Pop singer Britney Spears, 39, won a big victory toward ending her father Jamie Spears’ 13-year conservatorship when Los Angeles Superior Court Probate Judge Brenda Penny ruled today she could pick her own attorney. Penny approved former U.S. Atty. Mathew Rosengart to represent her against the current conservator arrangement, allowing her father Jamie to call the shots. Judge Penny has not said how she’ll rule when it comes to Britney’s conservatorship but allowed her to pick her own attorney with an expressed interest in removing her father as conservator took a big step in Briteney’s direction. “The question remains, why is he involved?” Rosegart asked outside court. But of course Rosengart’s statement is rhetorical because nothing in the proceeding today indicated that Britney has the capacity to manage her own affairs without a some type of conservator.
Britney speaks openly about her father’s abuse of the conservatorship, claiming he controlled her work schedule, once forcing her to work 70 hours a week, wear an IUD or stay on a diet to keep her sexy figure. “My dad needs to be removed today,” Britney said to Judge Penny by telephone. She wants her father investigated and charged for abusing her and his conservatorship. Britney spoke so rapidly today the court reporter had trouble transcribing her statements, indicative of her diagnosis as a bipolar disorder. manic type. Her former psychiatrist Dr. Timothy Benson died of a cerebral aneurysm Sept. 9, 2019, who diagnosed Britney with a biopolar disorder and put her on lithium. Britney didn’t like the effect of lithium, naturally interfering with her manic music career and fast-paced lifestyle. No manic patient likes the chemical restraints of psychotropic medication, despite the necessity of treatment.
Allowing Britney to pick her own attorney doesn’t change the stubborn fact that she suffers from mental illness, requiring some degree of management to satisfy that the judge can allow her the capacity to handle her own affairs. Whatever the mental health evaluations did to her in the past, Judge Penny’s not going to accept that she suddenly has capacity because her new attorney argues that her father Jamie should no longer be the conservator of record. Britney said she wanted her conservatorship to end but not if she’s subjected to a new capacity evaluation. Britney told Judge Penny shed didn’t want “people to question my intelligence for the millionth time,” missing the point, that the capacity exam, in her case, has nothing to do with assessing IQ but rather her capacity to make responsible decisions when it comes to her $60 million fortune, something Penny knows must be safeguarded.
Britney complained to the judge she was deprived of coffee, her drivers license and her “hair vitamins.” “If this isn’t abuse, I don’t know what is,” Britney said, sounding childlike. “I thought they were trying to kill me,” Britney told Judge Penny, complaining of being overworked years ago. Whatever conclusions Judge Penny reached, Britney’s accusations raise more questions about her mental state. Saying she thought her father was trying to “kill her” sounds paranoid by anyone’s definition, fitting neatly into Benson’s diagnosis of bipolar disorder and lithium treatment. Jamie Spears attorney Vivian Thoreen said that her father only had his daughter’s best interests in mind, acknowledging that Britney thinks “her father is responsible for all the bad things that have happened to her.” Regardless of whether Britney’s right or wrong, she has the right to her own counsel.
Thoreen argued to Judge Penny that she thinks Britney was influenced by others. “Whether it’s misinformation, lack of correction or being wrongfully advised, I don’t know,” admitted Thoreen. In allowing Britney her own counsel, Penny wants Britney to take charge of her own defense, in this case ending her father’s conservatorship. Whether Judge Penny thinks Briteny needs a new conservator is anyone’s guess. Without a new mental health evaluation to determine capacity, Judge Penny’s ruling in the dark when it comes to ending Britney’s conservatorship completely or simply appointing a new conservator approved by her attorney. Britney’s court-appointed attorney Samuel Ingrham III resigned after the dramatic June 21 hearing where Penny heard Britney say, “I just want my life back.” Judge Penny knows there are many capacity questions that can’t be answered by her attorney, Mathew Rosengart.
Britney’s court hearing morphed into a spectacle from Washington, D.C. to the streets of Los Angeles, where beleaguered Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fl.) showed up at Judge Penny’s courthouse to chant, “Free Britney!” Britney’s case raises controversial issues of capacity and the limits of probate courts to keep control in celebrity cases. Britney’s already showed Judge Penny that she’s emotionally unstable, volatile, possibly paranoid and in need for further guardianship. No matter how much Rosengart argues for Britney;s capacity, he must do more than just advocate. He needs a new independent capacity exam that looks at the facts, not the heat of the moment in U.S. tabloids. “Everybody should be working collaboratively, Judge Penny told the attorneys. “It’s not about anybody else, it’s about her,” leaning toward giving Britney the benefit of the doubt when it comes to her capacity to manage her own affairs.
