2. After hearing the explanation from the grand children and the attorney Judge Boyd felt someone should be appointed Temporary Emergency Guardian until we could have a hearing and determine who that person should be. The grand children and their attorney had filed a petition for emergency guardianship of a gravely incapacitated adult. So Judge Boyd ordered that Beth Gaddy become Temporary Emergency Guardian until a hearing could be held to see who the permanent guardian would be. He then scheduled a hearing to be held on Monday, April 4, 2005 at 9:00am.

At this point, it seems to me that the action Judge Boyd had taken was appropriate, given that the grandchildren had asked for temporary custody, no one else had, and it appeared to the judge that someone had to make decisions for Mae. Again, my question is still how it was determined that Mae should be in a hospice instead of where she could get care. However, apparently Judge Boyd wasn't asked to make a decision on the hospice issue, and the action he took was to provide for temporary guardianship until more details were available.

3. On Monday, and after hearing the opening statements and about 2 hrs of testimony, the attorney for the brother and sister requested a break. They adjourned for a 15 minute break and were to start the hearing back at 11:15 am. When Judge Boyd came from his office back to the hearing, ALL the attorneys and some of the family members informed him that they had a possible settlement agreement and wanted a few more minutes. Later, the attorneys came in and announced to him that they had an agreement.

As in 2(above), it appears to me that Judge Boyd held the hearing that he had set when he assigned temporary guardianship to Beth Gaddy, then followed through with the Monday hearing, listened to the parties, and then agreed to that which was agreed upon by the parties. Judge Boyd seems to have acted appropriately.

4. In the Agreement, the attorney for the brother and sister proposed to the court that they would withdraw their petition to become guardians and would withdraw their objection to Beth Gaddy becoming guardian and would consent to appointing Beth Gaddy as guardian, provided that she would agree to follow the medical advice recommended by and agreed upon by 2 of three doctors (all heart specialists). The 3 Doctors were named and agreed to by all parties. The court ordered that the three doctors evaluate Mae Magouirk within 24 hours (or as soon as possible) as time was of the essence. The court told ALL parties they were not to have contact with any of the doctors to try and influence their decision. Everyone agreed and the family was laughing and hugging one another and Judge Boyd thought everything had been worked out, he felt the right decision had been made, and he thought it was great that the family made that decision and he didn't have to.

Here, Judge Boyd simply ordered what was agreed to by the parties. He wasn't asked to do anything more, and took no further action. The Judge acted appropriately.

5. Then, according to Judge Boyd, on Thursday is when "all of these half-truths and lies started across the Internet started by Mr. Kenneth Mullinax." According to Judge Boyd, he has nothing pending in his court, he 'had' nothing pending in his court, and yet he has been accused of starving a grandmother, murder, called everything in the book and all he wants to do is to get the truth out.

It is only at this point that I see a conflict between Judge Boyd's and Ken Mullinax's versions of the events, but even here, I don't find fault with any of Judge Boyds actions, although I could be critical of some of his inactions - failing to question why it was so important to keep someone IN THE HOSPICE and what were Beth Gaddy and the other grandchildren afraid of; what could possibly be worse FOR MAE then not being adequately evaluated FIRST and having the opportunity for REQUIRED MEDICAL CARE. The order for evaluation based upon three doctors came after giving Beth Gaddy the emergencey guardianship over Mae. And, as a matter of fact, ALL of Ken Mullinax's concerns and assumptions in regard to where Mae should be, are now validated - Mae is in the UAB Medical Center being cared for by experts. She is NOT in the hospice, she is so dehydrated that the attending physician believes(according to Ken and subject to verification) that it will take two or more days to hydrate her.

In regard to number 5 here:

Fact - Mae's life was in danger in the hospice and she was not receiving "adequate hydration for recovery and proper medical care for her condition."

Fact - Mae was placed in a hospice and given up on "to go home to Jesus," according to Beth Gaddy.

Fact - Clearly Mae's welfare was not the first consideration here, the 'will' of Beth Gaddy and the other grandchild(ren) was.

Fact - we now know that Beth Gaddy has had the Mullinax's removed from any ability to see Mae; sounds an awful lot like the Michael Schiavo situation.

Fact - Judge Boyd is not a Judge Greer. Judge Boyd is not trying to kill Mae. And now that Judge Boyd knows more about the situation, we hopefully can look forward to him acting more in Mae's interest and less in Beth's interest.

Questions: What is Beth Gaddy's motivation for Mae to die? Are there any financial considerations here? What does she fear that the Mullinax's will find out about Mae's medical condition, if anything? Why, after getting the power over Mae's life by Agreement, did she suddenly turn on the Mullinax's and forbid them to see Mae? Could it be that Beth Gaddy means well but is just seriously and critically(for Mae) misguided? Could Beth Gaddy possibly believe that just because Mae is disabled, elderly, and has glaucoma, that she is better off dead? If so, then she has no business being anyones guardian, let alone Mae's.

Judge Boyd's Letter:

Judge Boyd appears to be very sincere and credible - my only question is, now that it is perfectly clear that Beth did not adhere to the stipulations set forth in the guardianship and it is very clear that she wants Mae dead ---why is she still guardian?

I agree that Judge Boyd has done nothing wrong in the way that he has handled the situation according to the facts presented to him.

Weighing the testimonies from Judge Boyd and Ken Mulinex, here are my findings:

1. The fact that Mae Magouirk was found to be severely dehydrated shows that the hospice was not telling the truth. Perhaps in a life or death case, the judge may want to visit the patient.
The fact that Beth Gaddy went to Judge Boyd to stop the best treatment possible for Mae Magouirk, by stopping the airlift to UAB, citing that it would do irreparable harm to Mae, shows that there needs to be some sanity check in what we hear. Beth meant to have Mae Magouirk return to Jesus (die in the hospice), whereas Mae's next of kin meant to save her life. Common sense tells me that "irreparable harm" is to kill someone. In this case, it was done against Mae's will (and the proof is in the written will.) With Beth Gaddy's success, some people may try selling the Brooklyn Bridge again.
2. There was a compromise made to allow Beth Gaddy to have custody, when it was a clear to the next of kin (Magouirk's nephew Ken Mullinex, 45, Magouirk's sister Lonnie Ruth Mullinex, 74, of Birmingham, and her brother, A.B. McLeod, 64, of Anniston, Ala.) that Judge Boyd was going to grant it to Beth Gaddy anyway. Thus, the lawyer (Jack Kirby) crafted the compromise, which puts the life of Mae Magouirk into the hands of 3 named doctors, rather than on Beth Gaddy having her way. One of the doctors is Dr. Raed Aquel who is also caring for Ken Mullinex's mother who has the same ailment.
If I were there in court and based on Judge Boyd's treatment of the facts/cross-examination during the 2 hours of testimony, and realizing the Judge's bent on awarding Beth Gaddy custody, I may have agreed to the compromise given the odds for Mae getting treatment are in my favor. But, that is also risky, considering what happened to Terri Schindler-Schiavo. In the end, with the Terri Schiavo case still vivid in my mind, rather than letting Beth Gaddy get full custody with no stipulations on the custody, I would have agreed to the compromise. Thank God the doctors named in the court order were not Doctor Deaths.
3. We need to put pressure on Beth Gaddy to allow Ken Mullinex and the other family to visit Mae. Or else, Ken should challenge Beth Gaddy's guardianship in court in regards to denying visitations by the certain family members. I think Mae's recovery will be speedy with the presence of loved ones.

Continuating my comments above:

Beth Gaddy already has financial custody of Mae, but now also makes decisions over when Mae dies. Thank God there are some restrictions now. The fact that Beth refused Ken Mullinex's offer to care for his Aunt Mae tells me there is something to gain. If Mae dies under Beth's custody, does Beth Gaddy stand to gain a lot of money? Was Mae worth more dead than alive to Beth?
I'm sure many of us know what Beth Gaddy is obviously afraid of if these next of kin were to have visitation rights to Mae (just like we know what Michael Schiavo was obviously afraid of if the Schindler were to continue to care for Terri.) But if Beth has led some people to believe she is a devout Christian, she should come out clean. Why should she continue to add more sin to her plate? Let the chips fall where it may.
Here's where I got the info in the comments above:
http://www.blogsforterri.com/archives/2005/04/mae_magouirk_up_1.php
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43723