Young v. Murphy

• Citation: 90 F.3d 1225
• Decision Date: 18 October 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95-2106,95-2106
• Parties: Samuel H. YOUNG, Executor of the estate of John F. Wellman, Deceased, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Patrick T. MURPHY, Individually, and as Public Guardian of Cook County, Thomas L. Cowlin, Mark A. Amdur, Medical Doctor, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)

Page 1225

90 F.3d 1225

Samuel H. YOUNG, Executor of the estate of John F. Wellman, Deceased, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Patrick T. MURPHY, Individually, and as Public Guardian of

Cook County, Thomas L. Cowlin, Mark A. Amdur,

Medical Doctor, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 95-2106.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued Feb. 5, 1996.

Decided July 22, 1996.

Rehearing and Suggestion for Rehearing En Banc Denied Oct.

18, 1996. ^*

Samuel J. Betar, III, Arnold & Kadjan, Chicago, IL, Samuel H. Young (argued), Lincolnwood, IL, for Samuel H. Young.

Terry L. McDonald, Julie L. Mulderink (argued), Office of the State's Attorney of Cook County, Federal Litigation Division, Chicago, IL, for Patrick T. Murphy and Thomas L. Cowlin.

Michael A. Pollard (argued), Norman J. Barry, Jr., Baker & McKenzie, Chicago, IL, for Mark A. Amdur.

Jacqueline M. Zydeck, Office of the Attorney General, Civil Appeals Division, Chicago, IL, for Joseph Ponsetto and Timothy Reynolds.

Before EASTERBROOK, RIPPLE and MANION, Circuit Judges.

MANION, Circuit Judge.

John Wellman, an elderly businessman, possessed considerable assets but had no wife, no children, and no living relatives to whom to bequeath his wealth. Then he met Samuel Young, an attorney, who befriended him in the course of handling his business and personal affairs. Young was not paid for his counsel, but through a series of letters to Young Wellman indicated that upon his death he wished for Young to inherit his assets in return for his service and friendship. Wellman also signed letters indicating a desire to avoid probate and to have Young added to his various accounts as joint tenant. But when Young attempted to do so, a bank officer became suspicious and notified state officials who initiated a criminal investigation of Young and a competency investigation of Wellman pursuant to various Illinois statutes designed to protect the elderly. Based on the state's investigative reports, an Illinois circuit court declared Wellman incompetent and placed a public guardian in charge of Wellman's affairs. After considerable effort and expense, Wellman's attorney and friend, Young, succeeded in having the court restore Wellman to full capacity. Subsequently Wellman executed a will leaving his estate to Young, then died. As executor of his estate, Young filed this federal civil rights suit on Wellman's behalf against the public officers involved in the investigation and prosecution of the original incompetency hearing, seeking to recover for the estate the legal costs of having Wellman's competency restored. The district court dismissed the majority of the suit for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted and granted summary judgment for the defendants on the remaining claim. We affirm the dismissal but reverse the entry of summary judgment with instructions to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction.

I.

The facts of this case are contested and the inferences to be drawn from those facts even more so. However, this case concerns neither the facts nor their inferences but the sufficiency of the complaint and the jurisdiction of federal courts. The district court dismissed most of Young's suit because even the third amended complaint, read in the most liberal manner, failed to allege actionable constitutional claims. The one remaining claim was decided on summary judgment because the court considered evidence outside the complaint in deciding the issue.

The Facts Alleged in the Complaint

Because this case addresses the sufficiency of Young's third amended complaint, we review in detail the complaint's factual allegations: By the time he died at age 90, John Wellman had amassed a small fortune of roughly $590,000, invested in treasury bills, a savings account, and a brokerage account. After meeting and becoming acquainted in 1986, Young assisted Wellman with the preparation of his tax returns, negotiated contractual lease arrangements, investigated residences for Wellman, obtained medical, hospital, and nursing home services for Wellman, provided "social and familial relations," and became a close personal friend. In March of 1988, Wellman signed a letter addressed to Young advising that as Wellman had no family he wished for Young to handle his affairs in the event he became incapacitated. In December of 1988, Wellman signed a document designating Young as his agent under a durable power of attorney. About one year later, Wellman told Young he wished for Young to assist him for the rest of his life in managing his personal and business affairs, in return for which Young would inherit his property upon his death. Wellman signed a letter memorializing this conversation on November 14, 1989, and also indicated that he wished for Young to transfer his accounts into accounts held in joint tenancy with Young.

In December of 1989, Young contacted Andrew Vlahos, an officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and a trusted financial advisor and friend of Wellman's, about the transfers. This apparently triggered Vlahos's suspicions and he contacted the Illinois Attorney General's Office and requested that they investigate whether Young was exploiting Wellman in violation of Illinois law. Following Vlahos' notification, assistant attorney general Ann Parisi interviewed Wellman on December 21 concerning his relationship with Young. Based upon this interview and Parisi's conclusion that Young was exploiting Wellman, ¹ the attorney general's office initiated a grand jury investigation to determine whether Young was violating the Financial Exploitation of an Elderly or Disabled Person Statute, 720 ILCS 5/16-1.3, and notified the Public Guardian of Cook County's office that Wellman might require a guardian. The public guardian's office assigned deputy public guardian Thomas Cowlin to the case and engaged psychiatrist Mark Amdur, M.D. to assess Wellman's mental condition.

Assistant attorneys general Ponsetto and Reynolds, accompanied by a police officer, interviewed Young in his office on January 22, 1990. At the interview, Young furnished Ponsetto and Reynolds with a January 19 letter signed by Wellman stating that he had made no complaints concerning Young. Following the meeting Ponsetto and Reynolds drafted a memo notifying their boss that they were pursuing the investigation of Young. In their memo they concluded, "Mr. Young is an ex-United States Congressman from the North Shore and is highly agitated (i.e., probably guilty)." A letter dated January 23 and signed by Wellman advised Parisi that if he wished to speak with Wellman he should notify his attorney Young so that Young could be present.

On January 25, 1990, public guardian's office social services director Louise Woodard and Dr. Amdur arrived at Skokie Meadows Nursing Home to conduct a mental examination of Wellman. While they were examining Wellman's medical and nursing home records prior to conducting the examination, Young arrived. He "permitted" the oral examination of Wellman as long as he was present. The examination thereafter was conducted in Young's presence. A January 27 notation in the public guardian's Office records indicates "Dr. Amdur doesn't feel Wellman needs a guardian--will do second visit." Thereafter, Cowlin directed Woodard and Amdur to conduct a second mental exam of Wellman. Young was notified of the impending second examination and wrote a letter to Woodard advising that Wellman "did not wish any further interviews."

Dr. Amdur and Woodard nevertheless conducted a second mental examination on March 9, 1990. They were accompanied by two police officers dispatched by Reynolds and Ponsetto with instructions to prevent Young from interfering with the examination. In addition to conducting a second mental examination, Amdur and Woodard examined the nursing home's records pertaining to Wellman. Based upon the second mental examination, Dr. Amdur completed a report advising of his examination and concluding that Wellman suffered from dementia and manic psychosis and was "totally incapable of making both personal and financial decisions."

On March 30, based upon Dr. Amdur's report, the public guardian petitioned the Circuit Court of Cook County to appoint a plenary guardian for Wellman. On May 8, 1990, the Circuit Court held a hearing at which neither Wellman nor Young was present. At the hearing, Ponsetto advised the court that the Illinois Attorney General's office was conducting a criminal investigation of an unnamed attorney who had transferred Wellman's accounts into joint tenancy. Ponsetto asked the court to appoint the public guardian to oversee Wellman's financial affairs. Cowlin testified and provided the court with Dr. Amdur's report, however Amdur did not testify personally. Based upon the evidence before it, the court issued an order adjudicating Wellman incapable of making decisions as to his property and person pursuant to the Illinois Guardian for Disabled Adults Act.

The public guardian assumed control of Wellman's person and affairs, changing Wellman's mailing addresses with banks and other entities, and prohibiting him from leaving the premises of the nursing home to travel, shop, or visit without permission from the public guardian. He denied Wellman permission to share what would be his last Thanksgiving dinner with Young. And he filed a petition to revoke the durable power of attorney Wellman had signed appointing Young as his agent.

Over a year later, after the persistent legal efforts of Young and another attorney, the matter was revisited by the court. On June 3, 1991, following a trial at which 30 witnesses, including Wellman, testified, the circuit court entered a final judgment order restoring Wellman to full legal capacity. On July 3, 1991, Murphy was discharged as Wellman's guardian. On August 17, 1991, Wellman died. Young subsequently filed this federal civil rights suit on behalf of Wellman's estate, seeking to recover $669,086.70, which he alleges he...