In this Aug. 6 file photo, Veronica smiles in a bathroom of the Cherokee Nation Jack Brown Center in Tahlequah. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World File
A hearing lasted most the day Monday in downtown Tulsa, where an appeals court considered the "Baby Veronica" custody dispute.
A day after the girl turned 4 years old, Veronica's biological father faced her adoptive parents in yet another courtroom.
The hearing started 9 a.m. Monday and went three hours, before breaking for lunch and resuming at 1:30 p.m. It ended about 5 p.m.
The hearing apparently related to an order Friday from the Oklahoma Supreme Court, agreeing to let the appeals move forward while 4-year-old Veronica remains with her biological family for the time being.
The courtroom was closed to the public and a gag order prevents attorneys from commenting.
Over the weekend, Cherokee Principal Chief Bill John Baker called the epic custody battle a test of tribal sovereignty, since Veronica and her biological father are both members of the tribe and the tribe has claimed jurisdiction over the case.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has decided that "it might be a good idea" to have a best interest hearing before settling the custody dispute, Baker said, seen in an online video of a speech that he gave in Texas.
Brown and the Cherokee Nation have been asking for such a hearing, but there's no indication that the court actually has ordered one.
Records are sealed and the gag order prevents the attorneys from making public comments.
Aug. 30 in Nowata County, District Judge Curtis DeLapp confirmed a court from South Carolina, giving custody to the adoptive parents and demanding that Dusten Brown hand over the girl.
But later that same day, the Oklahoma Supreme Court temporarily blocked the order to give Brown time to appeal the decision.
Matt and Melanie Capobianco arranged a private adoption with Brown's ex-fiancee and came to Oklahoma for the birth.
Celebrating her fourth birthday Sunday, Veronica has now spent roughly half her life with each family - the first two years with the Capobiancos in Charleston, S.C., and the past two years with the Browns in Nowata, an hour north of Tulsa.
Brown has said that he was tricked into signing away his parental rights when he thought he was only agreeing to give custody to the birth mother.
He challenged the adoption in South Carolina, where the courts gave him custody in December 2011.
But the Capobiancos appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled this summer that South Carolina had misinterpreted a federal law in its original decision to give custody to Brown.
South Carolina then had to reconsider the case but didn't necessarily have to take custody away from Brown.
In July, however, the South Carolina Supreme Court gave legal custody back to the Capobiancos.
They came to Oklahoma last month, hoping to take Veronica back home with them.
Meanwhile, Brown is facing possible extradition to South Carolina to face a felony complaint of custodial interference, a felony that carries up to five years in prison.
His attorneys have said that he has broken no law because he was under no obligation to obey the South Carolina court order while appealing the case in Oklahoma.
Baby Veronica
Her biological father from Oklahoma and her adoptive parents from South Carolina spent several hours Monday and Tuesday on the sixth floor of the state's Kerr office building, where the Court of Civil Appeals meets in Tulsa.
Matt and Melanie Capobianco raised Veronica for the first two years of her life, but she has lived with her Cherokee family in Oklahoma since late 2011.
Continuing coverage: Read more on the Baby Veronica custody battle here.
CONTACT THE REPORTER
918-581-8383
Email
