Judge's decision to allow Lisa Mehos' abortion to be used as evidence in New York custody case causes stir
An attorney for Manuel John Mehos said his ex-wife, Lisa, should be questioned about the procedure because ‘this is a woman who complains that she’s under great stress only caused by Mr. Mehos. I would be the first person to acknowledge that having an abortion, especially a two- to three-month late abortion, would be stressful.’ The judge granted the request.
Comments (90)By Dareh Gregorian / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, September 25, 2013, 2:30 AM
Bryan Pace/for New York Daily News
Lisa Mehos outside the Manhattan court where her ugly custody battle is raging.
A holy war broke out in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday over a judge’s decision to allow testimony about a woman’s abortion to be used against her in an ugly custody case.
Lisa Mehos’ lawyer, Emily Jane Goodman, told Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lori Sattler her decision to allow the evidence about her client’s procedure — which happened after her split from banking big Manuel John Mehos — was “scandalous and outrageous.”
“This might go over well in Texas or Mississippi, but not here,” Goodman said.
The explosive topic was first raised last week by Manuel Mehos’ lawyer, Eleanor Alter, who discovered it after subpoenaing his ex-wife’s medical records. She used it in an apparent attempt to paint Lisa Mehos as a hypocrite for having asked to have custody of their two young kids over Easter weekend in 2012.
Bryan Pace/for New York Daily News
Lisa Mehos, left, is hugged by her lawyer Emily Jane Goodman. Mehos must testify about an abortion in a custody case, a judge said.
“[At] the time that she told him that he couldn’t have the children for Easter because he was an atheist, she was having an abortion,” Alter said, a court transcript shows.
Alter said she should also be allowed to question Lisa Mehos about the procedure because “this is a woman who complains that she’s under great stress only caused by Mr. Mehos. I would be the first person to acknowledge that having an abortion, especially a two- to three-month late abortion, would be stressful.”
“If this man was coming in the house, if she’s out of the house to see him, if it was date rape, that’s relevant,” Alter said.
nycourts.gov
New York Supreme Court Justice Lori S. Sattlers has ruled that Lisa Mehos must discuss her abortion in court proceedings for a custody case between Mehos and her former husband, Manuel John Mehos.
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“I think the very idea of the potential of using, against a woman in a custody case, the fact that she may have had an abortion sets women’s rights and the rights of choice back in a way that I can’t imagine this court would want to be associated,” Goodman said.
The judge sided with Alter, noting that Lisa Mehos had previously testified she had never had any men over to her New York apartment. “I do find it to be relevant. The children were in her care at the time,” Sattler said.
Lisa Mehos, 38, then testified that she became pregnant after a one-time fling with a longtime friend at his place. She said she had arranged for her mother to stay with the kids, then ages 2 and 4, while she had the abortion.
Bryan Pace/for New York Daily News
Former Playboy model Bridget Marks came to support Lisa Mehos in a nasty custody battle.
When she returned to testify Tuesday, more than a half-dozen women’s rights activists were in court, some wearing “I had an abortion” T-shirts. Former Playboy model Bridget Marks, who was involved in a notorious custody case herself a decade ago, was also there and said what Lisa was going through was “revolting.”
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Lisa Mehos wasn’t the only one to be embarrassed in court — she testified that her ex-husband, who heads a bank in Texas, had tearfully confessed to her that he had cheated on her dozens of times with prostitutes.
The Mehoses were married for six years and divorced in October 2011.
Asked for comment afterwards, Alter — who represented actress Mia Farrow during her ugly custody battle with Woody Allen — said she thought it was "disgusting that anything having to do with children would be done in open court with a reporter there."
The Mehos have made headlines before.
Manuel Mehos, 58, whose name appears as John Mehos in the divorce filing, was arrested earlier this year for allegedly hitting his ex in front of their kids. The criminal charges were later dropped when the DA's office said it didn't think it could prove the case. He maintains she got her black eye from a Botox injection, a claim she said was "ridiculous."
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mother-abortion-fare-game-custody-case-judge-article-1.1466743#ixzz2fzzVzaX9
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