Got a continuance today - suggestions?

[socrateaser]

Legally, the ball is in your court at the moment. You can, but you don't have to, respond to her OSC. So, if you're waiting for opposing counsel to brief the court a second time, you may be mistaken. I would contact him/her and ask if he/she intends to supplement the existing pleading prior to the hearing, and if so, when can you expect to get the brief.

Figure your answer will be noncommittal, but he/she will be thinking, I've got him cause he'll wait forever and never develop a response. Meanwhile you will write a response, and get your ducks in a row, and then you will file it the day before the hearing and hand it to opposing counsel in the hallway. That way, your stuff is in the judge's hands at the hearing, but your opponent never got to read it in advance...which is exactly what he/she did to you.

Obviously, if he/she serves a supplimental brief on you early, then you should probably respond to it timely, but otherwise, what's good for the goose, etc.

But, otherwise, you can say, "Your honor, I wrote opposing counsel and asked if he/she intended to supplement the OSC brief, and he/she said yes, so I waited and waited, and finally I had no choice but to draft a response because I never received anything."

[DecentDad]

I'm seeing that if i just use my first email, and her first response, it completely eliminates the "bickering" tone but accomplishes the goal of showing that I think her security objects are important and that mom replied (i.e., an uncaring parent wouldn't have sent the email requesting them).

I like your idea of asking the court for help, as I've never withheld security objects, and I really don't know what to do with the constant accusation.

Thanks for all your 2 cents X 1,000.  So that puts another $20 on my tab.

[DecentDad]

Court gave me until April 28 to respond, then gave opposing counsel until morning of the hearing (May 2) to reply.

I can respond and destroy nearly all of it (as I've done before).  I just need a little luck that teacher will have the ole Catholic guilt and want to fix this mess that she created.

[hagatha]

Guys,

I would assume this new pleading rests solely on the teachers declaration regarding what child expressed to her at school.  Other than that, this is just a rehash of several old petitions that have been dismissed.

So, is there a copy of the teachers statement that was supplied to you?

Are you ABSOLUTELY sure the teacher wrote this statement?

If, in fact the teacher did write the statement, was mother standing there, while child told teacher this story?

Has child ever said anything to teacher outside mothers presense about her feeling about time with you?

I have to tell you, my first thought was the statement was bogas and the teacher didn't write anything. (We had similar situations) And your meeting with her and the principal will be very interesting.

As far as the legalities. . .

 If the statement from the teacher were to be proven bogas, can the mother and/or her attorney be held liable for and monies DD would have spent to rebut this petition?

Can either be charged with anything since the bulk of the pleading is the same as previous pleadings, and this is just a way to harrass DD?

Can a Judge issue an order that the mother cannot petition the court again using anything stated in any prior pleadings?

The Witch
Remember . . . KARMA is a Wonderful Thing!!!!!

[socrateaser]

> If the statement from the teacher were to be proven bogas,
>can the mother and/or her attorney be held liable for and
>monies DD would have spent to rebut this petition?

Ordinarily, I would dismiss this possibility out of hand, but in CA, unlike in most jurisdictions, a declaration does not have to be notarized, so it's quite possible to phony one up.

The attorney should have confirmed the statement of the teacher before offering it to the court. This is not necessarily a breach of ethical duties, but it could be, if it were substanitally willful, reckless or repeated. If the declaration were found fraudulent, the other party would probably be referred to the DA for prosecution on a perjury charge, and ordered to pay reasonable attorney fees (except that in this case, DD has no attorney fees, because he's pro se). As for the attorney, it would depend on the facts -- I doubt whether this attorney would be held responsible, but who knows.

>Can either be charged with anything since the bulk of the
>pleading is the same as previous pleadings, and this is just a
>way to harrass DD?

See above.

>
>Can a Judge issue an order that the mother cannot petition the
>court again using anything stated in any prior pleadings?

Res Judicata is only applied where a case is decided previously on its merits. DD's prior actions were decided without trial, so the evidence remains unresolved by the court and admissible in a new action.

[DecentDad]

>So, is there a copy of the teachers statement that was
>supplied to you?

Yes

>Are you ABSOLUTELY sure the teacher wrote this statement?

Likely.  It's on school letterhead and with her signature.

>If, in fact the teacher did write the statement, was mother
>standing there, while child told teacher this story?

It's an unknown, though mother claims she was summoned to the school.  No way of knowing what was said in mother's presence.

>Has child ever said anything to teacher outside mothers
>presense about her feeling about time with you?

Likely, but it's not mentioned.

>Can a Judge issue an order that the mother cannot petition the
>court again using anything stated in any prior pleadings?

Ironically, biomom filed pleadings with issues dating back five years.  Yet when judge granted continuance, her attorney asked the judge to restrict me to only current, relevant issues.  I told judge that I'd restrict my response to issues mom raised, and he was fine with that.