One of Casey Kasem’s daughters, who is serving as the ailing radio legend’s temporary conservator, was today granted additional powers to ensure that her 82-year-old father is receiving good medical care.
“Right now I’m concerned about his health and welfare,” Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel Murphy said in granting the request by Casey Kasem’s court-appointed lawyer to give Kerri Kasem additional temporary conservatorship powers.
Last Wednesday, sheriff’s deputies in Kitsap County, Wash. reported they had found Casey Kasem in that state. However, according to his lawyer, Samuel Ingham, Kerri has been unable to get information on her father’s medical condition.
Murphy said Kerri Kasem can go to the state of Washington and make medical decisions on her father’s behalf. Her stepmother, Jean Kasem, must cooperate, the judge said.
Murphy also said Kerri Kasem can hire a private investigator to assist her in her quest, but that he must be unarmed. He further ruled that Casey Kasem cannot be removed from the country and that any passport he has be given to his daughter.
Two lawyers, Craig Marcus and Donald Kula, showed up and said they represented Jean Kasem, though both said they did not know Casey Kasem’s exact location in Washington. However, Kula said he believes Jean Kasem took her husband there to see a medical specialist and to avoid the media.
Kula said he thought he was going to be the only attorney representing Jean Kasem at the hearing and was surprised at Marcus’ presence.
Murphy, who appeared frustrated that neither lawyer knew the whereabouts of the former “American Top 40” host, ordered both lawyers to inform Ingham and Kerri Kasem’s lawyer, Troy Martin, the address where her father is being kept as soon as they learn it. He also said he does not want Kasem returned to California without a doctor approving the move.
On May 12, Murphy designated Kerri as her 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 her husband is being well cared for.
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 said her father has Lewy body disease, which 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.
