Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-almd-3_11-cv-00937/USCOURTS-almd-3_11-cv-00937-2/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 625
Nature of Suit: Drug Related Seizure of Property
Cause of Action: 21:881 Forfeiture Property-Drugs

---

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE

MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA, EASTERN DIVISION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, )

)

Plaintiff, )

) CIVIL ACTION NO.

v. ) 3:11cv937-MHT

) (WO) 

ONE PARCEL OF PROPERTY )

LOCATED AT 9607 LEE ROAD )

72, WAVERLY, LEE COUNTY, )

ALABAMA, WITH ALL )

APPURTENANCES AND )

IMPROVEMENTS THEREON, )

(Tax Map No. )

43-06-07-26-0-000-026.002), )

)

and )

)

ONE PARCEL OF PROPERTY )

LOCATED AT 8895 LEE ROAD )

72, WAVERLY, LEE COUNTY, )

ALABAMA, WITH ALL )

APPURTENANCES AND )

IMPROVEMENTS THEREON, )

(Tax Map No. )

43-06-07-25-0-000-014.001), )

)

Defendants. )

OPINION AND ORDER

The cause is before the court on the questions of

claimant Broderick Zellers’s mental competency and the

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necessity of appointing a guardian ad litem. Based on

all the evidence, including that presented at the hearing

held on April 3, 2013, the court concludes that Zellers

has the current capacity to proceed in this litigation.

However, because the court also finds a substantial risk

that Zellers will decompensate during the length of this

litigation, the court will appoint a ‘monitor’ for the

narrow purposes of observing Zellers throughout the life

of this forfeiture action and of reporting to the court

any marked changes in his mental health.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff United States of America filed for civil

forfeiture of certain parcels of property in Lee County,

Alabama. Zellers and three of his siblings filed a claim

to the parcel of property located at 8895 Lee Road 72.

He and his siblings are represented by Attorney Bruce

Maddox. The government moved for summary judgment, and

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the claimants responded with a brief opposing summary

judgment. 

The opposition brief and accompanying exhibits

painted a picture of Zellers’s mental health that caused

this court to question his legal competency. For

example, his sister Yolanda Zellers stated that his

“ability to comprehend legal issues is limited to nonexistent.” Yolanda Zellers Aff. (Doc. No. 56). Ex. 6.

Letters from Zellers’s mental-health treatment providers

show that he had been in treatment for schizophrenia on

and off for the past 25 years and that he had been

hospitalized “for an acute decompensation with

depression” within the past year. Letter from Brenda

Moon (Doc. No. 56), Ex. 8. In light of this evidence and

the court’s concerns, the parties agreed that a

psychological evaluation was needed. By agreement of the

parties, the court appointed Dr. Karl Kirkland to perform

the evaluation and prepare a report of his findings.

United States v. One Parcel Property Located at 9607 Lee

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Road 72, Waverly, Lee County, Ala., ____ F.Supp.2d ____,

____, 2012 WL 5877972, at *2 (M.D. Ala. 2012) (Thompson,

J.). 

Dr. Kirkland met with Zellers on January 11, 2013.

He administered a clinical and forensic interview, a

mental-status exam, an achievement test, and a test to

inventory Zellers’s legal knowledge. Zellers reported

that he joined the military at age 18 and was assigned to

work in the boiler room of large ships; that his

shipmates slipped him the hallucinogenic drug LSD during

this time without his knowledge; that he began

experiencing “psychedelic trips” while in the boiler room

of these large ships and was hospitalized psychiatrically

as a result; and that he was first diagnosed with

paranoid schizophrenia at this time. Dr. Kirkland

diagnosed Zellers with paranoid schizophrenia, a history

of cocaine abuse (in remission), and Post Traumatic

Stress Disorder (PTSD). He explained that, when Zellers

is compliant with the taking of the medicines he has been

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prescribed, Zellers has sufficient control over these

mental illnesses such that he can understand and

participate in legal proceedings. Dr. Kirkland noted,

however, that the day before he met with Zellers, Zellers

was released from a two-week psychiatric hospitalization.

The fact that Zellers was clear and oriented at the time

of the evaluation was thus a result of fortuitous timing.

Dr. Kirkland found that Zellers’s competency “is very

unpredictable and unstable.” Eval. (Doc. No. 98) at 8.

He noted that Zellers “has been hospitalized

approximately once a quarter for four times per year in

the [Veteran’s Administration] system on average for a 2-

3 week hospitalization.” Id. at 6. He therefore

concluded that any evaluation of Zellers’s competency

must “occur contemporaneous with an actual hearing on the

day of a hearing.” Id. at 8.

The court convened a telephone conference with both

parties to discuss Dr. Kirkland’s report. All parties

agreed the report left the question of Zellers’s

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competency unresolved. The court expressed concern that

having Dr. Kirkland evaluate Zellers’s competency on the

day of trial (and before any pretrial hearing) would not

satisfactorily protect Zellers’s interests in this case.

Though such an approach might be sufficient if the

competency issue were limited to a specific point in

time, here Zellers must be competent to voice his

interests and communicate his decisions throughout the

life of the forfeiture action, not just at trial or at a

hearing but out of court and in private conferences with

this attorney as well. The parties agreed to hold a

competency hearing, at which Dr. Kirkland could explain

his findings more fully.

At the hearing, Dr. Kirkland explained that he could

not be sure whether Zellers would remain competent

throughout the course of the litigation. He further

explained that Zellers’s competency hinges on whether he

is properly taking his medicines. Whether he is properly

taking his medicines in turn depends on environmental

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stressors. It also requires exactitude and

responsibility on the part of Zellers, as he takes

approximately 12 different medicines, which are needed to

maintain a delicate chemical balancing. Dr. Kirkland

also testified that manifestations of Zellers’s mental

illness could cause him to stop taking his medicines. 

Dr. Kirkland outlined a clear pattern that has taken

shape over the past 25-to-30 years: once every three-tofour months, Zellers gradually stops taking his

medication, his mental health deteriorates, his paranoid

schizophrenia ramps up, he is hospitalized for two-tothree weeks, his condition stabilizes, and he returns

home. He noted that Zellers’s family members have

learned to identify the signs of this decompensation when

it begins: agitation, insomnia, withdrawn behavior,

auditory-commanding hallucinations, and paranoia. Dr.

Kirkland opined that someone appointed to monitor

Zellers’s mental health could also detect these outward

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manifestations of his mental illness and that this person

would not need to be a health professional. 

II. DISCUSSION

In a previous order, this court explained that the

civil legal-competency determination depends on whether

“Zellers is mentally impaired to the extent that he is

unable to understand the nature and effect of this

litigation.” United States v. One Parcel Property

Located at 9607 Lee Road 72, Waverly, Lee County, Ala.,

____ F.Supp.2d ____, ____, 2012 WL 5877972, at *2 (M.D.

Ala. 2012) (Thompson, J.).

Dr. Kirkland found that Zellers was alert and

oriented to his surroundings, both on the day of the

evaluation and on the day of his competency hearing; he

further found that Zellers has a basic understanding of

the forfeiture action, its consequences, and his role as

a claimant to the property that the government seeks.

Based on Dr. Kirkland’s report and testimony, the court

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concludes that Zellers is not currently suffering from a

mental disease such that he is unable to understand the

nature and effect of this litigation. As Zellers is

currently competent to proceed in this litigation, it is

important to safeguard Zellers’s freedom to determine the

course of the litigation as he sees fit. Indeed, just as

it would be impermissible, if Zellers were incompetent,

to litigate his claim without appointing a guardian ad

litem for him, it would be impermissible, if he were

competent, to appoint a guardian ad litem for him and

thus take away his right to direct this litigation as he

sees fit. Therefore, the court will not appoint a

guardian ad litem at this time. 

That decision, however, does not put the matter to

rest. As Dr. Kirkland explained, Zellers’s competency is

unstable. There have been many times throughout

Zellers’s life when he was not competent to participate

in civil litigation, and it appears certain there will be

more such times in the future. Though Dr. Kirkland’s

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suggestion of having a mental-health professional

evaluate Zellers immediately before trial and hearings is

not fully satisfactory, the court accepts the basic

suggestion that Zellers’s competency must be monitored

throughout the litigation. The risk that Zellers’s

mental health will backslide during the life of this case

is too high to decide otherwise. As Dr. Kirkland found,

Zellers is hospitalized approximately four times a year,

once every three to four months. This pattern has been

ongoing for the past 25-to-30 years, and there is no

reason to expect it to cease with the onset of this case.

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provide that a

court “must appoint a guardian ad litem–-or issue another

appropriate order–-to protect... [an] incompetent person

who is unrepresented in an action.” Fed. R. Civ. P.

17(c)(2) (emphasis added). This subsection gives the

court “broad power to enter any order for the protection

of the ... incompetent.” Wright & Miller, 6A Fed. Prac.

& Proc. Civ. § 1570 (3d ed. 1998). After careful

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consideration, the court has determined that the wisest

course of action is to appoint a ‘monitor’ to observe

Zellers’s legal competency throughout this litigation. 

The role of this monitor will be limited. The

monitor will meet with Zellers at the earliest

opportunity to learn Zellers’s position as to the

litigation and desired outcome. Following this initial

meeting, the monitor will visit Zellers at least once a

month to determine the status of Zellers’s mental health.

The monitor will speak with at least two of Zellers’s

immediate family members at least once a month to inquire

whether they have observed any signs that Zellers is

deteriorating. The monitor will confer on a frequent

basis with Zellers’s attorney to discuss whether the

attorney has observed that Zeller’s’ mental health is

declining. The monitor will attend all court

proceedings. If the monitor finds any indication that

Zellers is not taking his medication or that he is

decompensating, the monitor shall file a status report

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with the court so stating. If the court determines that

Zellers has decompensated to the point of incompetency,

the monitor may then take on the role of guardian ad

litem. The monitor is not authorized to adopt this role

unless and until there is a court finding that Zellers is

not competent to proceed.

Zellers’s attorney has offered to serve as monitor.

While the court has no doubt that Zellers’s attorney

would fill this role to the best of his ability, it would

not be appropriate for the attorney to wear both hats in

this situation. If Zellers becomes incompetent during

the course of this litigation, the monitor will be in the

best position to take on the role of guardian ad litem.

Because Zellers’s attorney also represents three other

claimants to this same parcel of property, whose best

interests may conflict with Zellers, this would present

a direct conflict that is best avoided. 

Finally, because plaintiff United States of America

has agreed to pay the fees and expenses of the monitor,

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the court need not address how such fees and expenses

would be paid in the absence of such an agreement.

***

Accordingly, it is ORDERED as follows:

(1) The court appoints Honorable Karen Mastin

Laneaux, Law Office of Sandra Lewis, PC, P. O. Box 686,

Montgomery, Alabama 36101-0686, to monitor the legal

competency of claimant Broderick Zellers.

(2) The duties of the monitor include, but are not

limited, to the following: (a) the monitor shall meet

with claimant Zellers immediately to discern his desired

outcome for this litigation (b), following this initial

meeting, the monitor shall visit claimant Zellers at

least once a month to observe his mental health; (c) the

monitor shall speak with at least two members of claimant

Zellers’s immediate family at least once a month to ask

if family members have observed that his mental health is

declining; (d) the monitor shall confer on a frequent

basis with Zellers’s attorney to discuss whether the

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attorney has observed that Zeller’s’ mental health is

declining; (e) the monitor shall attend all court

proceedings; and (f), if at any time the monitor finds

that Zellers’s mental health is deteriorating, the

monitor shall file a status report with the court so

stating.

(3) The monitor is not to adopt the role of guardian

ad litem.

(4) Plaintiff United States of America shall pay the

fees and expenses of the monitor. The monitor shall

contact forthwith counsel for plaintiff United States of

America to make formal arrangements for the payment of

the monitor’s fees and expenses.

DONE, this the 26th day of April, 2013.

 /s/ Myron H. Thompson 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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