¨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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