The Mel Gibson and Oskana child custody battle is at its prime with all the legal and emotional drama that probably made for good TV last night on Larry King. Oskana alleged that she appeared on Larry King to talk about the domestic violence she claims that she encountered with Mel Gibson. She claims she was on the talk show to help women stand up against domestic violence. Domestic violence is criminal as it is violent and has lasting negative impacts on all involved. However, the timing has to be right for one to speak out. The parties are in the middle of a custody battle and legal dispute. For the sanctity of Oksana’s relationship with Mel, being the mother of his child, speaking out on Larry King last night was poor judgment on the part of Oksana and her attorney. A custody battle turns into a “battle” for one reason- the parties place their interest above that of the child. Oksana claims that she fears for the safety of her child being with Mel Gibson since he was violent. If this is, in fact, true then she should have full custody of the child with supervised visitation allocated to Mel Gibson, however the truth is unknown in this case as Mel disputes these allegations. Oksana stated last night that she feared losing her child by appearing on Larry King. Mel made numerous requests to the court for a gag order to prevent Oksana from speaking with the media. The judge denied the gag order but ordered that Oksana could lose custody of her child if she did publicly speak of the contents of the divorce. Who would she lose her child to? It would be Mel. He would gain custody of the child, per the court orders, if she spoke out. If Oksana was so fearful of losing her child to Mel due to domestic violence she wouldn’t have been on the talk show. Because of her decision, Mel will be in Judge Gordon’s department on Monday to obtain custody of the child. Of course, the infamous tape recordings between her and Mel were played repeatedly on the show. From a legal standpoint speaking publicly sends the wrong message to the court. Oksana made the statement last night that she was trying to gain notoriety, disregarded the minor child and was not on a path of resolvment by adding fuel to fire. Mel Gisbson is appearing in court ex parte (i.e. on an emergency basis) on Monday to obtain full custody of the child as Oskana volated the court order. A battle to this extent is always sad as the two will have to learn to reconcile their differences for the sake of the infant. Until the child reaches the age of majority Oksana and Mel will have to come to terms with each other and to begin parenting the child and this much animosity requires counseling and parental assitance programs.
Family law court documents filed by the court or parties is always sealed to protect any information pertaining to a minor child. The sealed documents in this case were leaked to the media and appeared on TMZ along with other internet sites. The only way this could happen is if a staff at the court house provided the documents to the media. The personell at the courthouse are now under investigation and it was stated last night that the person will be criminally charged. Whoever disclosed these documents to the media must have been induced with a substantial amount of money.