Brazilian Justice Delays Ruling In Goldman Case
I think David Goldman is a guide for a local saltwater outfit. I was following this story and thought he would be granted custody. Now it looks like there will be more legal maneuvering. I feel sorry for the father because his son hasn't seen him in 5 years. With each year it becomes less likely the boy will want to return to his father.
Dec 21, 2009 5:39 pm US/Eastern
Brazilian Justice Delays Ruling In Goldman Case
Tinton Falls Father Begs To Have Son Returned To Him In Five-Year-Long Custody Battle
RIO DE JANEIRO (CBS) ―
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David Goldman says he hopes to spend what is left of the holiday season with his son, Sean. (File) BringSeanHome.org
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CBS
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Photograph of David Goldman and his son Sean. BringSeanHome.org
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The chief justice of Brazil's Supreme Court has delayed his decision on whether a young boy should be returned to his father in New Jersey following a five-year international custody battle, CBS 2 has learned. The announcement comes after David Goldman, of Tinton Falls, and Brazil's Attorney General requested to lift a stay on a lower court's decision to grant Goldman custody of his son.
The chief justice said he would make a decision on Tuesday.
Last week, when the Brazilian Supreme Court decided to hear the case, everyone thought Goldman's five-year long quest to recover his son, Sean, would drag on for at least two more months. It still might, but there is, for the first time in a long time, a glimmer of hope.
"I'm on my knees begging for my son to come home, begging for justice. Begging. Why is it so hard? Why?" Goldman asked during a session with reporters in Rio De Janeiro.
For Goldman, winning multiple rulings in Brazilian courts has yet to achieve a reunion between himself and now 9-year old Sean. With all the years passed and enormous legal expenses, many people are wondering if it would've been better for Goldman to hire someone to snatch Sean in the very beginning. But family law attorneys say the New Jersey charter boat captain has done everything right by acting within the legal system, and by not taking the law into his own hands.
"You can't engage in self-help and just go and snatch the child," said family law expert Jacqueline Harounian. "Those things can be used against you and they can backfire in a very big way."
What is not understood is why Brazil has not honored the Hague Convention treaty it signed in 2003, which mandates a child be returned to his or her biological parent when it comes to international abduction cases. According to that treaty, Brazil has no right to even consider custody.
"The country to which the child is abducted, according to the Hague Convention, is not to determine custody there. They are to return the child to the country which should appropriately be deciding custody," said attorney and international custody expert Jerome Wisselman.
Goldman said if he finally wins custody, the Brazilian family would be granted visitation rights.
"The first step is for Sean and I to reunite, come home, be with our family, and I will not do to them what they have done to Sean and me," said Goldman.
The lawyer for the Brazilians said the family extended an invitation to Goldman to spend the holidays with them.
"Every day is a day closer to Christmas. Everybody is suffering, and especially the boy," said attorney Sergio Tostes.
But Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who has helped Goldman in his fight, said that's merely another ploy.
"The kidnappers are inviting him to come for Christmas dinner. Just take two steps back. Every American and everyone around the world can see how disingenuous that was," said Smith.
If the chief justice decides the supreme court will hear the case, that won't happen until February at the earliest, and might include testimony from Sean himself as to what he wants; a 9-year old boy who has been kept from almost any contact with his father for five years.
