Hague Return Ordered

[SageDad]

My lawyer drove to Guanajuato, Mexico again today to check the court docket and determine why, once again, a verdict had not been issued within the legally mandated time period for doing so once the closing arguments were heard.  The answer to why it hadn't been issued was simple, they were busy, but they told him that a decision, had in fact, been made.

Judge Mario Guitiérrez Covarrubias of the Ninth Civil Supreme Court of Guanajuato ordered that the minor, Sage Bermudez, be immediately returned to his place of habitual residence located in North Carolina in the United States of America.  As such they remanded the case to the 4th Civil Court of Salamanca to take all neccessary measures to avoid that the child is the subject of a new abduction or being hidden to avoid the fulfillment of the ordered decision.

Tommorow I will send the full decision to the State Department's Office of Children's Issues so they can remove Sage from their list of "resolved cases."

[liesl78]

What? Carlos, am I reading this right? He is going to come back?
 
OMG! I'm in tears here! I'll be praying for his safe return as soon as possible.

[tweinstein]

Does this mean that you will actually get Sage back or is Mexico like Brazil in that a return order isn't a guarantee of anything?

[M.Capestro]

Carlos,
This is wonderful news! Congratulations! I will be praying that Mexico will stand by it's word and that Sage will be returning home soon.
M

[rachelle4]

WooHoo! What are your next steps? Are you going to Mexico now?

[Genenut]

Congrats on winning your hague case. Hopefully Mexico will be more compliant with enforcing it than Brazil .... hopefully it will be "wheels up" soon for Sage :-)

[sue]

Carlos this is wonderful news.  Please let us know ASAP what is going to happen next.

[sue]

I didn't know you were in Raleigh.  My best friend lives there.

[SageDad]

What? Carlos, am I reading this right? He is going to come back?
 
OMG! I'm in tears here! I'll be praying for his safe return as soon as possible.

It is a step in the right direction, but he's not coming back yet.  The judge's sentence is pretty long.  As I read the first half of it, I was thinking that I now had my own Judge Pinto's ruling.  The way it described the law and how it should be interpreted was spot on.  Everything including the way he interpreted the Hague Convention, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Mexican law was perfect. As I read the second half of it though I found there were errors in the way they interpreted the facts of the case including the judge acknowledging that I "misrepresented" the date of the abduction but that my doing so did not represent a grave risk of physical or psychological harm to my son and that the "correct" date of the abduction was still within the one year time frame allowed by the Hague Convention.  I should take a moment here to mention that had the Office of Children's Issues not refused to give me copies of my wife and son's entry and exit records to the United States the judge wouldn't have said I "misrepresented" the date of the abduction (thanks OCI..).  

I won't be flying to Mexico anytime soon.  From here my wife will file an "amparo directo" against the decision of the appeals court claiming that the decision violated her constitutional rights and/or those of her son.  Once she does so the sentence of Judge Guitiérrez will be suspended until the amparo is resolved.  

Although Sage is not coming back yet this decision is still a bit of positive news that I badly needed.  It's been over a year now and I was begining to feel very tired and powerless.  I will send this to the OCI so they can stop telling Congressman and Senator's that my case was heard in Mexico and is "closed" and send it to the FBI so that when they see that the return order is not enforced they can stop repeating their ridiculous mantra of "the Hague Convention is the most effective way of returning abducted children from Mexico."

[SageDad]

I didn't know you were in Raleigh.  My best friend lives there.

Me and Devon are both here.  We drove to the Rally in DC together.

[dmdaven2]

Hey Carlos this is great news for you man...well Nadia's birthday is August 5th, she'll be 1, and I hear she MAY be in town

[SageDad]

Letter to my new caseworker at the State Dept

Mr Meyer,

It's unfortunate that I have not had the opportunity to speak to you directly since Mr. Herzog left the OCI.  My son, Sage Antonio Bermudez Rayon, was taken to Mexico in June '08 by his non-custodial mother who was having an affair and holds a masters degree in civil law and wrote her master's thesis on marriage law.  I look forward to working with you to bring my son home and hope to receive better support from the USCA moving forward.

Please attach the included decision from the Supreme Court of Guanajuato, Mexico to my son's file.  Also note that, in spite of the fact that the OCI denied providing evidence of the entry and exit records of the US for my wife and son, the court has ordered the immediate return of my son to the United States.  The court still maintains that my wife is telling the truth (and that I am lying) about the date of the abduction being in December of 2007 when the State Dept knows full well that she was in the US after that date and withheld evidence to that effect from myself and my attorney.  An action, or rather lack thereof, that has supported the abduction of an American child and needlessly placed the decision to return my son in jeopardy.


Since the state of Mexico has ordered my son's return and he has yet to come home please stop referring to my son's case as "resolved" or "closed".


Thank you,

[ChristineS]

Hey Carlos this is great news for you man...well Nadia's birthday is August 5th, she'll be 1, and I hear she MAY be in town

 
Hey Devon,
Let me know the birthday girl's size for pretty little dresses.

[Sashia]

Hey Devon,
Let me know the birthday girl's size for pretty little dresses.

Carlos, I know this isn't over yet, but hopefully, it's a step in the right direction. At least there''s some movement on the case.
Devon, if Nadia does show up, we're expecting updated pictures of that gorgeous girl.
My prayers tonight for both of you.

[beaner99]

Carlos,
Your situation is sadly similar to one I know well.  Mexico has been cited as demonstrating "patterns of noncomplicance in the areas of judicial and law enforcement performance in FY 2008." (Report on Compliance with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, April 2009, p. 21, http://travel.state.gov/pdf/2009HagueAbductionConven tionComplianceReport.pdf)

Is your ex a Mexican national?  If so, it makes it even tougher to get a fair or honest result out of Mexico.  Good luck in this difficult situation.

http://www.annettecarlaclark.com/Home.html