accadacca
09-28-2011, 02:49 PM
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by Pat Reavy
UPDATE:
Judge Kathryn Nelson has ruled that Josh and Susan Powell's children are not safe in the home with their father and will not be returned to him. She hasn't said where they will be placed yet.
More information will be posted as it becomes available.
Previous Story:
TACOMA, Wash. — After hearing arguments about whether to allow cameras in the courtroom, a judge expected to decide who will receive temporary custody of Josh and Susan Powell's two children has taken a lunch recess.
Judge Kathryn Nelson ordered a a lunch break about 1 p.m. Mountain time and the hearing will resume at 2:30.
Once the actual hearing begins, attorneys expect it will be brief. All arguments have already been made.
At issue is whether Chuck and Judy Cox will be granted temporary custody of the two boys, ages 4 and 6. The parents of missing West Valley woman Susan Cox Powell have filed a petition for custody. But Josh Powell, the boys' father, has argued that he is a good father and should continue to have custody of his own children.
Josh Powell said he did not oppose allowing cameras inside the courtroom. Speaking in a slow voice, he told the court he was present for the "best interest of my children."
"I would like to have all due process available," Powell said. "(The media) have been known repeatedly to misquote and take partial information and turn it on its head."
Powell said he did not "have specific information I intend to share about my sons today."
Nelson asked Powell to clarify his statement, saying she didn't understand if he was for or against video cameras in the courtroom. He clarified by saying "full disclosure provides greater protection than partial disclosure."
The judge said she would make a decision on the issue of video cameras in the courtroom after lunch.
John Long, who is representing Children's Administration at the hearing and argued that video cameras should not be in the courtroom, also noted, "The children are in a safe placement with a relative. We're confidnet they'll be able to protect the children from any media that's out there."
Children's Administration officials in Washington Tuesday sent the children to stay with their maternal grandparents overnight.
Jennifer Graves, wearing purple — which is the color the Cox family has used to show support for their daughter since she went missing — said she and her husband came to Tacoma from Utah to support Chuck and Judy Cox.
"I believe that the boys will be in a better place if they're not with Josh at this time," she said outside the courtroom prior to the hearing.
Graves said she and her husband visited with the boys at the Cox home Tuesday night.
"It took them just five minutes to warm up to us," she said.
They spent the night reading stories and playing games. The boys also asked about their cousins, Graves' children, and why they weren't there.
Graves said the family does not talk about the situation with Steven Powell or the disappearance of their mother with the children. When asked whether the children mentioned their father, she said she thought they had "mentioned something once."
The boys had been living with Josh Powell and his father, Steven, in Puyallup, but the children were taken out of the home last week after Steven was arrested on charges of voyeurism and possessing child pornography. John Long, the assistant attorney general representing the Children's Administration, told a judge Tuesday that Josh Powell is also a subject in that investigation — prompting Josh to quickly deny any such activity.
"I have had nothing to do with any kind of illegal pornography," he said.
As far back as 1992 during divorce proceedings, Steven Powell has been accused of keeping pornography in his home and discussing sex with children.
When asked whether she thought Josh Powell was involved in his father's pornography case, Graves said she didn't know. But she believes he did have something to do with Susan's disappearance.
"I'm sad about the situation and that it's come to this," she said.
As for her father and the charges of voyeurism and possession of child porn, Graves said she has known for a long time that her father had a porn addiction, which is why she had moved to Utah to distance herself from him. The extent of his addiction, however, she said was "appalling" and "shocking."
Graves said she believed there was a good chance the Coxes would get custody of the children. She said she and her husband would be working with Chuck and Judy Cox in taking care of the children, which could mean they would travel back to Utah once in a while.
As the judge was considering issues related to Internet streaming and video cameras, Josh Powell sat at a table up front Wednesday, staying mostly to himself. Powell, still wearing his wedding band, spent most of his time staring straight ahead, avoiding eye contact with anyone else in the courtroom and not talking to anyone.
Chuck Cox sat in the gallery next to Jennifer and Kirk Graves.
Media from both Utah and Washington filled the jury box and overflowed into the gallery area.
"The Cox family has had a very good and very strong relationship with these children," said Chuck Cox's attorney, Steve Downing. "They had a joyous reunion and that's all I can say."
Downing told the judge Tuesday that the children were being harmed because they had never received counseling about their mother's disappearance, they might have been exposed to the inappropriate videos and they had been cut off from their maternal grandparents without explanation.
"Those kids may know something, and he sure as the dickens doesn't want them talking to anybody," Downing told Judge Nelson.
Powell countered that he's a good, loving father; that the children are not at risk; and that they've never been exposed to porn of any kind. He also made clear that his family would not be posting bail for his father, and that if Steven Powell somehow managed to return home, Josh Powell would take the boys and stay at a hotel.
"There is no clear and present danger to my sons," he said.
Steven Powell pleaded not guilty to 14 charges of voyeurism and one of possession of child pornography. He remains jailed on $200,000 bail. Prosecutors said that for at least a decade, he had been secretly filming women, including Susan Powell, and that he shot footage of two young neighbor girls as they took baths and sat on the toilet.
The judge took the matter under consideration and told the parties to reconvene Wednesday morning.
Josh Powell frequently came near tears during Tuesday's hearing, breaking up as he described how the boys sat on his lap and hugged him during a visit supervised by CPS on Monday. He also grew emotional as he described the failure of the "general public" to look for his wife: "That, your honor, is deeply hurtful to me."
Josh Powell has said he took his boys, then 2 and 4, on a late night camping trip in freezing temperatures the day his wife disappeared from their West Valley City home in December of 2009. West Valley police continue to call him a person of interest in the case because they say he has not been cooperative with them.
Email:preavy@ksl.com
by Pat Reavy
UPDATE:
Judge Kathryn Nelson has ruled that Josh and Susan Powell's children are not safe in the home with their father and will not be returned to him. She hasn't said where they will be placed yet.
More information will be posted as it becomes available.
Previous Story:
TACOMA, Wash. — After hearing arguments about whether to allow cameras in the courtroom, a judge expected to decide who will receive temporary custody of Josh and Susan Powell's two children has taken a lunch recess.
Judge Kathryn Nelson ordered a a lunch break about 1 p.m. Mountain time and the hearing will resume at 2:30.
Once the actual hearing begins, attorneys expect it will be brief. All arguments have already been made.
At issue is whether Chuck and Judy Cox will be granted temporary custody of the two boys, ages 4 and 6. The parents of missing West Valley woman Susan Cox Powell have filed a petition for custody. But Josh Powell, the boys' father, has argued that he is a good father and should continue to have custody of his own children.
Josh Powell said he did not oppose allowing cameras inside the courtroom. Speaking in a slow voice, he told the court he was present for the "best interest of my children."
"I would like to have all due process available," Powell said. "(The media) have been known repeatedly to misquote and take partial information and turn it on its head."
Powell said he did not "have specific information I intend to share about my sons today."
Nelson asked Powell to clarify his statement, saying she didn't understand if he was for or against video cameras in the courtroom. He clarified by saying "full disclosure provides greater protection than partial disclosure."
The judge said she would make a decision on the issue of video cameras in the courtroom after lunch.
John Long, who is representing Children's Administration at the hearing and argued that video cameras should not be in the courtroom, also noted, "The children are in a safe placement with a relative. We're confidnet they'll be able to protect the children from any media that's out there."
Children's Administration officials in Washington Tuesday sent the children to stay with their maternal grandparents overnight.
Jennifer Graves, wearing purple — which is the color the Cox family has used to show support for their daughter since she went missing — said she and her husband came to Tacoma from Utah to support Chuck and Judy Cox.
"I believe that the boys will be in a better place if they're not with Josh at this time," she said outside the courtroom prior to the hearing.
Graves said she and her husband visited with the boys at the Cox home Tuesday night.
"It took them just five minutes to warm up to us," she said.
They spent the night reading stories and playing games. The boys also asked about their cousins, Graves' children, and why they weren't there.
Graves said the family does not talk about the situation with Steven Powell or the disappearance of their mother with the children. When asked whether the children mentioned their father, she said she thought they had "mentioned something once."
The boys had been living with Josh Powell and his father, Steven, in Puyallup, but the children were taken out of the home last week after Steven was arrested on charges of voyeurism and possessing child pornography. John Long, the assistant attorney general representing the Children's Administration, told a judge Tuesday that Josh Powell is also a subject in that investigation — prompting Josh to quickly deny any such activity.
"I have had nothing to do with any kind of illegal pornography," he said.
As far back as 1992 during divorce proceedings, Steven Powell has been accused of keeping pornography in his home and discussing sex with children.
When asked whether she thought Josh Powell was involved in his father's pornography case, Graves said she didn't know. But she believes he did have something to do with Susan's disappearance.
"I'm sad about the situation and that it's come to this," she said.
As for her father and the charges of voyeurism and possession of child porn, Graves said she has known for a long time that her father had a porn addiction, which is why she had moved to Utah to distance herself from him. The extent of his addiction, however, she said was "appalling" and "shocking."
Graves said she believed there was a good chance the Coxes would get custody of the children. She said she and her husband would be working with Chuck and Judy Cox in taking care of the children, which could mean they would travel back to Utah once in a while.
As the judge was considering issues related to Internet streaming and video cameras, Josh Powell sat at a table up front Wednesday, staying mostly to himself. Powell, still wearing his wedding band, spent most of his time staring straight ahead, avoiding eye contact with anyone else in the courtroom and not talking to anyone.
Chuck Cox sat in the gallery next to Jennifer and Kirk Graves.
Media from both Utah and Washington filled the jury box and overflowed into the gallery area.
"The Cox family has had a very good and very strong relationship with these children," said Chuck Cox's attorney, Steve Downing. "They had a joyous reunion and that's all I can say."
Downing told the judge Tuesday that the children were being harmed because they had never received counseling about their mother's disappearance, they might have been exposed to the inappropriate videos and they had been cut off from their maternal grandparents without explanation.
"Those kids may know something, and he sure as the dickens doesn't want them talking to anybody," Downing told Judge Nelson.
Powell countered that he's a good, loving father; that the children are not at risk; and that they've never been exposed to porn of any kind. He also made clear that his family would not be posting bail for his father, and that if Steven Powell somehow managed to return home, Josh Powell would take the boys and stay at a hotel.
"There is no clear and present danger to my sons," he said.
Steven Powell pleaded not guilty to 14 charges of voyeurism and one of possession of child pornography. He remains jailed on $200,000 bail. Prosecutors said that for at least a decade, he had been secretly filming women, including Susan Powell, and that he shot footage of two young neighbor girls as they took baths and sat on the toilet.
The judge took the matter under consideration and told the parties to reconvene Wednesday morning.
Josh Powell frequently came near tears during Tuesday's hearing, breaking up as he described how the boys sat on his lap and hugged him during a visit supervised by CPS on Monday. He also grew emotional as he described the failure of the "general public" to look for his wife: "That, your honor, is deeply hurtful to me."
Josh Powell has said he took his boys, then 2 and 4, on a late night camping trip in freezing temperatures the day his wife disappeared from their West Valley City home in December of 2009. West Valley police continue to call him a person of interest in the case because they say he has not been cooperative with them.
Email:preavy@ksl.com