By Juan Montoya
Child custody Custody battles are messy, contentious things, but in a case being heard in Judge Elia Cornejo-Lopez's 404th District Court, events have degenerated to the point where the lawyer representing the woman in the dispute has called for the judge to recuse herself charging she has intervened on the man's side putting her neutrality in the case in question.
The woman's attorney, Reynaldo "Trey" Garza, had filed a Writ of Mandamus before the 13th Court of Appeals asking for a stay on her August 10 order that the mother – Jasmine Cuellar – relocate to Cameron Cameron or risk losing custody of her two children and paying child support to the father if she did. Garza said that further investigation indicated that 404th District Court employee Sandra Betancourt was the aunt of father Adam Garcia's wife Melissa Rios.
The 13th Court of Appeals issued the stay on September 1 and it was entered Sept. 2 and stayed the trial court's order "pending further order of the (court of appeals)."
Garza, filed a supplement to his petition for writ of mandamus before the 13th Court of Appeals (No. 13-20-00362-CV) to order Cornejo-Lopez to recuse herself from the case (2012-DCL-07809) charging she and Betancourt have engaged in conduct aimed at undercutting their order by attempting to obtain a second Temporary Orders hearing in her court before they could rule on the Petition for Mandamus before them.
In his petition to recuse Cornejo-Lopez, Garza claimed that Sandra Betancourt "is related by marriage to Adam Garcia," the father in the case, and that both had taken an "a very active and inappropriate role in the present litigation..."
Docket entries of a hearing held August 10, 2020, Cornejo-Lopez ordered that:"The children are to remain in Cameron County. If mom chooses to live in Houston then custody will be with father. Child support $750 is to be paid from mom to dad if she lives in Harris County. Medical support to be paid by mother. Mom gets credit of $500.00, so child support will be $250 except for December and August so mother can buy clothes for school (extra money is to be for flight money for visitations). Dad must find employment as soon as its safe because of COVID. If father does not have job by June 2021, the Court will revisit the issue of custody. If mom decides to move back to Cameron County she will gain custody of the children. Mom to advise the Court within 30 days of moms decision where she will reside."
This prompted Garza to file for a writ of mandamus with the 13th Court of Appeals to stay Cornejo-Lopez's order on the grounds that she had abused her discretion. The 13th Court of Appeals issued the stay on September 1 and it was entered Sept. 2 and stayed the trial court's order "pending further order of the (court of appeals).
Garza also alleges that Cornejo-Lopez – through Betancourt – had provided the second attorney appointed to represent Garcia, Louis Sorola, with a prepared First Amended Motion To Modify the Parent-Child Relationship before the appeals court had ruled on Garza's writ of mandamus. Efforts to contact Garza for comment were unsuccessful.
The first attorney appointed to represent Garcia, Victor Ramirez, was replaced by Sorola. Following the appeals court order staying her order, Cornejo-Lopez removed Ramirez because she felt that he had not defended her order vigorously before the court. Sorola was then appointed by the court to represent Garcia's interests.
Now, after Garza's supplement to his writ of mandamus to the appeals court and his motion for her to recuse herself from the case, Cornejo-Lopez fired Sorola from the case on the grounds that he had violated Garcia's client-attorney privilege by notifying Garza of the impending filing of the First Amended Motion To Modify the Parent-Child Relationship allegedly delivered to him in a flash drive by Betancourt.
Garza claims that Cornejo-Lopez actively sought to have her court consider the amended motion filed by Sorola to the point that "approximately, 1 (one) hour after the First Amended Motion To Modify the Parent-Child Relationship (was filed) on the Court's digital record Judge Lopez called (me) while at a doctor's office, to ask if she could immediately set the new motion for hearing within a week."
Garza's petition to recuse Cornejo-Lopez states that: "On the evening of September 30, 2020, the parties had reached an agreement to settle the matters pertaining to temporary orders that would have disposed of the First Amended Motion To Modify the Parent-Child Relationship and the Petition for Writ of Mandamus currently pending before the 13th Court of Appeals.
A text was sent by attorney Garza to Judge Lopez and Louis Sorola indicating that the parties had reached an agreement and would be requesting the Judge Lopez' approval of that agreement. Approximately 15 minutes after Judge Lopez was notified of the settlement, Louis Sorola who had already stated there was an agreement, received word that he had been fired from the case, and called to inform Attorney Garza that Adam preferred to fight the case."
Sorola has denied on the record telling Garza over the course of negotiations between the two attorneys the motion had been delivered to his office by Betancourt or saying that she and Elia-Cornejo were "lead counsel" for his client. The docket shows he filed a motion before the court denying the allegations.