Disability, Support, Custody Questions Please

[jpantel]

The facts of my case are this. I have a 2 year old son that I am taking his mother to court for joint custody. Our hearing is Oct 4, 2004. In the state of California. We both reside here. I suffer from Panic Disorder. It makes it harrd for me to work right now. My sons mother is trying to make it so that I have little time with our son so that she can keep control and get money from me for CS. We had mediation last week and the mediator sayed that we will have "shared physical/legal custody. But some issues where not figured out so the judge will adress them in the hearing on Monday. One last fact. The court is aware of my disability and I have already received a signed ADA approval by the judge and the court. And in my decleration I have attached letters from my Psycologist, Docotor and a previous counslor that all say I am disabled right now, but with therapy I can make a full recovery and that in no way does my disability keep me from being a good and able parent.

My questions are.

1. Can my disability cause the judge to make it so that I have less custody of our son?

2. Can me not being able to work because of my disabilty cause the court to decrease time with my son because of money issues?

3. Does the court have to use the disomaster to come up with the CS figure? If so and its 50% me and 50% her and she makes a lot more then me will she have to pay me support?

4. Is there any court cases that have rerences to a person whom has a disability that the court ordered that equal custody will be allowed and that the disability nor the financial limitations keep a parent from being able to be equally involved in their childs life?

5. She doesnt want to agree to right of first refusal in our custody agreement. Is there a reason why someone would not want that clause in there?

6. I have voice mail recordings of my sons mother, saying "He's mine all mine, I have him full custody, I will let you see him when I want and tell you when you can see, I will tell you how I want to be paid and how I want to get paid support", and a message where she was drinking and driving and picked up our son that night. Can I use these in court and if so is there protocol tha I have to follow to enter them as evidence or exibits? Ie. Forms, documents, permissions from court and so forth. And lastley and court casses showing that voice mails are not hear say?

The mother is trying to use my disability against me even though it does not effect my relationship with my son at all. The only this is that I am going through thearapy and for it and it is hard for me to work right now comfortably.

I look forward to hearing from you thank you!

Joe

[socrateaser]

>1. Can my disability cause the judge to make it so that I have
>less custody of our son?

Yes, the judge could find that your disability makes it difficult for you to parent. Ordinarily, this would require the judge to act on the basis of some fact that tends to suggest that this is more likely than not, and your facts state that the experts have stated that you are not a risk to the child, therefore, the court should not reduce your custody, absent some other facts that you haven't mentioned.

However, judges sometimes don't play by the rules, and challenge you to appeal their rulings.

>
>2. Can me not being able to work because of my disabilty cause
>the court to decrease time with my son because of money
>issues?

No. Custody and support are supposed to be separate issues. Custody is determined first, and then support ordered based on the State guildelines.

>
>3. Does the court have to use the disomaster to come up with
>the CS figure? If so and its 50% me and 50% her and she makes
>a lot more then me will she have to pay me support?

Yes, unless she demonstrates that you have earning capacity beyond your actual income.

>
>4. Is there any court cases that have rerences to a person
>whom has a disability that the court ordered that equal
>custody will be allowed and that the disability nor the
>financial limitations keep a parent from being able to be
>equally involved in their childs life?

None that I can recall at the moment.

>
>5. She doesnt want to agree to right of first refusal in our
>custody agreement. Is there a reason why someone would not
>want that clause in there?

If I could read a woman's mind at a distance, I could rule the world by this weekend. You'll have to ask the other parent for the reason.

>
>6. I have voice mail recordings of my sons mother, saying
>"He's mine all mine, I have him full custody, I will let you
>see him when I want and tell you when you can see, I will tell
>you how I want to be paid and how I want to get paid support",
>and a message where she was drinking and driving and picked up
>our son that night. Can I use these in court and if so is
>there protocol tha I have to follow to enter them as evidence
>or exibits? Ie. Forms, documents, permissions from court and
>so forth. And lastley and court casses showing that voice
>mails are not hear say?

A voice mail is admissible because the recorded party knows that they are being recorded and thereby impliedly consents to the making of that recording. Assuming that the evidence is relevant to an issue before the court (and I think that it is relevent to demonstrating that the other parent is bent on denying you your custodial rights, against the child's best interests, then:

Hire a certified court reporter to transcribe the recordings -- that way the judge will know that the transcriptions are  true copies of the original, and the court reporter won't have to try to transcribe the tape while you're playing it in the courtroom.

Place the other parent on the witness stand, and ask her specifically if she remembers making each of the statements that you wish to offer into evidence. Then, if she says, No, remind her that she is under oath, and ask her if she is certain, because if she is discovered to be lying, then she could be found in contempt or charged with the crime of perjury. She may say, that she can't recall, but it doesn't make much difference.

Then, excuse her temporarily from testifying, and tell the court that you have an audio recording of a voicemail from the other parent and a certified transcript of the recording (hopefully, you have saved the original recording in the voicemail system, in case the other party contends that you have modified the original) that will impeach the witness's testimony. Then ask if you can play it for the court. Then, you ask that the record reflect that the statements on the recording are each exactly as just previously denied by the witness.

You must also, play enough of the tape to identify that the voice is actually the witness, i.e., hopefully, the person on the tape identifies herself as the child's mother.

Then you must recall the witness and ask her if the voice on the tape is hers, and if she would like to change her testimony. She may say no, or that she doesn't remember. If she does, then you could play back a portion of the tape, and ask her to repeat the words with the same inflection. If it sounds the same, you can ask that the record reflect that the witness sounds the same as the voice on the tape.

However, most likely, the witness will be crying uncontrollably. If she has an attorney, the attorney will most likely have already stopped the proceedings in order to prevent the witness from incriminating herself under oath.

Be warned, if you can do all of this without an attorney, then your talent in the courtroom will seriously damage your credibility re your claims of panic disorder. If I were the judge, and you pulled this off, I would note in the record, that your disability evidently doesn't prevent you from being an extremely effective public speaker or from representing yourself in court, and that therefore, you should be capable of WORKING to pay child support.

[jpantel]

Thanks Soc.

I will not be at the court hearing I have been approved to be present to the hearing via telephone. My lawyer will be doing all of the questioning and so forth. My disability keeps me from being able to attend the hearing in person.

1. Is there a free court transcribing service? Or a fairly cheap one that you can refer me to in California?

I need to get those voicemails transcribed like you said right away.

[socrateaser]

>Thanks Soc.
>
>I will not be at the court hearing I have been approved to be
>present to the hearing via telephone. My lawyer will be doing
>all of the questioning and so forth. My disability keeps me
>from being able to attend the hearing in person.
>
>1. Is there a free court transcribing service? Or a fairly
>cheap one that you can refer me to in California?

Free? No. You can find certified court reporters in the yellow pages, or you can call the county courthouse's court reporter's department and ask for a reference.