Oct 3, 2007 6:24 pm US/Eastern
Judge Allows Cuban Dad 5 Days A Week With Daughter
jm/sr
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
The biological father in an international custody case based out of Miami has won another victory on Wednesday: his five-year-old girl will get to stay with him five days a week. She would be with her foster parents on the weekends.
Judge Jeri B. Cohen wants to ease the girl into the idea of possibly going away with her biological father.
The Miami circuit court judge said, "Letting the child ease into it. Otherwise your talking about an abrupt breaking off and I don't want to an abrupt break off."
Rafael Izquierdo won a key legal victory last week when he was deemed to be a fit father.
But yesterday, the little girl's foster parents told the court the 5-year old claims during a court ordered visit with her father, she was told to say she wanted to go to Cuba while one of Izquierdo's attorneys taped the conversation.
"She said, 'Papi it was Yanara and Rafaelo who told me to say that to the camera'," said Joe Cubas to the judge.
That brought a quick response from attorney Magda Montiel Davis, who during the custody trial was accused of encouraging witnesses to lie and helping to fabricate evidence; allegations she has vehemently denied.
After the hearing, Davis said, "Desperate people do desperate things. I can tell you I have never taken a video of that little girl and our client has never gotten her in front of a camera to say she wants to go to Cuba."
Judge Cohen, presiding over this case with all its accusations, did not seem to give these latest allegations much weight. She said, "I don't believe everything I hear just because somebody said it."
In court, Izquierdo said the Cubas family did not deserve to have the family, but Cohen is allowing them to see the girl on weekends. She also told Izquierdo he should be thankful for what the Cubas family has done.
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