Probation given in swindling of neighbor, 85

By Matt Pordum

Thursday, Sept. 30, 2004 | 11:17 a.m.

Amy Green should not serve any prison time for manipulating an ailing 85-year-old neighbor into handing over her life savings, District Judge Lee Gates ruled Wednesday.

Despite the Department of Parole and Probation's recommendation that 65-year-old Green be sentenced to prison, and despite prosecutors' pleas for the judge to follow that recommendation, Gates instead gave Green four years of probation.

Gates said his sentence was based largely on the fact that Green had no prior convictions and, although she had mentally abused Esther Governale, there was no evidence that Green had physically abused Governale.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Erik Jorgensen argued Green deserved prison time, emphasizing that Green "systematically stole $1.5 million and has only spent 17-days in jail."

A Clark County jury on May 28 convicted Green on seven counts of felony exploitation of an elderly person for manipulating Governale into withdrawing that much money and giving it to Green in six bank transactions.

Gates ordered Green to pay roughly $300,000 in restitution to the legal representatives of Governale's estate. And $1.2 million that was frozen in a bank account after Green was charged will also go to the estate.

Governale had been in an assisted living center after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, which left her incapable of testifying at Green's trial. Governale died in February 2003.

Green has said it was the dying wish of Governale's husband, Charles, to have her take care of his wife and that she would be given $800,000 for helping take care of the couple.

But shortly after Charles Governale's death in September 2001 roughly all of the couple's savings was transferred to Green's mutual fund portfolio.

As conditions of Green's probation she is required to undergo counseling and is barred from both being the legal guardian or caretaker for any senior citizens.

Green sat and cried in her hands throughout her sentencing Wednesday.

Her post-conviction lawyer, David Chesnoff, said, "I'm happy she's (Green) not going to jail. I just wish I would have argued her case at trial because she would have been acquitted."

Before handing down Green's sentence, Gates had rejected Chesnoff's arguments for a new trial.

Chesnoff asked for Green's conviction to be overturned because, he alleged, her trial attorney, Orlando De Castroverde, had done a poor job of representing her. De Castroverde failed to call an expert witness to try to refute one called by the prosecution regarding Governale's state of mind at the time of Green's crime, Chesnoff said.

Chesnoff said De Castroverde told the jury he would call a witness to prove Governale was competent and willingly entrusted her $1.5 million in savings to Green, but De Castroverde never called the defense expert to the stand.

Additionally, Chesnoff said, De Castroverde failed to personally interview a witness who ultimately offered damaging testimony against Green upon taking the stand.

Jorgensen said the charges against Green didn't hinge on whether Governale was competent, but instead on witness testimony showing Green was "pushy and aggressive" as she used "undue influence and intimidation" to get Governale's money.

Jorgensen said the performance of the trial counsel did not meet the burden required for a new trial under the claim of ineffective counsel. He said Chesnoff failed to show Green would have been acquitted if De Castroverde had called an expert witness or if the witness had been personally interviewed by the attorney.

Gates agreed with Jorgensen. Even if Green's trial lawyer had done everything Chesnoff said should have been done, "it wouldn't have changed the outcome," Gates said. Gates said the evidence was overwhelming that Green was a manipulative woman who "used the whole system to get what what she wanted."