Angelina Jolie scored a major victory Friday in her divorce with Brad Pitt when a California appeals court agreed with her that the private judge deciding who gets custody of their children should be disqualified. Ouderkirk didn't sufficiently disclose business relationships with Pitt's attorneys. Disqualification is required," the court ruled. The decision means that the custody fight over the couple's five minor children, which was nearing an end, could just be getting started.
Like many celebrity couples, Pitt and Jolie opted to hire their own judge to increase their privacy in the divorce proceedings. The facts haven't changed. There is an extraordinary amount of factual evidence which led the judge β and the many experts who testified β to reach their clear conclusion about what is in the children's best interests," a statement by Pitt's representative said.
Jolie and Pitt have six children: year-old Maddox, year-old Pax, year-old Zahara, 15 year-old Shiloh, year-old Vivienne and year-old Knox.
Only the five minors are subject to custody decisions. Ouderkirk declined to disqualify himself when Jolie asked him to in a filing in August. A lower court judge ruled that Jolie's request for disqualification came too late. Jolie's attorneys then appealed. The July 9 oral arguments in front of the appeals court focused on exactly which ethical rules should apply to private judges, who, like Ouderkirk, are usually retired superior court judges.
Pitt attorney Theodore Boutrous said the attempt at disqualification was a stalling tactic by Jolie to keep Ouderkirk's recent tentative custody decision, which is favorable to Pitt, from going into effect.
