IN RE: SHAMEMA HONZAGOOL SLOAN
Ismail Sloan,
Petitioner-Appellant
-against-
Charles and Shelby Roberts
Respondents.
Record No. 1389-96-3
MOTION AND PETITION FOR A WRIT OF MANDAMUS DIRECTING THE AMHERST COUNTY JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS COURT AND THE AMHERST COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT TO TRANSMIT THE ENTIRE RECORD FOR THIS APPEAL
Comes now Ismail Sloan and states:
I am the father of the subject child, Shamema Honzagool Sloan. I hereby move for an order or a writ of mandamus directing the courts below, the Amherst County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court and the Amherst County Circuit Court, to transmit the entire record for this appeal:
This case has been pending since October 20, 1990, when Charles and Shelby Roberts filed their petition for the custody of this child, less than three weeks after they had this child kidnapped in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. Immediately, when the Roberts filed their custody petition, I objected on the grounds that the Amherst County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court had no jurisdiction over this matter. I later appealed to the Virginia Court of Appeals that the Amherst County Courts had no jurisdiction over this matter on the grounds, among others, that this case was and had been pending before the Bronx Supreme Court in Bronx, New York since December, 1981. On May 21, 1991, this court dismissed my appeal for lack of a final order. See Record No. 0770-91-3.
Again and again, at every opportunity, I have protested that the courts of Virginia have no jurisdiction over this case, under the Hague Convention, under the International Child Abduction Remedies Act, 42 USC 11601 and under the Uniform Child Custody Act. I have filed several other petitions and appeals and petitions for a writ of habeas corpus on this issue. In none of these cases have I ever been able to get that issue addressed.
Now, finally, after all these years, I have a clear opportunity to appeal on this issue. However, in order to prevent me from doing so, Judge Janow has refused to transmit the entire record of this case. All that was transmitted was one thin file folder. The actual record of this case, comprising the proceedings that go back to at least 1990, is probably at least one thousand (1000) pages long.
Judge Janow is well aware that my daughter was kidnapped and that, from the beginning, his court has never had jurisdiction over this matter. For this reason, he does not want my case to be heard by any appellate court. He has pigeon-holed this case for years in order to prevent any appeal from being heard. He also tried to stop the instant appeal from the Amherst County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court to the Amherst County Circuit Court. Fortunately, Judge Kenneth Trabue ruled that my appeal was proper.
It is obvious that I cannot obtain a proper hearing on this appeal unless the full record has been sent up from the courts below. A look at the record now in the Court of Appeals will clearly show that the entire record is not there. All that is now in the record are a few scattered documents bearing dates over the past ten years. Judge Janow has clearly picked out those documents which he feels buttresses his case, while ignoring more recent documents which do not help him or the Roberts. In addition, the full record of the proceedings in the Bronx Supreme Court, which was made part of the record of the Amherst County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, is not here at all.
I have raised this issue before. Judge Janow repeatedly and persistently refuses to transmit the record on appeal, knowing that by so doing he deprives the appellate courts of the opportunity to hear the matter.
For these reasons, I hereby move for an order or a writ of mandamus directing the courts below, the Amherst County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court and the Amherst County Circuit Court, to transmit the entire record for this appeal:
VERIFICATION
I, M. Ismail Sloan, I have read the foregoing declaration and know the contents thereof. The same is true of my own knowledge, except as to those matters which are stated upon information and belief, and, as to those matters, I believe them to be true. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of California that the foregoing is true and correct.
Dated: July 21, 1996
Respectfully submitted,
_______________________
M. Ismail Sloan
2420 Atherton Street, Apt. 6
Berkeley, California 94704
USA
Tel: (415) 292-7711
FAX: (415) 929-7500
E-Mail: Kaneyasu@aol.com
Copy to: Charles and Shelby Roberts
420 Amelon Road
Madison Heights, VA 24572
J. Thompson Shrader
Court appointed attorney for Shamema Honzagool Sloan
P. O. Box 428
709 South Main Street
Amherst, Virginia 24521
` Lisa L. Schenkel
Court appointed attorney for Honzagool
1602 Graves Mill Road
P. O. Box 11315
Lynchburg, Virginia 24506
Honzagool c/o Raja Abdul Rashid
House No. 252, Street No. 52
F-10/4, Islamabad
Pakistan
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
This is to certify that on July 21, 1996 the undersigned served the within motion by mailing a true copy of the same addressed to:
Charles and Shelby Roberts
420 Amelon Road
Madison Heights, VA 24572
J. Thompson Shrader
Court appointed attorney for Shamema Honzagool Sloan
P. O. Box 428
709 South Main Street
Amherst, Virginia 24521
` Lisa L. Schenkel
Court appointed attorney for Honzagool
1602 Graves Mill Road
P. O. Box 11315
Lynchburg, Virginia 24506
Honzagool c/o Raja Abdul Rashid
House No. 252, Street No. 52
F-10/4, Islamabad
Pakistan
______________________
Samuel H. Sloan