The court-appointed lawyer for Casey Kasem filed new court papers on May 19 asking that one of the radio legend’s daughters, who is serving as his temporary conservator, be given additional powers to ensure her father is in good health.
Last Wednesday, sheriff’s deputies in Kitsap County, Wash. reported they had found the 82-year-old Kasem in that state. However, according to Kasem’s lawyer, Samuel Ingham, his client’s daughter Kerri has been unable to get information on her father’s medical condition.
Ingham is asking Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel Murphy to allow Kerri Kasem to travel to Washington and make medical decisions on her father’s behalf. Her stepmother, Jean Kasem, should be ordered to cooperate, according to Ingham’s court papers.
Ingham also says Kerri Kasem should be given the ability to hire lawyers and a private investigator to assist her in her quest.
Orders should additionally be given that Kasem not be removed from the country and that any passport he has be given to Kerri Kasem, according to Ingham’s court papers.
A hearing on the requests is scheduled for May 20.
On May 12, Murphy designated Kerri as her 82-year-old father’s temporary conservator and also ordered that his whereabouts be disclosed to her.
Her conservatorship efforts were opposed by her stepmother, who has maintained that the former host of “American Top 40” is being well cared for.
In another development, Jean Kasem’s lawyer, Craig Marcus, filed court papers asking that he be allowed to withdraw as her attorney, saying his client has not been communicating with him.
A model and radio personality, Kerri Kasem previously filed documents alleging that her stepmother “continues to cruelly prevent (Casey Kasem) from seeing his loved ones, including his children, brother and close friends.”
In a sworn declaration filed with the court, she says her father has Lewy body disease, which she says has symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease, but with a greater impact on the sufferer’s cognitive functions.
Kerri Kasem claims her stepmother previously moved her father to five different facilities to keep his children and other loved ones from visiting him. She said she and her sister Julie were able to locate and visit him May 6 at Berkley East Convalescent Hospital in Santa Monica, and that it was the first time she had seen him since December, but he was moved again the following day without their knowledge.
