The Record

Thursday, March 1, 2007

By KIBRET MARKOS
STAFF WRITER

A Hasbrouck Heights man asked an appeals court on Wednesday to keep his ex-wife locked up at the Bergen County Jail until she agrees to return their daughter from Spain.
But a defiant Maria Jose Carrascosa said she will never "hand over" the 6-year-old girl.
"I don't care what the judges say," Carrascosa said in a telephone interview from the Bergen County Jail, where she has been held since November. "I am not bringing my child back."

For more than two years, Carrascosa and her ex-husband, Peter Innes, have been locked in a bitter divorce and a high-profile custody battle that has cost them more than $1 million.
The dispute turned ugly in January 2005 when Carrascosa took the child, Victoria, to Spain, where courts have ordered the girl not to leave the country until she turns 18.
Meanwhile, Superior Court Judge Edward Torack in Hackensack granted sole custody of the child to Innes. He also jailed Carrascosa until she returns the child to New Jersey.
The decision to lock up Carrascosa -- the daughter of a wealthy olive oil tycoon -- sent Spanish tabloids into a frenzy and caused such furor in Spain that the U.S. State Department recently got involved.

Carrascosa challenged Torack's ruling on appeal, saying the Spanish courts -- and not a New Jersey judge -- should decide the custody issues.
A three-judge appellate panel grilled lawyers from both sides on Wednesday during a hearing attended by an entourage of Spanish government officials who flew in to support Carrascosa.

"For the life of me, I cannot understand why [the child is not being returned]," Appellate Judge Donald G. Collester said at the hearing in Morristown.
Carrascosa's lawyer, Alan Lewis, said his client won't return the child because she's afraid Innes could harm the girl.

Innes' lawyer, Peter Van Aulen, dismissed the allegations and accused Carrascosa of abducting the child.

"Here is a father who hasn't seen his daughter in two years," he told the judges. "If you let her out of jail, she will be back on the run, and Mr. Innes may never see his daughter again."

Collester said Carrascosa's incarceration, which is meant to be coercive rather than punitive, may not resolve the dispute for good.

"She cannot be held forever," the judge said. "At some point in time, she will be out of jail.

What are you going to do then?"

Carrascosa also has been indicted in Bergen County on charges of criminal interference with child custody. She faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Aurelio Marin Calvo, Carrascosa's lawyer in Spain, said Victoria is living with her maternal grandparents and is aware of what's going on in New Jersey.

"She knows her mother is in jail," he said. "She is full of sadness, but she doesn't display much of it."

The appeals panel is expected to issue a ruling within the next few months. Carrascosa is scheduled for a hearing Monday in Superior Court in Hackensack on the criminal matter.