Pennsylvania Family Law Blog – The Law Offices of Sheryl R. Rentz
Terrifying Santa Shooting Leaves Nine Dead
On Christmas Eve 2008, a man deranged from what he perceived to be an unfair divorce settlement went on a rampage in Covina, California. He killed eight relatives of his ex-wife before fleeing and then shooting himself in the head. According to the facts as investigators have pieced them together, the shooter, a man named Bruce Pardo, had recently completed his divorce settlement with his estranged ex, Silvia Pardo. Having been fired from his job in July, Pardo had fallen behind on his child support payments. He showed up to the home of Alisha and James Ortega dressed as Santa Claus carrying a gift box that contained an explosive liquid, which he used to light the Ortega’s house on fire. Bruce Jeffrey Pardo began his rampage by shooting an eight year old girl in the face. He then went on a gun slinging, fire starting rampage that ended with eight dead and several injured. Among the victims medical authorities expect to survive are two young women, ages 16 and 20, and the 8 year old victim who was shot in the face.
Following the shootings and torching of the Ortega’s house, Pardo escaped to the home of his brother in Sylmar. By the time police arrived on Thursday morning, Pardo had shot himself in the head. Read the rest »
Article on 2005 Child Shooting Angers Chief of LAPD
On January 7, 2009, LAPD Police Chief Bill Bratton lashed out against the Los Angeles Times for implying that Bratton’s department had been unethical while investigating the 2005 shooting of a 1-year-old girl, Susie Pena. Bratton’s tirade against the Times came on the heels of an article that suggested that the department had made both scientific and ethical lapses during an autopsy investigation for this tragedy, which started with a family dispute. Read the rest »
WWF Superstar Bodyslammed with Surprise Divorce Charge
On November 25, 2007, distressing news broke for WWF legend Hulk Hogan. His wife of many years, Linda Hogan, had filed for divorce through the Pinellas County Court in Florida. Hulk (whose legal name is Terry Bollea) and Linda had starred in their own reality television series on the VH1 Channel called Hogan Knows Best. Towards the end of the season, the show featured Linda and Hulk attending counseling sessions together, but the show concluded with the couple finding common ground. Read the rest »
Pennsylvania Dad Says Courts Should Automatically Award Joint Custody
A Pennsylvania father, who spent four years and most of his money to fight a child custody battle, is lobbying for House Bill 2825 that would award joint custody to couples unless the court finds that such joint custody would not be in the child’s best interest. A report says that Jesse Storm thinks parents should not have to “go through a divorce and split your property and assets up 50/50 between mom and dad” and still end up spending an additional $20,000 to $80,000 on a child custody battle. Storm says he should have spent that kind of money on his child’s college tuition rather than battling to spend a weekend with his child.
Storm has started a group called Pennsylvania Families Association to fight the court system, which he says benefits only one parent. It is an unfair system, he says, where 91 percent of child custody cases are settled with a primary custodian where one parent has the majority of the custody of the child. Read the rest »
Pennsylvania Child Custody Issues Can Be Complex For Same-Sex Couples
Same sex custody cases have been rare in Pennsylvania but they do occasionally come up from time to time. This article in the Sharon Herald talks about the one such case that has garnered public attention in Mercer County. This case involves Lisa Lewis, a non-biological parent who is seeking custody of a child she helped raise with her same-sex partner.
The article quotes former longtime Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Wherry, who says he has never had a same-sex custody case, but has dealt with non-biological parents like Lewis who seek an “in loco parentis” status for visitation and custody reasons. The term “in loco parentis” is Latin for “in the place of a parent” or “instead of a parent” and refers to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to take on some of the functions and responsibilities of a parent. A same sex custody case would be handled the same way as when a non-biological parent would seek an “in loco parentis” status. If it is in the best interest of the child, the parent will end up getting some measure of custody but they will need the help of a skilled child custody lawyer.
Pennsylvania’s New Rules Will Put Cases Involving Children on Fast Track
Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court has adopted new rules that are designed to speed up court action on the most serious cases involving children. According to this Associated Press news report, these new rules will help children who are involved in cases that concern dependency, custody, adoption, paternity and termination of parental rights. These cases will be stamped “Children’s Fast Track” to make sure that appeals from county courts to state appellate courts are processed quicker.
These rules were apparently developed by a panel with the hope that the changes will help improve the public’s confidence in the judicial system. Cases that involve visitation, child support and delinquency will not be affected by these changes. Read the rest »
Pennsylvania Mom Arrested for Failing to Pay Child Support
The Allegheny County Sheriff’s office arrested a woman who owes more than $40,000 in child support, according to this Associated Press news report. Genevieve Null, 38, of McKees Rocks, fled to Florida but returned to Pennsylvania. Officials have been looking for her for about three years, they said. Null had also been featured on a Sheriff’s Office Web site as one of Allegheny County’s “most wanted.” Read the rest »
Divorce Announced for Madonna and Guy Ritchie
In Hollywood divorce news, Madonna and her husband of seven and a half years, Guy Ritchie, have announced they are beginning divorce proceedings. Madonna’s publicist e-mailed a statement (co-signed by Ritchie’s rep) to the Associated Press on October 15, confirming the news. The joint-statement reads: Read the rest »
Court: Widow Can’t Use Husband’s Frozen Sperm
In an interesting case regarding the rights of widowed spouses, a Sacramento state appeals court has ruled that Iris Kievernagel cannot use her deceased husband’s frozen sperm to become pregnant because he had made it clear he did not want to father a child posthumously. In a recently made public ruling, the appeals court ruled that if only one spouse has contributed genetic material, “the intent of the donor” must control its disposition after death. Read the rest »
No Alimony Payments For McGreevey
New York Times reporter Mitchell L. Blumethal reported on August 8, 2008 that a judge ruled that former New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey will not have to make alimony payments to his former wife. McGreevy resigned from office after admitting he had an affair with a male aide. Wife, Dina Matos was married to McGreevey for eight years.
State Superior Court Judge Karen Cassidy granted the couple a divorce after McGreevey announced on national television that he was “a gay American.” Read the rest »
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