Cuban father closer to custody

MIAMI - A judge on Wednesday dealt a blow to the state's case against a Cuban father seeking to regain custody of his young daughter - dismissing several charges against the man.

But Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jeri B. Cohen stopped short of the father's request to throw out the entire case. The Florida Department of Children and Families wants the judge to declare Rafael Izquierdo an unfit father and allow the 5-year-old girl to remain with her foster parents.

Cohen dismissed charges that Izquierdo should have sent money to the girl's mother. She also dismissed allegations that he should have known the mother beat the girl and her half brother and that the mother would have a breakdown after coming to Florida.

"I don't know how you're going to meet the 'knew' or 'should have known' standard that she had mental health problems, when you have her own son saying she never showed any mental health problems and that there was never any abuse in front of them," Cohen said.

As the state rested its case, Cohen said she had yet to be convinced of the heart of the department's argument - that Izquierdo abandoned his daughter in the U.S.

Cohen recalled that during the girl's first nine months in the U.S. he had only sporadic phone calls with her mother and allegedly sent a few letters to her. She also agreed with DCF attorneys that Izquierdo should have applied earlier for his Cuban passport to come to the U.S.

"The case law's not favorable to you. You know it, and I know it," Cohen told DCF attorneys.

The mother, Elena Perez gave up her children after a suicide attempt in 2005. Her 13-year-old son with another man has been adopted by the girl's foster parents.

[Last modified September 12, 2007, 22:13:23]