Chapter nineteen
2 months later- custody case
November 24th 2012
16 weeks and 5 days old
"Wh... what if I don't win? What if he wins?" Jo asks Steph frantically as she passes back and forth in the woman's bathroom that was located on the third floor of the Seattle court house.
"Jo, you're panicking and right now there is nothing to panic about. You said yourself that your lawyer said that Paul has little hope of winning, especially with the domestic violence case pending," Steph says as she watches Jo pace down the bathroom.
Jo scoffs, "his lawyer Steph, he is going to play dirty. I've done some stuff in my life that I'm not proud of... I was a foster kid, my file is as big as Olympic national park. It was expunged when I turned 18 but what happens if somehow he got his hands on my file and gets it admissible in court?" Jo frantically asks.
Steph walks over to Jo and places her hand on Jo's shoulder, "Then your lawyer will deal with it Jo, it's her job. Now, you need to pull yourself together because your due inside that courtroom in less then 5 minutes."
Jo nods her head quickly. She washes her face with some cool water and then dries it using paper towel. She looks into the mirror and takes a deep breath, "Let's go."
Steph nods her head and follows Jo out of the bathroom. They meet Alex, Meredith, Arizona and her lawyer, Sally Langdon outside of the court room and Sally leads them into the room where they see Paul, his Lawyer, Joseph Barrett, Paul's mother, Louise, his father, Michael and his esteemed co-workers Dr Elizabeth Miller and Dr Patrick Friedman. As Jo walks down to take her seat she sustains glares from Louise and Michael that send chills down her spine.
Judge Donald Chambers enters the court room and walks up to his seat. He swears both parties in and sits down. In front of him were 2 files.
"We are here today to discuss the custody of a minor, Phoebe Madeleine Stadler. Mr Paul Joseph Stadler, you have filled for joint legal and physical custody of Phoebe," Judge Chambers says as he looks over at Paul. He then looks over at Jo, "and Mrs Josephine Alice Stadler, you have counter filled for full legal and physical custody of Phoebe." Jo nods her head.
"Now, what we have in front of us is an unusual case, give the fact that both parties are legally married, however I am aware that papers have been filled with the state and are being contested," Judge Chambers states.
"Your honour, Josephine did send divorce papers some time ago, however Mr Stadler is contesting the divorce as he does not want one," Sally says.
"Mr Stadler believes that a marriage is worth fighting for. He is a devoted Christian and divorce is considered a Sin. He wants to make sure that all possible avenues are explored before obtaining a divorce. He Believes that Mrs Stadler is done fighting for their marriage and fears that she may take off with his child. He has had no contact with Phoebe since birth. He is here today to protect his right to see his child while fighting for their marriage." Mr Barrett explains.
"This case was landed with me this morning so bear with me while I look over each file," Judge Chambers pulls down both files from the top of his bench and opens them. He quickly reviews the, to ensure the facts given by each lawyer was correct.
"Mr Stadler, Seattle state law requires that a divorce in motion, meaning that both parties have signed papers and they are being processed. order to pursue a custody case. How you made it through this process is astounding. Mr Stadler, if you so wish to file for Joint legal and physical custody of your daughter Phoebe, then you must be okay with signing the divorce papers. You can sign them now and I'll file them with the court. The divorce will then be in motion and you'll be back on my docket this afternoon," he explains.
Paul takes a moment to talk to his lawyer while Jo anxiously looks back at her friends. "Your Honour, I would like to do the right thing and honour Josephine's wishes. It is clear to me that she is not fighting for our marriage and my number one priority is Phoebe," Paul informs him.
Scene break
"Did you hear him in there! 'My number one priority is Phoebe.' What a load of rubbish! He's just trying to paint himself as a good guy in front of the judge so he gets what he wants!" Jo vents to everybody as they walk down the front steps of the courthouse.
"At least he signed the divorce papers Jo," Alex says in an attempt to get her to look at the brighter side of things.
"That is not the point Karev. The point is that he did it in front of the judge to make himself the good guy. It was so egotistical!" She says back frustratedly.
"It wasn't the best way to go about it, but he has assault charges that are pending trial. There is no way he is going to get joint custody of Phoebe. As we've discussed, at the very worst he'll get supervised visits," Sally reminds her.
Jo takes a deep breath and nods her head.
"I suggest you all re-group, grab something to eat. We don't see Judge Chambers until 3pm, that's 3 hours away," Sally suggests before heading off.
Scene break
"Firstly I would like to welcome back both parities to my courtroom. You've been sworn in and you may take a seat," Judge Chambers says before sitting down in his seat. "I have read the Character statements given on behalf of Both Josephine and Paul. I would like to thank those who contributed."
"Your honour, I'd like to request Dr Robbin's to take the stand," Mr Barrett asks.
Sally promptly stands up, "objection Your Honour. This isn't a civil trial, it's a custody case."
"Dr Robbin's was Ms Stadler's doctor throughout her pregnancy and it has come to my attention that she is still treating Ms Stadler," Mr Barrett explains.
"I'll allow it, only for medical information. Nothing personal," Judge Chambers warns. Arizona slowly stands up and makes her way to the stand and takes a seat.
"Ms Stadler has been depressed, has she not?" he asks Dr Robbins.
Arizona looks at him stunned, she couldn't believe that he was trying to obtain this information from her. She looks up at the Judge, "sir, this is confidential information. I can't share that."
"Dr Robbin's, you may answer the question," the Judge replies.
Arizona sighs, "Josephine has a medical condition known as Post natal Depression. It's common and effects every 1 in 100 new mothers, especially in her situation. She is being treated with therapy and anti depressants. Post natal depression is treatable and we are treating Josephine's. She is showing massive progress. It's commendable," Arizona states.
"That is all," Mr Barrett states.
"You May step down Dr Robbin's," The Judge instructs.
Arizona scoffs and heads back to her seat. "Your Honour, we'd like to show exhibit A, Ms Stadler's file," Mr Barrett says as he places his hand on a large stack of files.
"Your Honour!" Sally protests.
"We'd like to establish character and to establish weather or not Ms Stadler is a fit mother," he explains.
"Ms Stadler's record was sealed and expunged Your Honour," Sally states.
"We received express permission from the previous judge on this case. It's all in the file," he states.
Judge Chambers looks at the documents in front of him and indeed comes across permission to have the records un-expunged and made usable for this court case. "Go ahead," he instructs.
"Ms Stadler has been in the foster system since birth. She not once had a stable home as a child. At the age of 12 she was placed in Juvenile detention for setting fire to her foster father's car. She served 6 months and was then placed in a group home where she was there for 2 months before running away. She stole food from a local store and assisted a guy to rob the same store. She was found and landed herself back in Juvie for a further 4 months. She went to another group home and stayed for 1 year until she was found healthy enough to return to a regular home. Assault at the age of 15 and went to Juvie once again for 6 months. Ms Stadler is not a responsible citizen and with such a troubled youth she has the tendency to repeat mistakes she made then, as as adult. Can you trust somebody like that with the welfare of a child?" Mr Barrett questions.
"Ms Stadler has straightened her life out. She graduated high school as valedictorian, she graduated cum laude from Princeton University and Harvard Medical School. She is now working as a surgical resident at Grey Sloan Memorial, which is the most sought after residency match," Sally says in defence. "And Judge, May I bring your attention to the charges against Mr Stadler, multiple counts of domestic violence towards Ms Stadler," Sally says. She walks over to the Judge and hands him the case file. He opens up the folder and spends a further ten minutes looking through the evidence against Paul.
"Please stand," he requests. Jo, Paul and their lawyers stand.
"Given the severity of the charges against Mr Stadler, I hereby award Full legal and physical custody of Phoebe Madeleine Stadler to Ms Josephine Stadler, with Mr Paul Stadler award supervised visitation every Saturday for the maximum amount of 6 hours. This will remain in place until the case pending against Mr Stadler goes through the judicial system, at which point the terms of this custody arrangement shall be re-evaluated," Judge Chambers bangs his gavel and stands up.
Jo and Paul turn to their respective supporters and chatter begins to fill the room.
"Jo, it's okay, we knew that this was going to be a possibility," Sally says as she notices the shocked look on Jo's face.
"Okay, so what happens now? How does this work?" Arizona asks.
"Supervised visitation will happen in a controlled setting at the family centre. Jo will nominate a third party to be the supervisor, it could be a friend, family member or a social worker designated by the state. Jo will bring Phoebe to the family centre by the time that the judge has stated. She will hand Phoebe over to the nominated third party and then return to the family centre at the designated pick up time," Sally explains.
Jo nods her head and looks over at Paul, who was glancing at her with rage building up in his face. "Hey Jo, just ignore him. Don't let him get to you. He's not worth it," Steph says as she places her hand on Jo's shoulder.
Jo looks back at Steph, gives a small smile and nods her head.