FREE MARIA JOSE CARRASCOSA

Maria Jose Carrascosa is a Spanish citizen held in Bergen County Jail, USA, since 2006 with no trial so far. She is facing charges of up to 40 years imprisonment. Her only "crime" was protecting her now 8-year old daughter, who she was granted custody of in a fair trial in Spain where both parties participated and were represented.  Please read her story and ask yourself: Is this justice?

¨The purpose of this presentation is to bring

attention to the case of Maria Jose Carrascosa, a

Spanish citizen presently jailed "indefinitely" in

Bergen County, New Jersey and facing a possible

prison sentence of up to 40 years for failing to turn

her now 8 year old daughter over to the court in a custody

battle.

¨Despite having been awarded full custody by the

European court system after a fair and legal court

process in which both she and her American ex

husband participated and were represented by

counsel, the New Jersey judge took it upon himself to rule

that this judgement was invalid, and threw Maria

Jose Carrascosa into jail, where she has been

imprisoned, without a trial, since November of 2006.

¨This case has caused international outrage but

received next to no attention in the US media.

¨A tremendous miscarriage of justice is being

committed. This presentation will attempt to; in a "fact only" and with an

objective view

illuminate this process.

 

¨Carrascosa and Innes married in 1999 in Spain, and

resided in New Jersey. They had one child, a

daughter named Victoria. The marriage broke in

2004 after several years of domestic abuse, and

Innes abandoned the family home. Thereafter,

Maria Jose filed a petition to annul the marriage and was granted full

custody of her daughter in Spain, to where she moved back, with her child,

in January of 2005. At that point Innes filed for divorce in New Jersey, and

accused Maria Jose of illegally taking their daughter abroad, even though

there was NO SUCH REQUIREMENT or court order that she remain in the USA.

¨Innes then filed a petition in the Spanish courts,

under the Hague Treaty, for the return of Victoria to

the USA. The Spanish court ruled that she had been brought legally to

Spain, and that since the habitual residence of Victoria was Spain, that the

Spanish courts had jurisdiction in the matter. They awarded full custody to

Maria Jose based on the evidence of abuse, Innes' criminal history, and

the fact that Maria Jose had always been her primary caregiver.

¨Meanwhile;

¨Innes pressed his case both in the US and Spain

simultaneously. Valencia (Spain) high court of appeals

sided with the lower courts in granting full custody to

Maria Jose.

¨Despite the State Court of Valencia ruling on the custody issue, and

ordering the confiscation of the child's passports (on the petition of Innes)

in order to prevent her leaving

Spain, the New Jersey judge proceeded along in a parallel process, which

wound up granting custody to Innes. When Maria Jose went to the US in

order to demonstrate to the court she had been granted custody and that

custody had been upheld on appeal, her passport was confiscated, and

she was given 10 days to turn Victoria over to Innes, EVEN THOUGH THIS

WAS LEGALLY IMPOSSIBLE.

¨In November 2006, Maria Jose was arrested by a team of 17 police

agents, shackled in leg irons, and hauled before the New Jersey judge

where she was threatened with incarceration of 40 years if she did not

turn over her

daughter.

¨She has been held prisoner in the Bergen County Jail

since then, the judge refusing all pleas to free her.

 ¨It is clear that Maria Jose is the victim of a judge, who has little regard

for international law and is incarcerating

Maria Jose in order to coerce her into

turning over her daughter to her abusive

ex husband. There is NO LEGAL BASIS

for this decision. The judge capriciously

decided that he did not like the ruling of

the Hague or the Spanish Court, and

completely discarded it, ruling in favour

of the New Jersey resident (Innes) and

blatantly ignoring international law

precedents.

In the words of Judge Torack:

"This court will not recognize the decision that offends New Jersey law and public policy and prejudices its citizens. Therefore I cannot and will not recognize the Spanish Court decision in the Hague Convention hearing."

Under US law, US courts

MUST respect the legal

judgment of other countries

¨United States law (under ICARA, the

Act which recognizes the Hague

Treaty) commands that US courts

respect the legal judgements of other nations which are a party to the

Hague Treaty. There was no evidence of fraud nor bias in the Spanish

Hague proceeding and custody proceeding. In fact, Innes had been

represented by Spanish counsel and had a fair process,

under which he was able to present

evidence and make his case. He

additionally appealed and was heard

by a higher court when the lower

courts ruled against him. The higher

court UPHELD the custody decision.

It is not up to judicial whim

¨Judges can not randomly imprison

people because they do not like the outcome of a different court. It is not

up to

this judge to vacate or disregard other

court findings. Because the US is party to the Hague Treaty, and because

the

ICARA statute mandates that US courts

respect the judgment of other courts in

countries which are parties to the Hague

Treaty (as in the case with Spain), then

the judge has committed misconduct in

contravening the court findings and

judgement in the Hague hearing.

¨Judges are meant to interpret the law

WITHIN reason. How ever this statute is

clear, and jailing Maria Jose Carrascosa is not only potentially misconduct,

but

potentially a criminal act.

This case is due to be tried by the U.S. Supreme Court in october 2009.

Meanwhile, we, the undersigned, ask for the liberation of Maria Jose

Carrascosa so she can go home and take care of her daughter who is

waiting for her. The time they lost can never be given back. But we can still

hope for real justice.

 

 

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