gitana1
Verified Attorney
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No legal expert here, either, but ...:
If Maddie is hiding out with William on her own, her parents (or yet another party) are helping them or even holding them against their will (e.g., I understand that William's father and Maddie are the only parties who currently share William's custody, but say, a third party did not want Maddie complying with the joint custody order and thus have kidnapped -or even worse ...- both Maddie and the baby; I am not saying that's what happened, but I get the impression that the father's attorney is at least considering such scenario as a possibility), I do wonder why no criminal charges have been filed against anyone.
Perhaps LE/DA do not have quite enough evidence to have an arrest warrant issued.
For example, according to the father's attorney:
"The judge in the case of missing mother Madeline Jones and her 9-month-old baby William told the parents of the woman that they would have to share their phone, email and bank records with the court in an investigation to find out whether they have information of her and the child’s whereabouts."
I don't know if the parents would be allowed to appeal the judge's order, but even if they complied immediately, it probably would take the judge a couple weeks to obtain and review those types of records (or maybe LE are already in possession of such records, and if allowed by a criminal court judge, they can share the information with the family court judge handling the custody case??).
So perhaps LE/DA/family court are working together to file a criminal(s) charge against Maddie, someone helping her, or holding her and William against their will ... or something else
As to Kiitah's question, according to the father's attorney:
"Thursday, the judge issued a stern warning to the Jones family, stating to the attorneys for Madeline and the Joneses that their 'next move was the most important one,' adding that if Madeline were to return now, he would grant leniency. He also stated that if Madeline did not return by July 11, she would face harsh and severe sanctions."
Since I haven't seen the actual court documents, I really don't want to speculate what may happen next. And Ireally don't know what to think at this point. I just don't like that Maddie and William are still missing.
The family law judge has no authority to issue criminal orders except civil contempt orders (which are quasi criminal). A subpoena is sent directly, typically, to the provider/holder of the records. It looks like her family tried to prevent the phone company, or bank from releasing records that could be used to trace this young lady and the baby, but the judge overruled them. So the records will come directly from the entities, not from her parents.
Consequences could include monetary sanctions, a finding of contempt (although someone would have to file a motion seeking a finding of contempt - at least that's how it works in CA), or a more permanent change in custody. It sounds like now, the judge is willing to still be lenient with the mom and work with her and keep the baby in her custody long term, if she comes back. If she doesn't, all bets are off and it will be harder for her not to lose custody if she's found.
Yeah. I think the evidence is likely pretty good.
No, a judge cannot only go on what he's told. He goes on the actual evidence - what he sees and hears. In this case, he also got to base decisions on the outcome of a child custody psychological evaluation and investigation and those are intensive.
So this is not a mere he-said she-said situation.
Once again, I have never seen a court order as strongly worded as this one. People make nasty allegations in custody battles routinely that are later found to be false. Rarely do judges do anything but state that there is no basis for the allegations, or that they person making the accusations isn't credible. And then they discount the false allegations. But to actually make such strong and definitive pronouncements as what this judge did? Extremely rare. In my 16 years of practice I have never personally seen such a strongly worded order.
The judge even went so far as to use the much higher standard of proof -beyond a reasonable doubt - when laying waste to her false allegations and those of her parents.
He saw some definitive evidence in order to make such a ruling. And if this child had been older and/or knew the dad at all prior to the order, custody would've been totally switched.
As to whether a teeanger can stay missing for this long without being dead, sure they can. Happens all the time. And if she has received help from her parents or other adults? Of course she can be spirited away and kept hidden.
Her parents aren't cooperating with the police who are desperately trying to find this young woman and her baby. That speaks volumes.
That being said, she and the baby are at risk of harm. Especially the baby. Parents sometimes kill their kids in order not to lose control. And/or themselves. She felt she was losing control, by all accounts.
