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In 1976 Phyllis Ann Good lived in
Palm Beach, Florida. She had a romantic relationship with Alexander
Leopold Fanjul who also lived in Palm Beach. Both Phyllis and
Alexander were in their early twenties. The couple were introduced to
each other by a friend of Alexander. Phyllis was invited to the home
of Alexander who resided with his parents Alfonso Geronimo Fanjul y
Estrada and Lillian Gomez Mena de Fanjul at 109 Wells Road
in Palm Beach, Florida. As a result of that ongoing relationship
between Phyllis and Alexander a child was conceived.
Following that Phyllis moved to Long Island, New York. On November
28, 1976 a boy was born to Phyllis at Huntington Hospital in
Huntington Village, Long Island New York. The child was named Orion
Paul Good. The father of the child, Alexander Fanjul is the son of the
now deceased Palm Beach sugar baron Alfonso Fanjul, Sr.
Phyllis was fearful of engaging in a battle with the Fanjul family
because of their immense wealth, power and influence. The history and
extent of the holdings of the Fanjul family can be seen in one of
their website
www.floridacrystals.com Described is one of their corporation the
Florida Crystals, with its sugar cane fields, factories and its
prominence in the sugar cane industry. So, Phyllis made no effort to
establish the paternity of her child or to obtain child support from
Alexander.
However, then misfortune struck Phyllis. While residing in the
State of New York with Orion and his younger sister, Hope, their home
was destroyed by fire on February 26, 1980. Lost in the blaze were all
of her family's possessions. In an effort to ease her family's
economic difficulties brought on by the destruction of their residence
and personal possessions, Phyllis and her children on the urging of
her mother moved back to Florida, so that she could help out with her
two little children. Not being able to make ends meet in June 1980,
Phyllis applied for public assistance in Florida. As part of the
intake procedure to process her application for Aid to Families with
Dependent Children, the Florida Department of Health and
Rehabilitative Services requested information from Phyllis concerning
the identity of the father of her child, Orion Paul Good.
On September 26, 1980, the State of Florida, acting in the name of
the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, filed a
complaint against Alexander Fanjul in the 15th Judicial
Circuit Court for Palm Beach County, Florida to determine the
paternity of the minor child Orion Paul Good and to seek to recover
child support, both retroactive and prospective. Phyllis was joined as
plaintiff in the 1980 paternity action brought by the State of Florida
on behalf of Phyllis Ann Good [Case No. 80-5346 CA (D) 03 K].
On October 16, 1980, just three weeks after the paternity suit was
filed, Alexander Fanjul's father, Alfonso Sr., passed away from
complications from viral pneumonia. On October 23, 1980 a will
previously executed on July 12, 1973 by Alfonso Fanjul, Sr. was
entered into probate in Palm Beach County as Case No. 80-2678 CP 06.
Letters of administration were issued the following day. Under the
terms of that will, Alexander Fanjul eventually stood to receive a
one-fifth interest in a family estate estimated by authoritative
sources to be valued at some Five Hundred Million Dollars.
On November 20, 1980, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge R. William
Rutter entered an order on a motion filed on November 5, 1980, by
Alexander Fanjul, represented by Blackwell Stieglitz of the Miami law
firm of Fowler, White, Burnett, Hurley, Banick and Strickroot P.A. In
that November 20th order the court agreed to seal all the
files in the case, saying that it was being done pursuant to a
stipulation by counsel for Alexander Fanjul and Don Pickett, the
attorney contracted by the State of Florida to represent the Florida
Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services.
The stipulation to seal the file in the case was done without the
knowledge and consent of Phyllis. Incredulously, to this day, more
than twenty years later Phyllis Good has never been permitted to
examine the court files in her own case as a result of that November
20, 1980 ruling by Judge Rutter. This has occurred despite numerous
repeated legal efforts over the years by the Phyllis and her son Orion
to unseal the contents of the file so they could examine the
information in the files.
When a man and a woman engage in conduct that results in the birth
of a baby the law places the burden on both the man and woman. Despite
overwhelming scientific evidence establishing Alexander Fanjul's
paternity of the minor child Orion, Fanjul and his attorneys pursued a
strategy to deny, deny-denials which included denying his child the
proper support he was entitled to receive pursuant to Florida law.
Over the next three years, between November 1980 and August 1983,
the Fanjul family used its massive resources to employ lawyers to
frustrate and discourage both the State of Florida and Phyllis from
establishing that Alexander Fanjul was the biological father of Orion
Paul Good and from making any inquiry about the Fanjul family
finances.
Pursuant to a May 3, 1983 order of Judge William Rupture, Human
Leukocyte Antigen ("HLA") blood tests were performed in August 1983,
on blood samples submitted by Phyllis Ann Good, Orion Paul Good, and
Alexander Fanjul. The HLA blood tests were conducted in Burlington,
North Carolina by Roche Biomedical Laboratories, Inc., a division of
Hoffmann-La Roche Inc.
In a report concerning the blood test, on August 2, 1983, G.L.
Ryals, Jr., Ph.D, wrote as follows:
"The alleged father, Alexander Fanjul, and the child, Orion
Good, share common genetic markers. Using the HLA system, along
with ABO, Rh, MNSs, Kell, Duffy, and Kidd, the probability of
paternity is 99.97%, as compared to the random unrelated North
American Caucasian population. Therefore, the alleged father is
practically proven to be the biological father of the child."
Confronted with the results of the blood test, Alexander Fanjul and
his attorneys were still attempting to avoid the continuing
responsibilities imposed by law in matters of paternity and to
eliminate any legal connection between Alexander Fanjul and his child,
Orion. They proposed a settlement in which they offered Phyllis
$50,000 on condition that she sign a written document stating that
Alexander Fanjul was not the father of Orion.
Phyllis rejected the effort to have her sign a contract that was
obviously illegal because as she was informed and related same to
Alexander Fanjul and his attorneys the child, Orion was entitled to
child support retroactively as well as in the future. Phyllis also
attempted to secure for Orion his rightful share of any Fanjul family
trust established to provide for the descendants of Alfonso Fanjul,
Sr. ( In support Phyllis cited the well settled law, that a mother
cannot contract away a child's rights or release the father from his
obligation to support the child. Department of Health and
Rehabilitative Services v. West, 378 So.2d 1220 (Fla.1979);
Gammon v. Cobb, 335 So.2d 261 (Fla.1976).
Through his attorneys, Alexander Fanjul had initially denied ever
knowing or engaging in sexual relations with Phyllis, a position he
was finally forced to abandon during testimony given under oath in a
deposition conducted on October 26, 1983. Although he was fully aware
of the results of the blood test at the time of his deposition,
Alexander Fanjul continued to deny that he was the father of Orion and
continues to do so.
On February 1, 1984, a six-person jury hearing the paternity action
in the15th Judicial Circuit Court of Palm Beach County,
Florida, with Judge Rosemary Barkett presiding, took just 20 minutes
to return a verdict declaring that Alexander Fanjul was indeed the
father of Orion Paul Good. The case was unusual in that it was the
first paternity action in Palm Beach County ever tried by a jury.
Although the paternity of Orion was established, Phyllis’s petition to
change the last name of Orion Good to Orion Fanjul was vigorously
objected by the Fanjul family. In June 1988, Fanjul’s attorneys
arranged a secret one sided settlement approved by successor Judge
John Wessel that Phyllis be barred from exercising her statutory right
to legitimize her son and changing his birth records to reflect the
name of his natural and legal father.
On March 14, 1984, in compliance with Rule 1.611(a) of the Florida
Rules of Civil Procedure, Phyllis submitted the first of what would
eventually become numerous financial affidavits. Rule 1.611(a)
required both the petitioner and respondent in child support
proceedings to file detailed financial affidavits listing their
complete income, assets, and financial resources so that courts could
determine the appropriate amount of child support to be paid by
non-custodial parents.
However, the docket in case does not include any entry indicating
whether Alexander Fanjul ever filed a financial affidavit as required
by the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. In addition, the court denied
most of the discovery requests submitted by counsel for Phyllis. Those
requests not only sought to determine the complete resources of
Alexander Fanjul but, also whether Orion Good was entitled to receive
any interest in the estate of Alfonso Fanjul Sr. The court simply
allowed Alexander Fanjul to stipulate that he had the financial means
to pay any reasonable amount of child support ordered by the court.
On May 14, 1984 Judge R. William Rutter handed down a Final
Judgment. After first declaring that pursuant to the verdict of the
jury, Alexander Fanjul was the legal and natural father of Orion Paul
Good, he went on to order Fanjul to pay Phyllis just $400 a month for
child support, beginning May 28, 1984.
Judge Rutter also ruled that Alexander Fanjul's stipulation as to
his ability to pay was sufficient disclosure of assets and that Orion
Paul Good was not entitled to be supported by Alexander Fanjul in
accordance with the standard of living enjoyed by Fanjul. It was
disregarded that this was contrary to the rule set down by the U.S.
Supreme Court Gomez v. Perez, 409 U.S. 535, 93 S.Ct. 872, 35
L.Ed.2d 56 (1973), holding that an illegitimate child has the same
right to support from the putative father as does a legitimate child
and that this was followed by the Florida courts.
Most damaging of all, Judge Rutter ruled that Phyllis Ann Good had
no right to receive child support, neither from the date of birth
until the action was filed in September of 1980, nor for any of the
time during the three years and eight months that the case languished
in his courtroom, including the four months from the time the jury
returned its verdict until Judge Rutter issued his Final Judgment.
Throughout that time, Phyllis Ann Good had been the only parent
providing support to Orion Good. Although such relief, in Judge
Rutter's opinion, was permissible, he ruled that she was not entitled
to receive it.
Instead, in direct contravention of Florida law, Judge Rutter ruled
as follows:
"Back support in this case is not to reimburse the parent for
monies expended in support of the minor child but rather to
recompense the child for the support that from birth to this date
has never been forthcoming from his father."
It was disregarded, that retroactive recovery of child support must
be based on the theory of reimbursing the mother for the monies she
expended to support the child during the period of time in which the
father failed to provide his share of the support. Likewise that when
retroactive child support is sought, it is not actually the right of
the child, or his current need for support that is at issue. Instead,
what is at issue is the right of the third party (whether parent,
stepparent, friend or state agency) who furnished the support in the
past to be reimbursed for discharging the obligation of the natural
parent. Williams v. Johnson, 584 So. 2d 90 (Fla. App. 5 Dist.
1991)
Judge Rutter then went on to order Alexander Fanjul to pay $35,600
(89 months multiplied by $400 per month). But instead of ordering that
it be paid to Phyllis Good, as required by Florida law (in order to
recompense her for the support she provided during the first 89 months
of Orion Good's life, without any assistance from his father), the
court ordered her to establish a "Guardianship Account" in the probate
division of the court within five days, where the entire $35,600 from
Alexander Fanjul was required to be deposited for the future benefit
of her child Orion Good, to be used by him upon reaching his majority.
This was done without regard that in Florida, court-ordered child
support has never been intended as a means to shift a parent's estate
to a child. But, that is precisely what happened to Phyllis. The money
that should have been awarded to her as recompense for the support she
provided for the first 89 months of Orion Good's life that should have
been provided by the father, was instead given to her child, to be
used by him in adulthood-even though parents have no obligation under
Florida law to support their children beyond the age of majority.
Besides Alexander Fonjul had sufficient means to set up a college fund
out of his moneys and not of the moneys owed he owed to Phyllis.
The applicable procedure for setting up that guardianship account
was also disregarded by Judge Rutter, in that it had never been framed
by the pleadings, noticed for hearing, or litigated by the parties, to
make it a proper issue for the court’s determination in its May 14,
1984 Final Judgment shown to be a requirement. Cortina v. Cortina,
98 So.2d 334 (Fla. 1957); Gordon v. Gordon, 543 So.2d 428
(Fla.App.2 Dist. 1989); State, Department of Health and
Rehabilitative Service, Office of Child Support Enforcement v. McNabb,
501 So.2d 709 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987). Phyllis was simply ordered in the
paternity suit to establish a guardianship account for her child, in
which she was obligated to deposit money which, under Florida law,
should have been paid to her alone to recompense her for the support
she had provided during the first seven and one-half years of Orion
Good's life.
As the prevailing complainant in a paternity action, Phyllis Good
was also entitled to receive prejudgment interest on the amount
awarded at the statutory rate, as another element of pecuniary
damages. Judge Rutter's order provided for no such payment of interest
disregarding such requirement noted in Herrero v Pearce, 571
So. 2nd 96, (Fla. 1st DCA, 1990) reiterating the
decisions in Argonaut Ins. Co. v May Plumbing Co., 474 So. 2nd
146 (Fla. 1985); Zafrilla v Volare Shoes Inc., 394 So. 2nd 146,
(Fla. 1st DCA, 1981).
So distorted in favor of Fanjul's interest was the Final Judgment
that it even cheated Phyllis out of one month's child support, the
month of the judgment in May. The Final Judgment also made no
provision for Alexander Fanjul, one of Florida's wealthiest residents,
to repay the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services
for the AFDC assistance the state of Florida provided to Phyllis and
Orion Good in 1980 and 1981. Florida's impoverished, deadbeat welfare
dads should be so lucky.
It is important to note that throughout this time, and for a number
of years afterwards Phyllis had absolutely no idea as to what Florida
statutory and case law required with respect to paternity and child
support. She relied on her attorneys and acquired no independent
knowledge of the law. Therefore, when she inquired from Don Pickett,
her attorney in the paternity action, as to whether they should appeal
the judgment handed down by Judge Rutter, Pickett told her "You won,
Phyllis. Winners don't appeal." Following that, Don Pickett filed
documents with the court seeking counsel fees in the sum of $40,000,
payable by Alexander Fanjul. Don Pickett expeditiously received
payment in full.
Through that so-called guardianship account the attorneys for
Alexander Fanjul took control of the lives of Phyllis and Orion Good
for the next ten years. Every request for expenditure from the
guardianship account was reviewed by attorneys for Fanjul prior to
being granted or denied by the probate court, providing lucrative fees
for those attorneys. So great was the spite of Alexander Fanjul and
his brothers, that attorneys for the Fanjul family were able to milk
the cow for the next ten years through appearances at innumerable
court hearings. A computer printout of the docket listing just the
entries for the innumerable motions, hearings and orders would likely
stretch from one end of a courtroom to another.
In May of 1986 Phyllis became seriously ill. She had to undergo
major surgery, leaving her unable to work. Phyllis contacted Alexander
Fanjul’s attorney John Kelso to inform him that due her the situation,
she would have to petition for additional funds from the guardianship
account. John Kelso responded that if Phyllis would turn over to him
the guardianship of the property of Orion, he would petition the court
for release of funds from the guardianship account. However, as soon
as Phyllis did turn over that guardianship to John Kelso and the funds
were transferred to his attorney’s trust account, John Kelso told
Phyllis that he would object to any petition for release of funds.
John Kelso then suggested that Phyllis obtain a private loan which she
did for $6,000 to be paid back in two years. John Kelso then submitted
to the court a modification of the $400.00 monthly child support to be
reduced for two years to $129.00 a month the remainder $270.00 a month
to be made in repayment of the loan. Judge Rutter then entered an
order reducing the monthly payment of child support to $129.00.
In December 1986 Phyllis regained her health and went back to work.
In February 1987 Phyllis filed a complaint against Judge William
Rutter with the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission ("JQC").
About a month later the JQC rejected the complaint stating that
Phyllis’s remedy was by way of appeal and that no judicial misconduct
was found.
In 1987, the State of Florida enacted a child support statute, FS
61.30, which mandated that all petitioners and respondents in child
support proceedings filed after July 1, 1987 including proceedings to
modify existing child support orders, must submit financial affidavits
at the commencement of such proceedings.
On October 13, 1987, a petition for modification of the May 1984
child support award was filed on behalf of Phyllis by attorney Sylvan
Burdick, In connection with that petition for modification Phyllis
filed a financial affidavit. The docket for the case does not include
any entry as to whether Alexander Fanjul filed a financial affidavit
as required by law. The case then went into mediation. An additional
$600.00 monthly payment that was already provided under the Final
Judgment for the child’s camp and schooling but, was never given to
Phyllis was agreed that it would be paid to her.
On November 8, 1989, without notice and hearing to Phyllis, the
guardianship case was transferred and consolidated with the paternity
case pending before Judge John Wessel . So, that the guardianship
hearings and orders to become part of the sealed paternity case in the
Family Division.
On October 15, 1991, Phyllis filed a pro se petition for
modification of child support based on the change of Florida Statute,
which provided for child support based on the combined income of both
parties. Judge Virginia Gay Broome dismissed the petition without
Alexander Fanjul having filed a response or a financial affidavit.
On June 2, 1992, attorney Robert Shalhoub filed a petition for
modification of child support on behalf of Phyllis. Again the docket
of the case does not include any entry as to Alexander Fanjul having
filed a financial affidavit as required by law.
That guardianship account became the Catch 22 to Phyllis Good's
efforts to obtain modification of the child support award. Whenever
she requested that the court provide her with complete disclosure of
Fanjul's assets, as required by Florida law, Fanjul and his attorneys
asserted in court that no additional support was needed because the
child had money in the guardianship account, which could be tapped
should any special needs arise that the probate court deemed were
justified. So, that what should have been Phyllis own money paid as
child support arrears, was instead used against her to prevent
her from modifying the child support to the amount provided under the
revised Florida child support statute and the state's child support
guidelines .
On March 2, 1993, Phyllis Ann Good, proceeding pro se, filed an
Amended Motion to Set Aside the May 14, 1984 Final Judgment on the
ground the court lacked jurisdiction to order the establishment of a
college trust guardianship account and on funds which rightfully
belonged to her. Copies of that motion were served on all interested
parties. Phyllis also set down on the March 9, 1993 motion calendar of
successor Judge Richard I. Wennet to obtain a date for a full hearing
on her Amended Motion to Vacate the Final Judgment.
At the motion calendar hearing held on March 9, 1993, Phyllis Ann
Good entered a voluntary dismissal on her pending petition for
modification of child support, which had been filed on her behalf on
June 2, 1992 by attorney Robert Shalhoub. Judge Wennet then refused to
set a hearing on the Amended Motion to Vacate the Final Judgment.
Instead, Judge Wennet ordered that Phyllis Ann Good be stricken as a
party in her own case for child support. Judge Wenner further ruled
that, because Phyllis had entered a voluntary dismissal of the
petition for modification of child support, her act gave him the power
to order that any future pleadings by Phyllis Ann Good would be
considered a nullity and would not be accepted for filing by the Clerk
of the Court. On the spot, Judge Richard I. Wennet then substituted
attorney Melinda Gamot in place of Phyllis and instructed Ms. Gamot to
prosecute the petition for modification of the child support on behalf
of Orion Good.
Judge John L. Phillips, Chief Administrative Judge of the Family
Division (sitting in for Judge Wennet who was away on Military Leave
in the Reserve) called a hearing for April 14, 1993, with an "Order
Setting Hearing" entered on April 13th for the purpose of
authorizing disbursement of funds for paying expenses for Orion out of
the guardianship account. The hearing was set and the order was
entered on the request of Sid Stubb dated Arpil 13, 1993. On that same
day of April 13th Phyllis was contacted by telephone by Sid
Stubb’s secretary telling her that she had to appear the following day
on April 14, 1993 before Judge Phillips.
That April 14, 1993 hearing started a three day odyssey for Phyllis
thrusting her back to the torture techniques of the dreaded Star
Chamber in obvious retaliation for her challenging the court’s
jurisdiction to create and administer that so-called college
guardianship trust fund for Orion, funded on moneys which rightfully
belonged to her.
1) To begin with -- the April 14, 1993 hearing was called without
the procedurally required due process, without a written notice upon a
minimum three day notice. Nor was Judge John L. Phillip's (original
signed) secret "Order Setting Hearing" sent to the clerk's office as
required under Florida practice to be filed and docketed in the
record.
2) At that April 14, 1993 hearing in addition to Phyllis, four
attorneys were present, Sidney Stubbs, (the guardian of the property
of Orion) Melinda Gamot, (representing Orion on the modification of
child support) Sara Blumberg (representing Alexander Fanjul) and
Michael Dubiner (who just came in as an observer).
(3) The Bailiff locked the door to the courtroom and stood in front
of it with his arms crossed. Judge Phillips addressed Sidney Stubbs
first. He then gave Sara Blumberg some time to state Mr. Fanjul's
position. Ms. Gamot was next and she stated that she did not want the
money used for Orion's housing and school supplies and that it was in
his best interest to keep the money intact for a college trust as
originally planned by Judge, R. William Rutter. Judge Phillips then
asked Phyllis what her position was as the "Mother". Phyllis tells
that, :
"I proceeded to answer and tried to explain the jurisdictional
defects in establishing that guardianship account. Judge Phillips
told me to be quiet and sit down. Judge Phillips would not even
let me finish the first sentence. I sat down for a minute and then
rose from my seat and said that obviously, I was not needed here
today and so I was leaving. When I got to the door, the bailiff
would not move away and allow me to leave. Judge Phillips then
told me to put out my hands to be handcuffed. I tried to find out
on what ground the court would not allow me to leave when pursuant
to the March 26, 1993 order of Judge Richard Wennet I had been
nullified from the case and so the court had no jurisdiction over
me in the case. Judge Phillips commanded that if, I did not put my
hands out to be handcuffed he would hold me in contempt "on the
spot" and send me to the county jail for three days without bail.
At this point, I was petrified, I could not believe what was going
on. The bailiff refused to allow me to leave so I returned to my
seat. The judge then indicated to the attorneys in the room that
he had already "buzzed" security to come and get me. Judge
Phillip's then ordered everyone out of the courtroom. He told me
to remain seated and left the room for about 5 minutes. I was
seated alone in the courtroom with only the bailiff still guarding
the door. The judge returned and told me he was holding me in
"direct criminal contempt". The only persons in the court room
were the bailiff and Judge Phillips."
4) Phyllis was then summarily convicted by Judge Phillips in
proceedings behind closed doors with no witnesses or an attorney
present. Judge Phillips proceeded without giving Phyllis an adequate
opportunity to defend, without having a court reporter present to
transcribe and prepare a record of that hearing the subsequent
criminal sentencing and conviction contrary to provisions of Florida
Rule 3.380 requiring an open court. Phyllis was then, ordered to be
jailed in the Palm Beach County jail for THREE DAYS, without bail.
19 months later on November 28th, 1994 Orion turned
eighteen years of age. Thereupon, the 10 year guardianship charade had
to be terminated. Of the remaining funds of approximately $15,000,
$9,000 dollars was distributed to Orion and $6,000 was distributed to
an attorney, Scott Lainge for legal costs and fees.
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