Summary
In Matter of Isidro A.-M. v. Mirta A., 74 A.D.3d 673, 674, 902 N.Y.S.2d 362 [2010], this Court considered another situation in which one parent was represented by counsel and the other was pro se, and we held that the denial of a copy of the report was not an improvident exercise of discretion, as long as the pro se party was permitted to review and take notes regarding the report before trial.
Summary of this case from Sonbuchner v. SonbuchnerOpinion
No. 3136.
June 24, 2010.
Order, Family Court, New York County (Ivy I. Cook, Ref.), entered on or about December 24, 2008, which denied petitioner's application that he be provided with a copy of a forensic report to prepare for the custody trial, unanimously modified, on the facts, to permit petitioner to take notes of the report while he reviews it under court supervision, and otherwise affirmed, without costs.
Isidro A.-M., appellant pro se.
Anne Reiniger, New York, for Mirta A., respondent.
Tamara A. Steckler, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Marcia Egger of counsel), Law Guardian.
Before: Saxe, J.P., Friedman, Nardelli, Moskowitz and Richter, JJ
Although the subject order is not appealable as of right (Family Ct Act § 1112), leave to appeal is hereby granted ( see Matter of John A. v Bridget M., 36 AD3d 433).
Family Court did not improvidently exercise its discretion in denying the pro se petitioner's request for a copy of the forensic report, since he was permitted to review it in court. Thus, contrary to petitioner's contention, he was not denied access to the information ( see Family Ct Act § 166; Matter of Morrissey v Morrissey, 225 AD2d 779).
However, petitioner should be permitted to take notes during the in court review because he is proceeding pro se and opposing counsel have unfettered access to the report. As this issue is likely to arise again, we note the better practice in most cases would be to give counsel and pro se litigants access to the forensic report under the same conditions.