Joni Mitchell, who has been hospitalized in Los Angeles since March 31, needs a conservator to handle her affairs, according to longtime friend who filed a petition Tuesday to become the singer-songwriter’s conservator.
Leslie Morris of Sherman Oaks, who says she has known Mitchell for 44 years, filed her petition in Los Angeles Superior Court so she can make legal and medical decisions on the singer’s behalf.
“The proposed conservatee (Mitchell) suffered a medical emergency in late March and was taken to UCLA Medical Center, where she remains at this time,” the petition states. “At this time she remains unconscious and unable to make any responses and is therefore unable to provide for her personal needs.”
However, a statement posted this afternoon on Mitchell’s official Twitter page said the singer is not unconscious.
“Contrary to rumors circulating on the Internet today, Joni is not in a coma. Joni is still in the hospital — but she comprehends, she’s alert and she has her full senses. A full recovery is expected.”
Morris’ lawyer, Alan Watenmaker, did not immediately return a call to explain the discrepancy.
A hearing on Morris’ petition is scheduled July 8.
Mitchell helped define the 1960s with hits like “Woodstock” and “Big Yellow Taxi,” and in the ’70s moved into a breezy jazz style with chart- toppers like “Help Me” and “Free Man In Paris.”
She sang with James Taylor, Crosby Still Nash & Young, The Band and other seminal rocks groups of the ’60s, ’70s and beyond.
She released her 17th and final album in 2007, and Rolling Stone magazine has called her “one of the greatest songwriters ever.”
On March 31, the 71-year-old Mitchell was taken to the hospital to undergo tests after collapsing at her Bel Air home, but was “awake and in good spirits,” according to a post that night on her Twitter account.
Mitchell was found unconscious at home, but regained consciousness in an ambulance en route to a hospital, according to her website.
Several days later, a posting on the Twitter account said she was improving. Today’s post was the first to update her condition since then.
