Ryan is Home!
ABC 7 News Coverage on first Day of Trial
Monday, April 24, 2023
After 29 years of forced separation, identical twin comes home
They clutched the papers in their hands, disbelieving. Was this really, truly happening? After all this time?
They rushed from the Riverside courthouse and dashed to the group home in Lake Elsinore where Ryan Morris had been recently placed by the public guardian’s office. “May 5, 2023,” Monica Mukai wrote neatly, as she was asked to do. “Ryan Morris is being picked up by me and Ryan’s grandmother, Tamara Mazzei Mukai. I am Ryan’s aunt & Ryan’s finally coming home after 29 years!!!
“I was appointed Ryan’s conservator this morning,” she wrote, barely believing it, “and will leave a copy with Willy for your records. Thank you!”
Ryan Morris with bio sisters Krystal, right, and Jamie, at the birthday party for his 1-year-old nephew. (Courtesy of Monica Mukai)
Trial to Free Ryan
April 24, 2023 – The trial is now underway in Riverside County to decide who will care for Ryan Morris, a 29-year-old intellectually disabled man who says he was raped while in foster care.
Morris’ biological family is fighting for legal guardianship in a very complicated case.
Morris, who has cerebral palsy, spent the vast majority of his life in either foster care or in the custody of public guardian.
I respectfully request that this court allow Ryan to return to Orange County with his biological family where, as the proposed successor conservator, I will work with the Regional Center of Orange County to ‘select the least restrictive appropriate residence….’ I understand very clearly that it would be my duty by law to secure housing, treatment, services, and opportunities that will assist him … to develop maximum self-reliance and independence.
Monica Mukai, Ryan’s Aunt
Selected Articles from the Orange County Register
Part 1: Twins, divided - Mar 2017
Is one man happily married or a victim of sexual abuse?
Part 2: Twins, divided - Mar 2017
Confusion, concern and ‘I do’
Part 3: Twins, divided - Mar 2017
Brothers will see each other in court
Disabled man's topsy-turvy case finally reaches a judge - Sept 2022
Morris’ adoptive mother and father in Murrieta charged with lewd conduct and removed as legal guardian
About Free Ryan
The twins were brought into this world together. Ryan got stuck in the system, raised by an adoptive woman who was indicted on 14 felony charges including murder by the Riverside County Grand Jury in 2021 with Ryan being one of 11 victims. The twins are now 29 years old and Ryan is still stuck in the system conserved by the County of Riverside Public Guardian’s Office.
Event Held Wednesday February 1st 2023
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About
3rd Annual Event
Conservatorship and Guardianship Abuse Awareness Day is observed annually on February 1st, marking the day that Britney Spears was conserved under the Los Angeles County Superior Court, robbing her of her basic civil and human rights. The day aims to raise awareness about systemic abuses of power within the State Departments of Developmental Services, the County Departments of Mental Health, Public Guardian’s Office, Regional Centers and the Probate Court system.
Event Speakers
Thomas F. Coleman
Legal Director of Spectrum Institute and author of the organization’s 2021 report that prompted the Civil Grand Jury Investigations in Alameda & Santa Clara Counties. He will discuss why counties in California should adopt conservatorship legal defense programs based on the Nevada model program and how such programs will benefit seniors and people with disabilities. The Disability & Abuse Project of the Spectrum Institute has thoroughly outlined undisputed and unssailable facts in court records and details “Laws Relevant to Ryan Morris: Marriage, Abuse, and Judicial Authority.”
Suzanne Bennett Francisco
President & CEO of Exceptional Rights Advocacy. Expert on Supported Decision-Making (SDM), a voluntary way to protect, empower and support adults with disabilities without the court. Proud single mother of three joyful adult children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Suzanne serves as the Co-Chair of the TASH Human Rights Community of Practice, Advisor to the Alternatives to Guardianship Project for the Missouri Council on Developmental Disabilities, and on the San Andreas Regional Center Self Determination Advisory Committee.
Monica Mukai
Ryan’s Aunt & Advocate has witnessed governmental agencies’ abuse of power unleashed in dividing families for over two decades. Member of the TASH Human Rights Community of Practice and activist in the studies for social change, Monica is determined to Free Ryan and assist families along their journey toward ending abusive systems that ironically promote dependent adult abuse, creating outrageous fear and mental suffering amongst the very people that it claims to serve.
Event was held Wednesday February 1, 2023
Join us either virtually or in person to learn about abuses of power within the conservatorship and guardianship system and how you can help.