Appeal Trial
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My husband currently has joint legal custody and primary physical custody of my stepson. He received this about 1 1/2 years ago mostly due to abuse he sustained by his stepfather. The childs mother continued to stay and have more children with the stepfather. we recently went to court for her visitation where she received supervised due to her actions and recommendations from the childs therapist. The stepfather is not allowed any contact whatsoever. The mother is appealing this ruling and I would like to know how this process works. It is a true appeal from J&D to curcuit court with a new trial
ok, Thank you.We did have a
ok, Thank you.We did have a GAL assigned to the case as well who is going to be reassigned. He also had the same recommendations and included the therapist recommendations in his report. Should we subpena the therapist to be at the appeal?
If she is appealing the
If she is appealing the ruling, the onus is on her to prove judicial error/misconduct/etc. Most states have time limits on when a person can file an appeal, a year and half is a really, really long time. What state are you in?
She is appealing the
She is appealing the Visitation case which was heard in August. This case is being heard by circuit court and I do know that she does have a right to another trial in our state (Virginia)
Normally appeals don't
Normally appeals don't include new evidence, witnesses, etc. They are more by pleading, argument and showing of error. So anything not submitted or subpoenaed for the original trial is inadmissible.
A new trial (de novo) is not in fact a "true appeal" but a separate hearing to be heard by a different judge. Please treat this as an entirely new proceeding, not an appeal - you will save yourself much headache by hiring an attorney with this specific terminology in mind. This is NOT an appeal in the traditional legal sense.
Prepare for a two to four day trial with evidence from both sides, therapists can be brought in by both sides and the GAL's recommendation will carry heavy weight. What do you mean, the GAL is being reassigned? Is a new GAL being appointed? If so, this person should contact you (or you them) ASAP. Treat the GAL as having much of the burden of judgment - because they do. Courts and judges highly respect GALs and treat their recommendations as fairly conclusive.
Has stepdad been charged with the abuse in either the juvenile courts or the criminal courts?
Thank you for clearifying
Thank you for clearifying about an "appeal" , words the judge used. The GAL has been the same GAL assinged to their cases since my husband received custody. After he received custody the mother moved to Texas for 6 months then returned to VA for 6 months before filing for visitation with the courts. My husband and her were working it out prior to that. The same GAL was assinged to the visitation case at the request of our attorney. Since August we have had no contact with the GAL. We have a hearing date set for NOV 7th just to set the actual trial date. Their was a founded case ofchild abuse from CPS. The child has not been legally allowed around the stepdad for 2 years.
The mother has supervised visitation currently which she does not agree with. The supervisors who were mentioned in the order (her parents) have decided they do not want that responsibility to monitor their daughter b/c they disagree with it. The child's therapist recommends the child have supervised visitation at a facility. In the mean time the mother essentially has no visitation any longer due to having no supervisors. My husband stated he would meet her at a neutral location or she is welcome to use a facility but she refuses. She even filed a show cause against him for not allowing unsupervised visitation. It's just a never ending battle.