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Court Hearings 2003 Patricia filed for Divorce in February of 2002. Between her filing and our Final Decree in December of 2004 we averaged a hearing a month. We spent time in Family Court, Domestic Violence, Civil, Bankruptcy and finally Criminal. The majority of hearings were recorded and are public record. May 20, 2003
Every hearing in 2003 proved emotionally draining, but the May hearing proved the worse of a horrible lot. We undertook our second psychological evaluation but this time I actually felt that I could exert a little parental responsibility. First, I would not allow another parenting plan that would split the children – end of discussion. When Dr. Zieman decided to complete the second evaluation from that basis, I refused. When the Guardian Ad Litem ordered me to split the kids, I refused and asked him to schedule a hearing with the Judge. Dr. Zieman decided to back down because he ‘discovered’ Patricia had lied to him about several key points. Unknown to me at the time, other parents accused Dr. Zieman of drug addiction while undertaking these evaluations. (http://www.family-justice.org/drzieman.htm). I do not enjoy any specific information on the truth of this, but neither the children nor I thought highly of his intelligence. Second, although I fought with the Guardian Ad Litem, I held a great deal of respect for him and our life would have been ten times worse except for his wisdom. Unfortunately, others recognized this wisdom and the Governor appoint him to a district judge position. This meant we needed a new GAL --- NOT!!!. I completely opposed the appointment of a new GAL for several reasons. First and foremost Patricia had lost most of her parenting rights and responsibilities which left the responsibility for all parenting decisions with me for the previous six months. Why did I need to pay a lawyer to help me raise the kids? Patricia did not even have a legal basis to argue with me and was without specific knowledge to judge my actions. I reminded everyone that all parties, except Patricia, had known and gone through our lives for over a year and the only criticism of my parenting was that the children knew too much. A new GAL would give Patricia a new audience and she always made an excellent first impression, we might even loose ground until the new GAL figured her out. A version of this came eerily true later in the year. Finally, John Romero could have honestly billed another twenty thousand dollars for his work. He did bill thirteen thousand. I simply could not afford another GAL. I put my foot down. I told my attorney and John that if another GAL was appointed I would appeal and refuse to cooperate. If you read my article on GALs and look at the family justice website, you will see that the system is vulnerable and under attack. No one wanted this taken to Santa Fe. Zieman stuck to his guns and called for a GAL and out of nowhere the Judge brings up the fact that it is not practical. A clear sign that someone discussed this with her before hand and that was when Patricia did not have an attorney. Zieman refused to provide a copy of the report before the hearing. It was not a question of time, as he lied to the judge; it was him not wanting to deal with Patricia and I. The parenting plan was mine, I had pushed for Patricia and Glen to work on their relationship together and I wanted Patricia to reengage in the children’s lives. I was horribly wrong on both points. It is difficult not to feel sorry for Patricia as one listens to the beginning of this hearing. She went into this hearing telling everyone that she was getting the kids back and the ‘truth’ about me and Glen would be coming out in the hearing. And Zieman simply would not tell her why he would not recommend her parenting the children; he simply dodged the issue and refused to answer. I began to ask myself how much the system had contributed to our problems She went from shock to anger pretty quickly, using her time to attack me. Lie after lie started out of her mouth accusing me of various misdeeds, along with her ten year old daughter. It got bad enough at the end where Judge Jewel accused Patricia or stating that she would not see the kids unless she got money. Of course, despite the judge asking for an opinion on if the kids should return to the family home, Zieman’s letter did not say anything.
Court Order arising out of this hearing with attached parenting plan
© 2006 Stephen A. Avery |
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