Danny Tate, a 54-year old musician who has written a top 10 hit and composed tunes for several popular TV shows, has had his legal rights restored after a marathon 2 ½ legal battle.

His woes started in October 2007 when a judge had Tate declared mentally disabled at an “emergency hearing”.  This in spite of the fact that he was not represented by legal counsel or even present at the said hearing.

Three months later the songwriter was once again devlared to be disabled and put into a locked psychiatric ward after he was denied a request for a lawyer.

A small crowd of supporters applauded Judge Randy Kennedy (ironically the same judge who was responsible for passing the initial judgement against Tate) when he issued his ruling from the bench.

Tate had been stripped of his rights after his older brother, David Tate, petitioned the court, claiming that his younger sibling was in the grip of a grave drug addiction and spending between $500-$800 a day on crack cocaine.

David Tate, 60, has maintained that he did what was necessary to save his brother’s life.

The songwriter now, although free, finds himself out of pocket since a disabled person with money foots the entire bill for the court battle over conservatorship. Every time a motion was filed against him, the songwriter paid for it.