Guardianship for blues great B.B. King rejected

An attempt to establish a legal guardianship for blues great B.B King was dismissed without prejudice on Thursday by Clark County Guardianship Commissioner Jon Norheim.

Five of the 11 children had sought guardianship for the blues musician, who has been in home hospice care in Las Vegas since April 8. The family believes King is not being provided proper care, said Lynn Hughes, a Las Vegas-based attorney representing the family. But outside of court, he noted they are not allowed access to his medical records.

“Legally, you don’t have what you need to move forward,” Norheim told the counsel for the family during the brief hearing.

Three problems blocked the petition for guardianship: Not everyone involved had been served; the prospective guardian already has three other wards; and two investigations failed to find problems with King’s care.

The first investigation was conducted in October, and the most recent one was in April.

“They were completed and didn’t find what your client wanted,” Norheim said.

The Aging and Disability Services Office will not issue a letter for guardianship, he added. The investigations won’t be made public.

“They wanted to take over King’s personal financial decisions,” E. Brent Bryson, a Las Vegas attorney who represented King, said outside of court. “Their petition was fundamentally flawed.”

King has a will and a trust, he said. The musician’s longtime business manager, Laverne Toney has power of attorney for King. She controls his finances and medical care.

Guardianship would basically mean that King’s children, at least those involved, would take over everything, Bryson said.

King has and continues to receive care for his conditions, his primary care physician Darin Brimhall said. He wouldn’t comment on the musician’s specific illness because of medical privacy laws.

“Mr. King is elderly and debilitated,” Brimhall, who’s been with King for the last nine years, said outside of court. “We want to keep him as comfortable as possible.”

The decision to place him in hospice care, which is end of life care, was made by the doctor who saw him the last time he was admitted to the hospital and Brimhall.

He said the family’s claim that King recently suffered a mild heart attack was unconfirmed.

He is receiving care 24 hours a day and a registered nurse has visited him 20 times since April 8, he said.

“There’s no reason for us to be here today,” he said.

Lawyers for the family have the ability to refile the petition if they have evidence of King being medically neglected.

“What is he dying from?” attorney Hughes asked outside of court. Their concern has always been in getting King the treatment that he needs.

After the petition was dismissed, some of King’s daughters who were present in court broke down in tears.

“We will continue to pursue whatever we can,” said Russel Geist, another Las Vegas attorney representing the family.

Karen Williams, one of King’s daughters, said her father is not well.

“He is being medically abused,” she said outside of court.

She said King hasn’t been able to speak for about 10 days.

King suffers from diabetes and recently suffered an allergic reaction and a black eye from a fall, the family said. Family members are not allowed to visit him during his last days.

Williams mentioned a recent restraining order.

“Today was not the final chapter,” she said. “We lost a battle, but we haven’t lost a war.”

Contact Yesenia Amaro at yamaro@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440. Find her on Twitter: @yeseniaamaro.