LilMtnCbn
08-24-2004, 06:30 AM
http://www.amarillonet.com/stories/082404/new_childshome.shtml
Child's home remains in court's hands
Hearing rescheduled for custody of Sierra
By BETH WILSON
beth.wilson@amarillo.com
Sierra is a tiny gymnast and a "Dora the Explorer" fan.
She'll celebrate a half birthday Wednesday, marking 212 years she has spent
with Jeff and Alicia Gurney.
But where Sierra will celebrate her third birthday remains unknown.
The Gurneys and Sierra's birth mother have been in a legal custody battle since
July 2002, five months after Sierra was born. Her birth mother, Ashley
Gutierrez, a teen from Muleshoe, wanted Sierra back, saying she never intended
to give her up for adoption.
A jury terminated parental rights of Gutierrez and Joseph Alarcon Gonzalez,
Sierra's biological father, in May 2003, but an appeals court overruled that in
January. The Gurneys appealed that decision in April to the Texas Supreme
Court, which denied a rehearing this month.
The Gurneys filed another lawsuit seeking temporary custody Monday after they
received a writ requesting they give Sierra back to Ashley Gutierrez on Friday.
A hearing set for today has been rescheduled for Friday.
Time is the main factor in the custody suit now, said the Gurneys' attorney,
Joe Marr Wilson.
"They've had the child now since May of 2003 with absolutely no contact with
the parents," he said.
Wilson said the new custody suit isn't seeking termination of Gutierrez and
Gonzalez's parental rights, meaning they would have visitation should the
Gurneys be granted custody.
Gutierrez's attorney, Kyle Lewis, did not return phone calls Monday.
Jeff Gurney said a Randall County Sheriff's deputy gave them the writ Friday
after 5 p.m., and they were unable to talk with Wilson until Monday morning.
"As far as this goes, we've been through this so many times it's just another
part of the process," he said.
Jeff Gurney hangs hope on the favorable jury verdict.
"Sometimes it can just go on and on and seem like there is no end to them," he
said. "We win a jury verdict, then a year and a half, two years of hard work is
wiped clean with the swipe of pen from the appeals court. But we still feel
like we're Sierra's parents."
And they remain committed to the fight, and have time on their side, he said.
"Sierra is so much older," he said."Of course, the bond is so much stronger and
she is so much more aware of her surroundings and her environment. I think it
is just going to devastate her getting hauled off 90 miles to a strange
environment with strange people that she really doesn't know at all."
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
Child's home remains in court's hands
Hearing rescheduled for custody of Sierra
By BETH WILSON
beth.wilson@amarillo.com
Sierra is a tiny gymnast and a "Dora the Explorer" fan.
She'll celebrate a half birthday Wednesday, marking 212 years she has spent
with Jeff and Alicia Gurney.
But where Sierra will celebrate her third birthday remains unknown.
The Gurneys and Sierra's birth mother have been in a legal custody battle since
July 2002, five months after Sierra was born. Her birth mother, Ashley
Gutierrez, a teen from Muleshoe, wanted Sierra back, saying she never intended
to give her up for adoption.
A jury terminated parental rights of Gutierrez and Joseph Alarcon Gonzalez,
Sierra's biological father, in May 2003, but an appeals court overruled that in
January. The Gurneys appealed that decision in April to the Texas Supreme
Court, which denied a rehearing this month.
The Gurneys filed another lawsuit seeking temporary custody Monday after they
received a writ requesting they give Sierra back to Ashley Gutierrez on Friday.
A hearing set for today has been rescheduled for Friday.
Time is the main factor in the custody suit now, said the Gurneys' attorney,
Joe Marr Wilson.
"They've had the child now since May of 2003 with absolutely no contact with
the parents," he said.
Wilson said the new custody suit isn't seeking termination of Gutierrez and
Gonzalez's parental rights, meaning they would have visitation should the
Gurneys be granted custody.
Gutierrez's attorney, Kyle Lewis, did not return phone calls Monday.
Jeff Gurney said a Randall County Sheriff's deputy gave them the writ Friday
after 5 p.m., and they were unable to talk with Wilson until Monday morning.
"As far as this goes, we've been through this so many times it's just another
part of the process," he said.
Jeff Gurney hangs hope on the favorable jury verdict.
"Sometimes it can just go on and on and seem like there is no end to them," he
said. "We win a jury verdict, then a year and a half, two years of hard work is
wiped clean with the swipe of pen from the appeals court. But we still feel
like we're Sierra's parents."
And they remain committed to the fight, and have time on their side, he said.
"Sierra is so much older," he said."Of course, the bond is so much stronger and
she is so much more aware of her surroundings and her environment. I think it
is just going to devastate her getting hauled off 90 miles to a strange
environment with strange people that she really doesn't know at all."
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
