Diorinou v. Mezitis, 132 F. Supp. 2d 139 (S.D.N.Y. 2000)
- Docket Number
- No. 00 CIV. 8241 (LLS)
- Published
- Yes
- Decision Date
- 2000-11-28
- Name of Court
- United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
- Opinion by
- Stanton
- Counsel for Petitioner
- Arenstein, Robert
- Counsel for Respondent
- Gartner, Stuart F; Xanthos, Arthur P
- Counsel for Court
- Requesting State
- Greece
- Requested State
- United States of America
- Procedural History
-
The Petitioner/mother filed a Hague petition seeking the return of her children to Greece from the U.S. In October 2000, the Respondent/father removed the children from Greece and went to the U.S. after the Greek courts awarded primary custody to Petitioner/mother. The Greek courts previously denied the Respondent/father's Hague petition requesting the return of his children from Greece to the U.S. on the grounds that there was no wrongful removal by the Petitioner/mother when she moved the children from the U.S. to Greece, at that time the Respondent/father was not exercising custody of the children.
- Summary of Facts
-
In 1988, the Petitioner/mother, a citizen of Greece, and the Respondent/father, a citizen of the U.S. married in New York. The couple's two children were born in New York. In June of 1995, the parties and their children flew to Greece for a summer vacation. The parties took separate trips back and forth to New York, but the children remained in Greece all summer, and thereafter with the Petitioner/mother. On September 11, 1995 the Respondent/father filed an action in the Supreme Court of New York for divorce and a writ of habeas corpus for the return of his children. On September 14, 1995 the Petitioner/mother commenced a custody proceeding in the Athens Court of First Instance in Greece, in which she obtained temporary custody. On September 27, 1995 Respondent/father filed a Hague petition seeking the return of his children to the United States from Greece. In 1996, the Petitioner/father filed a subsequent Hague petition in the Thessaloniki Court of First Instance, which was denied on July 9, 1996. On February 27, 1997, the New York State Supreme Court granted the Respondent/father's writ of habeas corpus and issued a warrant for the Petitioner/mother's arrest. On May 1997, the U.S. court dismissed the Respondent/father's Hague petition without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction over the children living in Greece.
On July 24, 1997, the New York State Supreme Court awarded the Respondent/father temporary custody of the children. The court later granted the divorce petition on November 14, 1997 and the Respondent/father full custody of the children on November 17th. At the time the court was aware of the proceedings in Greece concerning custody of the children, and the Hague petition filed, but was not aware that the Hague petition was already denied. On January 30, 1998, the Athens Court of First Instance awarded primary custody to Petitioner/mother. The Respondent/father appealed that decision to the Greek Court of Appeals, which affirmed the lower court decision. The Respondent/father appealed to the Greek Supreme Court, which is pending.
- Defenses Raised
-
Hague Article 3a: The child's habitual residence is not the requesting state
- Statutes Considered (ICARA)
- 11601(b)(4), 11603(e)(1)(A), 11603(e)(2)(A), 11603(e)(2)(B), 11603(g), 11607(b)
- Articles Considered (Hague Convention)
- 3, 12, 13(a), 13(b), 17, 19, 20, 26
- Cases Considered
- David S. v. Zamira S., 574 N.Y.S.2d 429 (N.Y.Fam.1991; Feder v. Evans-Feder, 866 F.Supp. 860 (E.D.Pa. 1994); Feder v. Evans-Feder, 63 F.3d 217 (3rd Cir. 1995); Harkness v. Harkness , 577 N.W.2d 116 (Mich.App. 1998); Levesque v. Levesque, 816 F.Supp. 662 (D. Kan 1993); Morton v. Morton , 982 F.Supp. 675 (D. Neb. 1997); Nunez-Escudero v. Tice-Menley, 58 F.3d 374 (8th Cir. 1995); Ostevoll v. Ostevoll, 2000 WL 1611123 (S.D. Ohio 2000); Zuker v. Andrews, 2 F.Supp.2d 134 (D. Mass. 1998)
- Judicial Outcome or Order
- Return Ordered
- Posted
- 2004-11-21
Why this Project?
We are a team of individuals from various professional backgrounds who are dedicated to creating a comprehensive resource that will enable mothers, domestic violence advocates, attorneys and judges to better prepare themselves for Hague Convention cases in the United States' legal system.
