 Court date in another state.
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington
Hello, here is my situation that I am facing.
I am divorced with two children ages 5 and 6 and have been unemployed since April of this year. I had lived in Utah for the past nine years and just recently moved to Washington where my family resides to find work. My children and I had been planning to visit my family since last year, but since I had lost my job and was not finding work, I decided to move to Washington on the first of August of this year with assistance from my family. The plans were set and already paid for by the beginning of July.
One morning during the middle of July, my kids and I were playing together and my son (5) and I were playing "you can't catch me daddy" so we were running around the house, like we had done numerous times before. Unfortunetly, this time while my son and I were running through the kitchen my son tripped and fell down hard in front of me while I was chasing him, and since I could not stop in time I ran into him with my feet from behind while he was on the floor which made him slide across the floor and onto the metal transition strip seperating the kitchen floor from the living room carpet. My poor lil guy not only ended up with a couple of scratches to his forehead from the transition strip, but a lump from his fall and a small rug burn above his eyebrow. My brave lil guy did not cry and bled alittle bit from the scratches. After rendering first aid to him, I was concerned about the lump on his forehead, he did not complain of a headache, but I still looked after him for the rest of the day and night and the next day, apologizing and comforting him for accidently kicking him every time I checked his forehead.
Two days later my ex picked up the kids for her weekend visit like usual, then two days later around the time when she was to drop them off, called me totally irritated and upset with me wondering what was going on and told me that the day before she had taken our kids in for their upcoming school year physical and shots. The doctor had noticed the already healing injuries to my son's forehead and asked him about it, and after talking to him, reported it to CPS later on that day. My ex told me that CPS called her later that day asking questions and told her that my son had told the doctor that I had kicked him and wanted to talk to my son the following day and told her that it would be a good idea not to allow my kids to see or talk to me while they investigated. Five days went by and I heard nothing from nobody, I was beside myself. I was worried about my kids because they had never been apart from me for more than three days since the day they were both born. I took it upon myself to call CPS to find out what was going on and later on that evening I was contacted by a local detective who wanted to set up a meeting with her, a CPS agent and myself two days later. I went to the meeting, answered all their questions, explained what had happened with my son and also explained to them my plans that had already been set into motion for my kids and I to visit my family and my move and about the agreement that my ex and I had had made concerning our kids, gave them my new address and a contact phone number. The detective flat out told me she didn't believe me and that I was going to be issued a court date. I was shocked to say the least and asked about my kids and our plans, the detective told me that she would contact the mother and that I was free to go.
The next day my ex called me told me I could see my kids and that we could talk. I met with them and we had a great time, and my ex and I talked about our agreement, that it was still OK with her for the kids to go with me to see my family. The next week my kids and I left for Washington as planned and had an awesome time with my family. I took my kids back to Utah four days before they were to start school at the end of August, depleting the rest of my savings, as planned. I have talked to my kids almost everyday on the phone and still looking for work.
Two days ago I recieved registered mail, it was a summons to appear in court down in Utah. I'm beside myself, I don't know what to do. I can't believe that an innocent accident with my son has gone this far. I'm still unemployed, cannot afford a lawyer, and cannot afford to go down to Utah next month for the court date. I'm also freaking out now because I don't know if I will be able to see my kids again.
Can someone please give me some advise on what to do? Thank you so much for your time.
Sincerly,
DevotedDad | 
09-23-2009, 07:27 AM
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