COURTWATCHER ALERT: TRIAL BEGINS MONDAY IN COLLEEN KERWICK CUSTODY CASE!

We need courtwatchers for Colleen Kerwick's custody trial which will start this Monday, October 20, 2014 starting at 10:00am at the Middletown Courthouse at 1 Court Street. 

 

For a quick overview of this case, see Colleen's narrative below:

 

I am an attorney and activist from Ireland who needs help in Connecticut. My American husband took our Irish Citizen son away from me, assisted by a Family Court system which retaliated against me for my activism for others. I have not seen my son (born August 15, 2009) since January 4, 2014 despite no finding of unfitness or neglect.

I asked for a divorce from my ex husband in 2011 over domestic violence. See police reports/arrests here:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/198854405/Kenneth-Savino-Police-Reports.

I waived alimony and agreed to joint physical custody to end the conflict for our son in 2013. Unfortunately he proceeded to made a slew of unsubstantiated allegations post judgment before resorting to falsely claiming that an "amber alert" was being processed in an ex parte motion. I lost my son before I even had an opportunity to be heard. See article here:

http://divorceinconnecticut.blogspot.com/search/label/ANNE%20STEVENSON

On the return date of the motion, I was retaliated against by the Guardian ad Litem on account of my advocacy for others against vendor malfeasance in the Family Courts. Despite acknowledging that there was no amber alert or history of contempt of any access orders, she recommended that the order of custody removal be sustained and only offered me pay per view parenting at $100 an hour. The judge who signed the order had her judicial reappointment challenged by 67 state representatives and is no longer a Family Court Judge. The GAL was removed from the case and brought under criminal investigation. However, the order stands despite the absence of abuse, neglect or unfitness. Supervised access never happened as the facilities designed for inmates turned down the business and third parties were chased away by my ex.

 

Here is the newspaper article and my testimony which the Guardian ad Litem retaliated over:

 

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/speaking-family/2013/dec/26/ct-task-force-spars-parents-over-billing-fraud-fam/
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nb5BzhcZV80
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOCpGBB-28A

This is the last time I saw my adorable son whom I miss and love with all my heart.

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152148194392943&set=vb.654877942&type=2&theate

On August 22 2014 Ken Savino got me arrested for 'second degree harrassment', a deportable offense. After shopping around arrest attempts between multiple police departments for years (in vain), he finally got a warrant for my sending him a text message threatening him with contempt of court for denying me court ordered phone access with my son after he asked me not to.

 

If I had anything to hide, I would not be going so public about this. I have no mental or physical limitations to parenting or substance abuse issues et al, yet crack addicts and prostitutes have more access to their children.

HECTOR MORERA RESPONDS TO SMEAR POST FROM CT LAW TRIBUNE RE GALS!

Oct 17, 2014
 

Obviously the person(s) who wrote this story ["Misplaced Furor Over Guardians Ad Litem"] did not listen or listen carefully to the Public Hearing Testimony from January 9, 2014 and March 31, 2014 before the CT Legislature.

I was told that this story was not written by the CT Law Tribune staff but by some outside authors. If that is the case, then the newspaper should correct their byline to NOT mislead the public into believing that the contents of the article are the position of the CT Law Tribune.

I‘ve court watched over 30 cases this past year, many after the passage of PA 14-3 and despite promises of change by Chief Justice Rogers, I continue to see violations of case law, Practice Book and basic protocol with respect to GAL‘s.

I realize litigants can be unreasonable at times. I will not deny that, but GAL‘s and Attorneys are responsible for their own conduct. They can NOT use litigant misconduct as an excuse to break rules.

The State Legislature has gone to great lengths to create statutes that provide guidance in Family Matters. Some of these statutes require further revisions to clarify serious abuse of judicial discretion such as in the misuse of Supervised Visitation, improper use of Reunification, ADA violation, etc., but there are many others which are simply overlooked by the courts.

The Judicial Branch has placed many publications on their website (sadly they do not advertise this well enough to many litigants for some reason). These publications provide guidance also which many judges ignore. We live in a common law state, It is very frustrating to be told by a judge that they refuse to follow case law.

Numerous, indisputable violations of Criminal Statutes and Rules of Professional conduct by the GAL‘s have been brought to the attention of the Statewide Grievance Committee and State‘s Attorney but NO GAL has been sanctioned or disciplined, nor have criminal charges ever been pursued.

Again, as I stated many times before I gladly will welcome anyone to discuss this matter with myself as I have talked to hundreds of persons about their horror stories. 1, 2 or a handful of stories can be attributed to human mistake, NOT hundreds. And this is a nationwide problem. I routinely meet with a group out of NY/NJ and they reinforce my position that this is a systemic problem, not just a few rogue individuals.

And the "good" attorneys fear losing their livelihoods if they point out the misconduct. If the good GAL‘s are upset that they are getting caught in the cross fire, then rather than attack persons with legitimate complaints, they should join ranks with those who wish to minimize the rampant misconduct.

Thank you.

Hector Morera
Glastonbury, CT
917-821-6951

THE CT LAW TRIBUNE CALLS VICTIMS OF GAL ABUSE LIARS!

Below is the complete text of The Connecticut Law Tribune's recent article in regard to Guardian Ad Litems in which The Tribune denies the reality of the experiences of those who have been abused by GALs.  See below:

 

"A guardian ad litem is a person who represents children in contested divorces where the parties—the parents—cannot agree on custody of the children. In order to be a GAL in Connecticut one must go through a lengthy training process. Every prospective GAL, even attorneys who have extensive experience in child custody matters and training in child development, must go through the training, as well as periodic updated training.

 

It is a given that the GAL's job is not an easy one. Divorcing parents often lose perspective in the course of ending their marriage; emotions take over where better judgment used to rule. Parties to a divorce sometimes forget their responsibilities as parents and let their bitter disagreements with each other spill over into the lives of their children. These children are already distressed by their parents' divorce and the huge changes that the divorce will undoubtedly cause in their own lives, often including changes in residence, school, and family income, not to mention emotional upheaval.

 

Enter the GAL. In the midst of what can be a bitter battle, the GAL's job is to understand the situation, get to know the children, and speak for them. The GAL represents the best interests of the child when the parents are not doing that. In the course of doing that job, the GAL is lobbied by both parents, intent on getting or retaining control of the children, or perhaps intent only in defeating the other parent. Good, responsible parents do not let their divorce affect their children any more than is absolutely necessary. But other parents, too intent on their own interests, fight fierce divorce battles, not understanding, or perhaps not caring, what collateral damage is being done to their children. The children are caught in the middle of this battle, and so is the GAL.

 

In recent months, some parents have railed out against both GALs and judges in family courts, alleging abuses by both. Perhaps some of their accusations are true, but many, probably most, are not. GALs do important work, and are rarely paid at rates that reflect either their experience or their value. The furor against them has resulted in action by the state Judicial Branch to regulate pay for GALs. The new sliding scale for paying GALs will not solve the problem and it puts a burden on the system that should not be necessary. The new fee schedule appears likely to reduce the fees paid to many GALs; it will not be surprising if, as a result, many former GALs decide to abandon that role.

 

The complaints about GALs at this time appears to us to be largely unjustified. Most GALs are hard-working attorneys who do this work because they believe that it is important and that they can help children avoid some of the damage frequently caused by their parents' divorce. It should be remembered that if divorcing parents handled their divorce in a manner that protected their children, no GAL would be required."

 

This article can be found at the link below:

http://www.ctlawtribune.com/id=1202673630053/Editorial-Misplaced-Furor-Over-Guardians-Ad-Litem#ixzz3GLx2zYZB

MORE ON PRIVATE VIOLENCE--WE NEED TO STOP BLAMING THE VICTIMS!

PRIVATE VIOLENCE FILM TRAILER!

MAD IN AMERICA'S UPCOMING FILM FESTIVAL IN BOSTON! STARTING OCTOBER 9, 2014!

NOTICE REGARDING CHANGES IN THE FORECLOSURE MEDIATION PROGRAM!

As so many of us know, the majority family court attorneys are targeting us for our real estate so we often end up in foreclosure.  For those who are there or heading there, please see the new information below recently posted by the Connecticut Judicial Branch:

http://www.jud.ct.gov/foreclosure/Foreclosure_100114.pdf