Ruling nears in Cuban dad's custody case

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Miami Herald

Ruling nears in Cuban dad's custody case
Posted on Wed, Sep. 26, 2007

A Miami-Dade judge is expected to rule Wednesday whether a Cuban farmer seeking to take his 5-year-old daughter back to Cuba is a fit parent.

The ruling will come after a weeks-long trial in which state child-welfare lawyers argued that Rafael Izquierdo is an unfit father because he abandoned his daughter, who is now living with a Cuban-American couple in Coral Gables.

Even if Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jeri B. Cohen rules that Izquierdo is a fit father, lawyers for the state Department of Children & Families and for the Cuban-American couple are expected to try to make a case that the girl should remain with her foster parents, Joe and Maria Cubas, because she has bonded with them over the 19 months she has been in their custody.



Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/250508.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Here's the thread with articles on earlier stages of the trial, for anyone who hasn't heard of it,

but wonders about this post:
Cuban dad breaks down in custody case (American trial)
Posted on Tue, Sep. 11, 2007

BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
[e-mail]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2986773

[Tyler Durden]

2. for the morning crowd

If an Cuban court was trying to rule on a U.S. citizen's fitness as a parent, we'd be getting ready to launch missiles and land Marines.

We got some serious GALL don't we?

[flordehinojos]

3. isn't the cuban-american foster parents of Coral Gables Fla the JOE CUBAS guy who is involved in

seeking out pitchers and baseball guys for the Fla. Marlins and other baseball teams? With a C.V. like that (and the $$$$$ that follow it) does anyone think the judge will return the child to its biological father? i would be very much surprised.

[Tyler Durden]

4. That's the guy.

Money trumps EVERYTHING here.

Didn't you get the memo?

[flordehinojos]

5. uh? what memo?

[Tyler Durden]

6. The "Money Trumps Everything" memo

This is 'Murica, Remember? Get rich or die trying? Money makes the world go around? Screw California, HOORAY ENRON?

It's always sounded odd to me, but then again I've been a Socialist since I knew the real meaning of the philosophy.

[flordehinojos]

7. yeah, i remember the "money trumps everything" bush moment...

but i think in his case it was more like, "oil trumps everything" ... but yes, i go for the underdog too. don't know if that makes me a socialist ...

[Scurrilous]

8. Update:

<snip>

"The judge in a contentious child custody dispute is expected to reveal Thursday her ruling on whether a Cuban father is a fit parent to his 5-year-old daughter.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jeri B. Cohen had initially indicated she would release her ruling to the public Wednesday, but shifted course after attorneys for the girl's father, Rafael Izquierdo, objected to the release of the document to the media.

Instead, Cohen will read her ruling in open court. The proceedings are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m."

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/251445.html

[Mika]

9. Its all over local Miamicubano exile radio.

They've been going at it hard for a couple of days now. I've heard some calls on the call-in shows advocating blowing up Rafael Izquierdo's lawyer's car (again). Magda Montiel Davis had her car blown up by a pipe bomb several years ago after a fabricated controversy over a trip she took to Cuba to an international lawyers guild forum that the guild held in Havana.

They are working hard at trying to whip up a frenzy.

-

[Scurrilous]

10. I don't get the sense that people are as emotionally invested...

...in this case as they were with the Elian Gonzalez one.

Hopefully everyone will ignore the nutjobs on the radio and let this thing proceed peacefully.

[Mika]

11. Agree. These kidnappers were trying a different tactic than the Elian kidnappers.

But now their case doesn't look good for them (the "case" against the dad), so just now they are applying a political pressure play on the judge by trying to whip up the public in her district (who vote for the judge's position). They have avoided (so far) a national media fiasco like the Elian case was because the extremists figured out that it worked against their goal of some fantasized "victory" over Castro.

[Judi Lynn]

12. So sorry to hear that! They would have learned that once the case has national attention,

the overwhelming sentiment will be, as with the other case, on the side of the father.

Makes a person wonder why the networks didn't decide to pick up on this, with stories from their affiliates in South Florida. There must be some powerful pressure going on to keep it very local.

It has been a while since the country had a good feeding frenzy and free-for-all, like the Elián story, and the Terri Schiavo story, which both got high-profile U.S. politicians storming right into the middle of them.

[Scurrilous]

13. Watch the case live:

http://video.ap.org/v/Legacy.aspx?g=e26c4822-79e1-4ae3-ad1f-415082e4d777&f=flmih&partner=en-ap

[Judi Lynn]

14. Wow, THANK YOU, Scurrilous. n/t

[Scurrilous]

15. Miami Herald News Flash:

Judge: Cuba dad fit parent

"The judge in a dispute over custody of a 5-year-old Miami foster child has ruled for her father, who wants to take her back to Cuba."

http://www.miamiherald.com/854/story/252297.html

[Judi Lynn]

16. Have just been watching the live link you posted. Hoooray!

Hoping so much there's nothing the State of Florida, the Cubas' can do to screw this up for the father.

I think it's the Cubas' lawyer who just said this thing is going to be decided at the Court of Appeals, standing outside the courthouse.

Hope there isn't a horrible surprise ahead at that court. This crappy "exile" descendant lawyer is 100% political. He has no interest in justice. They are determined to get that "win" for their sleazy side.

Thank you so much for the chance to see this as it happened.

On edit:

Sure hope the father will be safe until he can get his child and return to his home. I feel anxious about his well-being in Miami, as a simple gunshot or bomb like the ones popular in Miami for placing under cars of politically difficult people would permanently throw the case in Joe Cubas' favor.

[Scurrilous]

17. You're welcome.

I had to take a phone call and missed the verdict.

LOL

Cuban dad is fit parent, judge rules

<snip>

"The judge presiding over a contentious international dispute over the fate of a 5-year-old Cuban girl ruled Thursday morning that state child-welfare lawyers failed to prove that the girl's father is an unfit parent.

In the 47-page ruling, read aloud in a crowded downtown Miami courtroom, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Jeri B. Cohen said lawyers for the state Deparment of Children & Families failed in proving their case against Rafael Izquierdo, a Cuban farmer who wants to return to the island with the girl.

The judge ruled that state child-welfare workers failed to prove that the father had "abandoned" his daughter under Florida law.

But Cohen's ruling does not immediately resolve the fate of the girl at the center of the dispute: A second chapter of the legal fight -- to determine whether the girl should stay in the Coral Gables home of Joe and Maria Cubas, where she has been living for the past 19 months -- is expected to begin next month."

http://www.miamiherald.com/854/story/252307.html

[Judi Lynn]

18. Hate it that they are going to be able to drag this thing out.

That was very fast work on the verdict article!

Interesting photos linked at the side of the Herald article you've posted:
http://www.miamiherald.com/924/gallery/252360.html?number=0

There's a chance to vote on the child, the father, and the Cubas' at the right side, as well.

This is such good news for today. Hope to hear more good news soon, after the next hearing concerning the possible harm to the child to be moved out of the Cubas' house, and returned to her home. (Isn't that such a crock! Only in Florida.)

[Mika]

21. I am SO glad to be wrong in my projection of the outcome.

:bounce:

:party:

[FM451]

19. Latest from AP on this case

MIAMI - The father of a 5-year-old Cuban girl at the center of an international custody battle did not abandon or neglect her, so he should get her back, a judge ruled Thursday.
ADVERTISEMENT

Circuit Judge Jeri B. Cohen said she would not immediately return the girl to her father, Cuban farmer Rafael Izquierdo, who wants to take her back to Cuba.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070927/ap_on_re_us/cuban_custody_dispute

[Judi Lynn]

20. Thanks for the AP story on the verdict, FM451.

Welcome to D.U.! :hi: :hi: :hi: