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Sherron
Carpal \'Tunnel

Reged: 11/25/06
Posts: 20052

OT - Brazilian top court rules boy stays for now

#612562 - 12/17/09 03:56 PM

Just when ya thought Goldman would have a great Christmas this year... :(

"Brazilian top court rules boy stays for now
International court battle began after child’s Brazilian mother died in 2008

RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil's Supreme Court delayed the return of a 9-year-old boy to his New Jersey father.

Thursday's ruling by Justice Marco Aurelio Mello agreed with a petition by the boy's Brazilian family that he should remain in Brazil until the court decides whether the child's own testimony should be heard in the case.

The ruling suspended a Wednesday judgment by a lower court ordering that David Goldman be given custody of his son, Sean. On Thursday, Goldman was met by a crush of reporters at the airport in Rio de Janeiro, where he was hopeful to return to the U.S. with the boy.

But the latest ruling dashed those expectations. Because the court goes into recess on Friday, a ruling on whether the boy's testimony should be heard will not likely before February.

The boy will remain in Brazil at least until then. It was unknown whether Goldman would leave or remain in Brazil.

President Barack Obama, the U.S. Congress and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have all urged the child's return, and a U.S. congressman traveled to Rio on Thursday to continue lobbying for Sean's return.

‘Leave your son here’
In 2004, Goldman's wife, Bruna Bianchi, took Sean to her native Brazil.

Goldman said it was to be a two-week vacation, but she stayed and so did the boy. She eventually obtained a Brazilian divorce from Goldman and remarried.

Goldman was already seeking his son's return under an international treaty that covers cross-border child abductions when his former wife died last year giving birth to a daughter.

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, who has been supportive of Goldman's fight and raised it in Congress, said upon landing in Rio that this case fell under international law and that the boy had been illegally taken away from Goldman.

"Child abduction is a serious crime and now for over five years David has been trying to get his son," Smith said. "We hope this is the end game and that he'll be reunited with his only father, and that's David Goldman."

But Goldman's own attorney warned that additional appeals could block the transfer of his son.

"The hand-over can be halted," said Ricardo Zamariola, Goldman's attorney, referring to a possible Supreme Court appeal by the family that now has custody of the boy.

Stepfather plans appeal
Previous rulings favorable to Goldman have been scuttled by Brazilian courts. Zamariola said he was certain lawyers for Joao Paulo Lins e Silva, the Brazilian stepfather with whom Sean lives, would appeal Wednesday's federal court ruling to surrender the boy. Zamariola said he did not expect a final resolution until at least the first half of 2010.

The stepfather's attorney, Sergio Tostes, declined to comment.

The boy's maternal grandmother says Sean wants to stay in Rio and has filed a separate petition with the Supreme Court asking that the boy's desires be considered. A similar request from the Brazilian family was denied earlier this year. "

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