June 2010 Archives

The Associated Press is reporting that the marriage of Sandra Bullock and Jesse James is officially over. After accounts of infidelities were widely reported in the media, Bullock filed for divorce from James in April, citing "discord or conflict of personalities." A court in Texas finalized the divorce on Monday.

Bullock and James met in 2003 and were married in 2005. Bullock was experiencing a career high last spring. She won a string of awards for her starring acting role in "The Blind Side." Ten days after she won an Oscar for that role, reports surfaced in the tabloids that James had been unfaithful. She had thanked James during awards show speeches for helping her with her career and "having her back," only to find he allegedly had had affairs while she was away filming the Oscar-winning film. James publicly apologized to Bullock and his three children from a previous relationship, for who Bullock had been a devoted stepmom.

Attorneys for Bruce Beresford-Redman say that their client will fight his extradition to Mexico where a warrant has been issued for his arrest on charges that he killed his wife in an act of domestic violence. A judge in Mexico issued the warrant on May 31 for the former "Survivor" producer. Last week, Mexican authorities told The Associated Press that they had officially asked the U.S. State Department to extradite Beresford-Redman.

Now, the State Department will review the facts of the case provided by Mexican authorities and decide whether to authorize the request. Beresford-Redman's attorneys have said their client will surrender to the U.S. government if that happens, but are fighting extradition for now. Beresford-Redman has said he had nothing to do with his wife's death.

A recent article by the Associated Press brings to light the trouble some parents who use marijuana medically can have winning equal child visitation rights. Medical marijuana has been legal in California for over 10 years, but it remains a shady area of the law, and that includes how a parent's medical marijuana use plays into a judge's child custody decisions.

Medical marijuana laws protect people using marijuana from criminal charges, but courts may still view patients as less fit parents because of their drug use. Many parents with medical marijuana prescriptions are allowed only supervised visits with their children. Patients using the drug for medical reasons say that it does not make them less fit and that it shouldn't cause them to lose their visitation rights if there's no evidence of drug abuse. 

Closing arguments for California's same-sex marriage trial began today in a federal courtroom in San Francisco. The 2 1/2 week trial began in January, but was delayed over procedural issues until now. The trial seeks to determine whether marriage is a fundamental constitutional right for all people and whether it is being illegally denied to gays and lesbians through the passage of Proposition 8.

The ballot measure Proposition 8 was passed by voters last fall in response to a decision by the California Supreme Court that said it was discriminatory to ban gays and lesbians from marrying. In the six months between the state Supreme Court's decision and the passage of Prop 8, 18,000 same-sex couples went from being domestic partners to legally married couples in California.

Actor Charlie Sheen's sentencing hearing for domestic violence has been delayed over disagreements concerning the terms of his plea deal. It seems the terms contained stricter rules than he had anticipated. Parts of the plea deal have been discussed in public and, reportedly, Sheen will serve 30 days in jail, but will be eligible for work release during the day. For his community service, he could be interning with Theater Aspen, a community theater in Colorado. The couple calls Southern California home, but Sheen will have to serve his sentence where he was arrested.

The domestic violence charges stem from a Christmas morning dispute between Sheen and his wife, Brooke Mueller, in Aspen. Sheen told police that the fight began when his wife became jealous over a song he shared with his daughter, whom he had fathered with a different woman. Sheen said Mueller threatened to divorce him and fight for custody rights of their twin one-year-old sons and he became angry.

Al and Tipper Gore announced last week that they are separating after 40 years of marriage. After decades together and accumulating shared property as well as shared grandchildren and everything else that comes from a life built together, many would wonder why a couple would undergo the hassle and pain of breaking up. Even so, marriage counselors, divorce attorneys, and other marriage experts are reporting that such "gray divorces" are on the rise. Among the reasons, people are living longer, and many see a life ahead that doesn't include their spouse and they decide that now's the time to get out.

While many around the Web have lamented the Gores' announcement as more bad news, others see the positive aspects and even the optimism in the Gores' decision. In a recent article, The New York Times quotes several marriage experts who feel that the breakup of the Gores could be seen as a "glass-half-full story." 

Al and Tipper Gore's announcement last week that they were separating jolted a lot of people in the country who looked at the couples' 40-year-marriage as ideal. The announcement has also brought to light a trend that marriage counselors and divorce attorneys have seen for awhile. As reported in 'Til 40 Years Do Us Part in The Wall Street Journal, the dissolution of long-term marriages has become more and more routine for several reasons.

Foremost among those reasons is that people are healthier these days and are living longer. Marriage experts say that couples who may have stayed married to raise their children, or were so busy raising children that they didn't take a hard look at the state of their marriage, are looking at 20 or more years of life in an unhappy empty nest after their children are grown. Women are also more financially independent with their own jobs and less dependent on their husbands. With children grown and finances in order, couples who find themselves no longer in love with each other might feel like there's nothing holding them to their spouse and that it's possible to divorce and start again.

A Superior Court judge ruled Friday that the parents of Bruce Beresford-Redman will continue to have temporary guardianship of Bruce's two young children until a trial for permanent guardianship takes place at a later date. The children's mother and Bruce's wife, Monica, was found murdered in Cancun, Mexico on April 8 of this year. Monica's sister, Carla Burgos, has requested that permanent guardianship be transferred to her.

Bruce Beresford-Redman had been in Mexico at the request of the Mexican authorities investigating Monica's death until he returned to Los Angeles a little over a week ago. Since last Sunday, he has been again living with his children. Bruce returned to Los Angeles to attend to family and personal matters, he said through his attorney. He maintains his innocence in Monica's death.

The attorney of the children's paternal grandparents filed an ex-parte motion on Thursday to give parental responsibility and custody back to their son. They withdrew the motion after the judge extended the temporary guardianship. The judge also noted that the father's situation is still unstable and may change. The next hearing on the matter is set for June 17, at which point a trial date will be set.

A judge in Cancun, Mexico, issued an order Monday for the arrest of Bruce Beresford-Redman in connection with his wife's murder. Beresford-Redman's wife, Monica, was found dead in a sewer on April 8 in Cancun, near where the Southern California couple had been staying at a resort with their two young children. She apparently died of strangulation. Beresford-Redman was told by Mexican authorities to remain in Mexico while they completed their investigation into Monica's death.

Recently, in defiance of their request, Beresford-Redman returned to Los Angeles. His attorney says that he was under no obligation to stay for the duration of the investigation, and he needed to return to California to attend to personal matters and to be with his children.