[spiraldivine]

I'm currently in a custody battle with my boyfriend against his ex girlfriend and their 4 yr old daughter. The mother has drug posession/intent to sell felony pending hearing. We have temporary custody with her mother seeing child alternating weekends and every Tues. and Weds. What started this was an order of protection for the daughter against the mother because she is a drug dealer selling ecstacy and the daughter told us that it looked like candy. The order of protection is still in effect, other than when she's with her mother. I need advice on continuing the order. We are also uncomfortable with our lawyer. Can the lawyer obtain her criminal records to use in court? If safety is obviously a concern, why is she allowd to see her child so much?

[cdad]

It might be because you haven't changed the custody order to fit the situation. You can go back to court ( which you said your in ) and ask for supervised visitation because of ongoing problems and also ask that she be drug tested on a reguler basis if she is proven to have drugs in her system. As far as an order of protection so long as the situation exists you should be able to get it renewed if its about to expire. In some states they have an experation date ( like 2 1/2 or 3 years ) from the date of the order. I believe that court records are " public " records unless they are ordered sealed so yes your lawyer should be able to get copies and show them in court if your seeking a modification. Also remember that if you hire a lawyer then you can also fire them too. If your not comfortable with this one then your within your rights to seek out another more competent to your case at hand.

[Fr_Chuck]

Yes, you need to go back to court for supervised visits. And yes criminal records ( convictions) are public knowledge and can be used in court.

Pending charges, ( remember innocent until proven guilty) is often hard to use in court, unless there was lot of oher previous convictions.