Angelina Jolie has scored a legal win in her and Brad Pitt’s divorce case.
ET learned from California’s appeals court that Jolie won and Judge John W. Ouderkirk was disqualified in their case. All of Ouderkirk’s decisions were vacated. ET obtained court documents from ET. They claim that Judge Ouderkirk failed to disclose enough information about his business relationship with Pitt’s lawyers, which led to an “ethical violation.”
According to the docs, “the information he has disclosed about his professional relationships with Pitt’s counsel might cause an objective person, who is aware of all the facts reasonably to have doubts as to the judge’s impartiality.” “A disqualification is necessary.” This decision could be appealed by Judge Ouderkirk and Pitt.
ET was told by a spokesperson for Pitt that the appeals court decision was based upon a technical procedural issue. However, the facts have not changed. The judge and many of the experts who testified reached a clear conclusion about the best interests of the children based on an extraordinary amount factual evidence. Based on these detailed findings about what is best for the children, we will continue to do legal work.
Jolie’s previous request to remove Judge Ouderkirk was denied last November. ET reported back in May that Pitt was granted joint custody of his and Jolie’s children in a tentative ruling. Judge Ouderkirk issued a “detailed ruling” at that time. It found that Jolie was unable to testify in important areas, and that the custody order had to be amended in the best interests of the children.
However, the court’s recent decision could mean that the custody battle between the ex-couple could come back to life. The temporary joint custody ruling has been overturned. It is possible that Pitt, who has never held joint custody of their children, will revert to any custody arrangement they had before the temporary ruling.
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Jolie sought divorce from Pitt in 2016 and initially requested primary custody. Pitt requested joint custody.
ET was told by a source that Brad wanted joint custody and that he is happy that the court ruled in his favour. This is huge considering the previous arrangement with the children. Brad is eager to spend more time together. He is incredibly happy.”
Jolie also indicated in a separate court filing that ET obtained that month that she would appeal Judge Ouderkirk’s decision. She claimed that he had denied her a fair trial and improperly excluded her evidence that was relevant to her children’s safety, health, welfare, and case.