RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — A U.S. man has filed appeals with the Brazilian Supreme Court to regain custody of his 9-year-old son after a five-year legal fight.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian family members with whom David Goldman is locked in battle have invited him to join them and his son, Sean, for Christmas while the court decides whom it will favor, local news media reported Saturday.
Goldman - along with Brazil’s attorney general - filed appeals late Friday asking the Supreme Court to overturn a decision by one of its judges blocking Sean’s return while the court considers hearing direct testimony from the boy.
The case gained momentum last week when an appellate court ruled the boy should be reunited with his father. Goldman flew from New Jersey to Rio de Janeiro - only to be put off Thursday by the judge’s decision.
The Supreme Court went into recess Friday and won’t reconvene until Feb. 1, but urgent cases can be dealt with during this period. It was not clear when the court would consider Goldman’s appeals.
For more than five years, Goldman has pressed his case in the United States and Brazil. Sean was taken by his mother in 2004 to her native Brazil, where she then divorced Goldman, remarried and ultimately died last year in childbirth.
Front Section, Pages 17 on 12/20/2009