Federal appeals court judges are expected to take several weeks to rule in the custody case of Carmen, left, and Claire Lops.

Lops case still bogged down in details

Web posted February 27, 1998

By Walter C. Jones
Morris News Service

ATLANTA -- Unscrambling the legal details of a couple's overseas divorce and the custody of their two children in this country left three federal appeals judges with many questions Thursday.

Michael Lops appealed a decision by a federal judge in Augusta, contending the judge didn't have jurisdiction to rule in the matter. Attorneys for Mr. Lops and his ex-wife, Christine Lops, presented oral arguments Thursday before the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

``The issue before the court this morning is the topic of forum shopping,'' said James Gore, a Virginia attorney representing Mr. Lops.

Both parents have taken the case through courts in Germany, South Carolina and Georgia. Judges at every stop are grappling with who should decide which parent gets custody of Carmen, 7, and Claire, 6.

The saga began in a German divorce court in May 1995. The couple informally agreed to joint custody during a meeting with the judge before lawyers were to draft a written custody agreement.

Barely a month later, Mr. Lops' mother took her grandchildren home with her to Martinez. Some time later, Mr. Lops moved to North Augusta and housed the girls with him. He contends Ms. Lops abandoned the children, and she says he snatched them.

His lawyers contend since the girls lived with him for more than two years in South Carolina, the custody question should be settled there.

The lawyer for the girls' mother wants the matter settled in whichever court will handle it faster.

Ms. Lops came to the United States in November after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation discovered where her children were staying. She began proceedings in Richmond County Superior Court, but the judge there ruled he didn't have jurisdiction because the girls had been living in South Carolina.

Attorneys for both parents pursued the matter in Aiken County Family Court. But when the judge there showed no interest in expediting the case, Ms. Lops' attorneys asked a federal judge in Augusta for an emergency ruling.

International law requires children who are snatched away by one parent to be returned to the original country -- Germany, in this case -- for custody questions. The federal judge in Augusta decided the girls were not ``well-settled'' because they'd been hidden for more than two years, but Mr. Gore argued Thursday that the treaty doesn't apply because the children have been ``well-settled'' elsewhere.

``All this does is stall when the children are eventually returned,'' said Linda Shay Gardner, an attorney representing Ms. Lops.

During Thursday's appellate hearing, judges asked detailed questions of lawyers from both sides about how so many courts became involved.

``The thought that I'm a little concerned with is jumping around from one court to another,'' said federal appeals Judge Phyllis Kravitch.

In the meantime, the girls are living with their mother in Lawrenceville, an Atlanta suburb. The appeals court rushed the arguments ahead of other cases, but even an expedited decision is unlikely for several weeks, court veterans said.

After listening to nearly an hour of the debate Thursday, Ms. Lops expressed frustration in accented English.

``It's hard for me to understand what's going on. I don't know what to say,'' she said. ``I only know that he took the kids wrongfully. I'm going to stay here until I get them back.''