Can I get a new Judge assigned?

[Goodmom1]

What is the name of your state? Georgia
I believe the judge assigned to my case is giving my ex husband's attorney the benefit of the doubt a little too much. My ex-husband got custody of my daughter on 03/09/07. He accused me of drug use and abuse in which he video taped her saying. After a long 9 month time frame, I passed a drug test, passed a polygraph test, proved that my daughter was forced and bribed into saying that I hit her on video, DFCS investigated my home and found no evidence of abuse. I did everything I was suppose to do. I do not abuse my child. However after not being able to even come close to a settlement, the judge (with only the attorney's present) decided to give my ex shared physical custody...50/50 split. How does this happen? Can they do this without me being present? Now my court date which was scheduled for 11/21/07 is postponed until June 08 or the end of my 4 year old child's school year.

I guess what I am asking is...Can I get a second opinion? Can I file a seperate case? The psychiatrist that did the custody evaluation found the only abuse that was done was done by my ex and his mother. He said that they were essentially brainwashing my daughter. Could I use that to file a separate motion? Or who do I call if I dont feel this is being treated fairly?

 

[Ohiogal]

What is the name of your state? Georgia
I believe the judge assigned to my case is giving my ex husband's attorney the benefit of the doubt a little too much. My ex-husband got custody of my daughter on 03/09/07. He accused me of drug use and abuse in which he video taped her saying. After a long 9 month time frame, I passed a drug test, passed a polygraph test, proved that my daughter was forced and bribed into saying that I hit her on video, DFCS investigated my home and found no evidence of abuse. I did everything I was suppose to do. I do not abuse my child. However after not being able to even come close to a settlement, the judge (with only the attorney's present) decided to give my ex shared physical custody...50/50 split. How does this happen? Can they do this without me being present? Now my court date which was scheduled for 11/21/07 is postponed until June 08 or the end of my 4 year old child's school year.

I guess what I am asking is...Can I get a second opinion? Can I file a seperate case? The psychiatrist that did the custody evaluation found the only abuse that was done was done by my ex and his mother. He said that they were essentially brainwashing my daughter. Could I use that to file a separate motion? Or who do I call if I dont feel this is being treated fairly?

Joint custody is the norm anymore. Your complaint is you are getting your child 50% of the time and not 20% of 80%? good grief. Why wasn't your attorney there? Why weren't you there? Why did it take you NINE MONTHS to pass a drug test and a polygraph? What kind of visitation did you have?

 

[Goodmom1]

I passed the drug test within 3 days, the polygraph within 2 weeks. The legal system is what drug this out. On June 22 - we had an emergency hearing after the custody evaluation came back that in fact my ex was abusing our child by brainwashing her against me. The judge allowed them to then put restrictions on my husband instead of me. They decided that day that I was no longer under supervised visitation - but my now husband has to be supervised because he had a DUI that he didnt tell the evaluator about. I had supervised visits every other day before that. NOTHING has been done since June 22 except that the final hearing date was canceled 2 times by my ex's attorney.
This story is very long and I'm sure you would agree with me if I had time to explain the whole situation.
My attorney WAS at this last meeting with the judge where they came to a decision. I WAS NOT. I did not even know they were meeting.
I want 80% custody of my child because until this ordeal - he had nothing to do with my daughter. She had NEVER stayed the night with him but rather with his mother. He didn't even know where we lived. His mother watched her every day after school and is the one behind this crazy scheme (she is the only other person in the videos). Everyone agreed with that including DFCS, the guardian ad litem, the psychiatrist and the parenting coach. I have all of this documented and it was supposed to be presented to the judge.

What I need to know is - Is there a way to get a second opinion? Get another judge assigned? OR who can I call to have it looked at. I'm sure you are skeptical because you dont know all of the details. I need some help! I am in a small town where everybody knows your name. My ex is a very prominent business owner who is very well known. He and his father were recently in a BIG deal for giving illegal campaign contributions to a state solicitor if you catch my drift.... ANY HELP would be greatly appreciated.

 

[LdiJ]

I passed the drug test within 3 days, the polygraph within 2 weeks. The legal system is what drug this out. On June 22 - we had an emergency hearing after the custody evaluation came back that in fact my ex was abusing our child by brainwashing her against me. The judge allowed them to then put restrictions on my husband instead of me. They decided that day that I was no longer under supervised visitation - but my now husband has to be supervised because he had a DUI that he didnt tell the evaluator about. I had supervised visits every other day before that. NOTHING has been done since June 22 except that the final hearing date was canceled 2 times by my ex's attorney.
This story is very long and I'm sure you would agree with me if I had time to explain the whole situation.
My attorney WAS at this last meeting with the judge where they came to a decision. I WAS NOT. I did not even know they were meeting.
I want 80% custody of my child because until this ordeal - he had nothing to do with my daughter. She had NEVER stayed the night with him but rather with his mother. He didn't even know where we lived. His mother watched her every day after school and is the one behind this crazy scheme (she is the only other person in the videos). Everyone agreed with that including DFCS, the guardian ad litem, the psychiatrist and the parenting coach. I have all of this documented and it was supposed to be presented to the judge.

What I need to know is - Is there a way to get a second opinion? Get another judge assigned? OR who can I call to have it looked at. I'm sure you are skeptical because you dont know all of the details. I need some help! I am in a small town where everybody knows your name. My ex is a very prominent business owner who is very well known. He and his father were recently in a BIG deal for giving illegal campaign contributions to a state solicitor if you catch my drift.... ANY HELP would be greatly appreciated.

The proceedure to disagree with a court ruling is to file an appeal. You honestly need to do that and you need to be within the time frame to do so. Get a consult ASAP...Monday morning if possible, with an attorney who is not located in your small town, but within a neighboring town or county.

 

[escape2paradise]

It sounds like the 50/50 you have now is temporary, is that correct? Are you going to trial in June or is it just another hearing? If this is a temporary order the judge is probably having 50/50 now to see how each of you behaves and how things go with the child.

People who go to the lengths your X is usually don't give up this easily. He is likely to try more lying more accusations etc...Unlucky for your child, but lucky for you. All of his antics are likely going to screw him in the end. It is hard to have patience when you see all this going on and it seems the legal system is not responding as harshly as you would expect. The system is set up to give parents multiple chances and time to straighten their act up. If the X continues like he has, the court will tire of it and he will lose.

I'm going through the same thing with the X now and he is in a downward spiral. Each time we have been back to court he loses a little more and instead of getting a clue he ramps it up. Give it time, if your X is what you describe he will hang himself. Hold on, behave yourself, show you are the concerned parent, the logical parent and the parent who is willing to foster a relationship with the other parent. If you speak to the GAL about the issues of the X alienating talk mainly about how it is affecting your child. Don't focus on how it is hurting you. You voice to the GAL that you want what is best for your child, which is both parents who support the relationship with the other. Hang in there and good luck!

 

[Goodmom1]

Thank you so much! As far as I know this is temporary. And yes, my attorney said the judge just want to see how it goes. I just feel so helpless. I feel like I am doing a disservice to my child if I just sit back and let the cards fall where they may. But then I cant do anything about it. All of these decisions are being made for me. I did absolutely nothing wrong. I feel like it shouldn't take as long as it has. I feel like I'm winning - the judge did order my ex to start paying child support again (not reduced) and pay for the private school she is in. It is good to know that other people have been through this and I'm not the only one being picked on

I think I will consult an attorney in a neighboring town just to make sure I am doing the right thing and there have been no "behind the scenes" stuff going on.

Thanks again for your help.