Judge Eugene Hyman
Posted on November 18th, 2008 by Kim
Eugene M. Hyman has been a judge in Santa Clara County (San Jose, CA) for 18 years presiding in almost all of the divisions of the Court. In April of 1999 he began the Santa Clara Domestic Violence and Family Violence Court which was recognized on June 23 of this year with a United Nations Public Service Award, the first program in the US to win an award since the program began in 2003. Judge Hyman has lectured in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Germany on domestic violence and related family law issues. Visit him online at judgehyman.com.
Dear Sir,
I was listening to the radio tonight and heard you on the Kim Iverson show. I was intrigued to find out that you deal with cases in Family Court and have an interest in cases involving children. If you don’t mind, I would like to get your opinion about a very difficult case involving my family. About 10 years ago, my mother and stepfather divorced. During their marriage the had two other children. My brother is now 18 years old and my sister is 12 years old. My stepfather was awarded primary custody of my brother and sister. My mom has been fighting for the last ten years to gain primary custody of them, but has failed time and time again due to what I believe is a biased Judge. The Judge who handled their divorce and custody of the children was a former friend of my stepfather’s family. My stepfather’s father, who is now deceased had a leisure friendship with this Judge. He has ruled in my stepfather’s favor in every case brought before him. My mother even went as far as filing a petition against the Judge for being biased. Her petition was thrown out. To give you an example, about 2 years ago, my mother filed for custody to the children. The initial Judge to handle this case asked for the children and our family members to be evaluated by a court appointed psychologist. We all talked to the psychologist. The children underwent a much more in depth evaluation. The psychologist concluded that the children be removed from the care of my stepfather immediately and be placed with my mother. My mother thought for sure she had finally won. When the day of the hearing came, the Judge who had ordered this evaluation was not available and the other Judge (the one who was the family friend) stepped in. Before my mother’s attorney could present the evidence against my stepfather, the Judge told my mother that it would be pointless to present the evaluation. He said he had already made up his mind and was going to rule in favor of my stepfather. He said if she wanted to continue with the hearing she could, but that he would not take the evaluation into consideration. Taking her attorney’s advice, she withdrew her petition for custody so she would not lose the evidence and could use it at a later hearing if she wished. My little sister wants so badly to live with my mother. When she my mother has to return her to my stepfather, she begs not to go and she has terrible fits of rage and anger. She cries all of the time and is failing in school. She’s even wears a pull up to bed every night because she wets the bed (at 12 years old). I know this is a lot to take in like this, but if you have any advice about this situation, I would greatly appreciated it. My mother is considering filing for custody again. She still has all of the evidence she had from 2 years ago plus more. Also to let you know, we are living in New York State. This is where the children were born and currently reside. My mother has relocated to the state of Virginia and has remarried. I know that this type of situation is difficult because of the fact that they live in different states. But please, if you can shed any light I would be grateful.
Thank You,
Rebecca Potter