[cristinc]

I am a 26 year old single mother from upstate NY. My daughter is 4 months old, and her biological father (32 years old) left me when I was about 4 months pregnant. He has never spent more than a couple of hours with her.
I am currently waiting a court appearance for custody and also I am requesting that his visits be supervised. He has been arrested four times for drunk driving, although I am not sure what he has been convicted of, considering he has never spent time in jail. He does, however, have a suspended/revoked license and he currently drives wherever he wants to because his parents whom he lives with have his vehicle in their names, the loan, the insurance, registration, etc..
He has also been to rehab, a few years ago, for crack/cocaine use (he checked himself in) but then one of his friends brought pot with them to a visit, and he smoked it, and then he failed a drug test and they wouldn't let him graduate, they just made him go home.
He has repeatedly shown up for visits or I have gone to drop the baby off and he has smelled like alcohol, and I have picked her up after only 2 hours and she smells of smoke.
He has not seen her in over a month, and the last 2 visits we scheduled, one he cancelled and the other one, he wasn't even there, his parents had no knowledge of our scheduled visit and told me he never came home the night before.
I am worried that he is going to fight me for every other weekend and that he might get it! He has no idea how to take care of her and he has never even spent a night with her, I am also afraid of her well being in his care, his friends are drug users/drinkers and I'm afraid he'll drive with her, no matter what a judge says, he obviously does not have any respect for the law (considering his past and the fact that he drives now and doesn't care that he has no license).
Am I right for asking for supervised visits and do you think I will get them?
Please help, a sweet innocent 4 month old's safety is at stake here!

[Gernald]

It's okay... breath.
The judge won't grant him custody unless he wants it. Furthermore, they will look in to his background. If he is truly an awful person and a bad father they won't grant him partial custody.
One big thing is to consider it a good thing for him to see his daughter every now and then. Not only can it help him grow up, but your daughter needs to know her father regardless of the fact that he's a skumbag. It will sort of be a what not to be, or what not to look for in a husband.
I doubt that the court will grant him custody if it puts your child in danger.
Good Luck.