Fight for Justice for Kodi and Ryah

Request for Commissioner Susan C. Gaer to Reconsider her Ruling in the Custody Action of Ryah Hawtho

To Commissioner Gaer, The Honorable Ellen J. Fair, and the SCSC:

We, a now national group of concerned citizens, petition the Honorable Commissioner Susan C. Gaer to reconsider her position and ruling in the matter of the parentage of Ryah Elizabeth Jewell Hawthorne (MacMullen), case 09-5-01061-6 due to the suicidal death of respondent, the mother KH, in direct connection with the decision unnecessarily mandated by Commissioner Gaer.

Unable to handle the barrage of attack that occurred in and outside of the courtroom, and after having her daughter removed from her home, Ryah's mother KH could no longer bear the pain of losing her daughter and took her own life on April 8, 2010.

We are a group of people who had been fighting for justice for KH during the course of her custody battle and are still seeking justice for her despite her death. As many petitioners have known the now deceased for over a decade or more, we can assert with assurance and clarity that the statements made by the opposing respondent in her case were blatantly false. Commissioner Gaer did not exercise due diligence in this matter, as several of the declarations made in favor of parentage for the father were misleading, unproven, and perjurious. Instead, Commissioner Gaer allowed an attorney to lambast the mother and paint her as a drug user and abusive mother, despite her evidence asserting otherwise. KH had breastfed her daughter for months into good health, taken her to all well child checks with pediatric reports of a happy, healthy baby, and practiced attachment parenting.

Commissioner Gaer ignored the mental health, criminal and litigation history of the respondent TM, never once thinking that perhaps the claims made in favor of said respondent were false, or never once realizing that several of the parties making declaration in favor of TM had their own criminal and litigation history. Instead, Commissioner Gaer merely looked at the mother in the court room and said, "Clearly, Miss H, you are a mess," despite several declarations and reports with personal knowledge of the physically abusive nature, even as witnessed in person by a Kitsap County judge, of respondent TM. Never once did Commissioner Gaer consider that the statements made by respondent TM and his supporting parties were motivated by personal vendetta against respondent KH. Correspondence proving bias and willingness to remove the mother entirely were presented from the start of the custody action, but all such correspondence was ignored. Several rules of conduct regarding Washington custody cases were entirely ignored in this case.

When KH passed her hair follicle drug test, another post hoc filing was made this time for rape of a child. How this was not suspect in the Commissioner's eyes seems improbable at best and reeks of conspiracy.

TM refused to have any contact with KH except through attorney only. When Commissioner Gaer ruled that KH be allowed 18 hours of supervised visitation a week, TM and his attorney did everything in their power to ensure that a lay supervisor was not approved so that KH could not see her daughter under any circumstances. During that time, the father offered no verbal reports, pictures, photographs, written reports, or information as to how his daughter was faring. The mother continued to receive threats and harassment, often in the form of anonymous text messages, her final one received on the morning of her death. Having been given 2 hours total in 3 weeks of her supposed "court ordered" 18 hour supervised visitation a week, she could no longer handle the pain from having her child stolen from her, all with the blessing of the Snohomish County Court and Commissioner Gaer. KH was told point blank in court that if she had been a man accused of raping a 14 year old girl, she would not be allowed to see her child. Inquiry with detectives following KH's death revealed no charges were going to be filed regarding her "child rape" case, as there had never been enough evidence.

Several rules of Washington state code were violated, as the child was removed from her mother, the parent whom she had the strongest and healthiest attachment to, and placed with the respondent TM with no consideration as to the truth or facts of the case, or knowing of no emotional bond with the father. Despite years of expert research proving to the contrary, the Commissioner in this case based her decision on personal opinion and not in the best interest of the child. Ryah now has no opportunity to be raised alongside her older brother or her remaining surviving family members.

Parties throughout this case, and even unrelated to this case, have received threats and harassment from parties with a connection to respondent TM, even in the course of demanding justice for the mother, KH. How Commissioner Gaer could turn a blind eye to this is not only a sign of a massive disease within our nation's family court system, but again indicates that fairness and impartiality was not exacted in this case.

If Commissioner Gaer is unwilling or unable to reconsider her position in the matter of parentage regarding Ryah Hawthorne, then we request her removal as Commissioner for the county of Snohomish, having violated Canon 3 of the code of Judicial Conduct in the State of Washington.

“For years custody courts have confidently denied complaints by mothers of unfair treatment in domestic violence cases. If the court system had commissioned research to determine how the present practices are working, the result would be the information contained in Domestic Violence, Abuse and Child Custody. The research findings demonstrate court practices are outdated and their confidence misplaced. Wise judges will use the up-to-date research now available to take a fresh look at practices and assumptions deeply ingrained after thirty years. No one wants to be known as the judge who hurts children and this research can prevent the kinds of tragic outcomes we see too frequently.” - Judge Sol Gothard, JD, MSW, ACSW, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, State of Louisiana (ret.)

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