First, parental alienation:
About three weeks ago, when Carlos first began getting visits with his son, he brought him a Batman bike as a gift. Of course, Sage loved it and was the envy of his buddies for the day :), but when Carlos saw Sage again last week, he asked Sage if he'd been riding his bike. Sage replied that he couldn't, that his mom had told him "Carlos" had taken the "key" away so he couldn't ride it, and when Carlos asked him what key he was talking about Sage said, "she's right over there, go ask her." He said it multiple times as if he wanted to see who was telling him the truth. Carlos is extremely sensitive to Sage's feelings and level of comfort at these visits, and these things never turn into arguments on his end because of it, but it must still be so confusing to Sage. We all know kid's bicycles don't require keys...it just breaks my heart the lengths this selfish woman will go to to keep Sage from his father...
And now, my brother's email:
"In January My wife filed an inappropriate amparo/appeal that should
have been summarily dismissed and, with the help of a friend of hers
that is a secretary of the court, had all the court documents sent to
another court so that the court that was supposed to hear the new
Hague case, incorrectly, wouldn't allow the new trial to begin for
five months.
Before coming to Mexico I switched to a new law local law firm that I
was impressed with who, as it turns out, is one of the best in the
state. We went before the various courts and filed a long series of
our own motions, appeals, amparos and complaints and got the court
documents sent back to the lower court and the secretary reprimanded
and removed the case.
The new judge, himself embarrassed about the long delay that his court
played a role in, began the new Hague case treating it like a real
Hague case. He scheduled a single hearing to do the entire trial but
we spent the whole day interviewing new witnesses that my wife
presented to testify to how well adjust and happy Sage was in Mexico.
He scheduled another day to finish a couple days later and we spent
that whole day going over pictures I submitted into evidence. Another
whole day was spent going over the videos I submitted. Each time we
couldn't finish he scheduled another hearing for within days to try to
finish again. Yesterday we spent the day doing the cross-examination
of my wife. Between the fact that I have a brilliant attorney taking
the lead on the case, with his firm behind him, at the fact that my
wife has now spent three years lying all over the place. I know,
almost verbatim, what she has said where, what the evidence says and
when it contradicts her or she contradicts herself.
She was completely destroyed during questioning. Not even half way
through even I was cringing and feeling bad for her. I was thinking
the judge might have her arrested at the end for what could only be
called blatant fraud. She starting by denying on the stand that she
was a US resident, that she had a US Social Security Number and that
she had a NC drivers license. We also asked her all the same
questions from the first trial and she reversed over half of her
answers from it (in Mexico all questions, aka "positions," must be
formulated as true/false statements for the witness to confirm or
deny.)
Then, when we started using evidence she submitted herself in various
amparos (specifically a Mexican Birth Certificate that she requested
and received from the Mexican Embassy in the US) she denied having
requested the document or any knowledge of it. She denied her
signatures, denied having filed the appeals, denied having gone before
a Mexican Notary Public and having a certified copy of it made and
denied remembering the court actions against which she filed the
amparos (which she won and benefited from.) This after she went to
great lengths with her witnesses and testimony to psychologists, to
claim that she, as a lawyer with a masters degree, had started a law
firm and regularly worked professionally as an attorney in a law firm
that she started (I'm guessing to accredit that her career was in
Mexico and she had the means to support Sage.)
When questioned about the photos she claimed to have no knowledge of
them and that all 1500 of them, from the time I met my wife, lived
with her, went on vacations, got married, Sage's birth and our trips
with Sage were all fake. The 50 or so videos -- all fake too.
During a meeting in the judges chamber between the judge, my wife and
Sage where Sage was doodling on a piece of a paper I asked Sage if he
could write his name. I wanted the judge to see that she had even
lied to him about his last name to remove my last name (Bermudez.)
Sage couldn't write his last names but he was happy to say them
("Rayon Garcia Gonzales.") When asked about that during official
questioning of her numerous attempts at parental alienation she even
denied that Sage didn't know his real last name.
She made various nationalistic/xenophobic statements about Sage being
"Mexican" (when no one questioned that) which might have played out
well in a court of public opinion, but fell very flat in the court of
law. On several occasions she made references to Sage being "mine" or
"my baby" that, in the context of a custody or abduction case, made it
look like she was considering him to be her personal property, like a
toy that she owned.
When asked about her refusing to allow me to show Sage pictures of his
past she said that she had not done so, but she would because I'd, no
doubt, show him "fake pictures" about a past that I had invented and
only existed in my delusional fantasies. The irony of which, after
the whole court room was literally dumbfounded as to how she had so
blatantly lied about so many things, was incredible.
I knew this portion of the hearing would go badly for her, but I never
could have imagined it could go so spectacularly bad. All the
contradictions in her stories have been pointed out in other appeals
or hearings before. If she had been actually paying attention to the
hearings (instead of just making things up as she goes with her
useless appeal-filing monkey attorneys) she could have made up some
sort of story that tried to explain the inconsistencies, admitted to
not be honest a couple times, and majorly limited the damage. I've
never known my wife to admit that she lied about anything though.
I've even said in the past that I could play a video in front of her
that proved she had lied about something and she still wouldn't admit
to it and she just proved me right. To avoid admitting to any lies
whatsoever she decided to tell huge ridiculous ones.
Her credibility was so totally destroyed before the court that if she
claimed water was wet no one would believe her. My wife, her attorney
and all the witnesses she presented to give testimony all now face the
very real possibility of criminal charges for fraud.
This new Hague case, in the first level court, should be done within
the next two weeks."
Let's hope that this all continues to move quickly, through every level of the court system, so that Sage can finally come home!!
--Sonia
I never heard that bike story. Oh my God,I can't believe someone would do something like that! These people are insane! I'm so happy they are finally making progress in this case! If you're reading this Carlos, we are SO happy for you! Congratulations and we all miss and love you.
ReplyDeleteCarlos, I hope you are reading this. I remember commenting earlier, during one of our email exchanges, that mothers of Anand and Sage sound like philosophical sisters. The bike incident reinforces my observation.
ReplyDeleteWhen I met Anand after 630 days in April 2010, I took two toys to the place of visitation. The visitation was to take place at the home of a friend of mine whose son was 2 years younger than mine. I bought a remote controlled car for mine and a helicopter for the younger boy. When I took out the gifts, my friend's son wanted both. Anand agreed to let him have both after I promised to buy him another. At the next visitation, I gave him one. He loved, played with and took it home with him. A week or so later, I asked him if he was still playing with it. He told me he was but asked me why others didn't like the toy. When I asked him who the 'others' were, he told it was the parents and uncles of him mom!!!
Sounds like she took a real bad beating on the stand. Let us hope it leads to a positive outcome soon. Hang in there.
Anand's Dad, Carlos and all those who have abducted children, it seems the defining characteristic of abductors, that they all share is total and selfish narcissism. They seem to lack the ability to put others before themselves, and even the love and
ReplyDeletewell being of their own children.
I pray that Carlos is successful in the return of Sage and I thank God for his new, brilliant attorneys. Carlos put everything on the line to go there, to wage a battle of David and Goliath proportions to bring his son home. He is surrounded with her friends and family, his health is often on the line and he has done this without the financial aid or deep pockets of family or friends. He has not had the publicity or support of the media or his congressional reps. I hope this is inspirational to other parents who feel they are fighting a hopeless campaign for justice and the return of their own beloved children.
Finally, I hope the courts deliver justice this time and set an example of how the Hague should be followed and becomes a precedent and guiding principle to dictate the fate of all abducted children around the world.