Another court defeat for Brad Pitt.
The California Supreme Court rejected the plaintiff's child custody appeal, which was effectively denied after Judge John Ouderkirk was ousted.
Pitt has been engaged in a bitter legal battle over the custody of their five underage children since 2016, when he separated from ex-wife Angelina Jolie: Pax, 17, Zahara, 16, Shiloh, 15 and twins Vivienne and Knox, 13. Sixth child, Maddox, is 19 years old and not subject to the judge's decision.
In May, Ouderkirk had provisionally granted joint custody of the children to Pitt. But Jolie's legal team had questioned the judge's impartiality, accused of failing to inform the actress's lawyers of her involvement in some ongoing legal proceedings with Pitt's counsel. "Ouderkirk has violated his ethical obligations and is now ineligible to serve as a temporary judge in the case ...", was the version of the lawyers who thus obtained the disqualification.
In response, Pitt's lawyers had started to counterattack, and asked to review the case. But for the Supreme Court the case is closed, the children must remain in the full custody of the mother. The actor, however, has made it known that he is not giving up: "We will continue to do everything legally possible," the lawyers said.
(Unioneonline / D)