[Por2gal23]

I have a friend going through a really difficult time right now and I was hoping to help him get some answers so I apologize ahead of time for this being so long.

My friend lives in Southern California and is going through a nasty divorce right now and they have an adorable five year old son who unfortunately is stuck in the middle of an ugly custody battle that has been going on for over a year now. His ex wife first went into this telling everyone that my friend was a wife beater and horrible father etc etc.. Every accusation she made he was able to prove wrong. Now we all know that its very hard to take a child away from their mother but finally about a month ago after the courts investigated them both and all the claims that were made against the mother from the school and spoke to the son directly who is terrified to be with his mother my friend was awarded primary custody of his son. This child was going through abuse and was neglected by the mother and this is why he was given custody. Since then she has been doing everything possible to try and take custody away from him. This last attempt was the worst because he actually ended up in jail. My friend dropped off his son to visit for awhile with his mother and a couple hours later the police arrested him at home. Apparently she called the police and said that he was holding her face and threatened to kill her and speed out of the driveway in her apartment complex. The police asked no questions and it wasn’t until he was at the police station that he found out why he was being arrested. He spent the weekend in jail and lost custody of his son because of course the ex went and filed a restraining order against her and their son. Now, the apartment complex where this took place has a surveillance camera in the parking lot at all times and this took place right in front of it. My friend asked his attorney to subpoena this tape and his attorney told him that he really didn’t need it because this was a simple case and the courts would drop it for lack of evidence. My friend still wants these records because he is going after his ex for false allegations once this is over with and he doesn’t just want this to go away he wants to be proven innocent. When he told his lawyer this he said he didn’t think he could get it because the judge had to sign off on the subpoena. This doesn’t sound right to me and his court date is on the 28th. I can’t even believe the courts allow this to happen when they knew this child was being abused but that’s a while different topic. What I would like to know is can he subpoena these records? Is there an online form he can fill out and then take to the court house? Is there a fee and last can he serve the subpoena himself? I would be thankful for any helpful information, the court date is next week and I’m getting scared he won't have enough time. Thank you..

[twinkiedooter]

No, he cannot subpoena the video tape himself. His attorney would have to issue the subpoena, have the Court Clerk properly stamp the original and have a process server serve the subpoena on the apartment complex. Apparently the attorney does not feel the video tape is necessary or he would have subpoenaed it himself. And no, a judge doesn't sign a subpoena for production of video tapes.

Nasty divorces can and will get out of hand. Judges really dislike those types of cases as anything can and will happen during a divorce and/or custody battle after the divorce.