Expert: Henning Haarhaus - 7/2/2009

Question
Do you think this man did the right thing Yes or No?
A Spanish Citizen, Maria Jose Carrascosa married her American husband in Spain in 1999. The next year her daughter Victoria Solenne (a dual US/Spanish citizen) who was born in Victoria Solenne Secaucus (New Jersey).

In 2004 they divorced and singed a agreement regarding visitation. The child was not allowed to move more than 144 miles from home with out the consent of both parties. In June 2005 she traveled with her daughter to Spain with out the consent of her ex Peter Innes and violated the agreement.

Her ex husband Peter Innes has been given sole custody by the court in New Jersey in 2005. Peter Innes filed and participated in the Spanish Court system to have his daughter returned under The Hague Convention, but lost his case. The daughter now lives with her wealthy her Spanish Grand parents and there is a Spanish court order preventing her from leaving Spain until she is 18 years old.

Maria Jose Carrascosa has been in a New Jersey jail for more than two years for not returning her daughter Spain, to New Jersey as required by a New Jersey Court order. She was arrested in November 2006 when she went to court in the US to deliver the Spanish court judgment.

According to the website http://www.victoriainnes.com (set up by Peter Innes) Maria Jose Carrascosa will remain in jail until, she dismiss all litigation in Spain, completes a psychiatric evaluation and returns her daughter to the US.  This was upheld by the Spanish Supreme court, and the father will only recognize the New Jersey Court Decision, because he will never recognize any other court decision.

Answer
It is an extremely sad story. I have not heard of the case before. Neither do I speak Spanish in order to understand the Spanish version and distinguish facts from opinion and propaganda.

I think we both agree that the nationalistic moods which have been stirred in the public of both countries have nothing to do with the case and block the view on the essential facts. Saying "my daughter is an American citizen" and the use of the stars and stripes on Innes homepage is just cheap propaganda.

What this case makes it different from others and therefore more complicated is that right from the beginning divorce suits were filed parallely in two countries, that the courts of both and Spain declared themselves internationally competent and that the yseem to have issued differing judgements. This usually does not occur. From my brief overview I got I could not make up my mind but I tend to the opinion that the U.S. court might have had the competence to rule over the custody issue.

However, I would like to draw your attention to blog entry of a Spanish woman shown below. Although partial and very emotional she raises a topic which cannot be dismissed right away.

http://solidaritywithmariajose.blogspot.com/2007/05/los-hechos-en-ingls-pendient...

In her statement this woman recounts of the stress being forced to stay in a foreign land against her will in order to be with her child and not to loose her custody rights. I have heard similar stories (not in my practice) about young German country bumkins who married American soldiers and moved with them to the U.S. hoping to enter the land where milk and honey flows. This is what they dream of. Finally, they end up working at a supermarket check-out counter because they have no education and do not speak sufficient English. Furthermore, let them maybe even exposed to a violent redneck husband.

If these silly girls get homesick and separate from their husbands they are isolated from friends and family. Moreover, spouses in the U.S. are not obligated monthly support. So they end up with virtually nothing. Who would not begin to panic in this situation?

No discussion, it is against the law to abduct children to the homecountry. There is no excuse for that.

However, I think  sanctioning an abducting parent automatically with the loss of her custody rights is a unnecessary measure. I do not know if such punishments are also imposed in abduction cases within the U.S.. Such orders do not necessarily correspond with childīs benefit which should be the only guideline in custody questions.