Friday, October 14, 2011

Not jailed today

I just got out of court where I was to be sentenced for contempt of court. The charges were dropped, and I have not been jailed.

We were scheduled to appear before Judge Heather D. Morse at 10:30. There was one case going on at the time, with a mom and dad both represented by lawyers. The facts were not in dispute. The court keeps sending them to mediation with Mellissa Berrenge, who then recommends a plan that they both accept. But then the mom reneges on the plan, and they end up back in court.

Judge Morse did not seem to get it, and sent them back to Berrenge again, and said that they should agree on a plan. The dad's lawyer explained again that this did not work before, and asked that Berrenge's recommendation become the order of the court. The mom's lawyer did not object. Judge Morse continued to say that they ought to agree on what Berrenge says. Finally, the dad's lawyer offered to write up the order. Again, the mom's lawyer did not object. It is not clear to me that the judge really ruled in his favor, but since he gets to write up the order, I guess that it is going to work out that way.

No one mentioned the underlying legal problem, which was that California law prohibits a family court judge from delegating a decision to a private shrink like Berrenge. Berrenge would make a horrible judge, and there is no due process for whatever she may decide in her private office. So maybe that is why Judge Morse did not explicitly say that she was delegating the decision to Berrenge.

This was really a simple case. If the parents are really agreeable to letting Berrenge dictate their plan, then all they have to do is to bring the plan back to court and get it ordered. Judge Morse seemed incapable of doing the obvious.

My case started at 11:00. Judge Morse noticed that my ex-wife, Julie Travers, was sitting on the opposite side from the plaintiff's side where she usually sits. Judge Morse said that I faced sentencing on two counts, unless they were cured.

The first count was money, where I contested two amounts. Julie wanted to pay for her half of Ken Perlmutter's evaluation, and for half of our daughter's orthodontic treatment. At the contempt trial in August, Judge Morse said that I was never ordered to pay her half of the evaluation, and I did not have to pay that. I only had to pay my half of the $19,000 evaluation, and pay all of his $9,000 in witness fees. The judge also said that I had not been ordered to pay orthodontic fees, but that she would order it if Julie produced evidence that the treatment was necessary. Julie produced a bad xerox of dental xrays, and Judge Morse announced halfway thru the contempt trial that she could see that my daughter had too many teeth, and ordered me to pay for the treatment. Two hours later, she found me in contempt for not paying. I still don't see how I could be in contempt for not paying something that was never ordered until the contempt trial, but that is what happened.

Today, I said that I paid the money. Julie agreed that I paid it, altho she refused to admit that it was for orthodontic treatment. I don't know why she said that, as that was the only issue she won on. But she agreed that I paid, and the judge said that count was purged.

Next, Judge Morse said the much more complicated issue was count no. 2, as that involved posted personally identifying info about our daughters on the web, such as pictures, and that had to be weighed against my free speech rights. Julie explained that info about the kids was not at issue. She said that her only concern was a report by Connie Jo Neustadter that said that I was an excellent father and that strongly recommended joint custody, and a posting on this blog that briefly quoted a Ken Perlmutter report on how Julie got temporary sole legal custody of our kids. As she explained at the contempt trial, she did not like the Neustadter report because I had pointed out that the report was done to comply with an order of the court and she did not like there to be anything online to suggest that the court had found me to be a good father. She did not like the Perlmutter quote because it proves that she lied to Perlmutter about having already gotten sole legal custody when she had not, and because it shows that he was either incompetent or corrupt.

I have a regular commenter who talks about finding a smoking gun for incompetence or corruption. This quote is a smoking gun, and I was ordered to remove it from the blog.

Judge Morse acknowledged at the August contempt trial that I had not been ordered to remove these items before the trial, but she found me in contempt at the end of the trial for not having removed them.

Today, Julie acknowledged that I had removed the two things that she had complained about, and Judge Morse purged that contempt count also.

Before dismissing us, Judge Morse asked us how the visits were going, and that opened a can of worms. Julie said that I was getting two supervised visits a week, one for each kid separately, except that she canceled yesterday's visit on account of the kid playing basketball. I said that I was going to bring a motion to improve the situation, and then we got into an argument about whether I was prohibited from bringing motions for two years. I said that we only had temporary custody orders, and that even if there were a permanent custody order in effect, I would not be prohibited from bringing a motion. Julie said that I was prohibited. Judge Morse said that she wanted to protect the kids from litigation, and see how much progress we make on our own. She said that maybe we could go to mediation, but that it was entirely at Julie's discretion. Judge Morse also said that the kids need to work out their feelings in counseling. I pointed out that they were not in counseling, but she said that the supervised visits were like counseling. They are nothing like counseling. In the last couple of visits, the supervisor just read a book for two hours and never said a word beyond hello at the beginning and goodbye at the end. For that, she gets $100 each visit.

As a practical matter, I believe that the clerk will let me file a motion, but if it goes before Judge Morse, she will surely refuse it. I think that I will file a motion anyway. On my way out I asked Julie if she were willing to discuss unsupervised visits, and she said that it was out of the question.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would blow my head off if I had to go through one day of this kind of crap. I can't even read this stuff but women seem to eat it up and can't get enough of it. That's why the chick keeps breaking the agreements so she can keep going back to court. That is where she gets to be the movie star. Even her lawyer sounds so sick of the bullshit that there are no objections probably hoping she will get another lawyer.

George said...

I don't know why her lawyer was so lame. Maybe she was too stupid to know that she could object. Maybe she didn't want to admit that the mom broke the deal. Maybe she is satisfied that the mom is getting her way anyway, and did not want to rock the boat. To me, the lawyer seems useless if she is not even going to say anything in court.

Anonymous said...

God bless you and your kids George.

I'm curious to hear what your readers may respond with after reading my take on what I'll call judge Morse's variety of fare layed out for you at the "all you can rant about buffet" court today.

You passed on filling up on any of the dental xray wierdness, and Julie not willing to admit to receiving money for dental work.

Julie lied to Perlmutter about the custody. Well, the stupid saying, "lying doesn't make her a bad mother, does it ? or she misspoke, or since Perlmutter is incompetent, maybe he misunderstood that she said that, whatever..

You have Perlmutter holding the smoking gun. Perlmutter competently, or incompetently, or corruptly, succeded in receiving a court order to have you pay him 18,500.00, with you falling short of proving he's corrupt, so he's incompetent, except at receiving 28,000 for what he did.

Like corrupt or incompetent Dr. Bret Johnson, he was paid. So, now Perlmutter and his incompetent effort is to be dismissed. What is to remedy or replace this ? A new evaluator, and evaluation ?

When's was the last time Morse or another judge brought mediation to you and Julie ? It came up today, coincidentally, right after, it could of been not made more clear how Berrenge and mediation was the dumbest , useless course of action, you witnessed right before you were up.

Skip the contempt crap...it's pure diversion.


Counseling for the kids..."like the babysitter supervisor" ? Well, what' going give food for rage, and rant to Geore more than pressing for cunseling for his kids, for problems that are not even identified, or known, right after proving that you'd paid 18,500 to the incompetent Perlmutter ? How is saying that the counseing is like the supervisor not a well crafted phrase intended to incite rage from
you by her employing the most absurd of reasoniong for it ?

Now, btw...how can you not rant that meiation can't be mediation at all if the mediation is at one party's discretion ?

I'm on your side George, but I think the judge just served you up as much to write about as she could.

seems too eas to prov how stupid they'e beng...

Anonymous said...

I saw the original post just after it was posted. I wanted to leave comments but I felt like 5:32pm comments.

I am sad to see children and parents are put through this circus.

How much of your children's future prospective money (legal fees of both parents, time, resources, direct and indirect costs, and stress) have blown for the family courts?

The president sent 100 member US troops team to fight against thugs and rogues who have been terrorizing children and adults. These are crimes against humanity. Did he send them to fight family courts and affiliates who have been committing crimes against children for decades in US? Did he?

Anonymous said...

George,

Forget about how it ended up that there's a court record of you being in contempt for not paying your share of dr. and dentists bills, while julie is on record of paying her half of them....

Consider more, the peculiar sequence of events and inconsistencies involving how it turned out that you ended up with a record of being found in contempt for not paying the dr. and dentist and Julie was "forced" to get a court orders to force you to.

Why are you being found in contempt of court for not paying for things that you were told you weren't supposed to be rsponsible for paying if it's not with their intention to "decorate the court's files" with headlines of you being in contempt ?





I still don't see how I could be in contempt for not paying something that was never ordered until the contempt trial, but that is what happened.Judge Morse said that

I was never ordered to pay her half of the evaluation, and I did not have to pay that. I only had to pay my half of the $19,000 evaluation, and pay all of his $9,000 in witness fees. The judge also said that I had not been ordered to pay orthodontic fees,

Anonymous said...

George,

Forget about how it ended up that there's a court record of you being in contempt for not paying your share of dr. and dentists bills, while julie is on record of paying her half of them....

Consider more, the peculiar sequence of events and inconsistencies involving how it turned out that you ended up with a record of being found in contempt for not paying the dr. and dentist and Julie was "forced" to get a court orders to force you to.

Why are you being found in contempt of court for not paying for things that you were told you weren't supposed to be rsponsible for paying if it's not with their intention to "decorate the court's files" with headlines of you being in contempt ?





I still don't see how I could be in contempt for not paying something that was never ordered until the contempt trial, but that is what happened.Judge Morse said that

I was never ordered to pay her half of the evaluation, and I did not have to pay that. I only had to pay my half of the $19,000 evaluation, and pay all of his $9,000 in witness fees. The judge also said that I had not been ordered to pay orthodontic fees,

Anonymous said...

George, your dealings with Morse make me dizzy! How did she ever get to be judge? Yeah, she would've been good in the criminal court whence she came, but Family Court? She's clueless! Judge Canti-Sakauye sees Santa Cruz Superior Court as one of the best run in the state. Based on what? BTW: when my son and his ex had to have an evaluation by Johnson, Morse said they had to agree with whatever Johnson came up with. In other words, Morse gave over the responsibility for awarding custody to an inept, incompetent psychologist. So typically Morse.

Anonymous said...

IT'S ALL THEATRE.. THE DUMBER THEY LOOK, THE LESS THEY ARE SUSPECTED OF BEING CORRUPT, MAYBE ?

THE JUDGES ARE FROM MATCHBOOK COVER LAW SCHOOLS AND CAN'T GET CLIENTS. THEY ARE INSTALLED BY LOCAL ATTORNEYS TO CREATE FEES FOR THE ATTORNEYS AND THE EVALUATORS, AND COUNSELORS, ETC..

THE EVALUATORS LIKE JOHNSON, ARE IN THE YELLOW PAGES AND COME FROM FLUNKY SCHOOLS TOO AND COULD NEVER GET CLIENTS IF NOT FOR THE COURT FEEDING THEM EVAL.S ETC. WHICH SERVE THE LAWYERS TO PROTRACT IT ALL AND MAKE THE MOST MONEY FOR ALL INVOLVED..

Anonymous said...

How is it that the biggest idiots we come accross in life, are the same person we end up handing the most money we've ever paid anything for in our life ?

They're not stupid, they're thieves, who've built a system to get away with stealing.

Anonymous said...

HERE IS THE TRUTH about judge appointments

((GOD HELP Children and innocents ON THIS corruption))

Santa Clara county judge informing judge had to get 100 e.g lawyers recommendations to get his position. In addition, judge claims she/he belongs to one particular political party, has to get support of DAs, police chief to be nominated as judge.

What is the application and review process like for a judge position on the Superior Court Bench?

A: Oh, very serious. The process is run by the Judicial Nominee Evaluation Commission, the JNE Commission, and the application alone is a daunting 60 pages long. I had to submit names, addresses, and phone numbers for virtually every lawyer I had tried a case against, and submit upwards of 100 names of people who were familiar with my work, and my temperament, I guess. And the names I provided were certainly followed up on – a lot of people told me that they got questionnaires that JNE puts out.

In addition to that I did contact our ***district attorney and asked him if he would be willing to ****endorse my candidacy***. I got the endorsement of our ***Sheriff***and several **judges and several attorneys who wrote letters on my behalf***. I felt as though it was a very thorough process, and ultimately, the interview by the appointment advisor in Sacramento was the final stage. You spend an hour being interviewed by a judiciary committee of the local bar.


Q: Describe how your career has led to your judicial appointment.

A: Well my career began as a deputy district attorney, for three years. Then I spent 25 years with .... as a labor and employment lawyer, and my last year there I sent in an application, after the recall election. ***I’m a Republican, so if there had been a Republican governor***, I would have submitted my application sooner because it’s something I’ve always been interested in doing.

And so I submitted my application in April 2004 after ***Governor Schwarzenegger was elected***. I didn’t hear anything for months, and so I accepted an opportunity to go to a very nice firm. Shortly thereafter, however, I got the call to come interview in Sacremento. A day before my 57th birthday, I got a call that I had been appointed.

Anonymous said...

HERE WHAT 8:55 comments JUDGE's performance after appointed and worked in family court

1) The most biased and unfair judge I've ever seen, needless to mention that he is not familiar with the family law.

2)He has a glazed look in court.Always looks like he is just going through the motionS with his cases, having already made up his mind about these case so does not bother to really listen to the issues.

3) The most clearly biased judge I have ever witnessed. Clearly - this judge should not be in family law - as his background is employment law. Does not read the papers filed before rendering a decision. Does not remember previous judgements he made in a prior hearing; comes unprepared for court; and is clearly showing favoritism and bias. Seems just in a rush to go to lunch if you have the unlucky circumstance of your case around lunchtime.

4) He is considered as corrupt, verbally abusive with anger tantrums and restless in the court room. He is very verbally abusive in court room with extreme impatience. Plays favorites with lawyers. Many lawyers hated him

5) Many parents and lawyers have to apply preemptive filings to dismiss him from their cases

He destroyed so many children in the Santa Clara county. He moved away and popped up i believe in civil court (it could be just rotation)

His performance below
Vote if you believe this judge is the worst judge:
Total # of Votes: 15

http://www.courthouseforum.com/

Anonymous said...

Maybe the braces issue will be used to rewrite history about you.

I still don't see how I could be in contempt for not paying something that was never ordered until the contempt trial, but that is what happened.

Anonymous said...

(This was one of the worst judge in family court system while being appointed for that post made the comments below)

Q: How would you comment on this judge selection process?

A: I’m very impressed with my colleagues – the process works. A lot of judges, probably a dozen or more, judges on the bench, ***were colleagues of mine*** in the D.A.’s office. Several of them were elected, but I am really impressed with the work ethic and ***integrity*** of everyone on this bench.


Fellows,
Where is the checks and balances for judges. They derive recommendations from lawyers for the post.

Could we get their application submitted to judicial appointment? Do they give that out? I want to see if the same judge later has conducted cases with lawyers who recommended judge for post?

All my scans about their posting sounds liked from start system is rigged to take advantages.

BCDad said...

After 5 years of this precise kind of hell, I've decided to give up; the orders which keep getting piled on guarantee I'll eventually end up in prison for contempt. Tough for my kids, but no way I can deal with 12 more years of this shit.
BCDad

Anonymous said...

Hold on there. It is brutal and unacceptable. Try connect with others. No one should take rights of parents. We understand you.

Anonymous said...

BCDaD,

I'm in the same situation, prison or death...

Lots of kind support from people online, but they can't actually help with our predicament.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately almost none helps any one. That is the common there claimed on internet during divorce. I faced the same. They're are all burned out, washed out,isolated, traumatized, withdrawn or run-away problems. That is what I observed. No money, no speech in the system. We need hold people responsible.

We need to connect and resurrect them through common goals, provide emotional support, do impact litigation, start revolution to stop abuses of family courts immediately.

Anonymous said...

Your sentiment is wonderful, as is your goal, and immmediate time frame.

The problem is for those of us with nothing, there is not resources or practical help for our current situation.

leavesandtwigs said...

I just submitted a comment about CJ Neustadter, but realize I forgot to enable notifications for a response. Any information you are willing to share is greatly appreciated. We have filed a complaint about her with her licensing board and the recommendations for custody and visitation that she has put in place have created a daily nightmare for us.

George said...

My email address is on the blog, if you want to send me the complaint.