Angelina Jolie wins because court rules out Brad Pitt divorce case | California

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A California appeals court has disqualified a special judge used by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in their divorce case, giving Jolie a huge victory.

On Friday, the second court of appeals agreed with Jolie that Judge John W. Oderkerk had not adequately disclosed business ties to Pitt’s attorney.

“Judge Ouderkirk’s ethical breach, together with information disclosed in connection with his recent professional relations with Pete’s attorney, may cause an objective person, with knowledge of all the facts, to doubt the judge’s ability to be biased. The court ruled that disqualification Required “.

The decision meant that the custody struggle over the couple’s five underage children, which was about to end, could start anew. The judge did indeed rule the couple for divorce, but he separated the child custody issues.

Like many celebrity couples, Pitt and Jolie chose to appoint their own judge to increase their privacy in the divorce proceedings.

Ouderkirk refused to disqualify himself when Julie asked him to do so on file in August. A lower court judge ruled that Jolie’s request for disqualification came too late. Then Jolie’s lawyers appealed.

Oral arguments on July 9 before the Court of Appeals focused on the ethical rules that should apply to special judges, who, like Ouderkirk, are usually retired Supreme Court judges.

“If you’re going to play a paid special judge, you have to play by the rules and the rules are very clear, it requires complete transparency,” said Jolie’s lawyer, Robert Olson. “The things that should have been revealed have not been revealed.”

The commission questioned whether such an arrangement should be allowed in California at all, but their ruling only applies to Ouderkirk.

Lawyers for both sides did not immediately comment on the ruling.

Jolie, 46, and Pitt, 57, have been Hollywood’s hottest couples for 12 years. They were married for two years when Jolie filed for divorce in 2016. The divorce was announced in April 2019, after their lawyers requested a ruling allowing the couple to declare themselves single while other issues remain, including finances and child custody.

In May, Jolie and her lawyers criticized Ouderkirk for not allowing the couple’s children to testify in the proceedings.

The actress also said the judge “failed to adequately consider” a section of the California Courts Code, which she says is detrimental to the best interests of the child if custody is granted to someone with a history of domestic violence. Her file did not reveal details of what she was referring to, but her attorneys submitted a sealed document in March that they claim provides additional information.

The ruling did not address whether children should be allowed to testify in the case.

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