By Associated Press
LOS ANGELES: Angelina Jolie scored a major victory Friday, July 23, in her divorce with Brad Pitt when a California appeals court agreed with her that the private judge deciding who gets custody of their children should be disqualified.The 2nd District Court of Appeal agreed with Jolie that Judge John W. Ouderkirk didn’t sufficiently disclose business relationships with Pitt’s attorneys.”Judge Ouderkirk’s ethical breach, considered together with the information disclosed concerning his recent professional relationships with Pitt’s counsel, might cause an objective person, aware of all the facts, reasonably to entertain a doubt as to the judge’s ability to be impartial. Disqualification is required,” the court ruled.The decision means that the custody fight over the couple’s five minor children, which was nearing an end, could just be getting started.The judge already ruled the pair divorced, but separated the child custody issues.Like many celebrity couples, Pitt and Jolie opted to hire their own judge to increase their privacy in the divorce proceedings.”The appeals court ruling was based on a technical procedural issue. The facts haven’t changed. There is an extraordinary amount of factual evidence which led the judge — and the many experts who testified — to reach their clear conclusion about what is in the children’s best interests,” a statement by Pitt’s representative said. “We will continue to do what’s necessary legally based on the detailed findings of what’s best for the children.”Details of the custody rulings have not been publicly released.Jolie and Pitt have six children: 19-year-old Maddox, 17-year-old Pax, 16-year-old Zahara, 15 year-old Shiloh, 12-year-old Vivienne and 12-year-old Knox. Only the five minors are subject to custody decisions. Ouderkirk declined to disqualify himself when Jolie asked him to in a filing in August. A lower court judge ruled that Jolie’s request for disqualification came too late. Jolie’s attorneys then appealed.The July 9 oral arguments in front of the appeals court focused on exactly which ethical rules should apply to private judges, who, like Ouderkirk, are usually retired superior court judges. “If you’re going to play the role of a paid private judge you have to play by the rules and the rules are very clear, they require full transparency,” Jolie’s attorney Robert Olson said. “Matters that should have been disclosed were not disclosed.”Pitt attorney Theodore Boutrous said the attempt at disqualification was a stalling tactic by Jolie to keep Ouderkirk’s recent tentative custody decision, which is favorable to Pitt, from going into effect.The court cited several cases, including the divorce of “Modern Family” co-creator Steven Levitan, in which Ouderkirk either failed entirely to disclose a business relationship with Pitt’s attorneys or failed to disclose one quickly or completely enough. The panel questioned whether such an arrangement should be allowed in California at all, but their ruling applies only to Ouderkirk.Jolie, 46, and Pitt, 57, were among Hollywood’s most prominent couples for 12 years. Ouderkirk officiated the couple’s 2014 wedding, then was hired to oversee their divorce when Jolie filed to dissolve the marriage in 2016. They were declared divorced in April 2019, after their lawyers asked for a judgment that allowed a married couple to be declared single while other issues remained, including finances and child custody.In May, Jolie and her attorneys criticized Ouderkirk for not allowing the couple’s children to testify in the proceedings.The actress also said 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. Her filing did not give details about what it was referring to, but her lawyers submitted a document under seal in March that purportedly offers additional information.The ruling does not address whether the children should be allowed to testify in the case.
Tag: Brangelina
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Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt divorce judge disqualified by appeals court
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Brad Pitt wins joint custody of children with Angelina Jolie after court war
By ANI
WASHINGTON: Months after back-to-back court hearings with his ex-wife Angelina Jolie, actor Brad Pitt has officially won a huge victory over the joint custody of their children.TMZ reported that a judge made a tentative ruling in the case, awarding Brad and Angelina 50-50 joint legal and physical custody of their 5 minor children- Pax who is 17, 16-year-old Zahara, Shiloh who is 14, and 12-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.
However, 19-year-old Maddox, their eldest kid is not included in the ruling, as per the laws.
The ‘Maleficent’ star had been trying to bring certain shreds of evidence in order to resist Brad from becoming his partner in their kid’s joint custody. She had been gunning for sole custody and bringing out numerous witnesses to prove Brad’s alleged history of domestic violence.
According to TMZ, Angelina only wanted Brad to have supervised visitation, but the judge felt her arguments that ‘Brad was not a suitable parent’- lacked credibility. This judgment has been announced after analyzing numerous witnesses brought up by Angelina, including a testimonial their eldest son- Maddox submitted against Brad.
A source connected to Brad told TMZ, “He is over the moon” knowing the fact that the ruling may be tentative at present but it is just a legal formality until it becomes final. The ‘Mr. and Mrs Smith’ actors who started dating after meeting on the set of the film in 2004, separated in September 2016 after two years of marriage. They were declared legally single in April 2019.
According to TMZ, the divorce was filed by Angelina in 2016 after his now-estranged husband allegedly got into a physical confrontation on a private jet with one of their kids. At a point, he was estranged from all the kids and ultimately got supervised visitation.
A source close to the ‘Troy’ star told in September 2020 that the actor was seeking “50/50 physical and legal custody of the kids.” Hence, after months of court trials, this turnaround judgment has proved to be a big legal victory for Brad against Angelina.