Angelina Jolie has criticized a judge whose decision is crucial on the child custody battle in her divorce with Brad Pitt. She has criticized Judge John Ouderkirk in a court filing that the judge refused to allow their children to testify in the case and has sought to disqualify him from the case. The actress said in the filing on Monday that he declined to hear evidence she says is relevant to the children's safety and well-being before issuing a tentative ruling. The documents don't elaborate on what that evidence may be.
The filing in California’s Second District Court of Appeal said, “Judge Ouderkirk denied Ms. Jolie a fair trial, improperly excluding her evidence relevant to the children’s health, safety, and welfare, evidence critical to making her case.” Angelina also said that the judge “has failed to adequately consider” a section of the California courts code, which says it is detrimental to the best interest of the child if custody is awarded to a person with a history of domestic violence. However, her filing did not give details but her lawyers submitted a sealed document in March that supposedly offers additional information.
According to California code, a child of 14 or over should be allowed to testify if they want to. Three of Angelina’s and Brad’s children are teenagers, 17-year-old Pax, 16-year-old Zahara, and 14-year-old Shiloh. The oldest, Maddox, is 19 and not subject to the custody decision. They also have 12-year-old twins, Vivienne and Knox.
Angelina had sought divorce in 2016, days after a fight broke out between her and Brad on a private flight ferrying the actors and their children from France to Los Angeles. Brad was accused of being abusive to their then 15-year-old son, but an investigation by child welfare officials and the FBI were closed with no charges being filed against him. Angelina had soon sought divorce citing ‘the health of the family’.
In response to Angelina’s filing, Brad’s attorneys have said, “Ouderkirk has conducted an extensive proceeding over the past six months in a thorough, fair manner and reached a tentative ruling and order after hearing from experts and percipient witnesses.” They also said that the judge had found Angelina’s testimony “lacked credibility in many important areas, and the existing custody order between the parties must be modified, per Mr. Pitt’s request, in the best interests of the children.” They also said that Angelina’s objections will make further delays that would “work grave harm upon the children, who will be further denied permanence and stability.”
When the divorce proceedings had begun, Angelina had sought primary physical custody but changes have been made since then and the actress supports joint custody. Angelina and Brad had chosen Ouderkirk, a private judge to maintain their privacy, but now the actress wants him disqualified arguing that he has an improper business relationship with one of Brad's attorneys. She has said that if he puts in a final ruling in the custody battle, she will appeal against it.
(Source: AP)
