Group Files Complaint Regarding Guardianship of Drowned Centralian

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A complaint filed last week with Lewis County Superior Court argues that a person appointed to review the guardianship of an autistic Centralia man who drowned last summer failed to fully investigate the guardian’s background, or maintain complete records of his work.

Jessy Hamilton, 26, was found dead in the Chehalis River on May 30, 2015, at Fort Borst Park after being reported missing a half-hour earlier.

Hamilton, who family and friends described as having the mental capacity of a small child, had been arrested for alleged domestic violence a week before his death and barred from contacting the victim, his mother Jackie Hamilton, who had been his legal guardian since 2009. His grandparents were his legal guardians up to that point.

The complaint, filed by Disability Rights Washington, argues Jackie Hamilton shouldn’t have been appointed as her son’s legal guardian in the first place.

Specifically, the complaint argues that guardian ad litem Thomas Deutsch, appointed by the court to investigate Jackie Hamilton’s fitness as a guardian, failed to discover that she had a criminal record, which would have disqualified her as a guardian, per Washington state law.

“There is no record of a formal criminal background check or even a single question of Jackie Hamilton about a possible criminal background,” the complaint reads.

At the time, Jackie Hamilton had been convicted of felonies including forgery, residential burglary, second-degree arson, bail jumping and attempting to elude a police officer, in addition to several misdemeanor theft convictions.

“Any one of these convictions statutorily excludes her from being appointed as a guardian,” the complaint reads.

The Chronicle was not able to reach Hamilton for comment.

Deutsch’s investigation also did not uncover the fact that Jackie Hamilton’s finances were once administrated by her own mother, showing that she was “at some point unfit to handle her own (Social Security Administration) benefits,” according to the complaint.

Records attached to the complaint also show an alternate guardian listed on 2009 paperwork was actually incarcerated in Arizona at the time.

The complaint also argues that Deutsch failed to keep required records of his 2009 investigation.

The complaint requests that Deutsch be removed from Lewis County’s guardian ad litem registry.

Deutch told The Chronicle he could not comment because state law prohibits guardians ad litem from discussing guardianship cases with the media without permission from all parties involved.

Disability Rights Washington is a private nonprofit agency designated as the federally mandated protection and advocacy system providing service in Washington to individuals with disabilities, according to the organization.

“We are looking to see if there is more systemic issues regarding guardians ad litem. We are also looking to see if there are other people involved in the case we should be following up on,” said David Carlson, director of Legal Advocacy for Disability Rights Washington. “We wanted to at least get the ball rolling on one issue.”

According to Lewis County Superior Court’s Guardian Ad Litem Grievance Rules, the Superior Court administrator is required to convene the Complaint Review Committee within 10 business days after the complaint is filed.

The committee, made up of a Superior Court judge, the court administrator and a representative of the Lewis County Bar Association, is then required to make a finding on the complaint, and request a response from the guardian ad litem.

Superior Court Administrator Susie Parker said the entire process is confidential until a final decision is reached, and then the decision becomes public record.

According to the grievance rules, the complaint must be resolved within 25 days for pending cases and 60 days for complaints filed after a case is concluded.

If a complaint is found to be valid, the committee can issue a written reprimand, refer the guardian ad litem for more testing or recommend to a judge to remove the guardian ad litem from the county’s registry.

Carlson said getting Deutsch off the registry is not his only goal.

“I’d like much more oversight of guardians ad litem,” he said, adding that an organization to oversee guardians ad litem and “their adherence to ethics” is a long term goal.