American actor Angelina Jolie is slamming a judge for refusing to allow her kids to give evidence in her and Brad Pitt’s custody case.
The Maleficent actor said in a filing on Monday that Judge John Ouderkirk—whom Jolie had sought to get disqualified earlier—had refused to hear evidence from her children which is relevant to their safety and well-being.
“Judge Ouderkirk denied Ms. Jolie a fair trial, improperly excluding her evidence relevant to the children’s health, safety, and welfare, evidence critical to making her case,” she said in a filing to California’s Second District Court of Appeal.
Furthermore, Jolie said that the judge has “failed to adequately consider” a section of the California court code that points out that it is damaging for the child’s best interest if custody is given to someone who is known to have committed domestic violence in the past.
Additional information of what she was referring to were not mentioned in the filing but earlier in March, her lawyers submitted a sealed document about the supposed details.
Jolie says in her new filing that the judge “refused to hear the minor teenagers’ input as to their experiences, needs, or wishes as to their custody fate,” giving reference to a California code that permits children over 14 to testify if they desire.
Excluding the couple's eldest son Maddox, 19, Pitt and Jolie’s five remaining children are subject to the custody decision—Pax, 17, Zahara, 16, Shiloh, 14 and twins Knox and Vivienne, 12.
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