From The Daily Independent:
Jeffery Daniel Gladney, 55, of Willcox, was sentenced early this week by U.S. District Judge John C. Hinderaker to time served, amounting to over 25 months in prison.
Gladney previously pleaded guilty on June 29 to threatening to assault a federal employee.
During the summer of 2020, Gladney left several messages on the voicemail of his attorney’s office, threatening the U.S. Social Security Administration Law Judge assigned to his case.
In the voicemails, Gladney threatened to assault and kill the judge, demanding his benefits be approved immediately, and instructing the legal assistant to relay the messages to the judge. …
I once notified the Hearing Office that I considered a client to be a potential threat at the hearing. I was told that the Hearing Office had received multiple warnings about the claimant who was clearly severely mentally ill but lacked enough earnings to qualify based upon her earnings and had too much income to qualify for SSI. Her husband was with her hen I saw her in the office. I advised him to take her directly to a psychiatric hospital. I got out of the case before the hearing.
6 comments:
A client of mine threatened the local district office multiple times telling me he was going to shoot the place up. Told them. Second time they sent a sheriff out to talk to him. He had a gun on him- violation of his parole. Then from jail he wrote me two letters threatening the ALJ. US Atty, homeland security, federal protective services and others got involved. Mental illness is awful for some folks and he clearly didn't understand the danger he was to himself.
When you say --The Attorney had no choice but to turn in the client -- are you speaking morally or in terms of ethics rules that govern lawyer behavior.
The two are not the same.
It shouldn't have got to a hearing; when the representative saw that the person was denied for income and quarters, it should have ended right there. Hopefully, the spouse appreciated how ill and dangerous the claimant was and got the appropriate help.
@10:11
Arizona Rules of Professional Conduct ER 1.6(b) states: "A lawyer shall reveal such information to the extent the lawyer reasonably believes necessary to prevent the client from committing a criminal act that the lawyer believes is likely to result in death or substantial bodily harm."
So, certainly ethically.
Reminds me of the only time I remember an SSI claimant trying to go after ALJs in Vegas in 2010. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-jan-05-la-na-vegas-shooting5-2010jan05-story.html I kind of new the security guard killed. Sad.
I cut my teeth with my cases in Downtown LA ODAR and OHO. There were 2 major incidents I heard about. One, a claimant threw a chair at an ALJ hurting her back. Two, a claimant punched a psych ME at a hearing.
Dangerous business it can be.
I had a client with intermittent explosive disorder that was frightening and he had several incidents in the past that were worrisome. I talked to the ALJ before the hearing and advised her I thought it was a good idea to have security in the room during the hearing. She listened. The client actually did well during the hearing and benefits were granted on the record. This can be a dangerous business, but many times the clients cannot help it, and someone has to be there for them.
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