Opinion ID: 78026
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Finding of abuse

Text: Before denying Baran's petition, the district court heard testimony from Beaty, reviewed affidavits submitted by Beaty and Baran, and heard argument from counsel for both parties. After noting Baran's conclusory affidavit (which had been drafted in connection with his initial petition and not for the evidentiary hearing) did not provide any counter-explanation for the events to which Beaty had testified, see Baran, 479 F.Supp.2d at 1260 n. 1, the district court found the following facts: Baran abuses alcohol on a daily or near-daily basis, that he is susceptible to lengthy drinking and gambling binges that in no way abated during the five months that Sam habitually resided with him, that he is only marginally able to care for his own basic needs, that he has no close family members or friends that could reasonably be expected to have meaningful involvement in Sam's day-to-day care and protection, that he is emotionally unstable and prone to uncontrolled destructive outbursts of rage, that he was physically and verbally abusive toward Beaty in Sam's presence, that he physically endangered Sam (both intentionally and unintentionally) when Sam lived under his roof, and that Baran repeatedly and pointedly stated to Beaty after Sam's birth that he did not want Sam, that Sam should have been aborted, that Sam would die if Sam became an American, and that Beaty could not blame him if something happened to Sam. Id. at 1270-71. Based on these facts, the district court concluded Beaty had met her burden of showing Samuel's return to Australia would expose him to grave risk of physical or psychological harm. Baran challenges the district court's conclusion, contending that his drunkenness and temper are not the sort of grave risks to which Article 13(b) is directed. Citing persuasive authority, Baran contends that, to establish grave risk, Beaty was required to show Samuel had been mistreatednot that she herself had been verbally or physically abused. See Nunez-Escudero v. Tice-Menley, 58 F.3d 374, 376-77 (8th Cir.1995) (holding physical and sexual abuse of mother insufficient to establish grave risk of harm to child); Whallon v. Lynn, 230 F.3d 450, 460 (1st Cir. 2000) (concluding verbal abuse of child's mother and sibling and shoving of child's mother insufficient to establish grave risk of harm to child). But see Walsh v. Walsh, 221 F.3d 204, 219-20 (1st Cir.2000) (finding grave risk of harm to child established by evidence father disobeyed court orders, engaged in general acts of violence, and had severely beaten pregnant wife in front of child's siblings). Although it is true there was no evidence to suggest Baran intentionally harmed Samuel, the district court was presented with evidence Baran had threatened to do so both before and after Samuel's birth. Moreover, the court heard testimony that Baran had placed Samuel in harm's way by abusing Beaty while she was pregnant, verbally berating Beaty for hours on end while she held Samuel in her arms, and handling newborn Samuel irresponsibly while drunk. To deny return, the district court was not required to find Samuel had previously been physically or psychologically harmed; it was required to find returning him to Australia would expose him to a present grave risk of physical or psychological harm, or otherwise place him in an intolerable situation. Convention, art. 13(b). The evidence presented was sufficient to support the court's conclusion that Baran's violent temper and abuse of alcohol would expose Samuel to a grave risk of harm were he to be returned to Australia.