence room inventories.
Auditor General, Department of Legal Affairs, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Report No. 2008-012. Reporting Period 07/2005 through 02/2007. http://www.myflorida.com/audgen/pages/pdf_files/2008-012.pdf. Department records show that MFCU closed 1,270 cases during the period July 2005 through February 2007. Of the 1,270 cases closed, 392 (31 percent) were closed due to lack of evidence or no evidence of fraud or abuse; 487 (38 percent) were unfounded; and 88 (7 percent) resulted in convictions or settlements. The remaining cases were closed due to administrative referrals, pretrial interventions, or other reasons.
These numbers are significant and show cases were opened without a review to determine the validity or viability of a complaint or allegation.
In the probable cause affidavit, Officer Cavallo makes a sworn statement she reviewed the financial records and is familiar with the circumstances of the offenses described. Yet in our conversation, she states she is unaware of the Medicaid reconciliation. The Medicaid reconciliation totaled over 3 million dollars. How did Cavallo overlook such a large sum of money and still say she is familiar with the circumstances of the offenses?
For 6 years I have fought to clear my name. It is beyond my comprehension that no one in all this time would verify my employment and other information I provided, including the taped conversation between Cavallo and me. I have observed the actions of law enforcement, lawyers, prosecutors and judicial officials. I have asked for help in finding the truth and in obtaining a fair hearing from the people listed below.
William Beamer, Court Appointed Attorney
Judge Susan Lebow, Criminal Judge
Judge Susan Lebow, Criminal Judge
Judge Bidwell, Mental Health, until 12/2007
Bill McCollum, Florida Attorney General, current
Bill McCollum, Florida Attorney General, current
Marianne Bell, State Prosecutor
Captain James Mann, Law Enforcement Captain, OIG
Captain James Mann, Law Enforcement Captain, OIG
Judge William Haury, Jr
Michael J. Satz, State Attorney, 17th Judicial Circuit
Michael J. Satz, State Attorney, 17th Judicial Circuit
Daphne Ganthier, Court Appointed Attorney
Adria E. Quintela, FBA, Chief Branch Discipline Counsel
Prosecutor Silver
Jonathon Dickstein, Court Appointed Attorney
Adria E. Quintela, FBA, Chief Branch Discipline Counsel
Prosecutor Silver
Jonathon Dickstein, Court Appointed Attorney
Not one person took the time to review the evidence I provided or the possible violations of my rights. Everyone was comfortable in taking the word of Officer Cavallo, even though she never took the time to question me or verify any information about me during the investigation and while she was on probation by the Department of HHS for not providing complete and accurate information. The legal, judicial and government officials, including Mr. Beamer failed to review evidence that might prove the MFCU violated my rights and their probation, Prosecutor Bell withheld a taped conversation for almost 2-1/2 years and when ordered to submit it to the defense there was 30 minutes missing, failure of Mr. Beamer to report tampered evidence and failure of the system to inform the defendant of how she is involved in these cases.
No one in the United States of America should ever have to bear the horror of a system that cares so little about the truth and the irreversible harm it can cause on innocent people and their families. Justice is not covering up the truth or ignoring evidence. Justice is the truth.
