Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Guatemalan toddler kidnapping illustrates ancient maxim, "hard cases make bad law"

U.S. relies on legal technicalities to dodge heartbreaking issues

"This is one of those unfortunate cases in which it is a hardship upon the plaintiff to be without a remedy, but by that consideration we ought not to be influenced. Hard cases, it has been observed, are apt to introduce bad law" - Winterbottom v. Wright (1842).

In the merry old England of the mid-19th century, Mr. Winterbottom was a mail carrier. He was hired by the local postmaster to drive a mail carriage pulled by horses as he went about his rounds. The postmaster, in turn, had hired a man named Wright to maintain the fleet of carriages in good running order. One day, while Winterbottom was out on his route, the carriage disintegrated and "collapsed upon the common way, throwing plaintiff to the ground with great force and violence, all because defendant Wright negligently failed to perform his duty." The mail carrier sued for his injuries. Think of the case as a forerunner of modern-day car accident litigation, with which the court dockets are clogged in many Anglo-American jurisdictions.

Winterbottom was badly hurt, and the court felt sorry for him. But there was nothing the judge could do, and so he lost. Under controlling legal principles of the time, Wright was answerable only to the person with whom he had a direct contract - in this instance, the postmaster, not third parties such as Winterbottom who had been hired to drive the mail carriages. The law has long since changed, of course, and now in some countries all kinds of things can get you sued. But the maxim of the mail carriage case endures. Even though we may not like the result, abstract concepts favoring policies over persons often prevail.

Then there are those really hard cases which involve much more than decrepit waggons. What, for instance, if your child was snatched from your doorstep when you turned your back for a moment? What if two or three years later, you found out he or she had been sold by professional kidnappers, and was now living in another country with new adoptive parents? What if that country told your country, "sorry, we don't have to return your child, because there was no treaty in force between us covering international kidnappings when he/she was stolen"? What if the other country was the United States of America?

That's the nightmare with which Loyda Rodriguez has been living since Nov. 3, 2006.

San Miguel Petapa, Guatemala
In the hardscrabble town of San Miguel Petapa, south of Guatemala City, the avarice of one changed the lives of several that afternoon more than five years ago. Some say the clock is ticking away on Loyda's hopes of being reunited with her child. But the U.S. State Dept. says nothing can be done.

Anyeli Hernandez Rodriguez was born October 1, 2004, the second child of Loyda, a house wife, and her bricklayer husband, Dayner Orlando Hernandez. They struggled to make a living and to take care of their children, in a desperately poor nation which must contend with international drug cartels trying to convert Guatemala into a warehouse for U.S.-bound narcotics.

On the day in question Loyda and Anyeli, then two, were entering the family home when Loyda was distracted for a few moments and left the child briefly unattended. A stranger, a woman, arrived by taxi, snatched Anyeli and drove off. Loyda has not seen her since, and may well never see her again.

After navigating her way unaided through the torturous and at times uncaring Guatemalan legal system for months, Loyda finally got officials to take action. She eventually learned that a team of professional kidnappers had stolen Anyeli and sold her to a local adoption agency. Anyeli remained in Guatemala until Dec. 9, 2008, but Loyda didn't know that at the time. The only thing Loyda knew was that she wanted her daughter back.

Little Anyeli, by then four, was taken to the United States after a two year residency at the adoption agency. She was adopted by Timothy and Jennifer Monahan of Liberty, Mo., who had no knowledge of her past. Liberty is a quaint, historic town located just minutes north of Kansas City, Missouri, a sprawling metropolis which straddles the Kansas-Missouri state line. I was born in Kansas City and I lived most of my life in the area. It's a friendly, but perhaps curious, end-up spot for a two year old snatched from far away San Miguel Petapa. Anyeli is now seven and a half, has a new name and knows nothing of her former life. It's unlikely that she would understand much Spanish.

The devil is in the details, they say, and nowhere is that more true than in legal matters. Loyda Rodriguez reported to local police that her daughter was kidnapped in November 2006, which of course is exactly what happened. At the time, the U.S. and Guatemala had not yet signed an international treaty known as the Hague Abduction Convention. The two nations eventually approved it on Jan. 1, 2008, 14 months later. In a terse diplomatic communique, the State Department notified Guatemala yesterday that since no treaty was in force when Anyeli was snatched, the United States is not required to repatriate her. Guatemala's Foreign Ministry confirmed receipt of the rejection note last night. Guatemala is litigating the adoption issue on Loyda's behalf, after a judge there issued an order last year directing that Anyeli be returned.

A Guatemalan activist disagrees with the State Department's position, and claims the U.S. is required under other international law to return victims of human trafficking or kidnapping which have occurred within the previous five years. Claudia Hernandez of the Survivors Foundation, a human rights group that's trying to help Loyda, told the Associated Press, "Unfortunately, the kidnapping case was filed with the girl's original abduction date in 2006 when the U.S. and Guatemala did not have an agreement (rather than in December 2008, when she was actually removed from the country). We've been seeking a law firm in the United States that would take this to court, and sadly we're losing hope. Time is running out; the five-year window is nearly up," Hernandez said.

By all accounts the Monahans are loving, devoted parents, absolutely committed to the welfare of their adopted daughter. They have not addressed the press directly about this unhappy case, and have understandably asked that their privacy be respected. A public relations firm they hired last year to speak for them has said that they "will continue to advocate for the safety and best interests of their legally adopted child." While the quoted statement is true in the strictest technical sense, it begs the ultimate issue. The adoption of Anyeli Hernandez Rodriguez was in full accord with Missouri statutes, but it was based upon a criminal act - a kidnapping - as well as critical documents forged in Guatemala. In many other contexts, involving stakes far less significant than the ones presented in this dispute, the law would readily attempt to correct and reverse a decision which was based upon such blatant, admitted fraud. One might ask why it should hesitate to do so here.

Some argue that this case should be closed and forgotten. Anyeli, or whatever her new American name is, knows nothing of Guatemala or of her birth mother. Her life will be far better, her education superior, her opportunities almost unlimited, in Liberty. Returning her to the bitter impoverishment of a war torn Central American nation facing myriad problems, to a land whose language she no longer recognizes, where so many ominous dark clouds loom on the horizon, would be cruel and selfish, they contend.

But far to the south, in the hardscrabble town of San Miguel Petapa, Loyda Rodriguez waits and prays for Anyeli's return. And who in her position would not do exactly the same?

Guatemalan mom to ask U.S. court to help return girl adopted by Liberty couple

7 comments:

  1. Why don't you take the case?

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  2. Funny you would ask me that, Darin. The thought remotely crossed my mind when I first read about this case last year.

    The problem is, I feel for both sides. I'm sure all the "parents" are suffering greatly. And there won't be a happy ending for anybody, when you think about it.

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  3. There is so much more about this case publicly available. Like the fact that the woman who originally put up the kid for adoption was the birth mother's sister (which begs the question of kidnapping given she claims it was a stranger -- see the blog of the former head of the orphanage). It sure seems strange she publicly claims a stranger grabbed her child but her sister put the kid up for adoption, no? Or the fact that two wrongs don't make a right. It sounds like lots of funky things happened in Guatemala -- but is the right way to act by do the same back to the adoptive parents and the child, who is the real innocent victim here? News reports say the Missouri family weren't even told there was a lawsuit in Guatamala and given an opportunity to present their own evidence. So now the United States should honor a one-sided court ruling that was designed by the other side to not give them any chance to present their story - let alone give the child a chance to speak about what she wants? Seems to me the only way anything like this could be looked at is in a court where all sides get to present their case and the truth -- the whole truth -- comes out!

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  4. Undoubtedly there are many more things yet to come out about this very troubling case. That is exactly why we need judges and courtrooms and public hearings. Let the truth come out, wherever it may lead.

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  5. For what it's worth, I think that feeling for both sides in this case is a great quality for someone involved in its outcome to have.

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  6. The Monahans have little understanding of the dynamics of adoption if they believe that the course they are taking will not lead to greater heartache for this little girl than is necessary given the circumstances. When she gets older and struggles with her identity she will discover the circumstances of her adoption. and no matter what spin the Monahans try to put on it, it will not be a nice story. In an adoption without these issues, this little girl would already be dealing with the difficult questions - why did my mother not keep me? why did she keep other children and not me? Hard questions that all adoptive parents have to deal with. But this little girl is going to find out that her mother did not give her up, that she has a father and siblings, that she was kidnapped, and that her mother has been looking for her since the day she was stolen. And she will turn to the 'only parents' she has ever known (and i do take issue with that point) and learn that they have known this, that they have lied to her, and the basis of one's trust and one's beliefs and ones emotional attachments will be severely strained. Let us also remember that this little girl has already been through a difficult loss - taken from her family at the age of 2 and placed into an orphanage setting. Let's hope it was the best orphanage setting possible, and understand that the sense of loss and the lack of a primary care giver for a year or more has already stressed this little girl.

    what should happen? to me, it is not whether one family keeps her or the other family takes her. It is that both families work together, with a trusted and competent third party, to create a path for this little girl to come to know the truth, to come to know her birth family, and for the adults in this situation to give her the time and support she needs to be loved and cherished by both of these families, and that whatever transitions are necessary are done with care and sensitivity and with the time required to give this little girl the best possible opportunity for a rich and positive emotional life.
    Jan Johnson, single parent of three children adopted from Guatemala who are now 18, 22 and 23.

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  7. I like your response, and I tend to agree with you. The only thing I'm not sure of is whether we have all the facts. Mind you, I'm not saying we don't -- I'm just saying that I'm not sure.

    A reader who commented above expressed little sympathy for the birth mother. Maybe he/she knows more about the case than has been published. I just don't know.

    But I believe strongly in the ability of American courts to sift through the facts, figure out what really happened, and then fashion a legal remedy (such as the one you suggest) which does justice to all, and which protects and promotes the best interests of the child. Ultimately, the latter is all that really counts.

    Thank you for sharing your views. I bet you are a wonderful mom. How lucky your young adult children are to have you.

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