Jolie says judge in Pitt divorce won’t let children testify

LOS ANGELES (AP):

Angelina Jolie criticised a judge deciding on custody arrangements for her and Brad Pitt’s children during their divorce, saying in a court filing that the judge refused to allow their kids to testify.

Jolie, who has sought to disqualify Judge John Ouderkirk from the divorce case, said in the filing Monday that he declined to hear evidence she says is relevant to the children’s safety and well-being before issuing a tentative ruling. The documents don’t elaborate on what that evidence may be.

“Judge Ouderkirk denied Ms Jolie a fair trial, improperly excluding her evidence relevant to the children’s health, safety, and welfare, evidence critical to making her case,” according to the filing in California’s Second District Court of Appeal.

The actress also said the judge “has failed to adequately consider” a section of the California courts code, which says it is detrimental to the child’s best interest if custody is awarded to a person with a history of domestic violence. Her filing did not give details on what domestic violence it was referring to.

Jolie sought a divorce in 2016, days after a disagreement broke out on a private flight ferrying the actors and their children from France to Los Angeles. Pitt was accused of being abusive towards his then-15-year-old son during the flight, but investigations by child welfare officials and the FBI were closed, with no charges being filed against the actor. Jolie’s attorney said at the time that she sought a divorce “for the health of the family”.

Her new filing says the judge has “refused to hear the minor teenagers’ input as to their experiences, needs, or wishes as to their custody fate”, citing a California code that says a child 14 or over should be allowed to testify if they want to.

Three of Jolie and Pitt’s six children are teenagers, 17-year-old Pax, 16-year-old Zahara, and 14-year-old Shiloh. The oldest, Maddox, is 19 and not subject to the custody decision. They also have 12-year-old twins, Vivienne and Knox.

In response to Jolie’s filing, Pitt’s attorneys said, “Ouderkirk has conducted an extensive proceeding over the past six months in a thorough, fair manner and reached a tentative ruling and order after hearing from experts and percipient witnesses.”

Pitt’s filing said the judge found Jolie’s testimony “lacked credibility in many important areas, and the existing custody order between the parties must be modified, per Mr Pitt’s request, in the best interests of the children”.

It says Jolie’s objections and further delays in reaching an arrangement would “work grave harm upon the children, who will be further denied permanence and stability”.

DIVORCE PROCESS

It’s not clear what the current custody arrangement is because the court seals most files. When the divorce process began, Jolie was seeking sole custody, and Pitt was seeking joint custody.

Lawyers for both sides declined to comment on the new filings.

Others close to Jolie say her family struggles have prompted her to take a more active role in changing the law’s approach to custody issues.

“Ms Jolie has been working privately for four and a half years to both heal her family and to fight for improvements to the system to ensure that other families do not experience what hers has endured,” Peter Harvey, an attorney and former attorney general of New Jersey who has been working with Jolie on policy issues, told The Associated Press.

Jolie has sought to disqualify Ouderkirk, a private judge she and Pitt chose to maintain their privacy, arguing that he has an improper business relationship with one of Pitt’s attorneys.

She said in Monday’s filing that if the tentative custody decision is made final by Ouderkirk, she will appeal it.

Jolie, 45, and Pitt, 57, were among Hollywood’s most prominent couples for 12 years. They had been married for two years when Jolie filed for divorce. They were declared divorced in April 2019, after their lawyers asked for a judgment that allowed a married couple to be declared single while other issues remained, including finances and child custody.