Judge lashes out at DCF lawyers in custody case (Miami girl)

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Miami Herald

Judge lashes out at DCF lawyers in custody case
Posted on Wed, Aug. 29, 2007
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
[e-mail]

For the second time since she convened trial in a controversial custody battle over a 4-year-old Cuban girl this week, a Miami judge Wednesday lashed out at Florida child welfare lawyers seeking to prevent the girl's return to Cuba.

No more than 20 minutes after testimony in the case began Wednesday morning, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jeri B. Cohen scolded lawyers for the Department of Children & Families for failing to adequately prepare. On the witness stand was Maria Zamora, a caseworker for a privately run foster care program.

Zamora, who is a supervisor and is overseeing the girl's case, was describing how the 4-year-old had ended up under the department's care. Zamora was describing events that occurred in Cuba before the girl arrived in Miami -- events she acknowledged she knew about only second-hand.

Ira Kurzban, a lawyer for the girl's birth father, objected that Zamora's testimony consisted largely of hearsay and was relying on case notes that she had not brought to court.
(snip)

The department also is alleging Izquierdo failed to protect his daughter from her mother's mood swings and sometimes violent behavior.

DCF lawyers have announced in court that they want the little girl to be raised permanently by the Cubases, with whom she has bonded. They say they want the Cubas family to maintain custody of the girl even if the judge finds Izquierdo to be a fit parent. The Cubases have adopted the girl's older half brother.



Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/581/story/219051.html

[pnwmom]

1. She's criticized lawyers on both sides.

"With tensions extremely high, Cohen has criticized lawyers for both the department and Izquierdo.

"On Tuesday, in a mostly hushed courtroom, the little girl's 13-year-old half brother testified that both he and his sister had been the victims of frequent and often harsh abuse from Perez, who suffered from emotional outbursts that became significantly more severe after the family moved to the United States in March 2005.

"The boy said he told Izquierdo at least once about the abuse, but the girl's father never did anything about it. Izquierdo told reporters after the Tuesday hearing that the boy never told him about the abuse."

[Mika]

5. Well, she's got to be 'fair and balanced'.

After all, the judge has to be reelected in order to keep her job, so she's playing Miamicuban exile politics in order to have any chance.

What I want to know is just how/why the repug run Fla DCF picked Joe Cubas (a high profile anti Castro figure) as the prime candidate for these VERY controversial adoptions?

This whole case is absurd, mainly because it involves Cubans and is in Miami.

[Kagemusha]

2. Shorter judge: "You have heard of Elian, right?"

Christ. No one wants to learn anything. A world of ignorance blissful in its ignorance.

[kcass1954]

3. I'm glad to see privatization is working out so well with DCF.

:sarcasm:

My state sucks!

[Tyler Durden]

4. Since your state looks so much like a dick.....

Just joking, kiddo. You do have my sympathies: I'd rather sink with Michigan's economy than wade through the bullshit you poor bastards mus have to put up with.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Mom in Cuban custody case testifies about her rough life

Mom in Cuban custody case testifies about her rough life
The mother of the 4-year-old girl in the middle of an international custody dispute took the stand in a Miami courtroom.

Posted on Thu, Aug. 30, 2007
By CAROL MARBIN MILLER
[e-mail]

In Elena Perez's first 48 hours as a U.S. resident in 2004, she was abandoned at Miami International Airport not once but twice: first, by her husband, who went home to ''party'' with relatives, and then by her uncle, who said he wasn't able to care for her and her two small children.

Months later, with a hurricane approaching and no place for Perez to stay, a worker with Catholic Charities took her to Houston, where she knew no one. There, she was attacked by two men, and sank deeper into poverty and depression.

''I had been abandoned. I had been through a total change of life. I was in an unknown place, and I didn't know anybody,'' she told a packed courtroom Wednesday.

Thus began the strange journey of Elena Perez, Cuban pharmacy worker, winner of the U.S. visa lottery in Cuba, mother.

More:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/219829.html

[Judi Lynn]

7. Mother of Cuban girl in custody battle says daughter always happy about father in Cuba

Mother of Cuban girl in custody battle says daughter always happy about father in Cuba
The Associated Press
Published: August 30, 2007


MIAMI: The mother of a 4-year-old girl at the center of a custody dispute testified Thursday that she sent photos of the child to her father in Cuba and that the girl was always overjoyed when his name was mentioned.

One photo sent in 2005 to Cuba for the father, Rafael Izquierdo, showed a picture of the girl holding a balloon that said "I Love You, Daddy" and included a note from the mother describing how the girl's vivid memories of him.

"Day in, day out, she remembers you," read the note from the mother, Elena Perez. "She mentions you. When we talk about you, her little face reflects overwhelming happiness."

Perez testified that she bought the balloon after asking the girl "what she wanted to say to her father."

The testimony was the strongest yet from Perez to bolster Izquierdo's claim that his daughter should return with him to the communist island. Florida child welfare officials are instead backing the girl's foster parents — former sports agent Jose Cubas and wife Maria — who have adopted the girl's half brother and want to adopt her as well.
(snip/...)

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/30/america/NA-GEN-US-Cuban-Custody-Battle.php

[Judi Lynn]

8. The genius lawyer for Joe Cubas attempts a different approach:

Custody case focuses on 'louse' spouse
Posted on Thu, Aug. 30, 2007
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
[e-mail]

~snip~
Thursday morning the guardian's attorney, John O'Sullivan, asked Perez numerous questions about her relationship with Melendres, whom she dated about 2000 before she learned he was married to another woman.

''Why did you choose Jesus Melendres'' to marry after winning the right to obtain a U.S. visa? O'Sullivan asked.

''Because I felt desperate that the father of the girl was not going with me. Because in the past I already had a relationship with him,'' she said.

After several moments of such questions, Circuit Judge Jeri B. Cohen interrupted: Where is this line of questioning going? Melendres is not on trial.

''I think none of us likes Jesus Melendres anymore,'' said Cohen, who earlier this week referred to Melendres as ``a louse.''

''He's not the kind of guy you want your daughter going out with,'' the judge said.

''Or,'' O'Sullivan added, ``taking your daughter to the U.S.''

His point, O'Sullivan said, was that Izquierdo should have known Melendres was a poor choice for a companion and failed to protect his young daughter by allowing Perez to take the girl anywhere with Melendres, much less to a foreign country.
(snip/...)

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/220337.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So now, the child's father is responsible for the choice his ex-wife made in her husband with whom she planned to travel to the United States. Now I've heard everything.

(You recall they claim he was tragically abusive when he did not send his daughter a birthday card, and he was also abusive in wanting to take his daughter home, when they claim they had made a positive bond with his daughter!)

[Mika]

9. Its also come to light the US Homeland Security wouldn't grant the father a visa to get the daughter

So the DCF uses Homeland Security's refusal to grant the dad a visitation visa as a reason to accuse the dad of having abandoned the girl because he didn't come to Miami to get her sooner.

Anyone who defends the repug controlled Fla DCF in this case is out to lunch, IMO.

.. and the mewling Castrophobes say that it is Fidel who prevents Cuban travel to the USA. :crazy:



-

[Judi Lynn]

10. Jim DeFede, Miami journalist from the New Times, Miami Herald, and radio

has some recordings of his phone calls from the girl's foster father and mother, which are available by clicking the links in the paragraph immediately below the photo of Senator Craig, for August 29th.

Very, very interesting for anyone who has a moment to check them out!

http://www.am940southflorida.com/pages/jimdefede.html

If you click the link for August 27th, you'll be able to listen to a conversation with Ira Kurzban, the lawyer for the child's father, Mr. Izquierda. He has a very direct way of discussing this which may be refreshing!

http://www.am940southflorida.com/pages/jimdefede.html?page=2

Thanks to the Miami DU'er who shared them with us.

[Judi Lynn]

11. Children shouldn’t be pawns for politics

Posted on Mon, Sep. 03, 2007 10:15 PM
Children shouldn’t be pawns for politics
By MARY SANCHEZ

One can only hope the lessons of Elian Gonzalez will hold.

A saga eerily similar to Elian’s is unfolding in Miami. This time, the child is a 4-year-old Cuban girl. Her mother brought her to the United States, but subsequently attempted suicide and was judged mentally unstable. Her father, a farmer, has come to take the child back to Cuba, but her wealthy foster family wants to adopt her.

Thankfully, the little girl’s name is not public. No photos have been published. Newspapers and other media have wisely let ethics guide. But the girl’s custody case, until now carried on behind closed doors in a circuit court, has come under increasing public scrutiny.

The family that seeks to adopt the toddler is well-known and controversial. The father, Joe Cubas, made millions as a sports agent, delivering Cuban defectors to Major League Baseball teams. Cubas, the son of Cuban exiles, is known for ruthlessly hunting down promising athletes, then convincing them to leave Cuba for the chance of sports fame in the United States — and profitable contracts, in which he shares. His strong-arm tactics led the Major League Baseball Players Association to suspend his license.

More:
http://www.kansascity.com/276/story/259158.html