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Court Hearing 10/17/94 . . TRUTH METER
1 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE STATE OF OREGON 2 COUNTY OF JACKSON 3 --oOo-- 4 5 SUSAN S. COUTSOUKIS, ) ) 6 Petitioner, ) ) 7 vs. ) CASE NO. ) 94-3799-RO 8 PHOTIUS COUTSOUKIS, ) ) 9 Respondent. ) 10 REPORTER'S TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS 11 Medford, Oregon 12 October 17, 1994 9:00 A.M. 13 14 BEFORE: THE HONORABLE LOREN L. SAWYER, CIRCUIT JUDGE 15 --oOo-- 16 APPEARANCES: 17 FOR PETITIONER: CHRISTINA SANZ 18 Attorney at Law 900 West 8th Street 19 Medford, Oregon 97501 20 FOR RESPONDENT: PHOTIUS COUTSOUKIS 21 In Pro Per 807 Oak 22 Medford, Oregon 97501 23 EILEEN M. LEDDY, CSR 24 Official Reporter 25 2 1 MEDFORD, OREGON 2 MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1994; 9:00 A.M. 3 --oOo-- 4 5 THE COURT: Coutsoukis vs. Coutsoukis. I may not be 6 pronouncing that correct. If I'm not, I apologize. 7 THE COURT: Are you involved in this? 8 MS. SANZ: I am. 9 THE COURT: Do you want this reported? 10 MS. SANZ: Yes, Your Honor, we would like it 11 reported. 12 THE COURT: She's kind of like a machine. She keeps 13 reporting until I tell her to stop. 14 MS. SANZ: Your Honor, there are, I believe, from 15 Mr. Coutsoukis's Petition -- excuse me -- from his Response 16 he is contesting the restraining order as a whole as well as 17 bringing up the issue of visitation. 18 This restraining order was issued on October 5, 19 1994. My client's -- Mrs. Coutsoukis -- allegations are 20 that he is verbally abusive. She is in fear of her safety. 21 There will be evidence today of his anger, his controlling 22 nature; that he's unstable; he hadn't been sleeping for 23 several nights. 24 This is not the first time she has had to request 25 the Court for a restraining order. There was another one 3 1 issued in January of this year, and there is evidence that 2 at that time he had threatened to kill her and also from 3 other previous events that had happened in the past. She 4 very much wants the restraining order to continue; that they 5 not have any contact whatsoever, except she is conceding 6 that he be allowed to have visitation. 7 There are some problems that have come up with 8 visitation since the time of the restraining order due to 9 his obsessive nature concerning the child and her concern 10 that in the past he has taken off with the child to go to 11 San Francisco. We don't know why he took off without giving 12 her previous notice. Thank goodness he did return, and 13 subsequent to that, the parties have had more problems. 14 She then had to apply for the restraining order, and 15 she has since then also filed for a dissolution. So we very 16 much want the restraining order to continue. We have 17 ongoing concerns regarding visitation. Visitation right now 18 is taking place as much as possible at the child care 19 provider who is here to testify, and we are agreeable to 20 have that continued at the child chair provider's place. 21 THE COURT: Mr. Coutsoukis, do you want just to get 22 visitation, or do you want the restraining order lifted, or 23 what's your position? 24 MR. COUTSOUKIS: Your Honor, may I address a couple 25 of the accusations? 4 1 THE COURT: Just answer the question. 2 MR. COUTSOUKIS: I'm contesting the restraining 3 order as well. My wife has never -- 4 THE COURT: That's all I need to know. She's going 5 to have to put on evidence now. You're not satisfied with 6 having the restraining in existence and get visitation? 7 MR. COUTSOUKIS: That's correct. 8 MS. SANZ: I'd like to call Susan Samora. 9 10 SUSAN SAMORA, 11 called as a witness on behalf of the Petitioner, was sworn 12 and testified as follows: 13 MS. SANZ: Please be seated. State your name and 14 spell your last name. 15 THE WITNESS: Susan Samora Coutsoukis, 16 C-o-u-t-s-o-u-k-i-s. 17 18 DIRECT EXAMINATION 19 BY MS. SANZ: 20 Q. Mrs. Coutsoukis, can you please state where you 21 reside. 22 A. On Bellinger Lane, 3950. 23 Q. In Medford? 24 A. Right. 25 Q. And you are married to Mr. Coutsoukis? 5 1 A. I am. 2 Q. For how many years have you been married? 3 A. Ten years. 4 Q. You have a child? 5 A. I do. 6 Q. And can you please state her name and her age. 7 A. Her name is Theodora Coutsoukis, and she's one. 8 Q. And you called her Teddie? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. And she's currently in your custody? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. You applied for a restraining order earlier this 13 month. Why did you do so? 14 A. My husband has been acting very irrationally. He's 15 incredibly angry. I'm fearful that his lack of sleep and 16 that his instability could cause anything to happen. His 17 judgment is very flawed. I mean, he will scream and shout, 18 and I'll be nursing, and he'll be screaming at me at the top 19 of his lungs. 20 And I'll cover the baby's ears, and he'll say "She 21 doesn't mind my voice. She likes to hear my voice." 22 Q. Is he verbally abusive towards you? 23 A. Yeah. He calls me all terrible names, and he'll 24 come right up to my face and keep screaming at me, and I 25 just don't know what it's going to take. 6 1 Q. In the past year has he threatened to hurt you or 2 kill you? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. And has he acted violently against you or threatened 5 to hurt you in any way? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. Now, was there an incident concerning your child, 8 Teddie, wherein he took off with her out of state? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. Can you please describe that to the Court. 11 A. Yes. I believe it was in the middle of June or at 12 the end of June. We were taking the baby to Greece to be 13 baptized. I got a call, and he said that they were out -- 14 or he left a message on my machine at work that they were at 15 the store or something. I came home at lunchtime, and they 16 weren't there. The phone rang. He said, "Everything is 17 fine. We're okay." 18 So I'm thinking he's at the store and everything is 19 fine. He was calling from San Francisco, and we had all the 20 tickets to go to Greece, and I believe he had them with 21 him. I said, "What are you doing in San Francisco?" 22 He said, "Well, I had to take the baby because I 23 don't feel like I'm her father." 24 Now, he takes care -- has taken care of the baby 25 because he's out of work. 7 1 Q. Can I just bring you back to the questions here and 2 what the Judge will want to hear. 3 A. I'm sorry. 4 Q. Did he give you any indication whatsoever that he 5 was leaving the state of Oregon? 6 A. No, absolutely not. 7 Q. Did he indicate that he changed his mind and was 8 coming back to your home? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. And he did, in fact, return? 11 A. He did. 12 Q. Did this cause you concern? 13 A. Concern? I was hysterical. I called his sister in 14 Greece and said, if he goes, to make sure that I can -- he 15 won't keep the baby in Greece. 16 Q. Have you made any steps to make sure that the child 17 not leave the state? 18 A. I have her. I have her passport, and I've contacted 19 the passport services, and they won't issue another passport 20 if someone says that it's lost. 21 Q. Are you currently breast feeding? 22 A. I am, yes. 23 Q. And has he been violating the restraining order 24 since it's been issued? 25 A. Yes. He came to the house on Monday, thinking that 8 1 there was going to be a baby-sitter in the house. 2 Q. And did he make telephone calls to you? 3 A. He's called constantly. He leaves messages on my 4 machine at work. I can't pick up. My phone rings at 5 3:00 o'clock in the morning for minutes and constantly, 6 constantly. 7 Q. Are you in fear of him? 8 A. Yeah, I am. I mean, I hear noises in the house, and 9 I think that it's him. I just -- he's not himself. 10 Q. And you agreed that he should have visitation with 11 Teddie? 12 A. Absolutely. 13 Q. But that that be right now in the child care 14 provider's presence? 15 A. I just think it's better for right now because he is 16 so unstable. 17 MS. SANZ: No further questions, Your Honor. 18 THE COURT: Mr. Coutsoukis, do you want to stand and 19 raise your right hand and be sworn, please. 20 21 PHOTIUS COUTSOUKIS, 22 called as a witness on behalf of the Court, was sworn and 23 testified as follows: 24 25 THE CLERK: Please be seated. State your name and 9 1 spell your last name. 2 THE WITNESS: My name is Photius Coutsoukis, 3 C-o-u-t-s-o-u-k-i-s. 4 May I cross-examine Susan? 5 THE COURT: Why don't you go ahead and tell me your 6 story. 7 MR. COUTSOUKIS: Okay. I want to point out that in 8 the last ten years or so, I have made well over 9 $1 million -- very close to a million dollars in salary 10 alone. 11 THE COURT: I'm not interested in your income. I'm 12 only interested in the situation between you, your wife, and 13 the child. 14 MR. COUTSOUKIS: Well, the situation is that I gave 15 up a career and a business to come with Susan who works at a 16 local company expressly for the purpose of taking care of 17 Theodora, our daughter, because I feel very strongly that a 18 newborn infant is better off with a loving, caring parent 19 than outside the house. 20 I did this under rather difficult circumstances, and 21 although I will admit to personality imperfections and not 22 being a very pleasant person necessarily all the time, I 23 took exceptional good care of her 12 hours every day. I 24 woke up at night whenever Teddie woke up. I washed 25 diapers. I made baby food. I took her to the doctors. And 10 1 I didn't exactly get a "thank you" because shortly after my 2 wife's pregnancy, with Susan, the relationship went sour. 3 She was diagnosed with the clinical depression. She 4 had been under a lot of stress. I tried to help her. There 5 was an injury during the pregnancy, and I made her food. I 6 took her to the doctors. I washed her. I took poo-poo out 7 of her by hand when she couldn't. I care very much about 8 Susan, Your Honor, and I would never do anything to harm 9 her. 10 I have been committed to her since marriage and 11 devoted my life to her until Theodora was born, and then I 12 had to pay some attention to our daughter as well. 13 Regarding the San Francisco incident, I had promised my wife 14 and have kept my promise that I would never take my daughter 15 away from her and that, if there was a divorce, I would give 16 her full custody of her. 17 The bay trip to San Francisco, as Christina 18 mentioned, was because I felt that having to work under 19 chronicle supervision day in and day out, I did not feel 20 that I was in charge of my child, but simply carrying out 21 the wishes of a mother who was not there, and I explained 22 this to Susan. 23 Now, Susan and Teddie have never slept under a 24 separate roof since Teddie was born; nevertheless, she has 25 taken Teddie away from here even for short periods of time, 11 1 hours to days or a couple of weeks, during this general 2 incident against my will, and my problem is that, whenever I 3 see Teddie after that -- not every time, but like 80 percent 4 of the time -- Teddie is sick, anything from the sniffles to 5 brain injury, four days without bowel movement, loss of 6 weight, ear infections, and so on. 7 And I don't mean to say that these are not 8 coincidental, but they have been of concern to me. In the 9 restraining order it says that I have to move out, and a 10 month ago, at my wife's request, I did move out, and I 11 rented a room. And after the separation, I went back per 12 agreement to Sunday through Friday to take care of Teddie as 13 I always have. 14 The plan was that I would try to recruit an 15 appropriate nanny, one that I would supervise while working 16 from home. And once she was being acceptable, she would 17 move in and take my place there so I don't have to be there 18 to hold the baby when she wakes up in the middle of the 19 night or be there first thing in the morning. 20 Now, I would leave the house on Friday night and go 21 stay where I'm paying rent by the month, and I would return 22 on Sunday and almost invariably I would find Teddie ill, and 23 again I don't -- Susan is a loving mother. She adores 24 Teddie, and so do I. What I'm saying is this was just a 25 matter of fact, and I was so concerned. 12 1 When I returned Sunday and Susan was gone with 2 Teddie and I found nobody in the house, my first concern was 3 to call. She left Christina a number. Christina is closed 4 on weekends. I called anybody that I thought might know 5 Susan's whereabouts, and it turned out she, in a 6 melodramatic fashion, went to a battered people's shelter. 7 And I also want to point out, Your Honor, about 8 these eyes have been crying day and night for a year now. 9 My wife has not spoken to me, refused to touch me since 10 before Teddie was born, and I put my tail under my legs and 11 bit my tongue and shut up and put up because it's very 12 important to me that the parent, myself, take care of my 13 daughter rather than some stranger, and this may seem like 14 an obsession. To me, where I come from, it's considered 15 necessary and mandatory. 16 When I -- consequent to this, when I contacted 17 people that knew both of us, it was impossible to locate 18 her. When I finally was able to get hold of her on 19 Wednesday, I was telling everybody that I contacted, "Please 20 tell Susan bring Teddie and herself to this house. I'm 21 already paying rent outside. There is no reason for me to 22 stay here in luxury with an environmental luxury designed 23 for Teddie and her crib and toys and everything." 24 They are staying somewhere strange, and I was 25 worried to death that yet again, in my absence, that Teddie 13 1 would be sick. To make a long story short, the next time I 2 was able to see my daughter is when I went to Bellinger Day 3 Care Center, which is run by Lori, the beautiful lady with 4 the baby over there, and I found out that during those four 5 or five days -- actually I hadn't seen her for a week 6 because I left Friday for a week -- that she's been taking 7 care of her since I wasn't able to. 8 Teddie developed high fever for several days at a 9 time. She hadn't had a bowel movement for four days, and 10 again I'm not saying that there is a cause or somebody to 11 blame. I wasn't there. All I'm saying is this is what I 12 found. I was very upset. I know Lori will testify that I 13 was not a pleasant person to find my daughter on her back 14 crying, and I pick her up and she stops crying, and I -- I 15 can't -- she looks at me like where have you been. 16 Anyhow, I spoke to Christina on Monday. This 17 lawyer, Your Honor, is more interested in plotting some sort 18 of a scenario that will exclude me rather than trying to 19 accommodate some sort of a compromise. I called her Monday; 20 I called Tuesday; I called Wednesday. Each time I request 21 that I meet with her. She demanded to hire an attorney. I 22 told her, "I do not have money to waste for an attorney." I 23 would be representing myself. 24 So Wednesday she agreed, but she said, "You must 25 bring me -- first give me some paperwork," and the paperwork 14 1 she requested was going to be financial statements which I 2 printed out of my computer on the spot, and I gave them to 3 Susan. I put them with Susan's mail. Is this water here? 4 THE COURT: They both work. You just have to open 5 them. 6 MR. COUTSOUKIS: I'm sorry. So I produced Christine 7 a 50-page financial statement on the spot, and subsequently 8 the next time I spoke to her a few days later, I said, 9 "Christina, look where I live. I'm on my own. I have no 10 kind of telephone of my own, and my landlady is in Michigan |
COMMENTARY
By Photius Coutsoukis, Respondent. "I Was There" ** Under development ** |
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