Things keep getting worse for Angelina Jolie in her ongoing custody battle with Brad Pitt. The ex-couple have been in and out of courts for months, fighting over custody of their five younger children.
And now, attorneys for each actor have met once again in a hearing, this time discussing the judge on the case.
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Jolie’s lawyer, Robert Olson, argued in the appellate court hearing that the current judge, John W. Ouderkirk, should be removed from the case. Pitt’s lawyer argued against this stance.
Olson said that Ouderkirk is not impartial as he is working on other legal matters involving Pitt’s lawyer, Thomas Boutrous. Jolie and her legal team had already tried to have Ouderkirk removed from the case for the same reason.
Pitt’s lawyer fired back at Olson, saying, "Here in a child custody case that's been going on for so long, the children are getting older and to allow a delaying tactic like this would be extremely unjust."
He added, “There were no surprises. Ms. Jolie and her counsel knew about the relationship and the grounds."
The five children in question are Pax, 17, Zahara, 16, Shiloh, 14, Vivienne, 12, and Knox, 12. Once the kids turn 18, there will no longer be a question of custody over them.
Jolie and Pitt’s eldest child, Maddox, is 19 and is therefore exempt from any custody rulings.
This hearing comes just one month after Pitt was granted joint custody in a tentative ruling.
At the time, a statement from Jolie’s legal team said, “Judge Ouderkirk denied Ms. Jolie a fair trial, improperly excluding her evidence relevant to the children’s health, safety, and welfare, evidence critical to making her case.”
