NO: FA12-4018627S

TANYA TAUPIER

JUDICIAL DISTRICT
OF MIDDLESEX

v.

AT MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT

EDWARD TAUPIER

NOVEMBER 19, 2014

BEFORE THE HONORABLE BARRY C. PINKUS, JUDGE

A P P E A R A N C E S :

Representing the Plaintiff:

ATTORNEY GERALDINE FICARRA
3 Scholers Lane
Essex, CT 06426
Representing the Defendant:
ATTORNEY ALISHA MATHERS
P.O. Box 465
Enfield, CT 06083-0465

Recorded and transcribed by:

Nancy L. Gill
Court Recording Monitor
One Court Street
Middletown, CT 06457

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THE COURT:

Were here on Taupier.

Im happy

that everyone found the right courtroom.

sometimes, a little bit of musical courtrooms.

All right.

We play,

So, we were here about a month ago,

we got the Judge Gold, I understand, has entered an

order which will allow access to the children?

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ATTY. MATHERS:

Yes.

Theres a carve-out that

father, whatever THE COURT:

Whatever -

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ATTY. MATHERS:

11

THE COURT:

12

ATTY. MATHERS:

- is decided by your Court

- whatever the family court says.

- will be great.

The issue is

13

remains that father still doesnt have access to the

14

children, and that the mothers position is that

15

Judge Simons orders of KidSafe are what theyre

16

going to agree to.

17

KidSafe is not at this doesnt have the openings or

18

the availability to provide as the supervising

19

facility.

20

And, as I shared with counsel,

And, when we left last time, we had provided

21

alternative names for possible supervisors that could

22

do the visitation at fathers home, and none of those

23

were I dont think I received a response, but I

24

havent checked my email.

25

ATTY. FICARRA:

The answer was no.

26

ATTY. MATHERS:

Okay, the answers no.

27

And, the Court so astutely pointed out that

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theres no safety issues between father and the

children that should prevent him from having access

and, certainly, reasonable lines should prevail in

this matter and, you know, it was stated by counsel

that mother wants father to have see the children,

however, there is no indication of what, other than

KidSafe, would be a viable option for in her mind.

So, were stuck.

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10

THE COURT:

Whats KidSafe cost?

ATTY. MATHERS:

I dont know the cost of

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KidSafe, but they have no availability; so, that was

12

an issue.

13

THE COURT:

All right, so it doesnt make any

14

difference what it costs.

15

ATTY. MATHERS:

16

But, again, father has third parties that could

It doesnt matter what it costs.

17

supervise at his home.

18

they grew up in that house.

19

another house until mother left and accrued an

20

apartment.

21

THE COURT:

22

peoples names.

23

Its the childrens home;

Theyve never known

Give me an example of who give me

ATTY. MATHERS:

We had his father, Edward, his

24

brother, he has two sisters, I believe, that were

25

options.

26

the relationship between the in-laws and Mrs. would

27

create a problem for her to communicate with them

I dont think theres any I dont think

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directly to arrange for the third parties to pick up

the children -

THE COURT:

ATTY. MATHERS:

convenient for her.

Sure.
- if mother felt that was more

But, the reality is that since September, dad

hasnt seen the kids.

And, fathers phone calls have

been cut short on a very, very consistent basis to

the point where, I mean, I think he had maybe a

10

couple minutes with his son.

11

really need their dad in their lives.

12

THE COURT:

13

or his sisters?

14

Sure.

ATTY. FICARRA:

So, the children just

So, whats wrong with his dad

Your Honor, wait a minute.

15

First of all, I have no proof that KidSafe cannot

16

accommodate, and that is not the only place in

17

Connecticut.

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THE COURT:

Thats not what I said though.

19

ATTY. FICARRA:

Whats wrong with it?

But, Your

20

Honor, right now first of all, I have to address

21

the false statements that were made by counsel.

22

the telephone calls are happening between the

23

children and Mr. Taupier, Mr. Taupiers violating

24

Judge Simons

25

THE COURT:

When

See, this is the I just want to

26

solve the problem.

I mean, if were gonna fight

27

about everything, you know, do we agree that todays

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Wednesday and its a little bit after 2:00 in the

afternoon, we can start off with agreeing with

something.

ATTY. MATHERS:

THE COURT:

Would it help

Todays Wednesday, its a little bit

after 2:00 in the afternoon.

Probably, I mean, these

kids have always had a relationship with their

father, were gonna try to make sure that they

continue that relationship with their father.

10

Theres no claims that hes ever done anything

11

inappropriate with these kids?

12

ATTY. FICARRA:

Well, Im getting to that, Your

13

Honor.

14

being extremely inappropriate with the children on

15

the telephone.

16

not supposed to bring up the case, not supposed to

17

make disparaging remarks, et cetera, and hes doing

18

it consistently, and thats not good for the

19

children.

20

In fact, I filed a motion today because hes

THE COURT:

Judge Simon specifically said he was

All right.

So, since Ive heard

21

nothing wrong about since I asked a question

22

whether there was anything wrong with his sisters or

23

his brother or his father, and Ive heard nothing

24

wrong

25

ATTY. FICARRA:

26

THE COURT:

27

Well, Im getting to that.

- since Ive well, that was my

question, and since Ive heard nothing to indicate

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that theres any problem with any of them, because

obviously there cant be because that wasnt

important.

simple and it couldnt be anymore plain, okay, why

whats wrong with the children visiting their father

at their former home with either Mr. Taupier, Sr.,

either of the two sisters or

My question to you is, very straight,

ATTY. MATHERS:

THE COURT:

10
11

Brother.

- brother there?

ATTY. FICARRA:

Well, we dont believe that they

would be

12

THE COURT:

Why?

13

PLAINTIFF:

So, the issue with supervised

14

THE COURT:

Yeah?

15

PLAINTIFF:

- they are supposed to be supervised

16

in a clinical setting, so thered be some level

17

THE COURT:

It doesnt say that.

18

PLAINTIFF:

That was my understanding by the

19

judges order.

20

THE COURT:

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ATTY. FICARRA:

22

THE COURT:

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24
25
26
27

father?

But, again, it
KidSafe is a clinical setting.

But, is there an issue with his

I mean

PLAINTIFF:

The issue with the father, from what

I understand, is he has Alzheimers.

THE COURT:
thats true -

Okay.

Well, I mean, that would if

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PLAINTIFF:

So, thats concerning.

THE COURT:

- Im sorry, I didnt mean to laugh,

if thats true, thats terrible and I hope that

thats not true.

present a problem, but he has two sisters and a

brother.

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PLAINTIFF:

But, if its true, that would

And, the two sisters dont have a

relationship with our family two years prior -

THE COURT:

But, do they now?

10

PLAINTIFF:

- to me leaving the - I dont Im

11
12

not aware of their relationship.

THE COURT:

I mean, our goal here is to fix a

13

problem, its not to, you know, its usually, again,

14

I dont know of anything so, hes talking about the

15

case with the kids, and thats wrong, he shouldnt do

16

that; I agree, thats absolutely wrong and he

17

shouldnt do that.

18

allegations where the kids were a victim of anything

19

in this case.

20

PLAINTIFF:

But, Ive never heard of any

Your Honor, the other individual

21

that was proposed is somebody thats appears to be

22

living in the home who has lost custody of her child.

23

ATTY. MATHERS:

We didnt we proposed

24

ATTY. FICARRA:

That was in the list.

25

ATTY. MATHERS:

Okay, but we just we just

26
27

restated
THE COURT:

All I heard was his father, who I

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hope is in good health, but if hes not, Im sorry.

DEFENDANT:

He is.

THE COURT:

His two brothers and his sister.

ATTY. MATHERS:

THE COURT:

Other way around, two sisters

Two sisters and a brother.

And, I

dont understand, I mean, I assume that these kids,

how old are they?

DEFENDANT:

9 and 7.

PLAINTIFF:

7 and 9.

10

THE COURT:

7 and 9.

You know, most kids would

11

miss a parent if they havent seen the parent for a

12

while.

13

for mom.

14

relationship with the father.

15

understand why what the issue is.

16

The visitation is for them, not for dad, not

The visitations so the kids could have a

ATTY. FICARRA:

And, I dont

We dont believe that any of

17

these people could be effective supervisors.

18

to have

19

THE COURT:

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them from what?

21

PLAINTIFF:

22

Whats gonna happen?

We need

To protect

The same the same thing thats

happening now, Your Honor.

23

THE COURT:

Is what?

24

PLAINTIFF:

Talking about the case, disparaging

25

me, the continual conflict and the push/pull they

26

feel because theyre being put in the middle.

27

Theres an emotional trauma; I dont have bruises to

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show you.

THE COURT:

All right.

Right now, the trauma

that the kids are facing is theyre being prevented

from seeing a parent; and that is a trauma too.

mean, so I mean, I just dont get it.

I mean, so, in any event, you dont think they

could be you dont think they would harm the child,

you dont think that theyre bad people; these are

your former these are your in-laws, right?

This is

10

your sister-in-laws and your brother-in-law, I mean,

11

you

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PLAINTIFF:

What was proposed to me was picking

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them up on a Friday and returning them on a Sunday

14

night.

15

THE COURT:

Well, right

16

PLAINTIFF:

And, I dont necessarily believe

17

thered be a supervisor there -

18

THE COURT:

I didnt -

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PLAINTIFF:

- for three days.

20

THE COURT:

Okay.

I guess youre way ahead of

21

me.

Right now, what Im proposing, what I would

22

propose, because these all have to be done in steps,

23

is lets get the ball rolling and have a few hours on

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a couple times a week at dads house, and then we

25

find out that that works very well, or it doesnt

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work at all, and if it doesnt work, we have to

27

figure out why and fix it, because thats how

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seriously, and I say this sincerely, and if the shoe

were on the other foot, Id be talking to him, so you

have to understand this.

cases is to try to fix whats broken.

fix whats broken by building a wall between

everybody, okay.

My goal in all of these

And, I dont

We have to deal with this.

I understand, and with all due respect to the

ultimate divorce case, you know, that shouldnt be

hard to resolve, I dont know that you two have

10

talked at all about resolving the divorce case,

11

hopefully youll have, you know, youll have some

12

ability to do that in the future.

13

But, I understand what youre saying.

If you

14

think its gonna be from Friday to Sunday, thats not

15

happening right now; I understand that thats your

16

concern; no, I agree with that, okay.

17

talking about a few hours on a Tuesday and Thursday,

18

or on a Tuesday and Saturday, or a Tuesday and

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Sunday, or whatever

20

ATTY. MATHERS:

But, were

But, the school and the distance

21

of my - my thought, I mean, my thought would be

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Saturday and Sunday would be preferred.

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wanted, I mean, granted, he hasnt seen the children

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in months; we would prefer a period of every weekend

25

for a chunk of time.

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Friday to Monday, that

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THE COURT:

And, if you

I mean, ideally, we would like

That may happen.

That may be the

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ultimate outcome some time when youre divorced.

mean, thats a typical visitation schedule is

something like that, and I dont know why this is not

going to turn out to be that way.

ATTY. FICARRA:

Your Honor, Judge Simon had

ordered at the supervised visitation center, and I

still dont know why they cant take us, one time

during the week and one time on a Saturday.

think that my client should be

10

THE COURT:

11

ATTY. MATHERS:

12

So, can we have

The father lives in Cromwell,

and cant

13

THE COURT:

14

ATTY. MATHERS:

15

hour and a half one way.

And, the kids live where?

In Ellington, thats almost an

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THE COURT:

Is it?

17

PLAINTIFF:

No, its not.

18

ATTY. FICARRA:

19

PLAINTIFF:

20

ATTY. MATHERS:

21

I dont

No.

Its a half an hour.

Travel time its 1.4 hours,

correct?

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DEFENDANT:

Yes.

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ATTY. MATHERS:

24

THE COURT:

Round trip?

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DEFENDANT:

Round trip.

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ATTY. MATHERS:

27

THE COURT:

So, weve

Round trip.

Round trip, yeah.

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ATTY. MATHERS:

DEFENDANT:

Each so, from Cromwell to there

THE COURT:

To Elling

DEFENDANT:

- to Ellington.

THE COURT:

I can drive to New York City in an

hour and a half.

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I said each way Ive just

PLAINTIFF:

Its not that long, its not that

DEFENDANT:

The problem is, Your Honor, just if

far.

10

I may, I traveled that way all last year.

11

afternoons, when you go to pick somebody up, youre

12

traveling with all the rest of the people leaving

13

Hartford, and theyre trying to go home in Ellington.

14

The roads are very small in Ellington, you cannot

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speed, theres no way to get around the traffic.

16

THE COURT:

All right.

17

are you suggesting?

18

ATTY. MATHERS:

In the

So, how about so, what

Im suggesting, Your Honor,

19

because, again, of the travel, either moms gonna

20

or somebody has to bring the kids to the house, with

21

school, its probably not the best with the traffic

22

and school, the kids homework, need to go to bed, I

23

dont think a weekday visit in Cromwell is

24

appropriate; I think its gonna be too exhausting.

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THE COURT:

26

ATTY. MATHERS:

27

Okay.
So, my proposal is the weekend.

Now, if their concern is father having weekend time,

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both Saturday and Sunday every weekend, then perhaps

we do Saturday and Sunday every weekend and then one

the following weekend, Im sorry, every other

weekend, and then, like a chunk of time on one of the

days the following weekend.

saying?

So, two days

THE COURT:

ATTY. MATHERS:

Do you see what Im

So, a 2-1-2-1.
- a 2-1-2-1, I mean, but a

larger time in that one day.

10

THE COURT:

So, whats the problem with that?

11

ATTY. FICARRA:

I mean, thats not fair to my

12

client to have weekends chewed up like this.

13

the other thing is that

14

THE COURT:

15

ATTY. FICARRA:

16

PLAINTIFF:

17

ATTY. FICARRA:

And,

Why?
The ch well

The children have activities.

The children have activities.

18

The children are also in counseling, and we offered

19

to have Mr. Taupier talk to the counselor.

20

the ongoing counselor, you know, for these kids, that

21

these kids have had, Mr. Taupier refuses to do that.

22

And, I think that before we have

23

THE COURT:

This is

So, what day of the week works

24

better, Saturday or Sunday?

25

preference?

Do you have a

26

PLAINTIFF:

Sunday works better.

27

THE COURT:

Sunday works better, okay.

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2

ATTY. MATHERS:
client.)

THE COURT:

ATTY. MATHERS:

5
6

(Counsel speaking with her

Well, I mean, so
Sundays agreed.

Thats a great

THE COURT:

Sundays, and Im gonna suggest 11:00

to 3:00 on Sunday where the children are going to be

where mom is going to deliver the children to

because I dont want her to have to go to the house.

10

ATTY. MATHERS:

11

THE COURT:

Thats fine.

Shes got to arrange to meet either

12

his father, or his sisters, or his brother someplace

13

for pick-up and drop-off, where they will be picked

14

up someplace at a quarter to 11:00, and dropped off

15

someplace a quarter after 3:00.

16

will be with either one of either dads with the

17

paternal grandfather, paternal aunts or paternal

18

uncle.

And, the supervision

19

And, the visitation will be and, during that

20

time, I just want to make it clear, even if you say

21

its not happening, you dont talk to your kids about

22

the case.

23

case, Im not suggesting that you are, but I want to

24

be fair to both sides.

25

about the case.

26

cant talk to you about it.

27

They shouldnt know about it.

Mom, you dont talk to the kids about the

You dont talk to the kids

If they ask you anything, you say I

Its not their job.
You dont talk bad

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about mom.

not saying that you are, but you dont disparage the

other parent.

You dont talk bad about dad, again, Im

These are you know, I watched this silly movie

last week called St. Vincent with Bill Murray and

Melissa McCarthy, okay.

McCarthy, shes separated from her husband and she

has this kid with her.

ex-husband at all, okay.

And so, theres Melissa

And, she does not like her

10

And, in any event, the kid kind of makes a

11

comment when shes saying things, you know, thats my

12

dad, you know, thats my dad.

13

how do you know about says to the child how do you

14

know all these things about dad, because you never

15

hesitate to tell people what a miserable son of a

16

bitch he is in front of me.

17

but you say it.

18

And, you know, well

You dont say it to me,

And so, Im watching this movie and Im saying

19

and all this kid wants to do is spend time with both

20

parents; they dont want to be involved, they dont

21

want to be in this mess.

22

of you are in this mess, and we can get you out of

23

this mess quickly, candidly, if you use good

24

commonsense and work this out, because this is not a

25

hard case to get divorced.

26
27

And, Im sorry that the two

But, the visitation is gonna be on Sundays,

where theres gonna be where Mr. Taupiers

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somebodys gonna contact mom, theyre gonna make an

arrangement to meet.

take place supervised by either the paternal

grandfather, or aunts or uncle, and supervised means

in their presence, so theyre going to be there.

They dont pick up the kids and drop them off, they

stay at the house.

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9
10
11

DEFENDANT:

And, the visitations gonna

Can I we also nephews and

nieces.
ATTY. MATHERS:

They can come over and visit

anybody

12

THE COURT:

Right now, just you.

13

ATTY. MATHERS:

14

THE COURT:

- oh.

Right now, lets keep the eye on the

15

ball, which is you.

16

ATTY. MATHERS:

Holiday fast approaching.

Could

17

father have some parent they dont have school the

18

day after Thanksgiving, if youre not inclined to

19

give him some holiday time on the actual

20

Thanksgiving, I dont know whether theres travel

21

plans been made for mother to leave the state or

22

whatever.

23

THE COURT:

Well, Thanksgivings a Thursday.

24

ATTY. MATHERS:

25

THE COURT:

Right.

There shouldnt be any problem with

26

having some visitation the day after Thanksgiving and

27

the day after Christmas.

I think Thanksgivings a

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2

Christmas is a Thursday also.

ATTY. MATHERS:

So, could he have but for

Christmas, could he have some time either on

Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?

THE COURT:

ATTY. MATHERS:

THE COURT:

ATTY. MATHERS:

9
10

It could be the day after.

The 26th?

It could be the 26th.

Could we just spell out the

times same time?

THE COURT:

Same time on the 26th.

So, for

11

Christmas weekend and Thanksgiving, instead of the

12

Sunday, the visitation will be on instead of the

13

Sunday, the visitation will be on the Friday.

14

will be on the day after Thanksgiving and the day

15

after Christmas.

16

ATTY. MATHERS:

17

THE COURT:

18

ATTY. MATHERS:

19
20

So, it

Could he have in addition to?

Not in addition to.

Okay, sorry.

Im a little slow.

So, Thanksgivings a so, the Friday

THE COURT:

Friday after Thanksgiving, which, I

21

dont have a cal the Friday after Thanksgiving

22

which is what?

23
24

ATTY. MATHERS:

The 28th.

So then, no visit on

the no visit on the

And, the 26th

25

THE COURT:

26

ATTY. MATHERS:

27

THE COURT:

- 30th.

- of December is a Friday.

And,

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thats the visitation.

So, its going to be Sundays,

theyre going to meet somewhere at quarter to 11:00

till 3:15, and the kids will be available, the

transportation by one of these people or more than

one of these people.

to be supervised, which means that they are with dad

during this time.

other parent.

football game or have lunch.

They are to be the kids are

No disparaging comments about the

No talk about the case.

Just watch a

10

DEFENDANT:

Play games.

11

THE COURT:

Play games, be

12

DEFENDANT:

Puzzles.

13

THE COURT:

- and, thats the Court order.

14

ATTY. FICARRA:

15

THE COURT:

16

ATTY. MATHERS:

Its Saturday and Wednesday.

17

ATTY. FICARRA:

Its Friday and Sundays at 6

18

No phone call on Sunday?

Well, whens the phone call now?

oclock.

19

PLAINTIFF:

Its Fridays and Sundays, 6:00 p.m.

20

THE COURT:

Well, if you have the visitation,

21

you dont need to make a phone call.

22

that makes sense.

Thats fine;

23

PLAINTIFF:

Your Honor, I have a question.

24

THE COURT:

Yes?

25

PLAINTIFF:

The talk about the disparaging

26

comments; its happening now on the phone.

So,

27

youre saying about these are the Court orders, this

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has been the Court order for a while, and it happens

and its talked about, and it causes a lot of undue

stress and anxiety and confusion.

4
5

THE COURT:
cant do it.

6
7

PLAINTIFF:

So, how do you want me to handle

THE COURT:

Well, I mean, when was the last

that?

8
9

Im sure that it does, thats why he

occurrence?

10

PLAINTIFF:

Sunday.

11

ATTY. MATHERS:

12

PLAINTIFF:

Well

And I have the calls all recorded.

13

So, I dont know if you want transcripts of the calls

14

themselves.

15

DEFENDANT:

I have them recorded too.

16

THE COURT:

Oh, so everyones recording, that

17

means that how do you think these kids feel about

18

this?

19

everything that youre saying

So, the answer is if you know shes recording

20

ATTY. MATHERS:

I dont think he said

21

THE COURT:

- I dont

22

DEFENDANT:

Im not saying that thats

23

THE COURT:

The last thing I will say about you

24

is that youre stupid because I know that youre not,

25

okay, and nor is mom.

26

DEFENDANT:

27

I mean, so

Im not recording Im recording

them so that you can see, actually, there arent

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disparaging comments, and that the phone calls are

ending quite shortly, after two or three minutes.

3
4

THE COURT:

Okay.

All right.

Well, in any

event, this -

ATTY. FICARRA:

What I would ask the Court to do

also is to order that Mr. Taupier speak to the

childrens therapist.

8
9

ATTY. MATHERS:

Well, hes communicated with

her, and I presented you with an email that the

10

therapist shared with and, he did respond to that.

11

So, he is in communication with the therapist.

12
13

THE COURT:

Well, I dont think thats a bad

idea.

14

ATTY. MATHERS:

15

communication, in fact

16

THE COURT:

And, hes not not in

I dont know that he can go there

17

under the Court order.

18

19

ATTY. MATHERS:

20

THE COURT:

21

ATTY. FICARRA:

I dont think he can go there

He cant go.

- and sit down and talk to the guy.

He could do it by phone; they

22

know each other.

23

has been an ongoing therapist in the family, and

24
25

THE COURT:

They know each other because this

Well, I think to the extent that the

therapist wants to engage the father, the father

26

PLAINTIFF:

She does.

27

THE COURT:

- shall participate in that.

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1

ATTY. FICARRA:

THE COURT:

ATTY. FICARRA:

THE COURT:

DEFENDANT:

THE COURT:

Okay.

Can I bring that she wants the

I cant I dont know that I can do

ATTY. MATHERS:

THE COURT:

13

ATTY. MATHERS:

Oh, he wants
- they would do anything you

say.

15
16

Well I think criminal court said

that

12

14

So, the extent of the its

that.

10
11

She wants to talk to him.

children and me there, that was the email.

8
9

Okay.

therapist driven, not you.

6
7

She does.

THE COURT:

- the therapist wants to meet with

DEFENDANT:

And the children and to be a part of

you?

17
18

the therapist and part of the (indecipherable

19

word).

20

THE COURT:

Is that right?

21

PLAINTIFF:

That hasnt been discussed with me.

22

THE COURT:

Well

23

DEFENDANT:

Thats the email she sent.

24

ATTY. FICARRA:

Well, I havent seen the email.

25

ATTY. MATHERS:

I sent I gave it to you last

26
27

time.
DEFENDANT:

Gave it to you last week.

21
1
2

ATTY. MATHERS:
were here.

THE COURT:

ATTY. FICARRA:

I gave it to you last time we

All right.
Waves things in front of my

face; I dont have a copy of the email.

THE COURT:

All right.

Well, in any event, this

is the problem.

some are more difficult because things happen.

doesnt mean that you cant catch them and stop them

Most family cases are hard, okay,

That

10

from happening.

11

all seen cases that filled boxes and boxes and boxes

12

of stuff, okay; weve all seen that.

13

Weve all the lawyers here have

I have to tell both mom and dad that in almost

14

every one of those cases, those kids are not healthy,

15

okay.

16

make sure that your kids grow up to be healthy and

17

well.

18

wins, or mom loses and dad loses, because the only

19

winners and losers in this case are your children,

20

and thats a fact.

21

So, the ball here is to the goal here is to

And, that doesnt mean that dad wins or mom

So, the deal is is that if you want to just turn

22

this into a file thats boxes and boxes, and I have

23

plenty of those files, thats what I do, okay, I will

24

tell you that those kids are not healthy.

25

want your kids to get we want your kids to survive

26

this case and to be successful.

27

We dont

So now, we have a special masters pretrial

22
1

scheduled for January and a trial scheduled for

February; hopefully the special masters can settle

the case.

ATTY. MATHERS:

I hope so.

My understanding

the criminal trial is going to be assigned right

around the exact same time as our trial, and Im sure

THE COURT:

ATTY. FICARRA:

10

Well, I mean, I dont

No, thats not true.

Its

already been assigned for February 1st, Your Honor.

11

THE COURT:

12

ATTY. MATHERS:

So, is that not around the same

14

ATTY. FICARRA:

The criminal, the criminal.

15

ATTY. MATHERS:

And then, they probably start

13

What?

time?

16

picking a jury, and I dont know how long thats

17

going to take.

18

THE COURT:

Well, in any event, in the event

19

the criminal trial, unfortunately, does take priority

20

over our case.

21

accommodate both, well accommodate both.

22

have to be flexible and move the days, a couple of

23

days on the divorce trial, well do that.

But, in the event that we can

24

ATTY. FICARRA:

25

THE COURT:

And, if we

Understood.

But, again, you guys need to

26

understand that if anyone here is trying to win, its

27

impossible, okay.

You want to resolve the problem.

23
1

So, well see you back here in January for the

special masters pretrial.

I expect there to be no

problems with the visitation, the kids will be

available.

theyre going to meet, they can work it out.

with all due respect, it sometimes is an impediment

that you say mom is causing and she doesnt say shes

causing, the most important thing is for you to visit

your kids.

You give mom adequate notice as to where

10

DEFENDANT:

Absolutely.

11

THE COURT:

Okay?

12

ATTY. FICARRA:

And,

So, Your Honor, I just want to

13

be sure I understand the logistics here.

14

these potential supervisors is gonna contact mom?

15

THE COURT:

16

ATTY. FICARRA:

17

Right.
And, theyre going to work out a

place to meet.

18

THE COURT:

19

ATTY. FICARRA:

20

One of

Right.
Around about 15 minutes before

the visitation begins.

21

THE COURT:

Right.

22

ATTY. FICARRA:

Okay.

And then, on the first of

23

the on the Sunday visitations, theyll be no phone

24

call on Sunday night since that will be

25

THE COURT:

Right.

26

ATTY. FICARRA:

27

And then, the day after Thanksgiving is a

- kind of soon in the okay.

24
1

Friday, thats another night for a phone call, so the

visit will take care of the phone call.

THE COURT:

ATTY. FICARRA:

Right.
And then, Im not sure

what day the 26th is, but if that -

ATTY. MATHERS:

THE COURT:

ATTY. FICARRA:

Okay.

Its a Friday as well.

Its a Friday.
The same, okay, Friday.

The

same thing.

10

THE COURT:

This year.

Okay?

Same thing, and

11

thats it.

12

what happens to children in cases that go awry, okay;

13

weve all seen it, you havent, okay.

14

Ive seen what happens to kids in cases that go awry.

15

Lawyers have seen what happens to kids.

16

stop.

17

sense of normality with these kids.

18

And so, please, you know, weve all seen

I have, okay.

You have to

You have to get back into the into some

ATTY. FICARRA:

Thats all the more reason that

19

Id really like to see Mr. Taupier talk with the

20

counselor.

21

THE COURT:

Okay.

22

ATTY. FICARRA:

Well, he will, he will.

And, it doesnt have to be in

23

her office with the kids in tow, but at least have a

24

phone call with her, a substantial phone call where

25

they can talk with the counselor can share with him

26

whats going on with these kids.

27

THE COURT:

I dont think thats a problem.

25
1

ATTY. MATHERS:

with the counselor.

4
5

THE COURT:

I dont think hes not engaged

I think shes not sure how much

She may just not have enough

information

ATTY. MATHERS:

THE COURT:

- what hes actually done.

- because theres one thing thats

not happening, and thats communication.

communication between mom and dad

10

ATTY. MATHERS:

11

THE COURT:

12

ATTY. FICARRA:

There is no

No.

- because there cant be.

Oh, Your Honor, theres plenty

13

of communication, and its all and its all

14

inappropriate and with and thats the subject of

15

another motion that Im filing with social media and

16

emails, interfering in moms work; theres plenty of

17

communication, Your Honor, but its all the wrong

18

kind.

19

What Im suggesting is some kind of healing

20

communication right now between Mr. Taupier and the

21

counselor, Dr. Eiswirth and maybe Dr. Eiswirth can

22

give Mr. Taupier a clue as to where these kids are

23

right now, because shes seeing them quite

24

frequently.

25

THE COURT:

26

ATTY. FICARRA:

27

Okay.
And, she can help Mr. Taupier,

you know, work out a better communication with his

26
1

children.

Thats all Im suggesting.

THE COURT:

Okay.

ATTY. MATHERS:

THE COURT:

Your Honor, I would just ask

Well, we all agree that thats a

goal is to have dad have a good relationship and good

communication.

ATTY. MATHERS:

THE COURT:

Absolutely.

And, you know, so the other order

Im gonna enter is that dad can have can

10

participate in counseling with the children, so that

11

wouldnt be a violation of his so dad can attend a

12

counseling session, or sessions, with the children

13

and their counselor.

14
15
16
17

ATTY. FICARRA:

And, that would be at dads

expense?
ATTY. MATHERS:

Well, I dont understand why,

isnt it a

18

THE COURT:

Is any of it covered by insurance?

19

DEFENDANT:

No.

20

ATTY. MATHERS:

21

THE COURT:

22

ATTY. MATHERS:

23

And, I would think

Theres no insurance?
I the therapist is not covered

by insurance.

24

PLAINTIFF:

Its a high deductible plan.

25

DEFENDANT:

Its not covered by

26

PLAINTIFF:

And, Mr. Taupier hasnt paid any of

27

his expenses.

27
1

THE COURT:

Well, dad should pay for his visits.

If hes going with the kids, he should pay for those

visits.

ATTY. MATHERS:

Then mother shall be responsible

for her visits that she has with the children as

well.

7
8

THE COURT:

Well, I dont know what the Court

order is with regard to that.

ATTY. FICARRA:

Mothers been paying for them.

10

Mr. Taupier has not paid any of the unreimbursed that

11

12

THE COURT:

Okay

13

ATTY. FICARRA:

14

THE COURT:

15

ATTY. MATHERS:

Okay, well thats not

16

ATTY. FICARRA:

And, mother pays what shes

- hes supposed to be paying.

- well, in any event

17

what (indecipherable words three people speaking at

18

once).

19
20

THE COURT:

Just to make sure that gets there,

okay?

21

ATTY. MATHERS:

22

THE COURT:

Yes.

Lets not argue about see,

23

everything gets broken everything ends up with

24

something else.

25

that dad can be with the children in a counseling

26

session, all right, and, thats important.

27

DEFENDANT:

So, in any event, so the order is is

Usually, we pick them up after

28
1

school at 3 oclock at Windermere and then drive them

into Hartford.

ATTY. FICARRA:

That would be unsupervised, Your

Honor, were suggesting

ATTY. MATHERS:

I dont think hes I think he

would meet the children there so somebody who gets

children, they can meet them there.

8
9

ATTY. FICARRA:

Right, somebody will have to,

yes.

10

THE COURT:

Okay.

11

ATTY. MATHERS:

Just so

Well, Im sure hes gonna elicit

12

the assistance of your in-laws; Im sure hed be

13

happy to have some extra time with the kids.

14

THE COURT:

So, in the event that thats

15

suggested, mom will cooperate and make sure that the

16

kids get there.

17

ATTY. FICARRA:

Right, and I think that the

18

logistics should be that Mr. Taupier speak to Dr.

19

Eiswirth -

20

THE COURT:

Yes.

21

ATTY. FICARRA:

- and work out some times that

22

Dr. Eiswirth is available.

23

those times are, and my client makes the arrangements

24

to get the children to Dr. Eiswirths.

25

THE COURT:

26

ATTY. FICARRA:

27

THE COURT:

My client is told when

And, dads job is just to get there.

And, hopefully to cooperate.

Can dad go there without violating

29
1

Judge Golds order?

ATTY. MATHERS:

You just entered the orders; he

can do that.

THE COURT:

Okay, fine.

ATTY. MATHERS:

But, just going back to the

telephone call, if the children, after their visit

with dad on the Sunday or the Friday, if they wish to

call father, I dont think

9
10
11

THE COURT:

Is there anything stopping the kids

from calling dad at any time?

ATTY. FICARRA:

Nothing is stopping the kids

12

from calling the father at any time, but after

13

thats already a break in the Sunday

14

ATTY. MATHERS:

But, maybe they will

15

ATTY. FICARRA:

- theres no reason may I

16

finish?

17

phone call within an hour of seeing the father.

18
19

Theres no reason why there has to be a

PLAINTIFF:

Theyre 7 and 9 years old, they

dont love spending time on the phone.

20

THE COURT:

All right, well in any event

21

ATTY. MATHERS:

What Im suggesting is the

22

children are so excited about their visit with dad

23

and they want to call dad later on to say goodnight,

24

not dad calling the children, but the children

25

wanting to reach out to dad.

26
27

THE COURT:

Well, theres nothing stopping the

kids from calling father.

30
1

ATTY. MATHERS:

But, I just want to make sure

the children know that theyre able to call their dad

whenever they want to, because Im not sure that

message has come across.

5
6

THE COURT:

But, lets not talk about that

during the visitation.

ATTY. MATHERS:

THE COURT:

ATTY. MATHERS:

10
11

THE COURT:

He wont.

Were not talking

But, perhaps, we can

- about any of that during the

visit.

12

ATTY. MATHERS:

13

THE COURT:

- have the therapist address it.

The time for the visitation is for

14

you to catch up with them at first, you know, be

15

their dad and thats the goal.

16

recording what everybodys doing and everything that

17

happens on social media is available to be printed

18

and copied, I would hope that everybody would use

19

good commonsense and just not do things that are

20

inappropriate and will come back in a courtroom

21

setting to bite you in the back.

22

Were all set.

23

ATTY. MATHERS:

24

THE COURT:

25
26
27

And, if everyone is

Thank you, Your Honor.

I wish you well.

Good luck.

NO: FA12-4018627S
TANYA TAUPIER

JUDICIAL DISTRICT
OF MIDDLESEX

v.

AT MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT

EDWARD TAUPIER

NOVEMBER 19, 2014

C E R T I F I C A T I O N

I hereby certify the foregoing 30 pages are a true and

correct transcription of the audio recording of the abovereferenced case, heard in Superior Court, Judicial District of
Middlesex, Middletown, Connecticut, before the Honorable Barry C.
Pinkus on the 19th day of November, 2014.

Dated this 16th day of December, 2014 in Middletown,

Connecticut.

_____________________________
Nancy L. Gill
Court Recording Monitor