Mom Moved Kids In With Her Abusive Boyfriend & Lied About It

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-18

[00:00:00]And if the parties would just introduce themselves on the record um for the court reporter, you can go ahead and both unmute now.

[00:00:09]>> Hello, your honor. Uh I am Tyler Reed. I am the child's father. I am the respondent in this case. Um but the movement on this the movement on this motion.

[00:00:22]>> I'm Haley Russell. I am his mother and I am responding to this motion.

[00:00:29]Okay. And before we proceed, I'll go ahead and swear both of you in. If you would both raise your right hand, please. Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you will give in this cause will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

[00:00:45]>> Yes, your honor.

[00:00:47]>> Yes, your honor.

[00:00:48]>> Okay. Thank you. Okay. And let me just um kind of lay out the the groundwork of how this proceeding will um be conducted since you're both representing yourselves. Uh you have a 2hour announcement and that means I will divide the time evenly.

[00:01:07]You'll both get up to an hour maximum time. Um you don't have to use that but that's the the most amount of time given the 2 hours. And so since Mr. Reid is the movement, he will go first and Miss Russell, then you will go second. And then at the conclusion of the hearing, the um you will both be able to make a brief um closing remarks after any evidence or testimony has been given.

[00:01:39]Any questions about the way the hearing is to be conducted?

[00:01:44]>> Uh yes. Um would you need an opening statement um from me?

[00:01:48]>> Um repeating um what I put in the motion I guess. So it's if you it's essentially the same thing. So I don't want to waste the court's time if um if you have read the motion.

[00:02:01]>> Okay.

[00:02:02]>> Well, I think it would it it's always helpful for the court. it, you know, under the law, um, in order to modify, um, we're looking I guess I just need you to explain the facts and circumstances that you think support what you're asking the court to do. You don't have to read the motion to me. I'm not asking you to do that. But um the court reporter is here taking the record and I'm here to listen to the testimony of both sides uh prior to making the decision on this. So just um a couple of minutes would be fine, Mr. Reid. You may proceed.

[00:02:42]>> Okay. Uh yes. Thank you, your honor.

[00:02:46]Sorry. Main reason I ask is because reading from a script is the most nerve-wracking thing to me. But >> I don't want you to do that at all.

[00:02:54]Well, yeah, I have something typed out.

[00:02:56]I'll just follow my notes. Thank you.

[00:02:57]Um, okay. Um, so I have submitted a motion to modify the temporary orders because I do not feel that they are the ones that are currently um the current orders are um in the best interest of my child. Um the modifications that I'm asking for are to have me named as sole managing conservator or um um primary joint managing conservator. The former is not granted. Um, I'm asking that possession be modified so that the child resides primarily in my care with Miss Russell having one weekend of possession per month chosen by her provided she gives written notice two weeks in advance or if that is not granted um we would adhere to the standard possession order but with me designated as the primary conservator. Um, and the third uh modification I'm requesting is uh removing any child support obligation owed by me to Miss Russell. Um uh the current order as they they stand is um standard possession order with Miss Russell designated primary. Um we do live over 100 miles apart. Um so I'm getting I've been getting it's order that I get first, third, and fifth weekends um and I believe 42 days over the summer. um circumstances have changed um quite substantially um since then and that is the testimony that I'll be providing explaining that the changes that have happened. Um specifically uh there was an incident last October in which Miss Russell was a victim of domestic assault. Um and Grant our son together uh he has lived with me almost exclusively since then. Um the last time he saw his mother was on February 24th. She has made negligible effort to keep in touch with him during that period or check up on his well-being at all. I've requested multiple times to have a conversation over the phone to figure out a path ahead for us and she has failed to call me despite telling me that she would several times. Um, at the conclusion of this hearing, I've asked the court grant my motion in full. Thank you, your honor. I am now ready to be sworn in.

[00:05:10]Oh, I was already sworn in. Sorry. I am now ready to give my testimony. Okay.

[00:05:14]Well, I'm going to take an opening statement from Miss Russell if she would like to make one. Miss Russell, you can give me your um response to the motion and what you are asking the court to do at the end of this year.

[00:05:30]>> Yes, ma'am. Um in October, there was an incident that happened here. Thankfully, Grant was not here when that happened.

[00:05:38]Um huge relief on that. Um, after that happened, we had discussed just out of respect for Tyler's feelings about what was going on and me wanting to protect him from anything in the short term after that had happened from any unknown things going on while there was an EPO in place. Um, we had discussed him staying with Ty for more time um until things settled down and things got back on track with normal life. Um, we had gone to a week on week off thing and then after that happened in October, he stayed with him for longer than that um so that I could get things settled down here and once things started to get back to normal. I have two older children. I have a 14-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old daughter that live with me all the time. Um, sorry. Gather my thoughts.

[00:06:40]Um, so then once things started settling down, we I would try to get my son back. And it was almost as if he wouldn't agree to let me have Grant back unless I agreed to changing the orders.

[00:06:58]if that makes sense. He wanted to have these big conversations about permanency that I was not comfortable with to get to go forward. Um Grant is already enrolled in school here. Um he his sisters very much miss him. Um things are settled down with that court case. Everything is pretty much back to normal. Um, and I'm just ready for things to get back to the way they're supposed to be. But it feels like he won't let me get my child back unless I agree to these new terms. And so things I have agreed to have conversations with him that haven't happened because he won't come off of what he wants to go forward. So, I have not seen my child in almost two months because I won't agree to his new terms and therefore we have not made the exchange. Um, I've been trying to be level-headed and not fl I was I was in the works of filing a rid of habius corpus and he beat me with this motion to get that in. Um, it was all drafted. it was I was ready to go and then this motion came in. Um, so I am just kind of at a loss for what to do because I I do I do believe that Grant should be with me. Um, I know he loves his dad and everything is good there, too, but he has sisters here he hasn't seen. He's enrolled in school for the fall. And anything that Tyler is going to use as evidence of things is from years ago. The photos that he's going to offer in as evidence today are from a time when we were moving in 20123 and that were addressed at our original temporary orders hearing. Um, and things are different now. So, I just am ready to go back to normal, uh, get my child in school in the fall and move forward.

[00:09:17]Okay. Thank you. All right, Mr. Russell.

[00:09:22]Um, you may call your first witness. Um, I presume that might be yourself, but um, let me know.

[00:09:29]>> Mr. Reed, she's Miss Miss Russell.

[00:09:31]>> I'm sorry. Okay. Yes. Yes.

[00:09:34]Friday. It's been a week. Um, Mr. Reed, you can um just testify in the narrative. So, in other words, tell me um whatever you want me to know about the situation and um when you're done, you'll pass yourself as a witness and then at that point, Miss Russell will be able to ask you questions about your testimony.

[00:09:56]>> Sure. Thank you, your honor. I um I've uh prepared a calendar to kind of show how things have gone over time. um if it will be of assistance. Um it's a what what did I mark? Exhibit number one, I believe. Yes, exhibit number one. Um I can display it if you'd like to see it and if you don't think that it will be of any use then um >> that's fine. You may share your screen to >> let me go here.

[00:10:32]Sorry, one second. Let me get this prepared real quick. Where did I put this?

[00:10:52]Oh, I'm sorry. I had the operating system settings. One moment.

[00:10:57]It didn't let me set this up on the test.

[00:11:04]Oh no. Okay. I'm so sorry. I apologize, your honor. Um, can I rejoin the call really quick? It's It's forcing me to quit and reopen in order to share.

[00:11:12]>> Okay, that's fine.

[00:11:14]>> Sorry about that. Oh, yeah. One moment.

[00:11:16]Um, wait. Oh, maybe not.

[00:11:23]Never. Oh, my apologies. No, it was it would allow me to do it. Okay. Are you able to see my screen?

[00:11:31]>> Yes, I can.

[00:11:32]>> Okay. All right. So, exhibit one. All right. Um the what I have here in this exhibit is um calendar that I set up of everything that's happened since our temporary orders hearing was on October 23rd, 2023. Um so I've done everything since then. Um, what just to give a as quick a recap as possible. There were a lot of events that have happened and I don't want to waste time like just kind of feeling like I'm nitpicking everything going uh through this but uh we started out with the SPO and agreed to our own modification of it pretty much right out of the gate where I would get um where exchange days would be on Thursdays instead of Fridays. And for the most part, we followed that um throughout all of 2024. And then uh beginning in 2025, we switched to a uh 50/50 agreement um where it was week on week off um exchanges on Sundays. Um that's really where things get more relevant. But also for more context here, I've included because I'm an Excel nerd, I like just parental splits. The one the one here is day solely with uh the grant was solely with each of us. Um that means not exchange days and then overall is exchange days included. So we have me Haley and then shared here. Um and you know it'll just show over time that possession has been has actually swung over to me where he's been spent most of his time with me. Um so I will skip through most of this. So let me see where to start where it gets relevant there.

[00:13:19]So, one of the issues and I I'm gonna have to kind of glaze over these because I didn't didn't submit text message things and stuff like that, but there have there were several delayed exchanges that were that she gave last minute notice on um not last minute but day of notice. Um you know, we'd be meeting on Sunday and she would text early in the morning that she couldn't um meet for various reasons. Um but because I don't have like those provided, I'm just going to call that out but not mention every specific one.

[00:13:49]Um however, here in June, um this was my summer time and the way I requested it was I would have these um first two weeks and then she would have this week. Now, so there was supposed to be an exchange on the 16th.

[00:14:05]She was not able to make that one. Um, so we met on this day instead and then uh I agreed to let her have Friday. So my son got more time because he had spent a lot quite a while away from her.

[00:14:17]However, I was only supposed to get this weekend of the 21st through the 23rd.

[00:14:22]Um, and then she reported on the 23rd that she had car issues and so she couldn't make the exchange on the 23rd.

[00:14:28]And at that point like okay, keep me posted. I believe I asked her on the 24th um when to expect her and at a certain point she went essentially silent and uh granted I just kind of wrote out the week and I just told him I'm not sure um where she is. Um and so this is why there's such a huge block of my time um in July here. um so uh June and July.

[00:14:58]And so the rest of this um was just kind of as scheduled with my summer possession time. And then we uh resumed um the SPO around August or September. I cannot remember the exact date because it was something my son told me. But um let's see how I'm doing this because it's here. Um well, okay, I'm offering this as an explanation for um my reactions, I guess, at the time.

[00:15:40]But I cannot prove that my son said this to me because I didn't record him. But he told he told me that uh he had been camping with Miss Russell's ex, uh the father of her two daughters.

[00:15:54]For a bit of context on this, just shooting back in time really quick. Um, she was with uh this man, his name is Jeff. Um, prior to our relationship together, she had historically described him as abusive. Um, she had told me that he had physically abused her before. uh she had told me that he was uh not good for the children and had very little good to say about him and you know had heard this over the span of years. So it was very concerning when I heard that this was going on. Um then over the somewhere around here in September um she he started telling me that that's where he had been staying was at Jeff's house which is the house that Miss Russell is currently in I believe. Um and I asked him if he if he had been living there and he said yes and um I then asked Miss Russell about it and she told me no that they had just been they had stayed I don't know one or two nights I cannot remember exactly but she denied it. Um, despite that, each time I would see Grant, I would ask him where he stayed and he would say he was at uh Jeff's house until eventually I I can't remember because I don't have these sword in text, but like eventually came find out she said that she knew I would find out eventually.

[00:17:29]Um, and that is why she didn't tell me that she had moved herself and my child in with this man.

[00:17:37]Um, so let's see. There are gaps here. So just looking at September here. I don't know. Lily Litzky, did I write down? No, of course not. Um, something happened here in September where she missed the whole week. Um, and then around October or November, I believe, is when I told her.

[00:18:06]Sorry, I should have written this down somewhere. But um I told her that I was going to need going to like need to take her to court or we were going to have to agree to something else. Um because I did not feel comfortable with the amount of time my uh child was spending in that house with her ex who I've always heard was abusive. Um and then over the course here of November and December, eventually by the end of December, we had reached an agreement um to start 50/50. Uh now you'll see here there is a visit on the 26th.

[00:18:43]This was after a conversation we had in which she was she implied to me things were not going well with Jeff and that she wanted to bring Grant down early um to stay with me and for her to get away from there. So I said yes immediately just because I wanted my son to be away and I allowed her to stay um you know a day and then she left the next day and then I had possession here. Um there was another visit on the second. During these during these visits too, we were having discussions. Um, one of the Haley had showed me um one of these evenings a text message from uh Jeff to paraphrase it was saying something like he could only talk to her in an in a demeaning way and it was not good for the children to hear him.

[00:19:42]Specifically calling out my son saying he should not hear this. uh and he should not think that this is how a man should talk to a woman. Um so she had shown that to me and it was looking like this relationship might be over. She told me that she would be moving out. Um told me that she was in the middle of moving several times, but then that move never happened. So um this is typical and um this is just kind of like a normal Christmas thing going on here. although she was supposed we had agreed to do an exchange on Christmas day and she because she was with uh Jeff it didn't happen. Um and then we get to 2025.

[00:20:27]So here is where we're starting our um our 50/50 and already out the gate an exchange was supposed to happen here on the 12th. It did not happen. um she came to uh visit again and then there was a quick exchange where it was just a quick weekend turnaround and then you back with me. So then we resume here. Oops, sorry.

[00:20:53]And more issues uh there. So anywhere it these should just appear as blue orange blue orange blue orange anywhere not there. I think there's maybe one um thing that we agreed uh to regarding something around the summer, but if if there's anything not here, it is because she just decided not to come or had some reason why she couldn't uh meet that day and then it would just draw out until we did a much later exchange and she had a much shorter possession. Um we see that here like two blocks a row in a row in February.

[00:21:30]Um, just to add some context on this, I I during several of these instances where it was multi-day delays and pickups, I had requ, you know, just to to have some kind of anticipation because otherwise we were operating on a thing where where it would just be as soon as she let me know, I'd say, "Okay, Grant, we got to go get in the car. And I just did not feel that that was good for him. He um at the time here he was four years old.

[00:22:06]Um and there was very little consistency in his life other than our day-to-day routines which he would had been doing very well with uh me. Um but despite these requests, she just wouldn't really ever give me an idea. Um even though I was asking for the sake of my son together. Anyways, moving on. Um so March was mostly normal, April was mostly normal. There was uh this was an agreed to exchange going on here. I think in anticipation of something, but May put my Did I not write any of these down? Okay, sorry. I will check during her testimony um to see if I have things specifically called out for these. um in June went to New York um and brought my son for my sister's wedding. So that these were agreed to adjustments going on here. Um and then oh wait no sorry this right here this block of orange was because I had uh COVID and then um she her mother took uh our son out to uh the beach that weekend. Um, so that is the reason for this extend extended period here.

[00:23:22]And then we get into July. This is makeup time. So that's agreed to.

[00:23:28]However, this week right here was not planned.

[00:23:34]We started here a little bit. And then right around here is where the wheels really start to fall off. Um, Grant. Uh, so I think it will show up in some of the text messages I I have as as exhibits, but my frustration was palpable here because I hearing things from my son um where he was implying that he was unhappy at the house he was staying with his mother. Um, because of things that Jeff was doing. um just you know explaining as a four-year-old does you know being mean um yelling a couple different instances um I do have some texts shared with us Russell where I called these called attention to these with her and she would offer an explanation that could be valid but it just just kind of downplaying um the issue when my son was telling me that he did not like uh living there and it also corresponds with more and more time missed. She just kind of not I don't remember if there was an explanation given for this week, but it was just missed. And then um we go from that to this is the incident month.

[00:24:55]Um so she was supposed to have him this week, the week of the 12th, and she this one I had pulled up. Where did I just put this?

[00:25:10]Just make sure I'm giving the correct explanation.

[00:25:16]Sorry. Um, okay. I didn't get a followup. Um, sorry, my apologies that I don't I cannot explain that one with the notes that I gave myself. But she did.

[00:25:36]Regardless, she called me on the 17th um to inform me of the assault that happened on the 16th.

[00:25:45]Um and then I uh you know, she talked about a pickup or something like that.

[00:25:51]And after some thought, I I texted her saying that I had seen that he had uh Jeff had got was out on bail now and that the idea of my son being up there at that same house that was his house before she lived in there. Um and potentially going in a rage about it because he's fa, you know, facing prison time here. uh I did not at all feel comfortable with my son being there and then she agreed with that and so that from that point on without any kind of nothing definite um we decided Grant would be staying with me. Um she came down to visit uh these three days and then there was another visit in November which very very brief. Um I did tell her during this uh this visit that um our son had been mention I didn't want him getting the idea that this was a thing now like he spending time with both his parents because I didn't think it was good for him emotionally and so I told her that while she could stay here she she needed to take him somewhere during the day so they could just have alone time together um to kind of establish that you know you get your time with mommy me and you get your time with daddy.

[00:27:12]I told her that the night of the 15th and then the morning of the 16th. Um she right after breakfast. They I can't even it might have been before breakfast. Um she told us that uh her daughter was having an asthma attack at school and she had to leave to go help her. So she did she spent only a m only a few hours um with my son um or our son sorry. Okay. So then we get the first exchange which was Christmas um and that happened. There were issues there.

[00:27:54]Um, I wanted to address them with Mosa after the fact, but I was so frustrated that it would just became I just went into dad mode and I didn't talk with her right away. She made a request to see him on the last minute kind of request saying I want to get him this weekend.

[00:28:16]And I told her no, there we have issues to discuss. Um the this the the situation here was serious. Uh sorry, going back real quick. At some point here, I told her that I was beating Grant in um an iPad for Christmas.

[00:28:32]The main purpose uh for that was so he could FaceTime um his mother and his sisters. She knew that. Um I I told her that. And you know, there were FaceTime calls on Christmas before we had the exchange.

[00:28:48]and since that she only attempted to FaceTime him once and we didn't see that call and when I told her, "Hey, just give me a heads up." She just didn't even respond.

[00:28:59]Um, so anyways, going back to January here, she made a request to see him at the last minute and I said, "No, I can't I'm not going to agree to a last minute thing.

[00:29:11]We need to plan like this needs to be planned in advance advance." um and there are things we need to discuss and that discussion didn't happen. The same thing happened again in February um around here and I gave the same answer because I had not heard anything. she was not willing to have a discussion um about this. One of them having to do with uh whether or not Grant even had a room really at the house anymore because Sorry, I'm trying to think to explain my reaction why I wasn't allowing this to happen. Uh, I testify that my son told me that he couldn't use his room at all during Christmas because it was so dirty.

[00:30:00]So, I told Miss Russell that uh we needed to discuss that.

[00:30:04]At a certain point, she told me that um the reason why he was saying that was because it was filled with storage bins or something because they were organizing toys and he was just confused. And so he to he definitely had a room.

[00:30:19]Anyways, um I denied the first request because it was last minute. She she this week she did another essentially last minute request, but I just kind of relented here because it had been so long since my son had seen her. He had gone the entire month of January without seeing his mother or even hearing from her. So um I agreed to this exchange.

[00:30:44]the upon getting a back for for this one, I hear that his room, he couldn't even go into his room because the door is locked. So, it just seems like something devastating has happened in his room or it's just so out of control that he no longer has a room to stay in as that house and at that house and she has not offered me any proof that he does actually have a bedroom at this house.

[00:31:09]Um, and so since then I I multiple times have asked her throughout these next few months to have a discussion with me. I was discussing that just putting it bluntly I need to be switched over to primary like you have failed in your role as the primary parent here and Grant is far more safe and secure with me.

[00:31:37]We need to do this. But it it was not I was not withholding possession from her based on she had to agree to that. I never ever said that to her. I was just saying we need to have a discussion about her son's future. And also if you're going to request time to them, you you need to give me an update and also request in advance. They get give something more than a day's notice because what happened during this exchange.

[00:32:06]We talked she requested a call on the night of uh the 19th and I just agreed.

[00:32:12]Okay, we will meet tomorrow. And so Grant didn't find out until uh the morning of the 20th and he was probably shocked by this. And we got in the car and he immediately had an accident in the car. Didn't tell me about it. He just had an accident.

[00:32:27]Didn't say anything. Um and when I got him back, he had he then started having accidents every single day at his school for I think two weeks just out of the blue. So I felt like this kind of like you know visit without him being able to emotionally prepare was having an impact on him. And so I said, "If if he wants time with him, we need to do it in a way that's good for him." And so just let's plan ahead for it. Like the only thing Miss Russell see to do with me in terms of trying to schedule these things is always just asking the day before or the day of even sometimes. And so that's what's happened here. She would not communicate with me, would not try to coordinate or co-parent with me um and only gave last minute um you know requests for time. And so the end result with these whoops thought I did not zoom the way I wanted to. But if we look at the splits here, I have the past 90 days, past 80 days, past year, and then the total running time. And they're pretty severe. And this wasn't me just trying to stat pad or anything like that. I it wasn't being like, "Oh, I need to get this weighed heavily in my favor. I was protecting my son in this. I wasn't and I also wasn't going to make an effort to try to get her to do the right thing because I did honestly I don't feel that he's really that well cared for with her. So, I was waiting for her to show that she could act responsibly, and I have not seen that. There's a reason why I'm the person that filed uh the motion here, too. I had told her that I was going to do it.

[00:34:15]She could have there was nothing, you know, I had no legal right to just like withhold this whole time. So, she could have legally gotten him at an appointment, but she didn't because she I I I just don't know why. It's very sad.

[00:34:31]for my son that's he has an absentee mother as far as I'm concerned. Um so that's how things have gone. Uh I want to also testify that so since starting uh the 50/50 arrangement, the weeks that my son has been with me starting in March, sorry, March 2025, um he has gone to preschool. Um he goes three days a week um instead of the full-time because full-time would mean um he would like there would be attendance count and stuff and I wanted flexibility for him. Um so it's just Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we just spend together because I work from home. Um, and so luckily with my job, I have kind of collect royalties with it almost. I have like a lot of flexibility. So, you know, he and I will just spend the day together, usually going out, you know, on some kind of adventure, um, things like that. He um, yeah, and he we have a routine and it's good. uh with the whole time he was with Miss Russell, as far as I know, unless she has any evidence to prove otherwise, he never went to any kind of school. Um, and yeah, he, as far as I understand, he had trouble sleeping and just would come back not looking like he had been bathed, looking unckempt, um, etc. Uh I have let's see do I want to go into yeah let me uh pull this up but like the last actually I will save it for uh cross examination. Um >> okay are you offering R1 as an exhibit?

[00:36:23]>> I'm sorry. Can you repeat the question?

[00:36:25]>> Are you offering R1 as an exhibit? Uh, yes. And that's Yes. I'm sorry. I thought I had already >> No. Um, Miss Russell, is there any objection to R1?

[00:36:41]>> No.

[00:36:42]>> Okay. R1 is admitted.

[00:36:44]>> Yeah. I think >> any other exhibits, Mr. Reed, >> I Yeah, let me quickly review. I apologize.

[00:36:53]bit was a bit overwhelmed with how many examples and so I didn't reach 30 minutes of your hour.

[00:37:00]>> Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

[00:37:03]>> All right. So that um I think I could end uh yeah my testimony there.

[00:37:11]>> Okay. So you passed yourself as a witness. We remove the screen share >> just stop sharing.

[00:37:22]>> Oh, there I see it. Good job.

[00:37:24]>> Okay. All right, Mr. Russell, now is your opportunity to ask many any questions you might have of Mr. Reid about his testimony or about the motion he has filed.

[00:37:39]Can I just reserve for my narrative?

[00:37:43]>> You can reserve all of your time if you if you truly don't have any questions about what he has told the court.

[00:37:51]>> I just >> You think it would be more efficient?

[00:37:55]>> Okay. To just tell your own side of the story?

[00:37:57]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:37:59]>> Okay. All right. Then, Mr. Reed, let me ask you as the movement on this motion, do you have any other uh witnesses to call or any other evidence to offer?

[00:38:11]>> No, your honor.

[00:38:12]>> Okay. All right.

[00:38:14]>> I apologize. Sorry. Uh evidence to offer for specifically my testimony or in general because it I do have cross examination evidence that I'd like to offer um when >> Okay. Well, I think >> if you don't have any other witnesses to call, Miss Russell will testify and then you will have an opportunity after she finishes to ask her questions.

[00:38:38]>> Great. I appreciate.

[00:38:41]>> All right, Mr. Russell.

[00:38:44]Um, you can do what Mr. Reed did, and that is testify in the narrative. Tell the court about uh the situation and what you're asking the court to do or not do here.

[00:38:58]Um, sorry.

[00:39:03]First of all, just because it's kind of eating at me, I would like to show my child's room if possible.

[00:39:12]>> That's fine.

[00:39:13]>> Okay. Can I Is it going to mess with you if I walk? Do you want me to turn the camera off while I walk?

[00:39:19]>> I'll avert my eyes. That's fine.

[00:39:21]>> Okay.

[00:39:25]just because it's such a basic thing.

[00:39:39]That's my daughter's room.

[00:39:43]This is my son's room that he's had since we've lived here.

[00:39:51]>> Okay. just it exists.

[00:39:55]My daughter's room exists.

[00:39:59]Um, just wanted to scratch that off on my thought list.

[00:40:03]>> Okay.

[00:40:05]>> Um, sorry, let me get seated.

[00:40:09]>> That's fine.

[00:40:13]>> Okay.

[00:40:15]Um, I think that you heard him mention that he had just told me no to um, picking him up and that we needed to have these conversations and I could have legally come to get him and I chose not to. I did not want to put my son in a position where I'm showing up with police officers and that seemed very traumatic and that's why I had drafted the rid of habius corpus. I have an attorney friend who helped me get that all going. Um it's one of my biggest regrets that I didn't do that a few weeks ago. Um whenever I realized that Mr. Reed was not going to easily allow my son to come home. Um the threat that he mentioned is non-existent.

[00:41:08]Um, my older two children are happy, healthy. We have awards ceremonies to go to today. They are high achieving, healthy, clean, happy children who very much miss their brother. And that's really what I feel I need to say here. Um, I feel like from the beginning of this case, it's been I don't want to say a game, but it's been a goal of Mr. Reid to swing the time over to his side to get a modification done, and he used something unfortunate that happened here in order to do that, it feels, is what he thinks is happening. Um, I I don't know really how to word it to express how much I just want to get my son home. I miss him very much. He has been enrolled in school here. Um, he's registered for the fall and I have all the legal rights to do so as it stands. and he's just not allowed him to come home in a way that has felt peaceful and safe. So, that's really all I have.

[00:42:35]Okay. Why don't you tell me a little bit about um the situation with your ex and the um assault and how all of that has unfolded and and then what your current living situation is. I am currently living in the home that I have been in.

[00:42:53]Um, whenever that happened, he agreed to that and for consistency for my girls, he is looking at prison time. His current offer from the prosecutor is three and a half years. Um, and that has been his offer for the past four or five hearings.

[00:43:13]So, it's looking like they're going to set for trial because he's denied that.

[00:43:17]and that's probably what will happen.

[00:43:19]Um, I'm getting child support from him.

[00:43:24]Um, and I mean I thought whenever I originally moved into this home with him, it did not it was not dangerous. It's felt like kind of a chance for my older children to have things resolved and for Grant to be in a more stable home. Um, and unfortunately he started struggling with alcohol and an unfortunate event happened and I realized that that's not what's going to happen for our lives.

[00:44:06]But we are now here and we are I'm in a stable home.

[00:44:16]I and I just feel like Ty has taken advantage of what happened in order to swing custody over to him.

[00:44:27]Um I originally agreed to letting him spend more time with Ty in order to make sure nothing happened.

[00:44:36]That was dangerous for Grant. And since all of that has gotten resolved, he has not allowed him to come home.

[00:44:46]>> Okay. And your ex, tell me, remind me his name.

[00:44:50]>> Jeff.

[00:44:51]>> Okay. And he's currently incarcerated.

[00:44:55]>> No, he is um out on bail.

[00:44:57]>> Okay.

[00:44:57]>> On bond.

[00:44:58]>> And where is he residing?

[00:45:00]>> His sister's house.

[00:45:02]>> Okay.

[00:45:05]And are there any orders in place that keep him away from you or your residents?

[00:45:10]>> He's on a tether.

[00:45:12]>> Okay. So, a monitor?

[00:45:14]>> Yes.

[00:45:15]>> Okay.

[00:45:18]All right. And that or protection does it extend to the children in the household or just to you?

[00:45:24]>> Uh to the children as well. it. Well, I'm not sure if that expired after the n the initial 90 days or >> Okay. That was a part of the bond conditions or or >> Yes, ma'am.

[00:45:37]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:45:39]>> Okay. And have you had contact with him since his release?

[00:45:44]>> No.

[00:45:45]>> Okay.

[00:45:46]>> I mean, I have through, you know, to make arrangements for things, but not directly.

[00:45:54]>> Okay.

[00:45:57]All right.

[00:45:59]And I guess so what is the school that you have enrolled? Um >> Birdville ISD.

[00:46:11]>> Okay. Kurville.

[00:46:13]>> Birdville. B I R D. V I L L E.

[00:46:16]>> Okay. And where is that? Um, Hurst, Texas, north of um, I'm up in Fort Worth because I had the exclusive rights to his residence and everything and Judge Arts gave me the right to move up here.

[00:46:30]>> Right. Tarant County or Travis County?

[00:46:33]>> Yes.

[00:46:33]>> And you're still in Tarant?

[00:46:35]>> Yes, ma'am. That's where my entire family is. That's where all the cousins are. That's where I'll stay.

[00:46:40]>> Okay.

[00:46:41]>> And that's where my girls have been in school since 2023. and they're very active in their extracurriculars.

[00:46:52]>> Okay. And so, and the actual city that you're living in is what?

[00:46:57]>> Westworth Village 76114.

[00:47:03]>> Okay. And the home that um you showed us the images from, is that are you leasing or do you own it?

[00:47:12]>> Uh leasing.

[00:47:13]>> Okay. And is the lease in your name?

[00:47:17]>> Um, it's technically in both of ours.

[00:47:22]>> Okay. But you're still on the lease?

[00:47:24]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:47:25]>> Okay. And you're still able to afford the lease?

[00:47:30]>> He paid it through the year.

[00:47:32]>> Okay.

[00:47:36]All right. And if he gets incarcerated, are you going to be able to continue to pay?

[00:47:40]>> Yes, ma'am. Okay.

[00:47:48]given I I mean I say that with the expectation that things will be back to normal and I'll be getting child support again from Mr. Reid cuz I've gotten nothing since kind of probably since we started it's been since before September that I've gotten any child support from him.

[00:48:09]Okay.

[00:48:11]>> Which I agreed to because he had the child more, but with going forward would not be workable.

[00:48:21]>> Okay.

[00:48:25]All right. Anything else that you want me to understand about the home situation, the family dynamics, or any other response to Mr. Reed's um motion to modify >> just that I have extensive family here um support that we have lots of cousins.

[00:48:45]We have I mean my sister and her daughters are here. My mom um just lots and lots of cousins, lots of uh family.

[00:48:55]We lived temporarily with my grandparents after Tyler and I split and I moved back up here. Um he's very very close with my grandparents, his great-grandparents who he has not been able to see. Um just lots and lots. I mean if you look at Holly factors, we're doing good on that here.

[00:49:20]>> Okay.

[00:49:22]>> Um All right. Anything else I need to know about um your son or this case?

[00:49:31]>> Just that I miss him very much.

[00:49:34]>> Okay.

[00:49:34]>> And that's it.

[00:49:35]>> All right. You pass yourself as a witness.

[00:49:38]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:49:39]>> Okay. Mr. Reed, this is your opportunity to ask Miss Russell any questions that you may have about her testimony. Thank >> you, honor.

[00:49:57]Okay, Mr. Russell, do you have um any uh sources of income right now?

[00:50:01]>> Yes.

[00:50:04]>> Can you explain?

[00:50:06]>> I've been doing freelance hand lettering and working for my cousin, her photography.

[00:50:14]>> Miss Russell, would you mind adjusting your camera? I can't really Sorry.

[00:50:17]>> There you go. Thank you.

[00:50:26]And I have also um been and worked with working for the city of Westworth Village Police Department. We're waiting for the case to close out all the way so that it doesn't create like a conflict of interest with Jeff's court case, but I'll be hopefully doing dispatch for them once this is all over because the police department's in our backyard.

[00:50:52]Can you confirm that you previously told me that the lease that at the housing you're at was ending in April this year?

[00:51:01]>> I don't recall exactly when it was supposed to end, but we are we were on month-to-month basis before he paid up through the next I think now we have eight months left.

[00:51:20]All right, let's see.

[00:51:24]Before the incident, >> were there signs that the incident may happen? Were Were there problems at the house?

[00:51:35]>> There was one day that was not good that I remember sharing with you, but other than that, things were not terrible.

[00:51:44]So there was no consideration to moving out of that house?

[00:51:48]>> There was.

[00:51:50]>> Okay. If you were to move out of that house, where would you move?

[00:51:55]>> Temporarily. Probably into my mom's apartment that she has in the back of her property.

[00:52:05]Uh, can you confirm that you had told me that he had previously physically assaulted you prior to us being together >> a long time ago?

[00:52:18]>> Um, was there something that led you to believe that that might not happen again?

[00:52:26]>> Yes. Or I wouldn't have put us here.

[00:52:28]>> Okay.

[00:52:32]Can you acknowledge that you did not tell me when you first moved in back with Jeff?

[00:52:38]>> I think that we had stayed here a few times and had not yet intended to move in and I didn't tell you about those times that we stayed here.

[00:52:48]>> Do you think that was the appropriate choice not tell?

[00:52:51]>> No, I don't.

[00:52:57]>> Was anyone else present at the house when the incident occurred?

[00:53:02]The girls were here.

[00:53:04]>> Did the girls hear the incident?

[00:53:07]>> Yes.

[00:53:16]>> That's why I was so thankful that my son was not here that day.

[00:53:23]>> Okay.

[00:53:25]Can you confirm that over the course since the initial temporary orders went in place that there were several missed exchanges um or at least delayed exchanges?

[00:53:41]When are we talking about >> talking about through uh let's say from 2024 um through September 2025 um days in which we were supposed to meet where I was returning Grant to you that you told me the day of that you could not meet.

[00:53:59]>> Yeah, I had lots of car trouble at that point.

[00:54:02]>> Okay. Um I expressed displeasure, I guess I could say. uh with how late the notice you were giving is multiple times. Is that correct?

[00:54:15]>> Yeah.

[00:54:18]>> Did you do you recall ever apologizing?

[00:54:23]>> No.

[00:54:25]>> Okay. Um >> I recall apologizing for my lateness.

[00:54:30]>> Do you recall times that I asked you for updates regarding when to expect you in the interest of our son?

[00:54:38]>> I do recall that. I don't recall not giving that.

[00:54:44]>> Right. Um, let's see here.

[00:54:52]>> There might have been times where you texted and I called. You called and I texted. I just at this point that feels like a very long time ago.

[00:55:02]>> Okay. Um, your honor, I would like to um offer exhibit um respondents to exhibit uh seven, please.

[00:55:14]>> Okay. You're going to need to display it on the screen so Miss Russell can see it and tell the court whether she has any objection to it or not.

[00:55:34]Okay.

[00:55:39]Are you able to see my screen?

[00:55:41]>> Yes.

[00:55:42]>> Okay. The except that I'm showing here is any objection?

[00:55:49]>> No.

[00:55:50]>> Okay.

[00:55:51]>> Okay. What are we looking at, Mr. Reid?

[00:55:54]>> This is a text message exchange um uh between us. It was um it's not a standard screenshot. Um there's so many that we have so much text history together that I found um an app basically to kind of like make it much easier to read plus adding all like the time stamps and everything. Um just >> admitted.

[00:56:14]>> Yeah. Okay. Appreciate it. Okay. Um let me your honor, let me know if you have any questions about what any of this stuff means. Um, also just to preface this, uh, at a certain point you will see a change in phone number from M.

[00:56:27]Russell. So I guess the first thing, Mr. Russell, can you confirm that, uh, this is your old phone number right here?

[00:56:33]>> That's my previous phone number.

[00:56:34]>> Previous phone number. Okay. Okay. All right. Um, see.

[00:56:41]Okay. So this, so what I'm showing here is an exch around the exchange that we had in August um, of 2025.

[00:56:51]Um, do you remember this looking at this?

[00:56:54]>> I do. And I Yes, I do.

[00:56:57]>> Okay. Um, can you acknowledge that when I asked you about the how do I describe that the the infection on his lip that you offered no response >> at that point? I I do remember that he had a little red bump kind of right here that had appeared that morning. I didn't think much of it. I thought it was just snot. As you'll note, I said, "We need a wipe." Right before I gave him back to you, we need a wipe. Um, it turns out the next day I got a call from my sister that her kids had impetigo. I didn't know yet. And it turns out that that's what Grant had.

[00:57:41]It was It was That was the first day that we had seen anything on his lip.

[00:57:45]They actually got it from He actually got it from my mom who got it from my sister's kids, they hadn't seen each other that exchange and it turns out whenever you took him to the doctor, it was in PIGO.

[00:57:59]Okay. Um, I'd like to offer uh respondents exhibit eight.

[00:58:08]>> Um, you'll need to display it.

[00:58:10]>> Okay. Yeah, I'm sorry if I'm not getting the uh Do I click it first and then ask?

[00:58:17]>> Yeah, you you need to open it up. so she can see it.

[00:58:20]>> Okay. Okay. And then I ask Okay. All right. Sorry about that. Okay. Um, >> so R8 was offered and it's a photograph of the bump on the lip. Miss Russell, do you have any objection to R8?

[00:58:34]>> No, >> it's admitted.

[00:58:36]>> Okay. All right. So, I I regret taking this picture after you had a shower because it looked much worse beforehand.

[00:58:42]But this was taken uh the evening of. I just want you to confirm that you were saying that this uh showed up on his lip that morning.

[00:58:51]>> It was not that bad whenever I had him with me. No, it looked to me like you'll notice he has a little bit of snot on his nose. It looked just like regular allergy irritation. It didn't look like that.

[00:59:06]>> Okay.

[00:59:16]An impetigo is a normal childhood thing.

[00:59:25]>> My older two never got it, but >> Okay. I'd like to offer exhibit uh respondents exhibit nine.

[00:59:37]>> Any objection to R9? No, >> it's admitted.

[00:59:44]>> Okay. Um, do you recognize this uh portal this?

[00:59:48]>> Yes.

[00:59:49]>> Okay. Um, this screenshot was taken yesterday, I believe. Um, and it's still showing here because they're uh it's not linked with the the doctor here, but um do you acknowledge that there he had pretty significantly overdue vaccinations the time that he was with you primarily in your care?

[01:00:14]>> Um for a couple of them he was overdue.

[01:00:16]Yes.

[01:00:18]>> Is there started when we lived together in Austin, his schedule being off.

[01:00:24]Is there a reason um why uh this hepatitis B vaccine was overdue since >> I don't recall but I do know that we had missed one or two appointments.

[01:00:36]Um we had scheduling conflicts and then I think that you had taken him whenever you had him next and got him up to date >> which I looked at as cooperative co-parenting.

[01:01:03]Apologize for the language here, but I was frustrated. Uh, I' I'd like to offer um R12.

[01:01:11]>> Any objection to R12?

[01:01:13]>> No, ma'am.

[01:01:14]>> It's submitted.

[01:01:16]>> Okay. There are two things going on in this one. Let's see.

[01:01:22]Okay.

[01:01:25]All right. Uh, specifically there was Okay. Um, do you recall missing this week of possession due the the eye issue was mentioned here?

[01:01:42]>> Yes, I had um uvitis.

[01:01:48]>> Okay. And then addressing um this text message here.

[01:01:55]This is back um this was a year ago.

[01:01:59]And so do you acknowledge that I was already mentioning things that our son had told said to me that early on?

[01:02:08]>> Sorry, I'm just reading It's that's not how that happened, but I remember this message now.

[01:02:24]>> You do explain it here.

[01:02:31]>> But the main the main thing I'm asking you is so Oh, sorry. You you already see. Okay. Uh and we've already discussed that. Okay. Um, do you acknowledge that you gave no response to this uh text message, this last text message that I sent on the floor?

[01:02:50]>> It appears as though I didn't.

[01:02:52]>> Okay.

[01:02:57]>> Was this the same week that I still couldn't see? Yes.

[01:03:02]>> Well, you were able to respond to some text messages, but other ones. Okay. Um, all right. I'd like to offer R13, your honor.

[01:03:14]>> Okay. Is there any objection to R13?

[01:03:17]>> No, ma'am.

[01:03:19]>> It's admitted.

[01:03:21]>> Thank you, your >> Okay. Mel, do you recall receiving these texts?

[01:03:34]I I must have, but not specifically. But yes, I it appears as though I did.

[01:03:40]>> Okay.

[01:03:42]All right. And then this these texts uh were before the incident with Jeff. Is that correct?

[01:03:53]>> Yes.

[01:03:54]>> Okay.

[01:04:01]>> And do you acknowledge that you did not respond at all about you know, requesting having a discussion here.

[01:04:09]>> It appears as though I didn't.

[01:04:11]>> Okay. All right.

[01:04:15]And then following this, uh, the incident happened after this text on the 8th.

[01:04:22]>> Happened on the 13th.

[01:04:24]>> Oh, okay. I apologize. I thought it was the 16th. The 16 It wasn't 16th. the the day that he got >> 13th was the day he was arrested or the day that he was bailed out.

[01:04:35]>> Okay. So, it happened on the 13th and you notified me on the 17th. Is that correct?

[01:04:41]>> I don't recall.

[01:04:46]>> I I do recall that whenever I told you about it, he was still in jail.

[01:04:52]>> I can confir Yeah. So, I can wait. What did I just do? No.

[01:04:58]Okay. Um Okay.

[01:05:05]And do you acknowledge that you agreed here uh that Grant should stay with me and that we should not be exchanging due to safety concerns?

[01:05:12]>> I recall that being my idea.

[01:05:14]>> Okay.

[01:05:17]>> Just until we knew what was going to happen with him being bonded out and what the conditions were.

[01:05:23]>> Okay.

[01:05:28]I'd like to offer R14.

[01:05:31]>> Any objection?

[01:05:36]>> No, ma'am.

[01:05:37]>> It's admitted.

[01:05:39]>> Okay.

[01:05:40]>> And um Mr. Reid, you've used about 48 minutes of your time. Just >> Yeah, these are the last things. Okay.

[01:05:48]Um just I would like to get quick acknowledgement uh that um we have discussed having a conversation but you did not call during any of these periods.

[01:06:04]This is going back to before the incident.

[01:06:08]Um this was in September last year.

[01:06:11]>> If this was directly before the incident between his birthday and the incident, it was probably the hardest week of my life. So, I don't remember much from that week.

[01:06:21]>> All right. Um, and then let's just shoot ahead here. Okay. Uh, I'd like to submit R15, your honor.

[01:06:30]>> Any objection?

[01:06:31]>> No, ma'am.

[01:06:32]>> It's submitted.

[01:06:34]>> Okay. All right. Um, this was the day of getting it back this past uh February.

[01:06:42]Um, so I took this picture of our son and sent it to you that night. Um, that you noticed this eczema outbreak on his face. Mr. Mr. >> This is when, sorry, >> last time last time you had him?

[01:07:04]February 24th of this year.

[01:07:08]>> I had noticed he had been breaking out a little bit.

[01:07:12]Did you put any kind of ointment or anything on him?

[01:07:15]>> Yes.

[01:07:17]>> Okay.

[01:07:20]>> He's also struggled with eczema on and off his entire life.

[01:07:28]Okay. Um >> let's see. Can you acknowledge that?

[01:07:36]Then starting here in March, at the end of March, I requested a handful of times and you told me multiple times that I would be receiving a call from you, but you didn't. You never actually called.

[01:07:52]We have this one. This instance on the 31st.

[01:07:57]I reply to tell you when is good for me.

[01:08:02]Then we have on the seventh you tell me you would call again time and there was no call on the 8th and no correspondence until this on the 20th.

[01:08:21]>> It appears that's correct.

[01:08:23]>> Okay.

[01:08:36]Okay, I think um Mel, do you have any concerns? concerns about the health, safety, security of our son while he's with me?

[01:09:02]>> No. Other than the emotional needs of being with his mother.

[01:09:12]>> Do you have any questions about my dedication to our son?

[01:09:17]>> No.

[01:09:19]>> Okay. He >> is your one child. I would expect that.

[01:09:24]Okay. Um I that that is all for me your honor.

[01:09:30]>> Okay.

[01:09:31]>> My question >> you can stop the screen share.

[01:09:35]>> Okay. Anything else um Miss Russell to tell the court?

[01:09:42]>> I'd just like to acknowledge that at every turn I've been trying to keep him informed of things. you know, I never want to keep anything from him or keep him in the dark. And I feel like at every turn that has kind of been used, I I mean, I didn't have to keep him updated on every aspect of Jeff's case.

[01:10:05]I've just been trying to do the right thing to make sure the father of my child has been well informed.

[01:10:13]>> Okay.

[01:10:17]>> All right, Mr. Reid. um you can do a brief um closing basically sum up what you um are asking the court to do and what evidence you think supports that request.

[01:10:30]>> Okay, I meant to type this one out. No script, so I'm going to have to wing this one.

[01:10:36]Um okay, are there any clarifications that I can make during test testimony? Um I forgot then to mention anything regarding child support and she mentioned one thing that I'd like to clarify um if possible.

[01:10:54]>> You can >> what >> you can add to or clarify that testimony. That's >> okay. Um All right. Yes. And so uh to re to reiterate here, I am asking the court the relief I'm requesting is a modification of our current temporary orders um to change um the the current possession arrangement. Um the where did I put this? I'm so sorry. Hold on. um the um having me be named as soul managing conservator um and uh removing any child support obligation. Um I put some some conditions in in there because I wasn't sure what was realistic and feasible and I didn't, you know, want no relief to be granted because I overreached. However, I don't feel that I'm overreaching um with these. Um in terms of possession, based on how many possessions have been missed over the past um two and a half years, I think a single weekend per month is most realistic um for M Russell. Plus, the needed for my child.

[01:12:16]He's spent so much time with me and he's used to this and it will help him to know when I could give him a two week notice each time. Hey, you're getting this weekend with mommy and stuff.

[01:12:29]Whereas anything more I feel like we would be going back to what he's kind of used to.

[01:12:35]We're supposed to meet today, but I'm not sure yet because I haven't heard from yet, which became such a regular thing that he just stopped asking entirely.

[01:12:45]Um, regarding the child support obligation, um, in when we agreed to the 50/50 arrangement, um, that came with the her agreeing to, uh, cut the child support payments in half, which I did.

[01:13:00]Um, then as some weeks were were missed, entire weeks at a time, I started cutting those weeks out because I was sending our son to school and so she would only get a quarter on those. That is what what happened in September of last year. Um where the last time she received any support for me was on uh September 21st um where I paid her a quarter because she had only had one week with him. Since then um he's essentially been in my care full time and he's been going to um school this whole time and it didn't really make any sense to be sending her any support when she wasn't in possession of the child.

[01:13:41]Um, so I'm not sure what else to add here. I am since the start of us separating my my goal in life is to provide for my child and it's been a bit of a nightmare the past two and a half years like what's going through it. I I hate that things are in the state that they are, but I have to be realistic about what his mother's capabilities are, and I don't think she is anywhere near fit to have to be the primary conservator um for my son. Um, on the topic of school, I have had it I haven't registered um at a charter school and we are moving well technically the lease starts tomorrow and we are zoned uh to go to one of the better elementary schools in AISD. Um, and is it within walking distance? I haven't made a decision on that, but I can't because I don't have the orders in my name, but it is coming up soon. He's five years old, so he'll be starting kindergarten this fall. Um, so there is some urgency here. Um, yeah, I I'm not sure I have anything else to add there.

[01:15:03]I just hope that my request is granted.

[01:15:05]Thank you, your honor.

[01:15:06]>> Can I add something, your honor?

[01:15:08]>> You get to make your own closing remarks. Okay, >> I think he's done. So, you may proceed.

[01:15:15]Um, I just wanted to add that originally whenever we were in talks of how things were going to go forward. It was it was discussed between Tyler and I that whenever Grant started kindergarten, he might move here.

[01:15:30]And even Judge Arth had said, you know, there's no reason y'all couldn't do 50/50 if you were up there with her. Um, as a father, I suggest getting up there.

[01:15:40]And we had discussed that and that's why I originally felt comfortable making the 50/50 arrangement that I had made with Tai because it was pretty common understanding that the closer we got to kindergarten, he would be making a move up here. The only thing keeping him there is his mother who lives next door to him. Um, can I object to that?

[01:16:04]>> What's the basis of the objection?

[01:16:07]>> It's what's the name of it? um a speculation on my intentions.

[01:16:19]>> Okay, >> you can continue, Miss Russell.

[01:16:22]>> Um the only family that he has there is his mother and that is the only reason he's ever given me as to why he wouldn't move up here like we had originally been tossing around the idea of. Um, and it just seems as though now that he has he thinks he has the grounds to, you know, get Grant primary with him that that's no longer in discussion, which makes me wonder if that was ever really what he wanted to happen so that Grant could have both parents around.

[01:17:07]Okay.

[01:17:09]All right. Anything else I need to understand about the situation, Miss Russell?

[01:17:13]>> No, ma'am.

[01:17:15]>> Okay. Anything else, Mr. Reid?

[01:17:20]>> Um, I'm sure if you need clarification on that, it's uh I am I will always make decisions based on what is best for my child. I I have based on the network that we have here, family, just location in general, I believe that I will like it is better for him to grow up here in Austin than up there. Um there are too many people that we would essentially stop seeing and stuff like that. So, um I don't think there's anything that is not a selfish decision on my part.

[01:17:54]That's it.

[01:17:56]>> Okay.

[01:17:59]>> All right. Let me just look at Okay. After having heard the evidence this morning um that has been presented by both parties, um I will deny the motion to modify.

[01:18:22]And let me just say um going forward the order that is in place and that's the temporary orders entered by Judge Arth back in October of 2023.

[01:18:39]Um those govern where what you do, where the child is to be and only agreements that are in writing and filed with the court um can modify these orders. I haven't heard or seen anything to that effect. Um, I need to just encourage you going forward to be an example to your son.

[01:19:10]How you treat each other, how you interact with each other with with each other is an example to him. You're his primary um models for how an adult relationship should be conducted. So, um, it does concern me that the orders have basically been ignored on both sides. Um, and I will just say the schedule that you have is the schedule that you have and you both need to start abiding by it. Um, it does look like to me that there has been withholding of the child going on and and I I don't like to see that. Um, in in these cases, the primary parent has to be able to support and nurture the relationship of the child with the other parent.

[01:20:13]Um, and just so it's clear for the record, I do find that there has not been a material and substantial change such that the modification is in all things denied.

[01:20:28]Um, are there any questions about the court's rulings?

[01:20:31]>> How? So, I can just go get my son.

[01:20:36]>> Is this a date that you are supposed to have him under the October order? Today is actually maybe a standard possession order weekend.

[01:20:46]>> Okay.

[01:20:47]>> So, Sunday would be the day that we do an exchange back.

[01:20:51]>> Um, let me look at the calendar. Is this the third weekend?

[01:21:00]Okay, just give me a moment here.

[01:21:04]I only have so many screens open at one time. Yes, this is the third weekend. So this would be the standard possession order. This would be um Friday afternoon would be the starting of Mr. Reed's time. So the exchange would happen.

[01:21:22]I don't have I do have the order over here.

[01:21:25]>> We're in Waco on Sundays >> and Waco on Sunday. Yes. Y'all need to get back doing what you've been ordered to do. Okay.

[01:21:35]>> Yes, ma'am. And um any other questions, Mr. Reid?

[01:21:43]>> Yes, your honor. Um um I don't believe Miss Russell will be able to afford mediation.

[01:21:53]So I'm wondering if it's possible that that um requirement can be waved um prior to heading to final trial.

[01:22:03]Um, I doubt I'd have I guess now the timeline doesn't matter as much, so I'll just submit a motion for it.

[01:22:10]Apologies.

[01:22:11]>> Okay. So, our local rules do require mediation and and what you have in place is a temporary order. You don't have a final order in place. So, um, what you've actually asked the court, Mr. Reid, is something that is not on file, that is not set for a hearing today. Um, so there are some lowcost or no cost mediators available in town. Um, you can try the dispute resolution center. You can also try the Austin Bar Association has a list of uh lowcost and no and mediators that will do a pro bono u mediation. So those are some resources that are available.

[01:23:03]Um, so the deadline I mean does this the deadline for s the summer possession schedule? No, since it's already coming past. Does that mean that it just defaults to what my I I can't remember what it is, but >> I think there are default dates included in the order. Um okay.

[01:23:41]>> Okay. All right. Seeing nothing else, I um yeah, if you didn't designate by the April 1 and April 15 deadlines, I do think it has other uh provisions for when parties fail to do that. Okay, >> we can talk.

[01:23:59]>> Yes. Well, um I encourage you to do that and just look at the order and um do your best to cooperate and get back on the schedule.

[01:24:13]Okay.

[01:24:13]>> Thank you, Fudge.

[01:24:15]>> All right. Everyone's exclus excused from the virtual courtroom. Have a good weekend. Thank you.