Conservatorship of H.M. CA2/1

BACKGROUND

In November 2024, County Counsel filed a petition for appointment of a conservator over H.M. In support of the petition, a physician declared H.M. suffers from schizophrenia and was disorganized and delusional. On January 8, 2025, H.M. was present in court with his attorney and an Arabic language interpreter. H.M.’s counsel asked him, “[W]ould you agree to be on a conservatorship?” and H.M. responded, “I don’t want to.” His attorney then stated: “You can have either a court trial with a judge or a jury trial. Do you know what type of trial you would like?” H.M. responded, “Judge.” The court then stated: “[T]he court will waive the jury trial and we will set this matter for a court trial at your request.”

2 At a subsequent hearing on April 16, 2025, the Arabic language interpreter explained to the court that H.M. needed an Armenian language interpreter. The interpreter said H.M. understood “a little bit of Arabic,” but was “more comfortable” communicating “in Armenian.” When the court said, “It’s not really Arabic he’s speaking,” the interpreter responded, “Exactly.” Counsel for the Public Guardian told the court H.M. “understands Arabic but speaks it very little” and…