Mental hospital attorneys say DA used criminal charges to force hospital into selling
Fort Worth Star-TelegramNov 16, 2018
The corporation, which provides inpatient and outpatient treatment for children and adults and specializes in the treatment of mental health, chemical dependency and detoxification, is accused of holding four patients involuntarily and illegally at its
Sundance attorneys have argued that the reason the
"This rogue prosecution by the Criminal District Attorney occurred as
Sundance has billed JPS for more than
"The criminal investigation devalued Sundance as an asset and brought the owners of Sundance, who were formerly unwilling to sell, to their knees," the motion stated.
"The overall effect of this prosecution made the day-to-day operations of
The motion alleges that the district attorney's office refused to support or sponsor Sundance hospitalizations during its investigations, which meant that probate courts were unable to process applications for orders of protective custody.
Without those orders for protective custody, Sundance was legally prevented from providing overflow treatment for mentally ill people who were involuntarily committed, curtailing a significant part of the hospital's business, according to Sundance attorneys.
The motion calls the criminalization of the actions of medical professionals "dangerous," and warns that the criminal process ignores the immunity granted to mental health professionals that allows them to practice and undermines the available remedies for proper enforcement.
"The chilling effect this prosecution could bring with it upon other hospital and psychiatric professions should not be ignored," the motion states. "The unprecedented, arbitrary and selective nature of this prosecution brings with it serious conflict of interest concerns and results in questionable public policy that make providing care even more difficult."
Sundance attorneys also argued that the district attorney's office is overstepping its bounds by bringing these criminal charges.
Prosecutors filed Thursday an 11-page notice of extraneous offenses and bad acts that they intend to introduce. The offenses ranged from not conducting welfare checks, then lying about it, in regards to a patient who committed suicide in its
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