Good Morning,
I ask you to please vote against the appointment of Judge Daniel E. Ortiz to the Court of Appeals.
Judge Ortiz has not demonstrated the needed level of integrity and routinely ignores his conflicts of interest. Yes, the guardianship system in Virginia is flawed as evidenced by hospitals like VCU and Inova using guardianships to removed medicare and medicaid patients. But Judge Ortiz has personally made decisions and taken action on those decisions to help his former employer. He personally made decisions that other judges, Judge Bernhard for example who was higher ranked by the VSB and DCEC, would not make.
Prior to his appointment to the Circuit Court Judge Ortiz worked for Inova Health Systems as counsel for guardianships to remove Medicare and Medicaid patients from their hospital. In a severe conflict of interest Judge Ortiz handles the appointment of guardian ad litems for every single Inova case through the court. He is the first to get his hands on each of the over 100+ cases in the last few years because Inova brings all of their cases through calendar control versus regular filing.
Judge Ortiz always appoints one of two guardian ad litems. There are 96 qualified guardian ad litems in Fairfax County. Yet Judge Ortiz always appoints two ad litems from Alexandria. There are 80 qualified ad litems in Alexandria and again Judge Ortiz always appoints the same two ad litems (Gary Jeter and Saben Johnston, in a couple of rare instances Cary Cuchinelli has been appointed). The odds of all Inova's cases always getting the same two individuals are astronomical, approximately 1.5%.
In at least one instance where another ad litem had been appointed for an Inova case Judge Ortiz vacated that order. Further while working for Inova Judge Ortiz filed for a gentlemen, Mr. Bradley Moultrie, to be placed under guardianship in 2012. This same case came up for reinstatement in front of Judge Ortiz, a conflict of interest, and he did not recuse himself. All of this information is available in public records to anyone willing to physically research it as Fairfax County and Alexandria Circuit Courts records are not available online as are other counties, without paying a subscription fee to CPAN.
A seat on the Court of Appeals is a very important position and requires the utmost integrity especially as it sets precedent and is a stones throw from the Supreme Court. I have sent copies of the Orders by Judge Daniel Ortiz appointing the same two GALs to Inova guardianship cases to everyone on the COJ committee I also included one of the orders he vacated when a different GAL was appointed so he could issue an order appointing one of the same two GALs he always appoints to Inova guardianship cases.
Judge Ortiz also voted for Anne Heishman to be the next Commissioner of Accounts. Ms. Heishman is one of two guardians who are always appointed to Inova's guardianship cases, the other being her partner Kenneth Labowitz. So she now approves all guardians accountings, including her old partners.
So, again I ask you to please vote no on Judge Ortiz's appointment to the Court of Appeals.
Disclosure: My sister was taken under an Inova guardianship which is how I began to research Inova and their guardianships.
Sincerely,
Yolanda Bell
Anastasia's Voice
PO Box 2823, Manassas, VA
Good Morning, I ask you to please vote against the appointment of Judge Daniel E. Ortiz to the Court of Appeals. Judge Ortiz has not demonstrated the needed level of integrity and routinely ignores his conflicts of interest. Yes, the guardianship system in Virginia is flawed as evidenced by hospitals like VCU and Inova using guardianships to removed medicare and medicaid patients. But Judge Ortiz has personally made decisions and taken action on those decisions to help his former employer. He personally made decisions that other judges, Judge Bernhard for example who was higher ranked by the VSB and DCEC, would not make. Prior to his appointment to the Circuit Court Judge Ortiz worked for Inova Health Systems as counsel for guardianships to remove Medicare and Medicaid patients from their hospital. In a severe conflict of interest Judge Ortiz handles the appointment of guardian ad litems for every single Inova case through the court. He is the first to get his hands on each of the over 100+ cases in the last few years because Inova brings all of their cases through calendar control versus regular filing. Judge Ortiz always appoints one of two guardian ad litems. There are 96 qualified guardian ad litems in Fairfax County. Yet Judge Ortiz always appoints two ad litems from Alexandria. There are 80 qualified ad litems in Alexandria and again Judge Ortiz always appoints the same two ad litems (Gary Jeter and Saben Johnston, in a couple of rare instances Cary Cuchinelli has been appointed). The odds of all Inova's cases always getting the same two individuals are astronomical, approximately 1.5%. In at least one instance where another ad litem had been appointed for an Inova case Judge Ortiz vacated that order. Further while working for Inova Judge Ortiz filed for a gentlemen, Mr. Bradley Moultrie, to be placed under guardianship in 2012. This same case came up for reinstatement in front of Judge Ortiz, a conflict of interest, and he did not recuse himself. All of this information is available in public records to anyone willing to physically research it as Fairfax County and Alexandria Circuit Courts records are not available online as are other counties, without paying a subscription fee to CPAN. A seat on the Court of Appeals is a very important position and requires the utmost integrity especially as it sets precedent and is a stones throw from the Supreme Court. I have sent copies of the Orders by Judge Daniel Ortiz appointing the same two GALs to Inova guardianship cases to everyone on the COJ committee I also included one of the orders he vacated when a different GAL was appointed so he could issue an order appointing one of the same two GALs he always appoints to Inova guardianship cases. Judge Ortiz also voted for Anne Heishman to be the next Commissioner of Accounts. Ms. Heishman is one of two guardians who are always appointed to Inova's guardianship cases, the other being her partner Kenneth Labowitz. So she now approves all guardians accountings, including her old partners. So, again I ask you to please vote no on Judge Ortiz's appointment to the Court of Appeals. Disclosure: My sister was taken under an Inova guardianship which is how I began to research Inova and their guardianships. Sincerely, Yolanda Bell Anastasia's Voice PO Box 2823, Manassas, VA