Stafford County Juvenile Court Judge Dalton Travesty of justice Stafford, Virginia
This is what is wrong with our court system today and why so many children end up neglected and become part of the system instead of the solution. I am talking about an ubsurd decision rendered yesterday by the Stafford County Juvenile Court, Judge Dalton. He gave us all the opinion his decision was rendered based upon his desire to go home early on a Friday afternoon rather than reviewing the facts in the case. My son and his fiance, Tina, split after a 13 year relationship, and have a 3 year old daughter together. Tina had recently quit a $40K, plus bonus, salary job so she could claim she was in poverty and wanted to move to Tucson, AZ. She claimed it was also to be near her parents, but she recently rekindled a relationship in Tucson with a former lover and ex-convict, though she denies this. My son has a journal she wrote admitting to this. Additionally, she had stated to several people, including the attorneys in this case, that with or without her daughter, she was moving to AZ immediately after the court hearing. Is this a rational decision, by a woman who really is looking out for the interest of her children? She was willing to abandon her daughter, if necessary, to fulfill her own selfish desires. She did leave almost immediately after the "so-called" hearing. My son's case was to have began at 1:30 PM but the judges previous hearing ran late and my son did not get in until shortly after 3:00 PM. The previous case ran for approx 2 1/2 hours. My son was before the judge for less than 30 minutes. Judge Dalton would only listen to Tina's attorney. My son's attorney, not very competent, never spoke. The judge said he would not hear further because he had already decided. Clearly, it appeared to us, he just wanted to get home on a Friday afternoon. He ruled that this 3 year old child would be shuttled every 30 days between AZ and VA. My son's request was for joint custody, he being primary, because of Tina's instability and lack of good character. He also requested that Tina remain in VA if she wanted to share custody. This is typically the ruling made by competent judges. We had been told that Judge Dalton is known for bad decisions and primarily ruling for the mother, regardless of circumstances, as he did in this case. Our son's lawyer also told us this when he discovered who had the case. Tina quit a good paying job, and in the past 4 months, has bounced her children through 5 different residences. She has several creditors after her for non-payment, including a car loan she hasn't paid on in months and is using to get to AZ. She was evicted from one residence for failing to pay rent, lying about her income, and failing to repay a loan given to her by the friend she was living with. The loan was to pay off charges she made on my son's credit card without his knowledge, before he found out. We had witnesses and documented proof of the above, showing the mother's instability, which Judge Dalton refused to hear. We logically feel it is not in the best interest of a 3 year old child to be uprooted every 30 days and transported across the USA. Further, the judge supposedly based his decision on the poverty of the mother, yet said she would have to pay to get the child to VA, and my son would have to pay to get her to AZ. How is a woman with no credit, no job, no education, going to pay approx $600 in airfare every other month? Additionally, she is temporarily, once again no stable home environment, moving in with her parents. They live in a 3 bedroom home, the father is an alcoholic, in failing health, and Tina has 2 other children, a teenager with the ex-con, and a pre-teen whom we are unsure of the parentage. All these people in a 3 bedroom house, and supposedly with a dieing alcoholic. Is this an environment for a 3 year old? My son owns his home, has a steady well-paying job, and can provide the nurture needed for a child so young. He accepted Tina's other 2 children and raised them as his own for 13 years, taking them out of the former poverty they lived in when he met them. He is a good man, treated unfairly in an unjust judicial system. He has custody of his daughter for the first 30 days until Dec 26, when he is to make the first trip to AZ. When Tina dropped her off to him last night at 6:30, the child was wearing no coat. When my son called her to bring a coat, she refused, saying just put her in a sweater. This is a caring mother?? Tina then left for AZ. Other factors in the case that concerned us, but not Judge Dalton, are the quality of education and crime rate in the community Tina will reside in Tucson, AZ. Violent & Property crime in Tucson is 7 on a scale of 10, with the USA average being 3. Stafford, VA is a 2 on the scale. The percentage of high school graduates in Tucson is 47.19% compared to 91.9% in Stafford, VA. I would challenge the court system to question any child psychologist what is best for this child in her situation.
6 Updates & Rebuttals
Sherry Hayward
Stanardsville,Virginia,
Judge Gerald Daltan
#7General Comment
Wed, March 19, 2014
I have also been in front of Judge Daltan. He make the absolute worst decisions! It took me 7 years to get my daughter back. When you say he only listend to your sons ex's attorney I would like to ask who that attorney was. The Stafford county judges are all corrupt. There are particular attorney's in Stafford that will always win no matter what the circumstance. My attorney also wasn't the greatest and we were up against the biggest cronie of Daltan, Tandy B Rinehart Leibowitz. I finally got my daughter back after 7 years of fighting and completely giving up on attorneys. I just finally went in and acted as my own attorney. I have since left the county with my child
Anonymous
Virginia,United States of America
Appeal filed
#7Author of original report
Mon, February 22, 2010
My son has filed an appeal and has a court date set. The appeal was $84. We will definitely have to look into your suggestion of filing for full custody, if the appeal does not work out. The appeal is applying for full custody due to the mother being unfit. Thank you for your response and suggestion.
Gravy
stafford,Virginia,
USA
Highly suggested!!!
#7Consumer Comment
Sun, February 21, 2010
Tell your son to go up to the court house and file for full custody it only cost 20 bucks to file and he can do it as many times as he wants all day everyday. just because he went to court and that was ruled doens't mean its final say so, he can go file again and go back to court. oh and the sweetest thing about it.
If she doesn't show up because she can't afford to get here....the judge will rule in his favor.
Anonymous
Virginia,United States of America
Travesty in Stafford County Juvenile Court with Judge Dalton
#7Author of original report
Sun, November 22, 2009
I appreciate the previous comments. We were present for this hearing. I was called before this so-called "judge". To be a fair judge, you must listen to both sides. Judge Dalton did not. Had he reviewed both sides, and allowed the testimony of witnesses, he would have known Tina lied about everything. Should a woman who lies and cheats be considered a good mother? She basically stole the car she is driving. She has a stack of creditors lined up, to include her other childrens medical providers, who she has not paid and has avoided. This is someone who will teach values to a child? A 3 year old child should be uprooted every 30 days and flown for 7 hours each way? How does she establish a home and stability? Parents, either one, should be expected to pay $600+ every month in addition to maintaining their household and living expenses? This is realistic in todays economy? What is this going to do the child's psychological well-being? All this mother had to do was consider her children's welfare instead of her own libido. She had a job, she had a home. She threw all away to be with a former lover. Did I mention he is an ex-covict, convicted of violent crimes?
Blessingod
San Jacinto,California,
U.S.A.
I Know What you are Feeling
#7Consumer Comment
Sun, November 22, 2009
I understand you frustrations. I live in California and had the same problem with the Judges here in California and they do not give a crap about the children. They did not care that the enviroment that the children would be in. In there mother's care and it was not an approprate situation. I took my ex-wife locking a child in the car in 102 degree weather for them to see that they were wrong. They were lucky that it was not one of my children or the case would have been a lot different. There would probably murder charges against me now if it was one of my kids.
Tim
Grand Haven,Michigan,
U.S.A.
Tough situation
#7Consumer Comment
Sun, November 22, 2009
I understand your frustration, and how painful these events must be for your family. I'm sorry to hear that you are enduring such troubles.
But I want you to keep a few things in mind for the sake of objectivity:
1) You are naturally going to be somewhat biased in favor of your son.
2) It appears as though you weren't present at the hearing, so your impression of what happened there, and your statements regarding the events, are based solely on the one-sided account given by your son.
3) By the time the parties went in front of the judge, he already reviewed all of the arguments and evidence that were presented, and probably already came to a decision. The purpose of the hearing is basically to give the parties one last chance to state cases that have already been made on paper, and for the judge to seek clarification where needed.
4) The accepted default position in any custody hearing is that the mother will have primary custody. If the father wants custody, he will have to overcome this predisposition. In other words, all else being equal, the mother will get custody the vast majority of the time.
The father will basically have to show that the mother is grossly unfit to raise a child if he wants primary custody. I don't necessarily agree with this. It's a rather sexist remnant of outdated ideals regarding parenting. But like it or not, it's just the way family law functions.
5) In making a custody determination, the judge is not going to look at which parent has a better house, who makes more money, who held a higher regard for the sanctity of marriage, or who has the most likeable boyfriend/girlfried.
The bottom line is what is in the best interest of the child. And as I eluded to above, there is a presumption that the child is better off with the mother.
Now, it sounds to me like the judge did his best to reach a fair outcome. Basically, he granted 50/50 custody and parenting time. Is it a good thing that the kid is going to have to travel across the country every month? No. Is it a good thing that the kid is going to have to completely switch gears every 30 days? No.
Is it fair for your husband to have to shell out a bunch of money every two months because his ex wants to move to the other side of the country? No. Alot of this is far from ideal. But it sounds like the judge did the best he could with what he was given.
Best regards to you and your family. I hope this situation gets easier for you. I hate to think of how you're going to work this out when the kid starts school.