Brazilian Justice Delays Ruling In Goldman Case

[clamchucker]

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) ―
Click to enlarge 1 of 3
David Goldman says he hopes to spend what is left of the holiday season with his son, Sean. (File) BringSeanHome.org

Click to enlarge 2 of 3
CBS

Click to enlarge 3 of 3
Photograph of David Goldman and his son Sean. BringSeanHome.org

Related Stories

• N.J. Father Pins Hopes On Brazil's Chief Justice
  (12/21/2009)
• Brazil Supreme Court To Decide Custody Case Monday
  (12/21/2009)
• N.J. Father: 'Why Is It So Hard' To Get Justice?
  (12/19/2009)
• Brazilian Supreme Court Delays Goldman Reunion
  (12/18/2009)
• Brazilian Court Rules For Boy's Return To NJ Dad
  (12/17/2009)
• Ruling Expected in Brazil-US Child Custody Dispute
  (12/15/2009)
• NJ Dad To Testify About International Abductions
  (10/9/2009)

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.

[gjb1969]

they all suck i guess what we call kidnapping is not the same down there oops forgot its a way of life there they suck i bet if he had a whole lot of money the boy would be home

[7deadlyplugs]

I heard they are now waiting for a ruling. It should be announced any time now.

[bababooey]

He's finally coming home. Congrats to Dave Goldman, and rep Chris smith for not giving up.


http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americ...tle/index.html

[ledhead36]

Congrats to all. It looks like the kid might now have a chance at a normal life.

[cracklepopper]

I have been following it as well. Great story, and I hope his son can settle down into a stable life after all the cameras go away.

[voyager35]

With all the tragedy lately it's good to see a happy ending somewhere.



Dec 29, 2009 9:11 am US/Eastern
Father & Son Together At Last In Tinton Falls

Home Sweet Home: Goldmans Return To New Jersey

Reporting
Jay Dow
TINTON FALLS, N.J. (CBS) ―
Click to enlarge 1 of 5
David Goldman, top, followed by his 9-year-old son Sean, gestures as he boards a plane at the Galeao airport, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009. Silvia Izquierdo/Getty Images

Click to enlarge 2 of 5
Photograph of David Goldman and his son Sean. BringSeanHome.org

Click to enlarge 3 of 5
Sean Goldman, 9-year old boy, hugging his Brazilian stepfather Joao Paulo Lins e Silva, arrives at U.S. Consulate to be reunited with his father David Goldman, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Dec. 24, 2009. AP

Click to enlarge 4 of 5
David Goldman (R) gives the thumbs up as he embarks --followed by his nine-year-old son Sean-- on the plane that will take them back to the US, at the international airport of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil December 24, 2009. VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images

Click to enlarge 5 of 5
CBS

Snowy winters, freezing temperatures and the warm embrace of a family that spent the last five holiday seasons wondering when 9-year-old Sean Goldman would wake up in New Jersey. On Tuesday, the message is simple: Home Sweet Home!

The Goldman's prayers were answered Monday night, when Sean and his father returned to their home in Tinton Falls from a bonding trip in Orlando, Florida. Sean's grandfather says the boy is still recovering from the traumatic Christmas Eve handover, orchestrated by the Brazilian family that cared for Sean over the last five years.

Sean's resilient father, David Goldman, says his son is ready for what's ahead.

In an interview airing Monday on NBC's "Today" show, Goldman says the boy is happy to be with him but still needs time to adjust.

Goldman says he told Sean that he could call him "Dad." But he says the boy didn't respond.

The saga goes back to 2004, when Goldman's wife, Bruna Bianchi, took then-4-year-old Sean to her native Brazil and died there.

Now that they are back together in the U.S., Goldman has a parenting struggle ahead: How does a dad get to know his 9-year-old son again, especially a little boy whose mother has died and who has been transplanted to a country he hasn't seen since he was a preschooler?

"I kind of feel terrible for him," said Dr. Alan Hilfer, referring to Goldman's son, Sean. Hilfer, the director of psychology at Maimonides Medical Center in New York City, has been following media reports about the case.

"He's going to have a pretty hard time, even though I'm sure his dad will do the best he can."

Goldman, who operates charter fishing boats, had been arguing for years that Sean belonged to him under an international treaty that sets procedures for dealing with child abductions.

After Bianchi died, Goldman's case started getting media attention in both countries — and then momentum in Brazil's court system. His son's stepfather, part of a family of well-connected lawyers in Rio de Janeiro, continued to oppose the boy's return until Wednesday. One of the stepfather's main arguments was that Sean had grown roots in Brazil and would be better off there.


http://wcbstv.com/local/david.goldma...2.1395096.html

[buckethead]

It was nothing but a case of kidnapping. Sean should have been returned to his father years ago.

Congrat's on the return of your son.