Author Topic: Uphill Brazilian Battle for Child Custody (4/28 - also mentions Pate case) (Read 6580 times)

M.Capestro · « **on:** April 28, 2010, 07:17:06 AM »

VISIT LINK TO WATCH VIDEO

Uphill Brazilian Battle for Child Custody
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/international/100427-uphill-brazilian-battle-for-child-custody
Published : Tuesday, 27 Apr 2010, 6:19 PM CDT
DAMALI KEITH
Reporter

RICHMOND, Texas - A Fort Bend County father is getting custody of his son after a four-year battle in Brazil. Kelvin Birotte was granted custody of his son by a Brazilian judge.

Birotte's wife was actually on the Brazilian women's volleyball team and won a bronze medal at the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996. Birotte says 10 years after that, his wife took his son to Brazil for a visit and never came back.

"The law is pretty clear on that. You can't take a kid from one country to another without proper authorization. The mom actually kidnapped the child. Basically, that's what she didl," says Kelvin Birotte's Attorney, Divine Sanjoh.

Birotte, an American, and Hilma Caldeira from Brazil, married in Las Vegas in 2004. In 2005, their son Kelvin Jr. was born. Less than one year later, Birotte says his wife was asking for his signature to get their son a passport. He says she told him she was going for a two-week visit to Brazil but she never returned to the United States.

The Houston-area father has spent four years and thousands of dollars trying to get his son back.

"More than 10, 20-thousand dollars," says Sanjoh.

Kelvin Birotte is not alone. More than sixty American children are said to be living in Brazil after being abducted by a parent.

Houston father Marty Pate knows that all too well. He is also four years into fighting to get custody of his daughter back from her mother in Brazil. It is a fight he still has not won. Brazil has been known for years to grant custody to the Brazilian native. Almost all Americans who have had custody fights in Brazil have lost.

Just a few months ago, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Brazil encouraging officials there to allow Americans to have fair custody fights. Kelvin Birotte's fight, by the way, may not be over. Birotte says his wife first took his son into hiding after the judge's decision in his favor, then she filed for an appeal.

M.Capestro · « **Reply #1 on:** April 28, 2010, 01:54:53 PM »

Another story from today. The Google translation is really awful, but if I'm reading it correctly, even Hilma's attorney doesn't know where she is.

http://www.domtotal.com/noticias/detalhes.php?notId=207051

Hilma with her son on the eve of deadline
By Tatiana Lagôa

The specified period ends tomorrow for Justice for the son of former volleyball player Hilma Caldeira is delivered to the parent, the American Kelvin Birotte. But even the lawyer of former national team athlete knows the whereabouts of her and the boy of four years.

Following the Hague Convention, which gives the right to native who stayed in the country of origin of the child, the judge of 19th Circuit Federal de Minas Gerais, Otoni João César de Matos, gave assent to return the boy to the United States.

The decision was taken on April 14. Since then the former player came to be appointed as international kidnapper.

Hilma and Kelvin disputing custody of the child since 2006, when she came to Brazil with the child and divorced after falling out with then-husband by telephone.

Soon after the court order, the bronze medalist in the Olympics in Atlanta (1996) have traveled to a site with family, according to her lawyer, Gilberto Antônio Guimarães. "This is a trip she had planned. Before going, she told me that he would remain there for 15 days to rest. This trip has nothing to do with the process," he said Guimaraes.

The lawyer believes that the "disappearance" will not harm it in the proceedings for custody of the child. "There was no determination that she could not travel. She has the constitutional right to come and go," he said.

A specialist in international law of family Suzana Cremasco, Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), believes, however, will not be simple. "If the officers of Justice seeking the boy at home and not find it, the lawyer for the father can claim that she violated a court order. In this case, it can be fined or even imprisoned," he explained.

The doctorate in international law Ruff Aziz Saliba also UFMG, agrees. "The judge can understand that this imbalance is a sample of the mother and decide that the child should really be with the father," he said.

liesl78 · « **Reply #2 on:** April 28, 2010, 02:09:14 PM »

That's correct, it says "not even her attorney knows where she is".

He says it was a planned trip - I recall hearing that before, but it wasn't in this case

M.Capestro · « **Reply #3 on:** April 28, 2010, 02:13:50 PM »

How could he know it's a planned trip, but not know where to?

If it smells like poo and looks like poo, it is :shitstorm

Grace · « **Reply #4 on:** April 28, 2010, 04:22:35 PM »

Can't trust the woman: remember she said she was going to "marry a new man" and he would never see his son again? The nerve. Waiting for this story to be over tomorrow!

liesl78 · « **Reply #5 on:** April 28, 2010, 08:38:15 PM »

An attorney had the nerve to say the child is adapted and his mother is the paternal figure - wth???

Her lawyers are trying to put a stay in the order

http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/cotidiano/ult95u727325.shtml

28/04/2010 - 17h43
Defesa tenta suspender decisão que obriga ex-jogadora de vôlei a devolver filho aos EUA
Publicidade

LUIZA BANDEIRA
da Agência Folha

No último dia dado pela Justiça para que a ex-jogadora de vôlei Hilma Caldeira, 38, entregue seu filho às autoridades, a defesa da ex-atleta dará uma última cartada para tentar suspender os efeitos da decisão judicial que determinou que o menino fosse levado de volta aos EUA, país onde nasceu.

De acordo com a advogada Cristiane Nilo Abranches de Miranda, os advogados que defendem Hilma irão impetrar dois mandados de segurança --um no TRF (Tribunal Regional Federal) e um no STJ (Superior Tribunal de Justiça), em Brasília, para tentar suspender o mandado de busca e apreensão referente à criança.

Para Miranda, é importante considerar que o menino, de quatro anos, já está adaptado ao Brasil. "O laudo pericial diz que ele sofrerá abalo psíquico com a ida [para os EUA]. Ele reconhece como figura paterna a mãe."

Na decisão, publicada no dia 20, o juiz João César Otoni de Matos, da Justiça Federal em Minas Gerais, deu dez dias para que a criança fosse entregue às autoridades brasileiras --ou seja, deveria ser feita nesta quinta-feira (29). Miranda afirma que a defesa vai aguardar uma decisão sobre os mandados de segurança antes de devolver o menino.

Hilma e o pai da criança, o americano Kelvin Birotte, foram casados entre 2004 e 2006. Eles se conheceram quando ele era chef na cozinha de um hotel em Las Vegas. O pai da criança diz que, em 2006, mãe e filho viajaram ao Brasil para passar três meses, e não voltaram mais para os EUA.

Segundo parentes e amigos, Hilma e o menino saíram de Belo Horizonte, onde vivem, há cerca de duas semanas. A reportagem os procurou, mas não consegue encontrá-los desde sexta-feira passada.

O caso relembra o do menino Sean Goldman, entregue ao pai americano em dezembro por decisão da Justiça. Mais uma vez, a situação envolve a Convenção de Haia, da qual o Brasil é signatário, que regula o sequestro internacional de crianças.

No caso de Hilma, caberá à Justiça americana decidir quem ficará com o menino.

JuliRosi · « **Reply #6 on:** April 29, 2010, 04:17:40 AM »

Yes, I think so, we can't trust this woman. It is Terrible to read "a mother which says that a father would never see his son again" is a crime against the child! I wait for a happy end tomorrow too!

Quote from: Grace on April 28, 2010, 04:22:35 PM

Can't trust the woman: remember she said she was going to "marry a new man" and he would never see his son again? The nerve. Waiting for this story to be over tomorrow!

JuliRosi · « **Reply #7 on:** April 29, 2010, 05:57:23 AM »

That's the Google translation!

http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/cotidiano/ult95u727325.shtml

Defense tries to suspend decision requiring former volleyball player son to return to the U.S.
Advertising
LUIZA FLAG
Agency Sheet

On the last day given by the courts for the former volleyball player Hilma Caldeira, 38, delivered her son to the authorities, the defense of ex-athlete will make a last stand to try to suspend the effects of court ruling determined that the boy was taken back to the U.S., where he was born.

Father of the son of former player that decision was easy after the event Sean
Court orders ex-volleyball player son return to the U.S.

According to the lawyer Cristiane Nile Abranches de Miranda, the lawyers who defend Hilma will implore two injunctions - one on the TRF (Tribunal Regional Federal) and the STJ (Superior Court), in Brasilia, to try suspend search and seizure warrant on the child.

For Miranda, it is important to consider that the boy of four years, is already adapted to Brazil. "The forensic report says that he will suffer psychological blow with the departure [to America]. He recognizes the mother as father figure."

In the decision, published on 20 June, Judge John Otoni César de Matos, Federal Justice in Minas Gerais, has ten days to the child was handed over to Brazilian authorities - ie it should be done this Thursday (29) . Miranda said that the defense will await a decision on the injunction before returning the boy.

Hilma and the child's father, Kelvin Birotte American, were married between 2004 and 2006. They met when he was a chef in the kitchen of a hotel in Las Vegas. The child's father says that in 2006, mother and son traveled to Brazil to spend three months, and have not returned to the U.S..

According to relatives and friends, Hilma and the boy went out of Belo Horizonte, where they live, about two weeks. The report sought them, but can not find them since Friday morning.

The case recalls the boy's Sean Goldman, delivered to an American father in December by Court decision. Again, the situation involving the Hague Convention, of which Brazil is a signatory, which governs international child abduction.

In the case of Hilma, it is up to U.S. court to decide who will get the boy.