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Texas judge’s ‘landmark’ custody ruling sends girl homething. 1 hope they will understand that -this was done out of a father s love and concern for his daugh*} op under the anus and carried her ! to ihe cur... In the car she started■ CARRIEContinued from Page A1 March 1982 is not over. Custody of Carrie will be decided in divorce proceedings in Syracuse, expected to begin within three weeks.In one of the first decisions of its kind in Texas. Dallas County District Court Judge Pat McClung ruled Wednesday that, because the husband had answered divorce I papers the wife filed in New York in January 1982, custody must be decided in New York.Sylvia and Robert CopuciHi were in the courtroom when McClung ruled before noon. Sylvia and Carrie flew oul of Dallas Wednesday afternoon. arriving at Syracuse Hancock International Airport at 8:30 p.m.The judge had held the father under arrest Wednesday morningthe girl to court.Things didn't always work that way in Texas.“We've had a lot of this/' said McClung. Until the Texas Legislature adopted an interstate agreement last fall, there was nothing a judge could do to avoid the chasing back and forth and the child would be whipsawed from state to state/’ McClung said. “I've had cases where they've been kidnapped and kidnapped back again.” Wednesday’s reunion at the East Genesee Street home of Sylvia Ca-pueilli and Craig Van Slykc brought back together a family made up of three families.1 want to hug the baby/’ Carrie said, and grabbed her step-brother, 7-rnonth Harley Van Slyke. Seven-year-old Mike Van Slyke arrived. 1 and she hugged him. too.“Thank you. Tammy.” she cned w'hen she saw the birthday cake 14-vear-old Tammy Shirley had made.Carrie tore into birthday gifts — roller skates, shoes, dol Is. a dress.”Uh huh/' she nodded when asked if she w ere glad to be back m Syracuse.“Later/1 she said when asked to tell about her stay in Texas.Sylvia CapucillTs Dallas lawyer called the decison that sent Carrie back to Syracuse “a landmark case.” Texas has “sort of a bud reputation for being backward legally and a state with one of the highest custody case rates in the nation, said Ronald E. Grant.Td say, it’s the most important child care case that's been decidedthere) in the past 10 years.” Grant j said. “Today, for the first time, someone who snatched a child — and technically had a right to because there’s no (custody) order in place — he was told that we’re not going to tolerate that anymore/’McClung said his decison was a matter of legal jurisdiction. He said he did not hear evidence about which horr.e w'ould be best for Carrie.Her father is a “structural steel detailer” who runs his own business. Her mother is a nurse at Jamesville Nursing Home.“I've been waiting (for a divorce) for a year and two months.” Robert Capucilli said. “I felt the New York courts were sitting on a dangerous situation. I was afraid for my daugh- | ter. Once the court hears every- Iter..“The lost two weeks here have | been super for Carrie. She’s been ! happy beyond my expectations. I look mv daughter. 1 didn't snatch her.Tammy Shirley says a stranger with a pockmarked face grubbed Carrie, slapped a hand across her mouth and earned her. kicking and screaming, to a waiting car in front of their home March 19.Capucilli said Wednesday ihai he had waited for throe days m front of his wife’s house before seeing his daughter and taking her to Texas, where she was born and had lived until a year ago.When he saw her. “I picked herj to cry. Hit e\ es w ere closed and she : tried for about a minute. 1 •sr.d. ‘This j :your father. Carrie, don't cry / *i\d | she cried for about a minute until : he realised where she was gom£| ... 1 net or torched m daughters fat e until 1 wiped the tears from her eyes.Capucilli testified in court Wednesday the driver of the waning car was Syracuse private investigator Samuel A. Showers.Onondaga County Assistant District Attorney Richard Lyons said Capucilli and Showers would not be charged with any crime because custody has not been decided and there was no evidence of threat or harm to ihe girl.j until a cousin of the father brought
Newspaper Details
Syracuse Herald Journal
Syracuse, New York, US
Thu, Apr 05, 1984
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Carrie M.
FL, USA 28 Jun 2019
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