so who can esplain this'un?

[syf350]

ALAMOGORDO, NM - A Strange custody battle is still working it's way through an Alamogordo family court.

Rosa Caje was arrested in April for refusing to hand her daughter over to a woman named Mary Bruer. Bruer has no blood relation to Caje's daughter Olivia, but Olivia and her mom lived with Bruer for a few months. Because of that a court named Bruer the "psychological grandmother" of the child, and eventually gave her custody despite no investigation.

Today we know the case still has not been ruled on, and Caje and her daughter are still together.

[NEVRL8T]

Drugs.

[syf350]

judge has also put a gag order on the mom and is now holding behind closed doors hearings without an explanation.

[NEVRL8T]

Serious drugs.

[C5SilverBullet]

Crazy shit right there.

[MEC5LADY]

It would be interesting to know all the details and why the judge thinks this woman is a better caregiver for the child.

[VITE1]

Originally Posted by MEC5LADY

It would be interesting to know all the details and why the judge thinks this woman is a better caregiver for the child.

[oyealiz]

Originally Posted by MEC5LADY

It would be interesting to know all the details and why the judge thinks this woman is a better caregiver for the child.

I'm going with "the mom is an unfit parent."

[syf350]

Originally Posted by oyealiz

I'm going with "the mom is an unfit parent."

looking for more info. has been a big story here for a coupel weeks.

as far as the mom goes, i did read that she has never been investigated by any child protection service, family welfare, etc and has no criminal record.

[syf350]

Update: "Psychological Grandmother"
By Anthony Garcia
Thursday, April 8, 2010 - 5:03pm

ALAMOGORDO, NM - A U.S. Supreme Court ruling could reverse an Alamogordo court decision regarding a strange custody battle.

Rosa Caje was ordered by an Alamogordo family court to let a woman named Mary Bruer visit her daughter Olivia. Bruer has no blood relation to Olivia, but Olivia and Caje once lived with Bruer for a few months. Because of that, a court named Bruer the "psychological grandmother" of the child. When Caje decided it was in her child's best interest to stop the visits Bruer took her to court and was granted full custody of Olivia. Wednesday Caje was arrested for refusing to hand her daughter over to Bruer.

Thursday Richard Araiza, one of our viewers, came forward to say he went through a similar custody fight and won. Now he wants to help Caje.

"She has the right to choose where her children go, who they see, whether or not they visit. It's the mothers right," he said.

Araiza is not a lawyer but he told us about Troxel v. Granville, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on 3rd party visitation rights to children. It's the case he used to win his custody fight. In the case a widow named Tommie Granville was taken to court by her in-laws under a Washington state statue that allowed courts to grant visitation rights to non-parents. The U.S. Supreme Court found that statute unconstitutional.

"The application of the Washington statute to Granville and her family violated her fundamental right to make decisions concerning the care, custody and control of her children," Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said at the time of the ruling.

"The judge ultimately decided in my favor because it was the law of the land, it is the law of the land, it's Supreme Court," Araiza said.

He now hopes Caje's lawyers can use the law to turn over Olivia's custody judgement which, based on Troxel v. Granville, appears to be unconstitutional.

Caje is still locked up in the Otero county jail on a five thousand dollar bond. we're told the custody hearing is set for may 13th.

[syf350]

Explain His Secrecy
Play this video
By Anthony Garcia - Multimedia Journalist
Monday, January 24, 2011 - 5:25pm

ALAMOGORDO - Judge William Brogan might rip a child from her mother's arms, but he doesn't want anyone to know why.

He closed a custody hearing to the public and forced the mom, who's fighting for her daughter without an attorney, to stay quiet about the case. A national advocate for freedom of information says that's outrageous.

"Our government officials shouldn't be telling people they can't talk to others about an important issue in the judicial system, David Cuillier said. That's what Joseph Stalin and Saddam Hussein used to do."

The mom fighting for her daughter is Rosa Caje, and the woman who wants custody is Mary Bruer. Bruer is not related to Caje or her daughter, but they once lived together for a few months. Because of that Bruer gained visitation rights of of Caje's daughter, and eventually won full custody of her. Caje spent last year fighting in court, and won back custody of her daughter in December when a court said there was no reason to take her daughter away. Bruer didn't like that ruling, and turned to Judge William Brogan to reverse it. Now he's keeping his courtroom decisions secret.

"People should be able to see what's going on in a case that, apparently, there's a lot of public interest in. We need an open transparent system so we can weigh in and evaluate whether the right thing's being done," Cuillier said.

The judge refuses to explain the secrecy. Instead he had his secretary tell us it's New Mexico law to keep the custody battle a secret. They couldn't give us a statute number, and two New Mexico Custody Attorneys we spoke with said they have never heard of such a law.

"I think it's outrageous the judge won't explain why he's taking these drastic measures. In most places in the country judges are required to explain themselves and justify sealing documents, and justify closing proceedings and certainly justify preventing someone their 1st Amendment Right to speech," Cuillier said.

Attorneys tell us that judges do have discretion to sequester hearings, but when they do it typically involves abuse. We have confirmed with the State of New Mexico that Caje, the mom, has never been investigated by the Children, Youth and Families Department. So at this point Caje could lose custody of her daughter and, if Judge Brogan has his way, we'll never know why.



ORIGINAL STORY:

ALAMOGORDO - Judge William Brogan still refuses to explain his decision to hold a custody hearing in secret.

On Friday Judge Brogan closed a hearing to the public that could decide whether an Alamogordo mom will lose custody of her daughter. The Judge also told the mom to stop talking about the case.

Rosa Caje is in jeopardy of losing custody of her daughter Olivia to a woman named Mary Bruer. Bruer has no blood relation to Caje's daughter, but an Alamogordo Family Court named Bruer the psychological grandmother of the child and eventually gave her full custody. In December a court ruled there was no reason to give Bruer custody, and the mom won the case.

Bruer turned to Judge William Brogan to reverse that decision, and now he is conducting the hearing in secret.

Tonight at 5, 6 and 10pm you'll hear what his office told us about the decision to sequester the hearing. You will also hear from someone who says what the Judge is doing is anti-American.