My Son on the front page!

On December 31, 2007 my son was featured on the front page of the Vancouver Sun and the back page page of the Calgary Sun, feeding the pigeons at Granville Island Vancouver. Does he look like he was having fun?

You cannot imagine how proud I was to see my beautiful son on the front page. What a treat! Times like that remind me why I keep fighting for access.

I called up the the newspaper to ask them if they would do a story on a dad who has been to divorce court 49 times and spent 30 days in jail. They laughed and said that unless my name was Britney Spears, they would not do a story on what they called an abusive system with many victims.( its just another divorce story)

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Protesting in front of the court.

On November 10, 2008 I went to court to get Vancouver access and Christmas access reinstated. The Judge refused. I have to spend 6 days of Christmas access in a hotel. I have never spent a Christmas at home with my son.

The Judge then fined me $1,000 and told me to come back to court in 3 months for a special hearing that could cost me a $5,000 court cost fine. I said “Thank you.” and walked out of the Court room. While I was glad not to be going to jail immediately, I now have a jail sentence hanging over my head for the next three months, not a pleasant feeling.

Just then four sheriffs came running down the hall. I said “Whats wrong?” They replied that the judge pushed the panic button.

My lawyer inquired into what had happened . He said apparently my ex wife’s lawyer Jane Hoffman thought I was going to call her the “B” word. ,

Probably a legal tactic, but I just had to laugh. Welcome to the crazy world of Divorce and Custody.

I used to think courts carefully weighed the evidence to dispense justice. I believed that they must be right most of the time. I had faith in the system.

Now I see a competition to score the most points, with a high five on a win. Star lawyers are brought in at a huge cost to slam dunk the case. That won’t be a problem if it wasn’t people’s lives that were in the balance. We need to get this right, there needs to be an equal balance between the parental rights. A shift in rights grossly favouring one or the other of the parents impoverishes the children. Kids need both parents.

After I left the court, I put my signs out front of the court (picture above). I want to draw attention to the problems fathers face in the justice system anyway I can. Peaceful protest can accomplish goals. More people have to know what fathers face in court.That’s the only way to change behemoth institutions like the justice system.

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On November 21 2008 I received an email from my $250 per hour lawyer.

He wanted to know if he should sign Jane Hoffman’s version of November 10 court appearance. This order has me losing 50% of my access ( 2 weekends per month to 1 weekend per month),  This is not what the judge ordered. I am being denied the right to see my son unless I sign this order.

I have been fined $6500 by the courts in the year ( 5 court appearances). I was even fined $1000 because I asked the Judge to vary my child support as I had filed for bankruptcy.

If I go back to Court to dispute this order, I face a further $5,000 fine, so the last Judge told me.

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On November 13, 2008 I contacted Jane Hoffman’s former partner Diane Castle of Castle and Associates. I asked Ms. Castle if she would represent me against Jane Hoffman (my ex-wife’s lawyer). She said she could not as Ms Hoffman had worked in her law firm, so this represented a conflict of interest.

I pointed out that Jane Hoffman now works for the law firm that used to represent me. Diane Castle responded “Then Jane should not be on this case.”

Ms. Castle recommended a lawyer by the name of Jeff Wise. His fee is $450 an hour. I sent him a retainer.

On November 20 2008 I received a call from Jeff Wise’s law firm. I was informed that Mr Wise could not take my case because his assistant had worked at Castle and Associates 6 years ago, and Ms Hoffman has worked there too. They said this was a conflict of interest, and they would send me back my retainer.

An assistant? Not a lawyer. Maybe I am missing something.

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On September 19, 2008 my ex wife notified me that I was to pick up my son after school. I informed her that I had to work this weekend, and I could not pick up my son. I live in Vancouver, BC and she lives in Red Deer, Alberta.

She told me that if I did not pick up my son, she would call Social Services to pick him up. I immediately flew to Calgary to retrieve my son, as the consent order has dictated for the last 9 months. I returned my son on Monday September 20.

My ex wife contacted her lawyer, Jane Hoffman, who said that I returned my son a day late. Therefore my access to my son was suspended. As a result I have not seen my son in 2 months. I am now up on contempt charges, and face 30 days in jail again.

I returned to court on November 10 to face contempt charges. My $250 an hour lawyer forgot to hand in my affidavid (my side of the story). The judge postponed my contempt trial, but took away my Vancouver access and charged me with a $1000 fine.

I now get to spend Christmas with my son in a hotel in Red Deer, while my family is celebrating the season in Victoria.

I have never spent a Christmas with my son and familly.

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The court battle for access to my son has drained, but not defeated this father. I will continue this fight for one reason; my love for my son. I still love my ex-wife, and I am saddened that things have evolved to this extent. She is also a victim of this legal wrangling.

The courts are supposed to protect children, instead they become pawns in an adult game of tit for tat. I can’t change the world, but I can fight for a loving relationship with my son.

In the end, that’s all that matters.

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ON NOV 17. 2006 FIVE POLICEMEN CAME TO MY HOME AND TOOK MY 5 YEAR OLD SON. I was handcuffed and searched in front of my son. “Why are your hands behind your back Dad?” he cried with tears in his eyes. I told him we were playing a game.

I showed the police a 15 month old Court Order granting me access to my son this weekend in Vancouver. Apparently there was a discrepancy on whether I was to implement my weekend access at my home in Vancouver or at a hotel in Alberta. The police said a new Court Order called “Ex Parte” had been written that day authorizing them to pick up my son “Ex Parte”. This means that the Judge changed the court order without notifying me. Why not notify me? I would have brought my son back immediately if I knew I was in violation of the Court Order. I HAVE NEVER BROKEN THE COURT ORDER, AND I HAVE ALWAYS RETURNED MY SON ON TIME. Why subject my son to such a traumatic experience? Why? This is a question for lawyer Jane Hoffman and Justice J. Coutu.

Off To Jail

On Jan 18, 2007 I went to court in front of Justice Coutu. My lawyer reminded Justice Coutu that she stated 5 times that if there were any discrepancies in the court order she would take my Vancouver access away. (but never mentioned anything about jail.) Justice Coutu responded “I do not care what I told Mr. Marshall, he is going to Jail for 30 days. I would put him in jail for 60 days if I could, but the law says 30 days is the maximum”. Why is this statement deleted from the court transcript? I was sent to a dormitory style prison for 30 days with 60 crack addicts for contempt of court, because of a discrepancy on where my weekend access was supposed to be on Nov. 10, 2006. In reality, I was sent jail because I was featured on the 6:00 o’clock news with this letter on Global TV, Calgary on Jan. 13, 2007.

I did not see or speak to my son for 6 months as per Justice Coutu’s Order. I spent 30 days in jail and completed my 2nd $2,500 psychiatric risk evaluation. I returned to court in front of a new Judge as Justice Coutu quit my case :and quit being a judge.

The new Judge implemented an access schedule that brought access costs to my son from $25,000 a year to $52,000 a year, and I see my son less. I make $55.000 a year: this leaves me with $3,000 to pay my millionaire ex-wife $8,000 a year in child support. I now purchase 104 airline ticket’s a year and stay in hotels restricted to Red Deer 104 days a year with my 5 year old son.

My “Father’s Story”

My name is Chris Marshall, I am 47 years old and I have been to divorce court 50 times in Calgary in the last 4 years, with access to my son being the only issue. I never would have thought that I would find myself handling out 10,000 copies of Divorce story at hockey games and universities, but I do not know what else to do to fight judicial parental abuse. I love my son more than anything in the world and the so called “Justice System” has taken my access away and is now threatening to throw me in jail on January 18 12007. These are your judges and lawyers. Your family could be next. I would like to thank Kevin Newman and Global TV for airing the documentary “The Dads Who Fought Back”. (Kevin Newman, from Global TV, read my story and instructed me to join Fathers 4 Justice and rally the people of Calgary). We have to stand up for a PARENT’S RIGHT TO SEE THEIR CHILD.

FIND ANOTHER WOMAN, HAVE ANOTHER BABY, MR. MARSHALL .

I returned to court on Dec.1, 2006 with a lawyer. Justice Coutu refused to hear my side of the story and postponed the court deli to Jan 18. 2007. She cancelled my Christmas access to my son and all future access. She then order me to undergo a second psychiatric risk evaluation at a cost of $2.500.This is legal extortion designed to destroy me financially and keep me from my son. During my first Psychiatric evaluation, Dr. Pierce said to me “Why not have my son at home in Vancouver I weekend a month?” I answered him that this is exactly what I have been asking for all along but my ex-wife and her lawyer Jane Hoffman refuse to allow this. He then said that I should FIND ANOTHER WOMAN AND HAVE ANOTHER BABY

A Court Battle Running Longer Than The Marriage

In July 2000, I saw my first love that I dated from 1982 to 1986. I had not seen her in 15 years and we were married 3 months later in October 2000. It was a short marriage wind, lasted only 20 months but produced a beautiful baby boy in September 2001. I am from Vancouver and she is from Red Deer, Alberta. I have never broken a court order and have always treated my wife with respect. I have never missed a scheduled access with my son with the exception of 10 to IS times that I flew from Vancouver to Calgary rented a car and drove 130 km’s to Red Deer, only to have my ex-wife say that her Lawyer, Jane Hoffman has denied ‘me court ordered access with no consequences from Justice C.L. Kenney or Justice J. Coutu.

My legal nightmare began in 2002 when I turned to the Justice system to gain access to my son. I hired a lawyer in Red Deer by the name of Brian Adair. Mr. Adair went to court on my behalf and wrote up a court order granting me access to my I year old son only 1 day a month while he sat in day care 10 hours a day. I said to Mr. Adair: “The Judge said 2 days a month with overnight access”. He responded “How do you know what the judge said, you were not there”. I said “yes I was!” and showed him a copy of the court transcript. He then said, “give me another $3,500 and I will get you the 2 days a month access”. I fired him and have been self represented ever since for financial reasons.

One year into the divorce, Justice Kenney who seized control of the divorce case for over 2 years recorded my income as triple the value in order to increase child support to my Millionaire ex-wife. I fell 3 months behind on support payments and maintenance enforcement illegally suspended my driver’s license. Licenses are not to he suspended unless you exceed $3,000 in arrears. Jane Hoffman told my ex wife to deny me access to my son unless I was current with support. I had to stop paying creditors to get my drivers license and access back. I lost my business of 10 years and my credit got destroyed in the process.

During my 10 day trial for a 20 month marriage, Jane Hoffman asked for costs on the $100.000 spent on legal fees. I jumped up and said “I cannot believe my ex-wife spent $100,000 to keep me from my son” The judge intervened and said money was spent protecting the assets in the marital home (which had appreciated $800,000 during the marriage”. I responded that I told my wife that I would not pursue the assets in the marital home and that all I wanted was to be friends and have access to my son. Justice Coutu asked my wife if this was true. and my wife responded that it was. Justice Coutu then charged me $30,000 to pay my wife’s lawyer in legal costs, and said that the legal fees were my fault. Coincidentally, this was the same amount Justice Coutu said I was entitled to from the marital home dirt had appreciated by $800,000 during our marriage

The 38th time I went to court I informed Justice Coutu the she changed the access schedule which had been working fine for the past year from weekly to bi-monthly, basing her decision that my 3 year old was in school. I told her that my son was still sitting in day care 10 hours a day. She said it did not matter, and charged me $1,500 in court costs. Coincidentally, this was he same amount which I have overpaid in child support. Justice Coutu then told me that she could take away my access if she did not like my attitude.  I told her my attitude was fine to my ex-wife and son and I had never broken the court order. Justice Coutu then said that I did break the court order. You took your son to the doctor, and did not tell your wife. This is a blatant violation of the court order and I can take your access away. I responded by saying that I did tell my ex-wife. Justice Coutu to which she replied, “take this as a warning”.

I have never broken the court order. yet my ex-wife continuously does so with no consequences to her. This is not fair to me or my son. Please help me fight this abusive divorce process which uses our children as pawns for judicial extortion. Let’s put access to our children in the hands of qualified psychiatrists and psychologists, not lawyers who charge $300-$500 an hour. Their only motivation is to keep us in court until one of us gives up. Those who suffer the most are our children. I do not blame my ex-wife for this legal nightmare. She has been manipulated by an abusive self-interested lawyer in the amount of $138,000 and still counting.

What Do I Want?

All I want is to bring my son to my home in Vancouver I weekend a month, and come back to Red Deer 1 weekend a month for access to my son. With a little cooperation from my ex-wife, this access schedule would cost $18.000 a year. The Psychiatrists and Psychologists agree with me. Why won’t the Justice System listen to the professionals?

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