Sep 12, 2007, 10:16 AM
CHILD CUSTODY CASE
Girl's Cuban dad breaks down, pleads for custody
The Cuban father fighting for custody of his 5-year-old daughter pleaded with the judge to be allowed to take the girl back to Cuba with him.
Posted on Wed, Sep. 12, 2007Digg del.icio.us AIM reprint print email
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com
JOHN VANBEEKUM/MIAMI HERALD STAFF
'I am honest and sincere,' Rafael Izquierdo, birth father of a 5-year-old girl, tells Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jeri B. Cohen on Tuesday.Rafael Izquierdo, the Cuban farmer at the center of an international custody dispute over a 5-year-old girl, left the witness stand Tuesday morning after about 25 hours of testimony -- but not before rendering a tearful plea to take his daughter home.
Under an emotional interrogation by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jeri B. Cohen, who is presiding over the trial, the Cuban father broke down in tears, wiping his face with a blue handkerchief and hanging his head in his hands.
The drama began when Cohen accused the father of offering testimony she found untruthful. She said the father's ''lies'' were not enough to strip him of custody of his daughter, but his testimony did bother her.
''Sir, I have to tell you, I've found a lot of your testimony evasive and dishonest. I've watched you, and I've heard you,'' Cohen said. ``It doesn't mean you are a bad guy. It doesn't mean I don't believe other parts of your testimony. It doesn't mean you don't love [your daughter].
``But I've got to tell you: I've watched your testimony, and I've found some of your testimony evasive.''
''I am honest and sincere,'' Izquierdo said, becoming visibly emotional, his hands gesturing broadly.
''I am asking you to not decide on that,'' Izquierdo said. ``If I was not a competent father, I would not have come [from Cuba]. I would not be standing here. We are a very humble family. A family of working people. I love my daughter. I love her very much.''
At that, Izquierdo's face turned red, and the questioning stopped for a few minutes as he regained his composure and apologized for breaking down. ''You have nothing to apologize for, and you don't have to be embarrassed about crying,'' the judge said, leaning closer to the witness box. ``But I needed these answers from you.''
''I hope you don't feel I've ganged up on you,'' she said.
Izquierdo, a farmer from the central Cuban village of Cabaiguán, has been in Miami since May seeking to regain custody of his daughter, who turned 5 last weekend.
The Florida Department of Children & Families and the Guardian Ad Litem program in Miami, which is advocating for the girl, are asking Cohen to order that Izquierdo permanently lose custody of the girl. They say he essentially abandoned the girl by allowing her to emigrate to the United States with a mother he knew was mentally ill.
Lawyers for the state want Cohen to order that the girl remain permanently with Joe and Maria Cubas, a Cuban-American family in Coral Gables that has been caring for the girl for 18 months.
After Izquierdo completed his testimony, DCF lawyers called to the stand Berta Rodriguez, a children's therapist with Psych Solutions, a private company that began treating the girl in July 2006, about six months after she began living with the Cubas family.
Rodriguez, who met the girl about 15 times, mostly at her school, testified the girl was exhibiting signs she felt rejected and abandoned by her mother, who lost custody to DCF in December 2005 following a suicide attempt.
The girl's caregivers told Rodriguez she was suffering from nightmares, had trouble sleeping, was wetting her bed, was ''clingy'' and exhibited disruptive and defiant behaviors. The girl also had been exhibiting inappropriate behavior toward other children, such as biting them or pulling their hair. ''Overall, there were always these feelings of rejection, of abandonment, of being overwhelmed,'' Rodriguez said.
Under cross-examination by one of Izquierdo's lawyers, Steve Weinger, Rodriguez acknowledged that a psychological evaluation of the girl done before she went to live with the Cubas family showed the girl was already learning how to control her behavior with another family that cared for her before the Cubases.
And, Rodriguez said, she had found no indication that any of the girl's behaviors were attributable to the actions of her father.
''There is nothing in your notes to show that she was abused by her father Rafael, right?'' Weinger asked.
''Not specifically, no,'' Rodriguez said.
``And did you find any evidence that she was abandoned by her father?''
''No,'' Rodriguez said.
``And you had not found anything the father had done that caused harm to her, did you?''
''No,'' Rodriguez said.
The already tense proceedings, which have been punctuated with allegations of misconduct against Izquierdo's attorneys, erupted into renewed accusations late in the day.
Jason Dimitris, the lawyer leading DCF's case, said Izquierdo's lawyers had made disparaging remarks to his legal team Tuesday -- including, he said, a taunting comment about Dimitris' ex-wife and the couple's divorce. He singled out Weinger.
Cohen, who in recent days has taken everyone from the court clerk to the official translator to task for actions that displeased her, said she would address Dimitris' complaint first thing this morning.
Girl's Cuban dad breaks down, pleads for custody
The Cuban father fighting for custody of his 5-year-old daughter pleaded with the judge to be allowed to take the girl back to Cuba with him.
Posted on Wed, Sep. 12, 2007Digg del.icio.us AIM reprint print email
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
cmarbin@MiamiHerald.com
JOHN VANBEEKUM/MIAMI HERALD STAFF
'I am honest and sincere,' Rafael Izquierdo, birth father of a 5-year-old girl, tells Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jeri B. Cohen on Tuesday.Rafael Izquierdo, the Cuban farmer at the center of an international custody dispute over a 5-year-old girl, left the witness stand Tuesday morning after about 25 hours of testimony -- but not before rendering a tearful plea to take his daughter home.
Under an emotional interrogation by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jeri B. Cohen, who is presiding over the trial, the Cuban father broke down in tears, wiping his face with a blue handkerchief and hanging his head in his hands.
The drama began when Cohen accused the father of offering testimony she found untruthful. She said the father's ''lies'' were not enough to strip him of custody of his daughter, but his testimony did bother her.
''Sir, I have to tell you, I've found a lot of your testimony evasive and dishonest. I've watched you, and I've heard you,'' Cohen said. ``It doesn't mean you are a bad guy. It doesn't mean I don't believe other parts of your testimony. It doesn't mean you don't love [your daughter].
``But I've got to tell you: I've watched your testimony, and I've found some of your testimony evasive.''
''I am honest and sincere,'' Izquierdo said, becoming visibly emotional, his hands gesturing broadly.
''I am asking you to not decide on that,'' Izquierdo said. ``If I was not a competent father, I would not have come [from Cuba]. I would not be standing here. We are a very humble family. A family of working people. I love my daughter. I love her very much.''
At that, Izquierdo's face turned red, and the questioning stopped for a few minutes as he regained his composure and apologized for breaking down. ''You have nothing to apologize for, and you don't have to be embarrassed about crying,'' the judge said, leaning closer to the witness box. ``But I needed these answers from you.''
''I hope you don't feel I've ganged up on you,'' she said.
Izquierdo, a farmer from the central Cuban village of Cabaiguán, has been in Miami since May seeking to regain custody of his daughter, who turned 5 last weekend.
The Florida Department of Children & Families and the Guardian Ad Litem program in Miami, which is advocating for the girl, are asking Cohen to order that Izquierdo permanently lose custody of the girl. They say he essentially abandoned the girl by allowing her to emigrate to the United States with a mother he knew was mentally ill.
Lawyers for the state want Cohen to order that the girl remain permanently with Joe and Maria Cubas, a Cuban-American family in Coral Gables that has been caring for the girl for 18 months.
After Izquierdo completed his testimony, DCF lawyers called to the stand Berta Rodriguez, a children's therapist with Psych Solutions, a private company that began treating the girl in July 2006, about six months after she began living with the Cubas family.
Rodriguez, who met the girl about 15 times, mostly at her school, testified the girl was exhibiting signs she felt rejected and abandoned by her mother, who lost custody to DCF in December 2005 following a suicide attempt.
The girl's caregivers told Rodriguez she was suffering from nightmares, had trouble sleeping, was wetting her bed, was ''clingy'' and exhibited disruptive and defiant behaviors. The girl also had been exhibiting inappropriate behavior toward other children, such as biting them or pulling their hair. ''Overall, there were always these feelings of rejection, of abandonment, of being overwhelmed,'' Rodriguez said.
Under cross-examination by one of Izquierdo's lawyers, Steve Weinger, Rodriguez acknowledged that a psychological evaluation of the girl done before she went to live with the Cubas family showed the girl was already learning how to control her behavior with another family that cared for her before the Cubases.
And, Rodriguez said, she had found no indication that any of the girl's behaviors were attributable to the actions of her father.
''There is nothing in your notes to show that she was abused by her father Rafael, right?'' Weinger asked.
''Not specifically, no,'' Rodriguez said.
``And did you find any evidence that she was abandoned by her father?''
''No,'' Rodriguez said.
``And you had not found anything the father had done that caused harm to her, did you?''
''No,'' Rodriguez said.
The already tense proceedings, which have been punctuated with allegations of misconduct against Izquierdo's attorneys, erupted into renewed accusations late in the day.
Jason Dimitris, the lawyer leading DCF's case, said Izquierdo's lawyers had made disparaging remarks to his legal team Tuesday -- including, he said, a taunting comment about Dimitris' ex-wife and the couple's divorce. He singled out Weinger.
Cohen, who in recent days has taken everyone from the court clerk to the official translator to task for actions that displeased her, said she would address Dimitris' complaint first thing this morning.