A physician who sued a state probate judge has filed her first brief with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals alleging that the court subjected her elderly mother to torture and isolation while she was under guardianship and simultaneously drained her estate.
Dr. Sheila Owens-Collins, who works as a pediatrician, sued Judge Michael Newman in federal court last year after her mother, Mrs. Hattie Owens, died while under court supervision in 2019 after allegedly being forced into hospice.
“The problem with the guardianship program in Texas that I personally experienced is that it is solely in the legal domain when many of the issues an elderly individual faces are medical and social,” Owens-Collins told Dallas Express.
In Owens-Collins V. The Honorable Judge Michael Newman, the doctor is appealing U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes’ decision to adopt Magistrate Peter Bray’s June 17 recommendation that dismisses her complaint with prejudice, which disqualifies the grieving daughter from suing Newman again in federal court.
“The dismissal is a reflection of the lack of transparency in the current system and what I believe is a predisposition for judges to provide cover for their fellow judges,” Owens-Collins said in an interview. “Judge Bray was dismissive of my grievances and loathed to admit that the behavior in the courtroom and in many courtrooms are consistent with estate trafficking.”
In her appeal brief, Owens-Collins’ allegations against Newman include willfully ignoring the terms of her mother’s Last Will and Testament, unilaterally altering her mother’s Last Will and Testament, and allowing money from the estate to be paid to court officers without addressing documented deficiencies in their performance.
Newman’s deadline for filing a response to Owens-Collins’ appeal brief is set for Nov. 8.
Recently, guardianship programs nationwide have been under fire as Britney Spears’ conservatorship garnered international media attention. According to media reports, the pop star was allegedly illegally forced to use contraception against her will by her father, who was appointed guardian by a Los Angeles Superior Court.
The next Free Britney rally is scheduled for Nov. 12 in front of the Los Angeles Superior Court. Spears’ upcoming court date will determine whether her guardianship, also known as conservatorship, should be terminated.
In Owens-Collins’ case, an attorney unrelated to Mrs. Hattie Owens was placed in charge of her care even though she named her daughter power of attorney.
“I am a physician,” Owens-Collins said. “It is unfair for the guardian to be required to visit the ward once per month, and the family and friends are severely restricted from visiting daily. Dignity, connection with families, autonomy, and self-reliance should never be restricted or taken away.”
As previously reported in USA Today, Mrs. Hattie Owens and her husband Emiel Owens amassed a modest fortune that included two student housing properties in Prairie View, a 5,000 square foot home worth half a million dollars, two Mercedes Benz vehicles, and a Porsche.
“Judge Newman was grossly negligent in allowing the unnecessary depletion of my mother’s estate by $93,000,” Owens-Collins added.
