June 21, 1996
Re: Doris M. Rich
Dear Ms. Holmes,
I wish to have a grand jury indictment brought against James A. Moore and Tosh G. Yamamoto.
In December, 1994, my mother, Doris M. Rich, who is now 91 years old, was living in my home at 2550 Webster Street, San Francisco CA 94115. She had previously fled her own home at 733 York Street, Vallejo because my sister, Myrna Rich, had assaulted her and twisted and bruised her thumbs. On December 4, 1994, Doris Rich had complained to the Vallejo Police Department that Myrna had hit her and had twisted her thumbs. The Vallejo police failed to take any action. As a result, Doris Rich fled her home in Vallejo and moved to San Francisco.
It must be understood that my mother has a net worth of more than one million dollars. Myrna, who is 50 years old and who has never been married and never had a job, except for once while a teenager, had, for many years, been accessing her mother's bank account and living off of her funds.
On December 20, 1994, because of suddenly being cut off from my mother's funds as a result of my mother's decision to move to San Francisco, Myrna and my brother, Neel Rich, along with James A. Moore and his attorney, Tosh G. Yamamoto, applied to the Solano County Superior Court for an order appointing a "temporary conservator." At the conclusion of the hearing, without any medical evidence of any kind regarding the mental capacity of Doris M. Rich having been presented, Judge Smith appointed James A. Moore as the conservator of the person of Doris M. Rich. This was summarily granted ex-party on December 21, 1994, without my mother receiving notice or an opportunity to speak in her behalf. I believe that the Solano County Superior Court did not have jurisdiction to issue this order, because my mother was living in San Francisco at the time.
At the request of Neel and Myrna Rich, the court appointed James A. Moore as the conservator of my mother.
Mr. Moore and Mr. Yamamoto had one big problem, which was that they did not have physical possession of my mother, precisely because the court had never given my mother an opportunity to appear and defend herself. Also, my mother was not willing voluntarily to return to Solano County. Therefore, Mr. Moore and Mr. Yamamoto conspired to kidnap my mother in San Francisco and bring her back to Solano County.
Since Doris M. Rich was not present in court on December 21, 1994, Judge Smith made an order which provided that, on December 24, 1994, Doris M. Rich would be picked up in San Francisco by Neel Rich and that Arden Rich would "cause" Doris M. Rich to be made available for pickup.
On December 24, 1994, Doris M. Rich, who had not been served with any of Judge Smith's orders, did not make herself available to be picked up by Neel Rich. Thereafter, Neel Rich, through counsel, applied for an order adjudicating me, Arden Rich, in contempt for failing to make her mother to be available for pickup by Neel Rich.
On January 6, 1995, Judge Nail directed Arden Rich to make her mother available for pickup at 1:00 PM on that day. Judge Nail stated that otherwise, he would order the Sheriff of San Francisco to break down her door and seize Doris Rich.
On January 6, 1995 at 1:00 PM, Doris M. Rich was not available for pick up because she had suffered an anxiety attack that morning and was hospitalized in the emergency room of the UCSF Hospital in San Francisco. Doris Rich was discharged after a stay of only about two hours. She then went to the San Francisco Superior Court in San Francisco City Hall, where she requested an order of protection against Myrna Rich on the grounds that Myrna Rich had twisted her thumbs, causing them to become black and blue, and also had hit her in the forehead with a closed fist. A hearing was set on this matter for 9:30 AM on the morning of January 11, 1995.
On the early morning of January 9, 1995, Doris M. Rich was on her way to UCSF Medical Center to complete a mental health evaluation which she had commenced six weeks earlier in an effort to prove herself to be mentally fit, when James A. Moore accosted her and tried to take her by force into his custody. Doris M. Rich threatened to slap the face of Mr. Moore and then got into a waiting taxi before he could seize her. As Doris Rich was in the company of her daughter, Arden Rich, Mr. Moore grabbed the Arm of Arden Rich and assaulted her in an attempt to kidnap Doris Rich.
Because of the attempt by James A. Moore to physically seize Doris M. Rich, she was unable to complete her mental health tests at UCSF Medical Center.
On the morning on January 10, 1995, Doris M. Rich went to the Women's Health Clinic at UCSF Medical Center for a complete physical examination by Dr. Harriet Stathakos, an internist.
On the morning of January 11, 1995, Doris M. Rich appeared in San Francisco Superior Court for a hearing on her request for an order of protection against being assaulted and beaten by her daughter, Myrna Rich. At that hearing, Mr. Yamamoto, attorney for James A. Moore, appeared, as did Myrna Rich, the respondent to that proceeding.
At that hearing, Mr. Yamamoto asserted that San Francisco Superior Court had no jurisdiction and asked that the temporary order of protection be vacated and the proceeding be dismissed on the grounds that Doris M. Rich had no capacity to bring a proceeding for an order of protection since a temporary conservator had been appointed. The application of Mr. Yamamoto was granted by the court and the proceeding dismissed, without the court even granting Doris M. Rich the opportunity to speak in opposition to the motion of Mr. Yamamoto.
Thereafter, Mr. Yamamoto informed the court that he would be taking Doris M. Rich into his custody. Thereafter, he and Doris M. Rich left the courtroom. However, in the hallway, Doris M. Rich refused to go with Mr. Yamamoto, and instead sat on a bench in the corridor. Mr. Yamamoto then attempted to convince Doris Rich to go with him. Doris Rich refused. Mr. Yamamoto then called the sheriff's deputies . About a dozen more or less sheriff's deputies thereafter surrounded Doris Rich and prevented her from leaving City Hall. Mr. Yamamoto then presented them with an order of Judge Nail stating that the Sheriff of the City of San Francisco was directed to enter the residence of Arden Rich at 2550 Webster Street, San Francisco for the purpose of securing Doris M. Rich.
After a lengthy discussion and altercation in San Francisco City Hall lasting about one hour, the San Francisco Sheriff's Department decided that this order was insufficient to give them the authority to seize Doris M. Rich by force, and that therefore she was free to go.
Upon hearing this, Doris M. Rich left San Francisco City Hall and boarded the Number 42 bus and departed.
On January 14, 1995, unbeknownst to Arden Rich, Doris M. Rich suffered another anxiety attack and had voluntarily checked herself into Alameda Hospital in Alameda, so that none of her relatives, including Myrna Rich, Neel Rich and Arden Rich, knew where she was.
On the morning of January 18, 1995, James A. Moore went to Alameda Hospital for the purpose of taking Doris M. Rich into his custody. However, Alameda Hospital refused to release Doris M. Rich to him. Thereafter, James A. Moore applied to the court and obtained an ex-party order that no family member be allowed to speak or communicate with Doris M. Rich.
Because of the confinement of Doris M. Rich in the hospital plus the fact that she was not allowed to communicate with the outside world, she did not undergo her cataract eye surgery which had previously been scheduled for February 1, 1995 at UCSF Medical Center nor was she fitted for the hearing aid which she had ordered prior to the appointment of a conservator. She has since lost 50% of her permanent vision since she has been under the "care" of a conservator, due to untreated glaucoma.
On February 3, 1995, Alameda Hospital gave Doris M. Rich a clean bill of health, except for a gall bladder problem, and ordered her discharged. Thereafter, James A. Moore picked her up from the hospital and brought her back to her original home at 733 York St. in Vallejo.
Since February 3, 1995, Doris M. Rich has been under house arrest, confined against her will at 733 York St. in Vallejo. She is not allowed to receive her mail. She is not allowed to answer the telephone. Her visits are strictly monitored. When any of her old friends try to visit, they are told that she is sleeping. When the police tried to investigate, they were told, falsely, that she was sleeping. Two caretakers are present in the house, but James A. Moore has provided them with little money to purchase food for Doris M. Rich. She has been losing one pound per month since she has been under the control of a conservator, and is down to 118 pounds. Doris M. Rich has not been allowed to keep her medical appointments, and her medical condition is being neglected. Because Doris M. Rich is being held under house arrest, there is no way she can obtain her own food or to secure the medical attention which she required. She has been given no medication or improper medication during the entire time when she has been under the control of the conservator, Mr. Moore.
Throughout all of these proceedings, there has been no medical evidence of any kind showing that Doris M. Rich is suffering from any mental impairment whatever which requires the appointment of a conservator. To the contrary, Doris M. Rich has been examined by numerous doctors, including a world famous psychiatrist, Dr. Martin Blender, and all of them agree that Doris M. Rich is not in any way mentally incompetent. In short, there has never been any legal or factual basis for the appointment of a conservator either of the person or of the estate of Doris M. Rich.
Many times, when I visited her in her home, she was horse from screaming in pain. On March 8, 1995 at 9:00 AM, after her screams of pain due to her Paget's bone disease were ignored by the caretaker hired by Mr. Moore, Doris M. Rich called 911. The ambulance and Fire Department arrived and took her to Sutter Hospital in Vallejo. Doris M. Rich was treated and released at 3:00 PM, six hours later, and was returned back to the same house where she is being held under house arrest.
Since this incident, James A. Moore has obtained a prescription for Haldol, an anti-psychotic drug, from an internist, this being a drug which should only be prescribed by a psychiatrist. Although the doctor who originally gave this prescription has since stopped his practice, Mr. Moore keeps filling the prescription and keeps giving this medicine to my mother. My mother is being given Mellaril, a knock out pill, twice a day, Haldol twice a day and a sleeping pill, Ambien, every night. Her doctor, Dr. Claude Arnaud, told the Mr. Moore and the caregivers more than one year ago not to give her these pills, and yet they continue to do so. The purpose of this is to keep Doris M. Rich in a drug induced stupor so as to prevent her from calling 911 and from making other efforts to report that she is not receiving treatment for her illnesses.
I have learned that James A. Moore only about two years ago established himself in the business of being a "professional conservator." He has been aggressively applying to the courts to have himself appointed in more and more cases. I understand that he now has 37 cases, about half of which are new cases, more recent than the case of my mother. I have spoken to people involved in six of those cases. They all have similar complaints about Mr. Moore. Mr. Moore refuses to reveal his street address and nobody knows where he lives or where he works. His address is a PO box. His telephone number is a voice mail machine.
In the year and one half that he has been holding my mother under house arrest, Mr. Moore has spent more than one hundred thousand dollars of her money. He has also paid off more than $11,000 to Neel Rich, Myrna Rich and Darryl Rich, the son of Neel Rich, to insure their continued allegiance. Mr. Moore and Mr. Yamamoto are presently applying to the court for a total of $40,000 in fees for their "services" in keeping my mother under house arrest. In short, my mother is being required to pay for her own captivity.
I believe that there should be a grand jury investigation of this entire matter, especially since my mother is perfectly physically and mentally fit. If you could subpoena my mother and bring her to court to testify (remembering that she is being held under house arrest) you will find that she will make an excellent witness.
Very Truly Yours,
Arden Rich
For the Story of Doris M. Rich, see: Under House Arrest at Age 90 . For the federal complaint by Doris M. Rich, see: Suit by Doris M. Rich . For the Motion by Doris M. Rich for a Temporary Restraining Order, see: Doris TRO. For the Petition for Rehearing by Doris M. Rich, see: Petition for Rehearing . For the complaint by Doris M. Rich to the California State Bar, see: Complaint to the State Bar . For the refutation to the report of the Court investigator, see: Answer to Report of Beth Rhea . For the opening brief of Doris M. Rich, see: Opening Brief .