The Miami Herald
Thu, Aug. 30, 2007

Mom: Letters from girl's dad were faked

BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER

The mother of a 4-year-old Cuban girl at the center of an international custody dispute sent a four-day-old trial into chaos Thursday when she said an attorney for the girl's birth father fabricated a letter she had testified she received from the dad almost a year ago.

For two days, Elena Perez has been grilled, first by the Department of Children & Families, then by a lawyer for the Guardian-ad-Litem Program, and finally by Ira Kurzban, a lawyer for the girl's father, Rafael Izquierdo.

Thursday afternoon, Perez testified that, while living in Houston with her children, she had received letters from the girl's father asking about the toddler's welfare.

But then Perez said there were no such letters.

Perez told Circuit Judge Jeri B. Cohen she had ''twisted things to favor'' Izquierdo, whom she said she wants to regain custody of their daughter. ''The letters do not exist,'' she told the judge, adding that it didn't really matter because ``pieces of paper do not show who he is.''

''He's a good father,'' Perez added.

''But were these fabricated letters?'' the judge asked. ``Who wrote them?''

Fighting tears, Perez at first said she was at Kurzban's office earlier this month when Izquierdo's attorneys gave her the letters and asked her to testify that Izquierdo had written them to her.

''I regard that as a pretty serious allegation,'' Kurzban shot back. But Cohen continued to question Perez, and Kurzban was not allowed to speak.

A moment later, Perez changed part of her testimony. She said the meeting occurred at the office of Kurzban's wife, Magda Montiel Davis, who is also an attorney on the case, practicing at a different office. Perez said Kurzban was not in the office, only Davis, Izquierdo and herself.

Perez told the judge the meeting occurred ''in the early evening hours,'' and that she did not know exactly where Davis's office is because she was driven there by a relative.

What was the point of the fabrication? the judge asked.

``For me to say I got these letters in Houston. To help the father of the child.... I would do anything for the girl to be with her father.''

''We felt we were not going to be found out,'' Perez added. ``I just accepted the idea... We parents will do anything we need to be with our children.''

When Cohen asked why Perez had decided to admit the lie now, Perez said her own lawyer had told her, an hour or two earlier, that it was against the law to lie while under oath, ``that the name of the crime is perjury, and that it conveyed time in jail.''

The judge then told Perez she was unsure if she was telling the truth.

''It is very serious, if it's true, for his lawyer,'' Cohen added. ``Lying to the court is concerning to me. It's concerning to me. I don't know if it's true or not, because you have nothing to gain by it.''

''Really?'' Kurzban exploded, rattling an already very tense courtroom.

''You may bully the Department [of Children & Families] you may bully the guardians, and you may bully other attorneys in the community,'' the judge replied. ``In my courtroom you cannot bully me. I have done nothing wrong.''

''Neither have I, your honor,'' Kurzban shot back.

A moment later, Cohen abruptly adjourned and met privately with other lawyers who advised her on how to handle the crisis.

She returned about 20 minutes later and announced that Perez's testimony would continue, and that attorneys with the Florida Bar would decide what to do with the allegations against Davis.