FAMILY COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -X PHOTIUS COUTSOUKIS, Petitioner, -against- Docket #V-1284-98 SUSAN SAMORA, FU #53516 Respondent. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -X Richard J. Daronco Court House 111 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. White Plains, New York October 29, 1998 B E F O R E : HON. INGRID S. BRASLOW Family Court Judge A P P E A R A N C E S : Mark Domicello, Esq. Attorney for Respondent Photius Coutsoukis Appearing Pro Se Robin Kotler, Esq. Law Guardian SANDY SAUNDERS REPORTING Bank of New York Building Two New Hempstead Road, Suite 303 New City, New York 10956 (914) 634-7561 COURT CLERK: Your Honor, this is number four on the afternoon calendar in the matter of Coutsoukis and Samora. Counsel, please note your appearances first, starting on the Judge's left. MR. DOMICELLO: Mark Domicello (phonetic), assigned counsel for Susan S. Samora. MS. KOTLER: Robin Kotler (phonetic), law guardian for Heddy Coutsoukis. COURT CLERK: Both parties please raise your right hands. Do you both swear to tell the truth, so help you God? MR. COUTSOUKIS: I do. MS. SAMORA: I do. COURT CLERK: Your name? MR. COUTSOUKIS: Photius Coutsoukis. COURT CLERK: Your name? MS. SAMORA: Susan Samora. COURT CLERK: Thank you. You may be seated. THE COURT: All right, we're scheduled for a preliminary proceeding on Mr. Coutsoukis' Order to Show Cause. All right, yes? MR. COUTSOUKIS: For the record, I'd like to make a statement. THE COURT: Go ahead. MR. COUTSOUKIS: This is an urgent, urgent, very urgent matter, a serious emergency about my child in the midst of a crisis of life and death. A very charming convicted rapist in Connecticut stated on television that he did not rape, it was just fun. Please keep that in mind if you hear the other side say that my daughter is fine or that she's getting better or that she was born that way. I would like to point out that after a father's petition for modification and in order to distract from and distort a real life and health matter for my daughter, Susan filed a frivolous, dishonest, and destructive petition for an Order of Protection with another judge. MR. DOMICELLO: Objection, Your Honor. We're not here-- THE COURT: Sustained. If you would address your remarks to why the Court should entertain your Order to Show Cause. MR. COUTSOUKIS: Yes, but holding a hearing for that, especially at the same time as my hearing, would help accomplish the other side's insidious objective. Oregon has declined jurisdiction and the current decree contains provisions that are illegal under New York State law. Finally, with my petition I move that the Court recuse herself from this case, the reasons having been explained in the petition and in a letter I sent to this Court which I'm now requesting it be entered into the record. THE COURT: Okay. Mr. Domicello? MR. DOMICELLO: Your Honor, I had an opportunity to review all of the petitions in this matter. I believe there are actually two modification petitions. There's a petition which I was served with which was not--does not have a docket number on it, and also an Order to Show Cause with petitioner's affidavit. THE COURT: Okay, there's only one matter on the calendar today. I only have one Order to Show Cause-- MR. DOMICELLO: Maybe this petition, Your Honor, was not filed. I'll pass it up to the Court and see if it's in the Court file. THE COURT: All right, V-1284 of 1998. MR. DOMICELLO: Yes, I have that, Your Honor, which is the Order to Show Cause and the petitioner's affidavit. There's also this petition which requests the same relief, which is a modification of the--of the Oregon order of custody and visitation. Be that as it may, Your Honor, I have an application. I'm requesting that these petitions, the Order to Show Cause and the petition for modification be dismissed pursuant to Section 3211 of the CPLR in that the cause of action may not be maintained because of res judicata grounds. The allegations in the petition are the exact same or similar to the allegations that Mr. Coutsoukis alleged in his Oregon petition to modify. The Oregon Court heard that action and proceeding and made a ruling on it. MR. COUTSOUKIS: No, they did not. MR. DOMICELLO: Therefore, res judicata--res judicata grounds allow this Court to dismiss this action on that basis. In addition, Your Honor, it has come to my-- THE COURT: Just a moment. Okay, go ahead. I'm sorry. MR. DOMICELLO: In addition, Your Honor, it has come to my attention that Mr. Coutsoukis is appealing the Oregon order. He is attempting to vacate the Judgment of Divorce which incorporated the Oregon order as to custody and visitation. With a pending appeal, he cannot bring a new action in this Court requesting modification of the Oregon order and I'm--based on those two grounds, I'm requesting that his petition be dismissed. THE COURT: Okay, thank you. Ms. Kotler? MS. KOTLER: I would agree with that, Your Honor. THE COURT: I'm sorry? MS. KOTLER: I would agree with that, Your Honor. THE COURT: All right, do you want to make any other statements on the record? MS. KOTLER: Just for the record, Your Honor, I've never received the backup affidavit that petitioner cites in his petition. The petition is-- I'm not sure that it was served properly. I'm not sure that it was all--you know, all the pieces were there. For the Court's information, I have met with my client. She does not seem to be in any kind of urgent distress. I have spoken with her doctors' offices, at least two doctors, and I feel confident that she is not in any immediate danger. MR. COUTSOUKIS: A couple of problems here. Number one, the doctors that the law guardian spoke with have a history that comes from Susan. Number two, regarding the Oregon action, the Oregon action never prevented this Court from taking action in this case on Susan's petition. Saying that my--that the Oregon Court has heard these exact arguments and dismissed them is erroneous. The Oregon Court said that the New York Court has jurisdiction and issued twice a decline--declining of jurisdiction order. I had two judges at one point pointing me in each other's direction. None of them want to hear this, and nobody has. MR. DOMICELLO: I'm not disputing that this Court has jurisdiction. I believe it has jurisdiction, but on res judicata grounds, basically the issues that Mr. Coutsoukis alleges in his petition are similar to the allegations in the petition that he's filed in Oregon. MR. COUTSOUKIS: And they have not been heard. MR. DOMICELLO: They have been litigated, they have been heard, they have been decided on. MR. COUTSOUKIS: No. MR. DOMICELLO: And I believe the Oregon-- MR. COUTSOUKIS: That is a false statement. MR. DOMICELLO: And I believe the Oregon judge will attest to that. MR. COUTSOUKIS: I have the Oregon order and they are not what he said. The Oregon judge declined jurisdiction, declined to have another trial. These charges, the situation of my daughter's health, has not been heard from the moment we were separated. Additionally, there are circumstances that are more recent as well, namely I had--all these arguments that we should be having at a hearing that I could bring evidence and witnesses for I am not allowed the opportunity to do because the Court keeps dismissing my--denying me the opportunity to be heard. My daughter is not in good condition. She is not in-- getting better. I don't care what she said or what the doctor said, the evidence and the reports I got from them speak otherwise and I would like to present the evidence to the Court. My daughter is in danger. When Susan complains about telephone calls, we jump. My daughter's health and life is in danger and we don't want to know about it. She has perjured herself and I can bring you proof of perjury. She has committed extortion and I can bring you the proof of that. MR. DOMICELLO: Your Honor, I'm going to object. Mr. Coutsoukis is testifying-- MR. COUTSOUKIS: Her lawyer lied, and I would like to be able to bring evidence and witnesses. THE COURT: Okay, are you through with your statement? MR. COUTSOUKIS: I have tapes, I have videotapes, I have reports from doctors. Yes. THE COURT: All right. Anything else that you want to say, Mr. Coutsoukis? MR. COUTSOUKIS: I would like a hearing. THE COURT: Okay. Initially, the motion to recuse myself, there's absolutely no grounds for this Court to do that in law or in fact, and this Court will not recuse itself. As to the letter that you wrote to the Court, that is in the file. But let me advise you, Mr. Coutsoukis, this Court does not read ex parte communication sent to it by any party. In fact, you sent-- MR. COUTSOUKIS: It was sent, copies to them as well. THE COURT: You sent this Court yesterday or today a FedEx. I am returning that to you because it is another ex parte communication and I do not want you to-- MR. COUTSOUKIS: These are subpoenas, Your Honor, that need to be signed. THE COURT: You do--I do not want you communicating with me on an ex parte basis. MR. COUTSOUKIS: These are subpoenas, judicial subpoenas that need to be signed by the Court. THE COURT: I am not opening your mail. MR. COUTSOUKIS: What do I do with the subpoenas? THE COURT: You can take care of that in the clerk's office. Do not send anything to me. MR. COUTSOUKIS: Fine. THE COURT: The Court agrees with Mr. Domicello that all of these issues as to your child's health were made before the Court in Oregon. These are identical issues to the ones that were heard at that time. The Oregon order is on appeal, that's a further ground why this Court should not hear it. Your previous application for custody which was dismissed by this Court is also on appeal. This is--this petition does not state anything new. MR. COUTSOUKIS: I would like to present evidence that the Oregon Court did not hear those. I have the Court order that will show you that that is not the case. As a matter of fact, they are on file with this Court. The file of this case contains the Oregon order that states that this will not be heard. THE COURT: All I'm--as I said before, I stand by my ruling that all of these issues have already been heard. There is nothing new in this petition. Furthermore, Mr. Coutsoukis, if you review your own order from Oregon, you will see that your rights as the non- custodial parent are very restricted. MR. COUTSOUKIS: And that was done through a plot, an insidious plot where perjury was involved and where, as far as the rules for arresting someone, when she said that I could flee with my child while knowing I had my child every day for the seven days that she travelled, I had her every day for three years prior to that at my possession. I was half an hour from the airport all the time. I sold my--I sold--I abandoned my business in Oregon to come here and be near--so my child can be near her mother. Then she tells you that I'm likely to flee, and for that reason you arrest me. That is what went to Oregon to a new judge who had not previously heard this case. Then her lawyer in Oregon lied to the judge saying that the status quo as of the hearing were just two days after the consent agreement was that I am to have supervised visitation. We had Mr. Domicello sign a letter that that wasn't--that he spoke with Ms. Sands and I have the--he has--yes, you signed a letter, remember? THE COURT: Mr. Coutsoukis, do not talk to her. MR. COUTSOUKIS: I'm not. No, I was-- THE COURT: No, you are. MR. COUTSOUKIS: I was looking at Mr. Domicello. THE COURT: I'm observing you-- MR. COUTSOUKIS: I apologize. THE COURT: --and you are directing your comments to her and I don't want you to do that. MR. COUTSOUKIS: I apologize. Mr. Domicello signed a letter. THE COURT: No, I'm not interested in the letter that Mr. Domicello signed. Now, you just listen to me and let me finish. The order of the Oregon Court restricts your right as follows: you can write the school, request the child's school records, but not more--not more often than a period of sixty days at a time. You can write to the medical, dental, psychological, psychiatric and other health providers and request the child's medical and health record, but not-- MR. COUTSOUKIS: I'm aware of that. THE COURT: No, let me finish. But not more often than a period of sixty days at a time. You can contact emergency medical, dental, psychological, psychiatric or other health care for the child, but only if petitioner is absolutely unavailable. MR. COUTSOUKIS: I'm aware of that. THE COURT: Except for that described on this page, you shall not have any other contact with the child's school staff, medical and other treatment providers. MR. COUTSOUKIS: Correct. That's an unfair and ill begotten decree. THE COURT: That is in an order of the Court that is presumed to be legal. This Court will give that order full face and--full face and effect. MR. COUTSOUKIS: I would like to point out that there was an order from the Court. When Susan came here last year whining, I was arrested. That order from the Oregon Court was not presumed correct. It was thrown out. Regardless of UCCJA, for no apparent reason, I was arrested, I was separated from my daughter, and you called Judge Arnold who had never heard from the parties yet. And that's what happened. And then when she went there with her lawyer lying and we had to get Mr. Domicello to sign a letter that he spoke with her lawyer and she knew what the consent was about, they still lied. The judge wouldn't reverse anything at that point. This is an ill begotten, unfair and destructive decree-- THE COURT: You appeal it. You appeal it. MR. COUTSOUKIS: I have appealed it, but in the meantime, my doctor-- THE COURT: But that's what you should do. MR. COUTSOUKIS: --my daughter is suffering. THE COURT: That is your remedy. Petition is dismissed. MR. DOMICELLO: Your Honor, with regard to the family offense petition, I believe we have a trial scheduled for December 1. THE COURT: Yes. MR. DOMICELLO: There is some allegations that my client--my client obviously filed this petition without me present. There's some allegations with regard to the child, okay, that have come to my attention and also to Ms. Kotler's attention whereby we believe that those allegations would make out a case for harassment against the child. THE COURT: All right, what-- you can file an amended family offense petition. MR. DOMICELLO: We were going to do that, Your Honor. THE COURT: Yes. MR. DOMICELLO: And we're requesting the Order of Protection-- we're going to do that, Your Honor, and then-- THE COURT: Temporary order is extended until the hearing date. COURT CLERK: Okay. Parties please step out. (End of Proceedings) * * * STATE OF NEW YORK ) COUNTY OF ROCKLAND) ss: I, Jeanette Carelli, certify that the foregoing transcript of the proceedings in the Family Court of Coutsoukis vs. Samora, Docket No. V-1284- 98, was prepared to the best of my ability, using four-track electronic transcription equipment, and is a true and accurate record of the proceedings. _______________________ Jeanette Carelli Sandy Saunders Reporting 2 New Hempstead Road New City, New York 10956 Dated: November 12, 1998