'It's Crazy, It's Unconscionable': Sacramento Attorney Says Britney Spears' Request To End Conservatorship Should Be Easy To Grant
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Pop icon Britney Spears is in the spotlight again, asking a Los Angeles judge to end the conservatorship that has controlled her life for more than a decade. It's a request Sacramento attorney Daniel Hunt says should be easy to grant.
"Britney spears should not be in a conservatorship. She should have these rights," Hunt said. "It's crazy, it's unconscionable that somebody with her capacity has been placed under a conservatorship."
Spears' father Jamie has been in charge of making nearly all of his daughter's decisions for 13 years. Hunt owns his own Law firm in Sacramento that specializes in estate planning, administration and litigation. For more than a decade, he was worked on countless conservatorship cases. Hunt said the role of a conservator is typically reserved to help an elderly person, someone who is severely mentally ill or can't manage their finances.
"Judges in courts here in California take that very seriously to not just take that away unless as the law says it is the less restrictive method to make sure that person is protected," he said.
The singer testified by phone Wednesday comparing the arraignment to sex trafficking, saying she is not here to be anyone's slave. Spears said she wants her life back, wants to end the conservatorship and didn't know she could petition for it to end.
"My opinion, that petition will be granted, this conservatorship is going to be done," Hunt said. "I was quite frankly shocked that it was established and shocked that it's still there."
Hunt who has previously appeared before Judge Brenda Penny, the judge overseeing Spears' case, believes she will side with the pop star.
"She sits and listens to people tell their story and she is very patient and a great judge, she makes good decisions," he explained. "I think because of that, the fact that she is going to sit there and listen and say, 'Is this the least restrictive method for Britney Spears to be protected? I don't think it is.' "
The 39-year-old singer told the court she is being forced to take birth control, despite her desire to have another child. Those decisions are typical in a conservatorship, but Hunt believes all evidence points to Spears being capable of making her own decisions.
"Those absolutely should be decisions that she should be able to make, irrespective of what she does with her money," he explained. "That's not something here in this country we typically subject people to unless they are going to seriously harm themselves. That's just not something that we do."