According to Isabella, her ex-husband Ethan was allowed to visit their son Tate on alternating weekends, from six o’clock Friday evening until six o’clock Sunday evening. The custody order provided that Ethan was responsible for transporting Tate to and from Isabella’s house. She said in the beginning the visits went well and she looked forward to having free time while Tate visited with his dad. She began by describing their routine.
Isabella: On Friday evenings, Ethan would pull into the driveway and honk the car horn. Tate would run out of the house, jump into the car, and they would be on their merry way until Sunday at six. Then Ethan would again pull into my driveway, and Tate would jump out of the car and run into the house.
Isabella said that during the last few visits, for some inexplicable reason, Ethan has allowed his girlfriend to accompany him to her house to pick up Tate.
Isabella: This is the same woman he was sleeping with during the last five or six years of our marriage. She is the same woman who called and informed me that she was sleeping with my husband, and she is the same woman he moved in with the day he moved out of our house. And now that we are divorced, I no longer care with whom he spends his time. But the first time she came with him, instead of staying in the car, she knocked on my door and said she wanted to apologize for any misunderstandings that might have transpired during my marriage to her current boyfriend. She said she did not see any reason why, at this point, we couldn’t all be friends. Because Tate was standing nearby, I did not make a scene, but I politely said I didn’t think that was something we should discuss in front of my son and that we should table that conversation for another day.
Later that evening, Isabella called Ethan and asked him not to bring his girlfriend to her house ever again and to let her know she was not interested in pursuing a friendship with her.
Isabella: However, on Sunday evening when he brought Tate home, I could see she was sitting in the car. Ethan got out of the car and asked me if he could come in for a minute and talk. He apologized for what had happened last Sunday and said it was not his idea for her to accompany him. He said he had spoken with her and it wouldn’t happen again. While we were talking, she began honking the car horn, over and over again. Tate kept asking what was going on, and a few of my neighbors came outside to see what was causing the commotion. When Ethan went out to the car, she quickly backed out of the driveway and pulled off. He had to call his brother to pick him up. She returned to my house after about three hours and asked if Ethan was still there. She wanted to know where he was and if I was willing to let her come inside the house and look around. She did not leave until I threatened to call the police.
Jackie’s Note: The cases posted in Courthouse Chronicles are real-life court cases that involve real people. For the record, I do not include any of the cases I have actually worked. If I hired a lawyer to represent me I would not want him or her writing about me so that’s why I don’t write about any of my clients. My research for these posts consists of sitting in the back of courtrooms listening to the testimony and witnessing the antics of other lawyers, their clients and people who chose to represent themselves.