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"Power is the great evil with which we are contending. We have divided power between three branches of government and erected checks and balances to prevent abuse of power. However, where is the check on the power of the judiciary? If we fail to check the power of the judiciary, I predict that we will eventually live under judicial tyranny."... Patrick Henry
Marietta Case with William Lang, Chief Judge..........story by Center for Family Justice |
| Bernalillo County Chief Judge William Lang takes custody away from a mother, Lynette Ghee without her knowledge and hands a two-year-old child Loren Christopher over to child-abuser, William Marietta who pleads guilty to charges of battery of the mother and cruelty to children. This long, sordid, and terribly sad story begins years ago in 1995, when Judge Lang was on the bench in Bernalillo County family court. A September 7, 1994 police report documents charges against prominent Albuquerque dentist, Bill Marietta of battery and cruelty to children for beating his wife and pulling their son, Loren Christopher who was just over a year old at the time, from her arms. Two months later, Bill Marietta was prosecuted by the District Attorney's office for the domestic violence charges, and he pled guilty with a corresponding judgment of guilty on December 1, 1994. When their son, Loren Christopher was two years old, the mother notified the father in writing that she intended to move out of the state with the child. As a result of his angry reaction, she followed police advice and filed for a protective order in the county where she lived, Torrance County, on December 12, 1995. An Order of Protection was issued on the same day by Judge Fitch. On the very next day, December 13, 1995, the father's attorney, Linda Andre-Wells, filed a very harsh and vindictive emergency motion in Bernalillo County claiming that the mother intended to leave the state without permission. Judge Lang's office set the hearing for two days later on December 15, 1995, only providing two days for mother to be notified and for her attorney to prepare a response. The transcript of the December 15, 1995 hearing is appalling. Mother was not present because she was out of town (although still in New Mexico) and her attorney could not contact her with only two days' notice. Mother did not even know the hearing was occurring. Judge Lang is very flippant and crass in his attitude. Most disturbing, he states, "The long and the short is that I want the child turned over to Mr. Marietta." He also ordered the police to be used to forcibly remove the two-year-old child from his mother. In spite of the judgment against father Bill Marietta for cruelty to children and for beating the mother, Judge Lang awarded him full custody of the two-year-old that day, without any judicial notice that custody was to be discussed (a denial of constitutional due process rights), and without mother's knowledge that the hearing even took place! Mother's attorney, Kathleen Carter, clearly disturbed by Lang's Order, stated all the reasons for her concern in the Emergency Motion to Reconsider the order filed on January 2, 1996, stating that mother did not know about the hearing and could not testify, father did not testify, the court-appointed Wiseperson did not testify, no judicial notice of the custody issue occurred, the court-appointed custody expert did not testify, and Judge Lang provided no means of any contact at all between mother and the two-year-old child. The Motion also states that father, dentist Bill Marietta, used the police to have the child removed from the mother when she returned from her trip. Since she had no knowledge of the order, she resisted the police and had to spend two days in jail. Judge Lang denied the reconsideration, and refused to order any kind of contact between the mother and child. For the last ten years, Lynette has continued her pleading with Bernalillo County Family court for the right to be a mother to her son. The record of this case is an absolute disgrace to New Mexico and the legal community - including a court order for Lynette to pay for a "bonded, armed guard" so that she could visit her five-years-old son. Most of us shudder at the thought of a five-year-old being around a gun. In this case, the Court ordered it! "The long and the short is . . ." that ten years ago Judge Lang knowingly removed a two-year-old boy from a loving mother and placed him with an abusive father who had just pled guilty to domestic battery and to cruelty to a child prior to Lang's order! Chief Judge Lang's legacy - a "trail of tears" - the tears of a two-year-old boy ripped from his mother and placed with an abusive father, Albuquerque dentist Bill Marietta. |