I was unsure how to go about writing this latest article in the series that has shed some light on the elder abuse case regarding Dorothy Wilson. While I was not related or great friends with her, the entire process has me feeling burned out. I can only imagine how hard guardian abuse cases are on the families of those trapped in it.
Dorothy was less than two weeks away from the potential of finally regaining her freedom when she suddenly had a seizure while in the nursing home. Dorothy was very happy the day before when she was taken by her daughter, Diane, to see how great it would be to stay with her. The eyes of this eighty-seven-year old brightened when she was shown the renovated bathroom that would make things much easier for her. Imagine being excited by new plumbing? It certainly expresses how depressed she was while being held against her will in a facility.
I have tried to be very careful whenever writing about the nursing homes, because they are generally not the initial cause of what is a systematic legal abuse against the elderly and others who might be health or mentally challenged. In the past three plus weeks, there has been no explanation from the nursing home Dorothy was in as to why her daughter’s call was ignored when told that Dorothy needed immediate medical help. Diane had spoken to her Mom on the phone and urgently contacted the facility because Dorothy was in distress. It appears that no one went to check on her for close to an hour and when they did her health was so bad that she was rushed to the hospital. They were unable to stabilize her, leading to the sad passing of a vibrant woman.
While it is not completely possible to say that Dorothy would still be on this side of the divide had she not been relegated to a miserable situation at the hands and insistence of her “law” guardian, Mary Giordano, of the Franchina and Giordano law firm, it is likely that she would. In my opinion, Dorothy would have been living under the close, loving care of her daughter. Obviously, Diane wasn’t even physically with her and still knew more than the nurses at the facility. There is no doubt in my mind that she would have rushed her Mom to the emergency room before the seizures got so bad that there was no hope of saving her. It was an incredibly sad and unnecessary end to a woman who was still looking forward to being released from what she referred to as “prison” to me the last two times I spoke with her.
As a spiritual teacher, not all of life will ever make sense to me; at least as far as the physical world goes. While writing this series of articles, it removes me from what I do normally. It is much easier to channel motivational and loving advice to lift people up than it is to detail the darker side of humans. I do not know how Mary Giordano, Judge Asarch, or Dorothy’s court appointed attorney, Jamie Butchin, can sleep well at night. There are others also involved in the systematic abuse of one of America’s senior citizens. Anne Recht, of AM Recht and Associates, was a repeat offender in telling outright lies in the courtroom. The perjured testimony was allowed by Judge Asarch, who assigned her as Dorothy’s healthcare manager from the onset of his stealing her freedom. There are multiple times when the law guardian did the same. Not once did the judge admonish anyone who openly created a story worthy of a fiction novel. Unfortunately, this story was real and involved a real woman, with real thoughts and emotions.
The spiral of deceit is incredibly interwoven in most guardian abuse cases. In Sara Harvey’s attempt to free her husband, Gary, the Judge, senator, law guardian and hospital that they have remanded him to, are all connected to the same law firm. This is just one simple example. I am finding that the magnitude of cases across the country seems to be growing each day. As family members gain the courage to make their stories known, and try to wrestle control of their loved ones back from illegal and immoral judges and law guardians, some moral politicians and judicial commissions might actually wake up and halt the practice of legal thievery.
Dorothy was not given her sweaters or any of the warm clothing that she wanted while in the nursing home. Her lawyer, Jamie Butchin, had a conversation with Diane about this. Diane wanted to meet with her at her mother’s home to pick up her belongings. She was denied this, being told that Jamie would meet with Mary Giordano the following week because, “they both had schedules and had to coordinate them.” An eyewitness placed Jamie and Sue, a woman from the Franchina and Giordano firm, at Dorothy’s house, early the next morning. No clothes were ever given to Dorothy. Instead, they were placed in a closet at Mary’s office. No explanation was given to her daughter, Diane, as to why she was not allowed to pick them up from there, as Diane had made it clear she would drive to any location to get her Mom’s belongings. The “law” guardian even refused to allow Dorothy to have her costume jewelry, which was all that was left since all of the thousands of dollars worth of valuable jewelry was taken or stolen by someone, with Mary Giordano’s knowledge. There was a special “Grandma” pin that was precious to Dorothy. She was not even given the courtesy of being allowed to have that.
Consider that Judge Asarch stated that Dorothy Wilson needed to be in a nursing home because he was “concerned about her safety” and one has to wonder why the home of her loving daughter wasn’t good enough. In November of 2010, he remanded Dorothy to a different facility. She was lied to by a family member whose interests were in helping to incarcerate her mother. Dorothy’s last Thanksgiving was spent crying because her “guardian” refused to let her come out to enjoy the day with Diane and family. After numerous complaints and unnecessary hearings, Dorothy was finally released. It must be noted that her thirty day stay at the Bristal cost $53,000 according to Mary Giordano’s multiple statements in court.
When the subject of putting her back in a nursing home came up again, Judge Asarch inquired whether or not there would be the same grief and disagreement about being put in a facility. His attitude made it seem like he was being inconvenienced that she did not want to be removed from the house she lived in and loved for sixty years. Anne Recht responded with, “No, we have a different Dorothy Wilson.” This was said with Dorothy sitting there and emphatically stating she did not want to go into a nursing home. Like everything else in this case, her wishes were ignored so that the ones now responsible for her could further profit from these decisions, either financially or egotistically. Control hungry people never like to be made to look bad. I might add at this point that Mary Giordano seems to have found a way to expunge any internet connections that show complaints against her. They are growing all the time. It is a sure sign that she wants to hide her actions. If they were honorable, there would be no fear or need to try to purge them from public consumption.
The New York State Judicial Commission is well aware of all of the violations, misconduct and law-breaking, but never did a single thing to stop it. Even the day of the wake, Mary Giordano allowed someone to go into Dorothy’s home to rummage through her things. On that day-highly sacred to most people-Mary still needed to desecrate Dorothy’s rights in order to find one last way to accomplish some sort of greedy act.