She Did What?

Last Friday Keith had an appointment at the middle school to attend Steven's I.E.P. (Individual Education Plan). The meeting was supposed to be at 7:15 a.m. but the school called and rescheduled for 1:30 p.m. No problem. Keith arrived at the meeting and sat down with the faculty from the school. Principal Petersen began the meeting by saying, "I've instructed my staff that if she comes, they're to usher her into the room." Keith was confused--he said, "Beth isn't coming." Principal Petersen informed him that Patty had called the special education teacher and told him to reschedule the appointment for after lunch because she was flying in to attend this I.E.P. "I've never missed one of these," she told the educator. Once again Keith's jaw dropped to the floor, then he burst out laughing. "She's not coming," he informed them. Principal Petersen is a cousin of mine and is very familiar with our Patty. The other educators are new to the situation, but I'm sure they'll be up to speed in no time. Patty loves C.O.N.T.R.O.L. She knew good and well that she was NOT going to fly 2,000 miles to attend a 15 minute meeting, but was successful in upsetting the schedule of 5 different people. All this is merely an attempt to put herself back in the game! Pathetic--life is too short!
BTW: Steven's I.E.P. was fantastic. After evaluating him on several levels the school came to the conclusion that he was functioning completely within the realm of a normal 5th grader and no further special attention was required. Naturally, this is music to our ears! With the help of dad and that wonderful step-mother of his, he's been able to catch up in a little over a year. Now that's PROGRESS. Thanks for reading!

And . . . ?

Keith and Dad have spent the last two days in Florida for Steven's custody hearing. The first day was spent, once again, with Patty's attorney trying to muddy the waters arguing over past rulings. They attacked Keith and his decisions regarding his job and family, they attacked Keith's attorney, they attacked Steven's attorney (Gloria Winston/former Guardian ad Litem), they attacked the principals at the school and questioned the validity of testing done on Steven. They attacked the testimony of doctors and psychologists who have treated Steven while in Utah. They went after everyone and anyone who felt that Steven might possibly be better off with his dad. The hearing ran long and was very tense. As time was running out on the second day, Keith and Dad had resigned themselves to the fact that this hearing could not be completed in the scheduled two days and a third hearing was inevitable. The judge thought otherwise. He said, "Let's get 'er done." The courthouse was locked up with the exception of one door and the hearing continued well into the evening. At the conclusion, the judge told the attorneys that they were to submit their closing arguments in 3 type-written pages (he even specified the font and size) and have them to him before January. Patty's attorney argued that she couldn't possibly do it in less that 20--he growled, "You've got THREE." So . . . the ruling will be handed down some time in February. I know it's frustrating as we all wanted a ruling now but we believe this is a good time for patience. This judge is taking his time and making sure every thing is legal and properly documented. Once all these legalities have been carefully scrutinized and covered, there will less likely be a reversal upon appeal--which is inevitable. I promise to update my website with more details as quickly as I can. Thanks for your interest and God bless!
C.B.

FYI: Patty was caught in one lie after another. The judge himself caught her in several lies that neither attorney caught. Her own exhibits and claims were filled with discrepencies and this sharp old retired judge didn't miss a thing. We love him!

Hearing Starts Today

I realize that I have not provided many updates to this story. Most of the details are rather boring, infuriating, and just more of the same. This will continue until Steven turns 18 years old and is no longer under the jurisdiction of the court. Patty's "standard operating procedure" is still the same.

Keith--during this economic crisis--lost his engineering job. One of his main concerns has been the impact that fact would have on this custody hearing. After seven long months of unemployment, he was able to secure a position with a government facility, has moved his family back home, and purchased a new home. Being the Grandma--I love this. The grandkids are closer, which affords them easy access to cousins, friends, and "home".

The custody hearing begins today and I have no idea where it will lead. Here are a few of the facts being presented at the hearing:

Steven's reading level (in one year) has gone from 2.2 to 4.8. He is reading at grade level and some of his reading skills are at a 7th grade level (Steven is in 5th grade).
Steven does extremely well in math and science but struggles a bit with spelling. He has transitioned into this new school with no problems whatsoever. He visited with his attorney and reported that he wants to "see" his mother but wants to live with his dad. "He needs to live with his dad." (his own words) He is active in scouts, has made lots of new friends in the short time since the move, he loves his new school and teacher. Steven is no longer taking the FIVE medications he brought to UT with him. His weight remains constant. Other than the "pull" to mom, he's a happy, healthy, normal 11 year old boy. BTW: Patty has not paid her "back child support", does not call Steven (the judge made provisions for one call a week), and other than an occasional package has made no attempt to contact him. She has however "stalked" the principal at Steven's last school--did an internet search on him, called his private cell phone number at his home on the weekend, and placed persistent calls to him at work. This continued even after Steven was pulled from that school and placed in his current school. When the principal questioned Keith on this behavior, Keith just grinned and said, "Welcome to my world."

I'll be sure to keep you updated as soon as I have anything to report. Say your prayers and thanks for your interest.

C.B.

No News

I've been receiving questions regarding updates to the custody hearing. Another hearing was scheduled for the middle of October but was only scheduled for ONE DAY! After the last hearing where Patty's lawyer used up all the time with "legalese", Keith requested that a TWO day hearing be scheduled. The earliest that can be done is the 5th & 6th of November (I believe). So that's where it stands for now. It's pretty quiet on the home front but that will change about a week before the hearing. Will keep you posted if anything new develops. Thanks again for all your interest. Say your prayers folks, we're going to need them.
C.B.

Good News from the Barker Family

Well, even though it isn't about the custody hearing, there is good news from the Barker family. Keith's former employer went through massive "downsizing" the first of the year, and Keith was one of those cuts. On Friday he got a call asking him to come in for what Keith "assumed" would be an interview. It was no interview--they were hiring him. Apparently they'd seen his resume and wanted him now. He was so confused. He thought he would go through the interviewing process but when they started processing paperwork on him--he was stunned! He was picked up this morning in a government car (he won't have his security clearance for months) and driven to his new place of work. His head is spinning but he's so thankful. We know that this will work in his favor when the second (of who knows how many) custody hearing begins. Of course we're all on our knees thanking God that he finally has a job. It's been a long, stressful seven months but things are looking up a bit. Maybe we'll be just as lucky with the next hearing. Thank you so much for your interest and your prayers. Keep 'em coming--they're working. God Bless!
C.B.

Our Legal System at it's FINEST!

Well, no surprises here! The hearing was an amazingly big waste of time, money, resources, tax-payer dollars, and energy. I cannot express to you how livid I am at this moment. After months of legal wrangling, untold amounts of money spent, and an extreme amount of emotional stress, we are back to square one! The hearing was only scheduled for one day. Half of that day was spent arguing over whether the hearing was "legal" or not. Can you believe it? Patty's attorney felt her client hadn't been given her "due process" in the hearing held last October. Most of the morning was spent trying to decide whether this hearing was "legal". Ridiculous! The judge kept telling her that she was arguing about things that had already been ruled on but she kept at it. I believe "legal gobble-dee-gook" is the technical term for it. During the afternoon Keith spent most of his time on the witness stand. Patty's attorney wasted most of the time with trivial "legalese"--therefore there was no time to get to the "real" issues at hand. Basically, there was nothing decided! The only new ruling that came from the hearing is that Steven now has his own attorney. Gloria Winston, the former guardian ad litem on the case, is now the attorney of record for Steven. So Steven is "lawyered up", Keith is "lawyered up", and Patty is "lawyered up". As Beth said, "Oh good! Another attorney on the payroll." Since Gloria is now Steven's attorney, a new "Guardian ad Litem" was assigned to the case--hence we start all over with a new player in the game. They scheduled another glorious hearing the first week in October. More $$$!

Is anyone besides me totally fed up with how our government works today? There is not one person in the case who doesn't know exactly where Steven should be placed! But we play the game! A very costly, non-productive, and insane game! If you think that these types of cases do not affect you--think again! We ALL pay for these court cases. They tie up our legal system, waste your tax dollars, and suck our system dry!

Where is Steven now? He's spending the morning visiting with his mom, maternal grandparents and his new attorney and guardian ad litem. This afternoon he will do the same thing all over again with his father, paternal grandfather, his new attorney and the new guardian ad litem. And what will we have accomplished! Absolutely NOTHING! Sorry folks! Wish I could give you better news--and I wish I could be more optimistic about our legal system. I think Shakespeare said it best: "First thing . . . lets kill all the lawyers." Seems their reputation has been around for quite some time--and it's not going to change in the future.

My brother (who went through a nasty divorce) had a cartoon framed and mounted on his wall. In the middle of the cartoon was a big cow--the wife was pulling on it's head; the husband was pulling on the tail. And the lawyer was sitting in the middle . . milking the cow! Pretty much says it all!

BTW: Steven's Uncle was found "not guilty" on the sexual charges leveled against him. Another shining moment for our legal system. I have no doubt he was guilty! Keep your children close!

Flying East--No Vacation!

Well, the custody hearing is TOMORROW! As I blog, my husband, son and grandson are flying east to participate in this most important hearing. There has been lots of last minute legal maneuvering (which I hate), depositions, conference calls, and anxiety this week. Steven's doctor and psychologist were both deposed over the phone yesterday. On the other end of the phone was Keith's attorney, Patty's attorney, and Gloria Winston--the guardian ad litem. The depositions were scheduled to take approximately 1/2 hour each but ended up running over five hours. Naturally Patty's attorney attempted to discredit Steven's doctor and therapist but was unable to do so. This new attorney is still under the assumption that her client is telling her the truth. Can't wait to see what happens there. One of the newest stories to come from Patty's attorney is this: Patty told her that when she brought Steven back to Utah this summer she fell on an escalator in the airport. Although others gathered round her and insisted that she go to the hospital to be checked, she knew she had to get her son to his dad so she continued on her way. We happen to know this is bogus because there is NO escalator in the area of the airport in which she supposedly fell. Had this happened Steven would surely have told his dad--he was upset at having to "leave" his mother because she had no one to take care of her. (He's 10 years old and feels he needs to take care of his mother.) Patty lays a heavy dose of guilt on Steven's shoulders each time she sees him--verifiable by Steven's psychologist. The hearing starts at 9:00 a.m. eastern time on August 20, but the judge doesn't have to make a ruling until the middle of October. It's frustrating I know, but we want to make sure he has all his "ducks in a row" because this will certainly go to an appeals court. Thanks once again for your interest.

BTW: On the latest poll, Patty said ALL of the items on the right. She promised her son that if he said all the things she wanted him to say, she'd buy him six Siberian Huskies and they would race them. When asked if he really thought she would do that he said, "No, I don't think we have enough money to do that." It's coming--very slowly! Where does she get this stuff?