Last year, I investigated the temporary conservatorship of Gustave “Gus” Verdult.
It was temporary conservatorship which had been going on for nearly five years, even though California law states that a temporary conservatorship can only last six months.
The Orange County probate mafia was flaunting the rules because they had set their sights on an expensive piece of property Gustave owned, which they could pilfer by keeping him in conservatorship.
Finally, in December 2023, a trial was held to determine if Gustave should be permanently put into conservatorship.
Shortly before that, Rita recorded an important conversation with her father.
In it, he described a conversation he had with Rod Stern, his guardian ad litem (GAL). Stern said he wanted to know what Gustave wanted to report back to the court.
Gustave told him that he didn’t want conservatorship, but if one was necessary, he wanted Rita to be his conservator.
Stern never reported this conversation back to the court; it was the first of many bad things he would do.
Stern has blocked my email at his office, so I left a voicemail which he did not return.
Rita said that during the trial she observed witness tampering, judicial bias, and she was nearly jailed.
All of it was done because people were hiding significant malfeasance surrounding Gustave’s multi-million-dollar property.
Judge David “Waste of Space” Belz presided over the trial.
Rita told me that she discovered a $4 million loan had been taken out on her father’s property, and even worse, she further discovered that millions in repair work had not been paid.
Liens for unpaid bills are being filed, and she does not know where the money went.
Worst of all, the lender of this $4 million, Rita told me, is her brother, Glenn.
It was Glenn who first filed to put his father in conservatorship.
I sent an email to Glenn’s attorney, Christy Thomasson, but she did not respond.
Rita told me that she was cross-examining the current conservator, Matt Fleming, about all this alleged malfeasance when Judge Waste of Space got to work.
He interrupted her cross-examination and released the witness before she was through.
Rita believes that Judge Waste of Space was trying to make sure that too much of the malfeasance could not go on the record.
Rita told me that, according to California civil law, she had a chance to call Fleming, who did not respond to an email for comment, back on the stand when she was making her case.
Rita was the only one arguing against putting her father into conservatorship, even though he had a court appointed attorney, Tim Hanly.
When she tried to call Fleming as an “adverse {hostile{ witness” Judge Waste of Space still wouldn’t allow it.
Furthermore, during a break, she overheard Stern coaching Fleming.
Rita said that she heard Stern tell Fleming to continue to respond with “I don’t recall” to each of her questions.
Rita told me that to add to the shock, along with Stern and Fleming, her father’s court appointed attorney, Tim Hanly, was in the room where this alleged witness tampering occurred.
Rita told me that Hanly was acting a lot more like her brother’s attorney.
Hanly did not respond to an email for comment.
Rita brought up the witness tampering to Judge Waste of Space who quickly dismissed it, and the trial moved forward.
Rita said things became so ridiculous that when Glenn finished putting on his case, that instead of Thomasson, his attorney, announcing they were “resting” Stern made the announcement.
Things culminated when a confrontation nearly led to Rita going to jail.
Rita said the fireworks started over her calling Fleming as a witness.
She insisted that California law granted her the right to call him as an “adverse witness.”
Belz resisted, stating, “move along,” more than once.
When she continued to hold her ground, she said that Judge Waste of Space threatened her with contempt.
He stormed out of the courtroom, and she was surrounded by bailiffs.
She said that the bailiffs told her that they did not want to detain her but that if Judge Waste of Space returned from his chambers with a contempt finding she would be detained, jailed, and her car would be towed.
Ultimately, he backed down, but he did rule that her father should be in a permanent conservatorship.
Ironically, Rita told me that Judge Waste of Space exhibited signs of dementia, forgetting key facts during trial.
The wrong person may be in conservatorship.
Belz has since retired, and Rita told me she intends to appeal.
Postscript:
Check out the previous articles on the series on Orange County. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8. Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25. Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29, Part 30, Part 31, Part 33, Part 34, Part 35, Part 36, Part 37, Part 38, Part 39, Part 40, Part 41, Part 42, Part 43, Part 44, Part 45, Part 46, Part 47, and Part 48.
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The Kafkaesque conservatorship trial of Gustave Verdult