Latest Case: Diaz-Alarcon v. Flandez-Marcel (Family Law)

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Diaz-Alarcon v. Flandez-Marcel

Docket: 19-1150

Opinion Date: December 16, 2019

Judge: Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson

Areas of Law: Family Law

The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Father's petition brought under The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and the International Child Abduction Remedies Act seeking return of his child from the United States to Chile on the basis that Mother had wrongfully retained the child in violation of his custody rights, holding that the district court did not err. In denying Father's petition the trial judge ruled, among other things, that clear and convincing evidence established that the child faced a grave risk of harm if sent back to Chile. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that where the district judge was in a unique position to gauge the child's credibility, none of Father's arguments left this Court with a firm conviction that the district judge made a mistake on the grave-risk issue.