On 1 Apr 2005 09:38:09 -0800, scooter34 wrote:

> PUSSSYK...{at}aol.com wrote:
>> BY HELEN PETERSON and DAVE GOLDINER
>> NY DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
>>
>> Ex-Playboy model Bridget Marks celebrated a "wonderful victory"
>> yesterday after a unanimous appeals court gave her back custody of
> her
>> twin daughters.
>>
>> "I knew I would be vindicated and my children would be coming
home,"
>> said Marks. "I always believed that right is might."
>>
>> The 4-0 victory gives Marks, 38, control of the cute twin
> 5-year-olds,
>> Amber and Scarlet, who had been living with their casino mogul dad
> John
>> Aylsworth, 54, since a Family Court judge handed them to him last
> year.
>>
>> "It's a wonderful victory for me and my daughters," the
redhead said.
>> "I am absolutely paralyzed with joy."
>>
>> The identical twins are vacationing with their father and Marks was
> not
>> permitted to talk to them yesterday.
>>
>> "The most important thing is that two little girls got their life
> back
>> today," said Thomas Shanahan, a lawyer for Marks. "They got to go
> back
>> to their mother."
>>
>> Marks has been nervously waiting by the phone every Tuesday and
>> Thursday, when the Appellate Division releases its rulings. This
> week,
>> she decided to ease the unbearable tension by jetting out for a
> skiing
>> vacation.
>>
>> "Lo and behold, my prayers have been answered," she
said, adding that
>> she credited news reports with helping her win her kids back.
>>
>> Aylsworth's lawyers did not return calls for comment on the ruling.
>> Because the decision was unanimous, Aylsworth must ask for permission
>> to appeal the decision to the the state's highest court.
>>
>> The judges in yesterday's ruling called Marks a "good
mother" to the
>> identical twin girls, who were conceived during a steamy bicoastal
>> affair with Aylsworth.
>>
>> "It [is] in the best interests of these very young girls to [stay] in
>> the care of their mother with whom they had lived - and for the most
>> part thrived - for all their lives," the judges said in a 32-page
>> order.
>>
>> The judges agreed with Family Court Judge Arlene Goldberg that the
>> girls were coached into falsely accusing their father of abusing them
> -
>> a tactic they branded as "abuse."
>>
>> But they declared it was too harsh a punishment to take away the
> kids.
>>
>> The girls are now living with Aylsworth and his wife in Manhattan,
> but
>> they spend two nights a week with their mom.
>>
>> The judges said Aylsworth's busy schedule - he often travels to
> casinos
>> on the Gulf Coast and elsewhere - effectively meant the kids would be
>> raised by their stepmother or nannies.
>>
>> "The children are entitled to be raised by a parent," they ruled.
>
> I find it interesting that this article glosses over the fact that she
> lost custody because she coached the children into accusing their
> father of abuse.  While children shouldn't be punished because their
> mother is a vindictive whacko (or whatever her motivation for such a
> thing is), the fact is that it cannot be in their best interest to a
> parent who would teach them that lying to get what you want is okay,
> that an oath to tell the truth means nothing, and destroying someone's
> reputation is irrelevant as long as you come out on top.
>
> I also object to the automatic dismissal of the stepmother as a
> parenting figure, but that's probably sensitivtiy because I'm one
> myself.
>



this is a strange turn of events. on what basis did the judge overturn the
initial decision, to award custody to the father? Did the father do
something wrong since then?





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