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Weekly Edition November 12 - 18, 2025
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62nd Year, No. 48
POST SPECIAL: THE CASE AGAINST PROBATE PART 9
No Justice in the Justice System Documented court transcripts reveal justice was denied by Judge Sandra K. Bean’s ruling that invalidated a Black professor’s trust and property rights. Civil case was misdirected to probate court instead.
By Tanya Dennis On March 28, 2023, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Sandra K. Bean issued a ruling that overrode state law, federal constitutional rights, and the final wishes of the late Dr. Laura Dean Head, a well-respected Black Studies professor at San Francisco State University. Dr. Head’s lawfully executed living trust left her home and entire estate to Zakiya Jendayi, her former student, mentee, sorority sister, and friend of 28 years. Despite this, Bean invalidated the trust based on false testimony, excluded evidence, and legal arguments that contradicted her own statements on the record. What happened in Bean’s courtroom is not just a miscarriage of justice, it is a civil rights crisis happening in probate courts throughout the nation. Dr. Head transitioned on June 19, 2013. After she passed away, Head’s two estranged sisters, Della Hamlin and Helaine Head hired three different attorneys to sue Jendayi for Dr. Head’s estate. All three attorneys informed them that they did not have standing, since Dr. Head had a trust and they were not named in
the trust. Seven years after Dr. Head transitioned, her sisters found probate attorney, Daniel Leahy, who took their case. He filed a lawsuit against Jendayi to invalidate Dr. Head’s trust, claiming undue influence and/or forgery. Later, they claimed Dr. Head lacked capacity. After an 18-day trial, Judge Bean ruled the following: The evidence regarding capacity was inconclusive. Therefore, the court found that Dr. Head had capacity; The court had no credible evidence of forgery and thereby found that Dr. Head did execute the trust; The court found that Dr. Head was vulnerable and unduly influenced by Jendayi. That finding invalidated the Laura Dean Head Trust. The evidence presented in the trial regarding Dr. Head’s capacity was not inconclusive, it was extremely conclusive that Dr. Head was of sound mind. During Dr. Head’s 10-day Kaiser hospital stay, she was seen by 12 physicians, 23 nurses and three social workers. Not one medical team member diagnosed Dr. Head lacked mental capacity. In Dr. Head’s medical records, totaling 972 pages, not once is there any
Zakiya Jendayi (left) with Dr. Laura Dean Head. Courtesy photo.
mention that Dr. Head lacked capacity. Two Kaiser doctors, two social workers and a nurse all testified that Dr. Head had capacity. Bean’s ruling that there was “no credible evidence of forgery” is fraudulent, in that it infers that forgery was, however, was suspected. Dr. Head’s estate planning attorney Elaine Lee testified that she wrote Dr. Head’s trust and witnessed her
signing her trust in the presence of two witnesses, a Kaiser nurse, her notary and Jendayi. Kaiser social worker Jennifer Hoppings testified that she filled out Dr. Head’s power of attorney and healthcare directive forms and witnessed Dr. Head signing both documents in the presence of her notary. Dr. Head’s notary, Trina E. Jackson testified that she witnessed Dr. Head signing her
Supt. Denise Saddler Warns of ‘Difficult Choices Ahead’ for Oakland Schools
trust and will in the presence of Dr. Head’s probate attorney and Dr. Head signing her power of attorney and healthcare directive forms in the presence of a Kaiser social worker. All three of the women took an oath to the state of California to uphold the truth. None of the three women ever had a complaint filed against them throughout their careers. There was neither evidence nor witnesses presented throughout the entire 18-day trial that Jendayi committed forgery. Despite the testimony of several credible witnesses that Head was of sound mind and judgement, Bean ruled that Dr. Head was vulnerable and Jendayi unduly influenced her, therefore Bean invalidated Dr. Head’s trust. That ruling was fraudulent because throughout the trial none of the 15 witnesses testified to nor was there evidence presented supporting Bean’s claim that Jendayi unduly influenced Dr. Head. There were, however, numerous testimonies and evidence presented throughout the trial proving Jendayi did not unduly influence Dr. Head. Dr. Head’s legally executed trust was invalidated by Judge
Essay: The Hidden Toll — Federal Rollbacks Threaten Black Women’s Health in California
‘People we know and care about will lose their jobs. Programs our students love will be reduced or eliminated,’ she said
Oakland teachers demand new contract. Image courtesy of KRON4.
Oakland Teachers’ Union Declares ‘Impasse’ in Contract Talks with School District
By Post Staff
OUSD Interim Superintendent Dr. Denise Gail Saddler. File photo. By Ken Epstein Saying that the Oakland Unified School District’s budget shortfall “weighs heavily” on her heart, OUSD Interim Superintendent Dr. Denise Gail Saddler sent a social media message to the school community last week warning of “difficult financial choices ahead for our District.” Seeking community input, the Oakland Board of Education is holding a special meeting to discuss budget matters on Nov. 19. “Chief Business Officer Lisa Grant-Dawson (recently) shared that the Board passed a resolution requiring staff to develop plans for cutting $100 million from our 2026-27 budget,” the superintendent wrote. “Since then, every department has been working to identify where those reductions
might come from. Today, I want to share where we are and what comes next. “Here’s what I know for certain: whatever plan the Board ultimately approves will hurt. There’s no way to cut $100 million – roughly 20% of our unrestricted general fund budget – without significant pain,” she wrote. Dr. Saddler said the district has received a letter from Alameda County Superintendent of Schools Alysse Castro giving the district “conditional approval” of its current annual budget but harshly criticizing the Board of Education for failing to make massive budget cuts. Castro said the school board is continuing “a troubling – and troublingly familiar – pattern of deferring difficult decisions. Rather Continued on page 10
Bean, based on a charge of dishonesty and subterfuge from Attorney Daniel J. Leahy, a certified specialist in Estate Planning. In a careful examination of the trial transcript of Bean’s Statement of Decision, Jendayi discovered that of the 42 findings and rulings made against her, 30 were false, six were misleading, and six were errors. Jendayi said she did not receive due process several times, throughout the trial, based on the Constitution of the United States, Fifth and 14th amendments, with a shocking number of fraudulent actions by Bean – all documented in trial transcripts – including, for example, that Head’s sisters had no legal rights to a probate trial. During the first remote, pretrial hearing, Bean concurred that the petitioners, Dr. Head’s estranged and disinherited sisters, Della Hamlin and Helaine Head were neither trustees nor beneficiaries, therefore, they had no standing to have their case heard in probate court. According to the Reporter’s transcript, Aug. 5, 2020, page four, lines 23-27, page five, lines 1-8 THE COURT: “And so, Mr. Continued on page 8
The Oakland Education Association (OEA), which represents teachers and other education professionals in Oakland’s public schools, has declared an “impasse” in contract negotiations with the Oakland Unified School District, which is another formal step in the negotiating process that could potentially lead to a strike. “Our 50-person bargaining team (on Wednesday) concluded its latest session with OUSD,” the OEA wrote in a letter to the community on social media. “Despite our good-faith efforts and thoughtful proposals, the District remains fixated on maintaining the status quo. OUSD offered a 0% raise, [zero] improvements to working conditions, and even proposed increasing caseloads for specialists like psychologists and speech pathologists,” the letter said. “Every week, OEA educators have brought real solutions to the table – solutions that address the challenges our students and educators face due to chronic underinvestment in Oakland’s classrooms. We are fighting to
stabilize staffing, improve special education supports, and ensure every school is a safe, nurturing environment for our students,” according to the OEA. “Yet, while we propose meaningful improvements, OUSD’s response has been to roll back progress we’ve already made – such as raising counselor caseloads despite our recent victory lowering them to ensure quality support for students. The District once again claims it is ‘broke,’ a familiar refrain used to justify inaction. Each time, OUSD presents a ‘crisis budget’ that protects bureaucracy while our students and educators pay the price,” the union said. After the union declares an impasse, the process moves to mediation and then potentially to factfinding with a neutral third-party panel, which issues a non-binding recommendation. If no agreement is reached after these steps, the union can then lawfully call for a strike, while the school district may be able to implement its last, best offer. Making its case to the public, the union letter said the school Continued on page 10
Kellie Todd Griffin, president and CEO California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute. CBM photo by Ian Foxx. By Kellie Todd Griffin, Special to California Black Media Partners If recent proposals in Congress to cut funding for federal social programs succeed, the downstream effects will not be abstract or distant. They will be immediate and blunt — and felt in every clinic, every hospital, and most homes where Black women are struggling to maintain our health, care for her children, and stay afloat. In California, where Black women already navigate a terrain of deep systemic inequities, these cuts would be catastrophic. As a lifelong advocate for Black women in California — through my research and lived experience – I’ve seen firsthand the entrenched medical and social disparities that leave too many Black women struggling to live healthy, fulfilling lives.
Across the spectrum of care — from mental, maternal, and perinatal health to chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and uterine fibroids — Black women in California continue to bear a disproportionate burden. Implicit bias in maternity care, for example, continues to be a challenge. It is a documented contributor to the fact that, in California, Black women die from pregnancyrelated causes at three to four times the rate of White women. Now, federal proposals on the table to slash funding for the very programs Black women rely on most: Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) SNAP/CalFresh, WIC, and federal housing and income supports. As reported in the California Budget and Policy Equity on the Line report, about one in three Black women and children in California currently depend on MediCal. Were federal cuts to force reductions in eligibility, benefits, or provider reimbursements, many Black women would lose access to primary care, chronic disease management, reproductive care, mental health and substance-use treatment, cancer screenings, and prenatal/postnatal services. In a state already grappling with stark racial health disparities, removing coverage is not just harmful — it magnifies injustice. Black women in California face higher rates of poor health overall, lower life expectancy, and worse prenatal care statistics. When the safety net frays, they will be forced into impossible trade-offs: skip medications, delay care, or incur medical Continued on page 10