Questions about court procedures (going to trial pro se)

Hello,

I'm representing myself in a custody matter in the next month and I have some questions about trial procedures that I cannot seem to find answers to. The gist of it is: My partner is trying to get unsupervised visitation with our child and it is my stance that that clearly should not happen, but now I've got to convince a judge of that. Note that the other side has a lawyer.

So, my questions are:
1. If I have a piece of evidence that I intend to show multiple witnesses, what is the procedure for showing it the second time? For instance: I play some audio for one witness and then later on I want to play the same audio file for another witness (audio is on a USB marked Plaintiff's Exhibit 2). Now, if I wasn't going to play it again my understanding of the procedure would be:
"I'm going to play Plaintiff's Exhibit 2 and ask you a question" and afterwards go, "Judge, I offer into evidence Plaintiff's 2" and then hand it to the judge.
HOWEVER, if I want to revisit Exhibit 2, do I inform the judge I want to hold on to it until a later time? Or do I go ahead and offer it and just use my copy when it comes time to play the audio again? Or do I need to ask for the original back to play it again?

2. Suppose I show my partner a text message in which they talk about doing drugs. Am I allowed to ask, "Do you think it would be the best interest of the minor child to be unsupervised with someone talking about doing drugs?"

3. For you lawyers that have gone up against pro se folks, what are some weird/obscure objections you've used to throw them off their game (or knock out evidence period)? I've talked to a few lawyers and that's one thing they've warned against, so I figured I'd ask about some examples here to prepare.

Thank you for any help!

SLawvere said:

Hello,

I'm representing myself in a custody matter in the next month and I have some questions about trial procedures that I cannot seem to find answers to. The gist of it is: My partner is trying to get unsupervised visitation with our child and it is my stance that that clearly should not happen, but now I've got to convince a judge of that. Note that the other side has a lawyer.

So, my questions are:
1. If I have a piece of evidence that I intend to show multiple witnesses, what is the procedure for showing it the second time? For instance: I play some audio for one witness and then later on I want to play the same audio file for another witness (audio is on a USB marked Plaintiff's Exhibit 2). Now, if I wasn't going to play it again my understanding of the procedure would be:
"I'm going to play Plaintiff's Exhibit 2 and ask you a question" and afterwards go, "Judge, I offer into evidence Plaintiff's 2" and then hand it to the judge.
HOWEVER, if I want to revisit Exhibit 2, do I inform the judge I want to hold on to it until a later time? Or do I go ahead and offer it and just use my copy when it comes time to play the audio again? Or do I need to ask for the original back to play it again?

2. Suppose I show my partner a text message in which they talk about doing drugs. Am I allowed to ask, "Do you think it would be the best interest of the minor child to be unsupervised with someone talking about doing drugs?"

3. For you lawyers that have gone up against pro se folks, what are some weird/obscure objections you've used to throw them off their game (or knock out evidence period)? I've talked to a few lawyers and that's one thing they've warned against, so I figured I'd ask about some examples here to prepare.

Thank you for any help!

Click to expand...

You refer to the other parent as your partner. That implies a current relationship. Are you still in a current relationship with this person and if so are you married? If not in a current relationship, are you divorced?

justblue said:

You refer to the other parent as your partner. That implies a current relationship. Are you still in a current relationship with this person and if so are you married? If not in a current relationship, are you divorced?

Click to expand...

Oh, I'm sorry. We're divorced and have been for a bit over two years.

SLawvere said:

Oh, I'm sorry. We're divorced and have been for a bit over two years.

Click to expand...

How did you obtain the recordings?
What kind of drugs are you referring to?
How old is the child/ren?
Why is your ex on supervised visitation? Was it court ordered?

Well, I'm trying to be somewhat vague in all of this on the off chance her lawyer sees this thread. The drugs comment was just an example. To ask my questions with the examples removed:
1. What is the procedure for reusing an exhibit with another witness? (Could be audio, could be a text message).
2. Is asking a question like, "Would it be in the best interest of the child if they were unsupervised with a parent that did what the evidence shows you did?" allowed?

To answer your questions:
1. Child is not a teenager.
2. Ex was court ordered to supervised visits due to substance abuse and involving the child in the divorce.

SLawvere said:

I'm trying to be somewhat vague in all of this

Click to expand...

Yeah, we get that all the time. People provide vague information that doesn't reveal the actual facts and get answers that are useless.

Your question:

SLawvere said:

"Would it be in the best interest of the child if they were unsupervised with a parent that did what the evidence shows you did?"

Click to expand...

If you were actually going to ask that question it would be objected to and the judge would rule against you because you are not offering the evidence you allude to.

You want to prove that your ex takes harmful drugs now, you prove it with evidence of that drug use, not with inuendo or hypotheticals.

Let me guess. Your ex filed a petition with the court requesting unsupervised visitation due to a change in circumstances, to wit: No more drug use.

That petition is a document with words on it. What do those words say? What evidence is your ex providing as proof of being clean and for how long?

If you are specific, you might actually get some helpful comments. If you continue to be vague you won't.

SLawvere said:

I'm representing myself in a custody matter in the next month and I have some questions about trial procedures that I cannot seem to find answers to. The gist of it is: My partner is trying to get unsupervised visitation with our child and it is my stance that that clearly should not happen, but now I've got to convince a judge of that. Note that the other side has a lawyer.

Click to expand...

In most US States, local government will assist a person seeking "child support payments" and "court ordered visitation".


Here are some sites that might assist you in obtaining child support and child visitation COURT ORDERS!







Good luck in your quest.

adjusterjack said:

Yeah, we get that all the time. People provide vague information that doesn't reveal the actual facts and get answers that are useless.

Your question:



If you were actually going to ask that question it would be objected to and the judge would rule against you because you are not offering the evidence you allude to.

You want to prove that your ex takes harmful drugs now, you prove it with evidence of that drug use, not with inuendo or hypotheticals.

Let me guess. Your ex filed a petition with the court requesting unsupervised visitation due to a change in circumstances, to wit: No more drug use.

That petition is a document with words on it. What do those words say? What evidence is your ex providing as proof of being clean and for how long?

If you are specific, you might actually get some helpful comments. If you continue to be vague you won't.

Click to expand...

Ok, understood. I will be more specific.

I have a text message from my ex from about a year ago in which they state: "I'm going to kill you and then I'm going to kill myself."

Thus, the question I would ask my ex is:
"Do you think it would be in the best interest of a minor child if they were left unsupervised with a parent that threatened the other parent with murder-suicide?"

My other purely procedural question still stands, though. What is the procedure when I want to use a single exhibit for multiple witnesses?

SLawvere said:

Ok, understood. I will be more specific.

I have a text message from my ex from about a year ago in which they state: "I'm going to kill you and then I'm going to kill myself."

Thus, the question I would ask my ex is:
"Do you think it would be in the best interest of a minor child if they were left unsupervised with a parent that threatened the other parent with murder-suicide?"

My other purely procedural question still stands, though. What is the procedure when I want to use a single exhibit for multiple witnesses?

Click to expand...

Did you file a police complaint when your ex threatened you? Request a restraining order? If so, what was the result?

You should be able to find Georgia rules and procedure here

SLawvere said:

I have a text message from my ex from about a year ago in which they state: "I'm going to kill you and then I'm going to kill myself."

Thus, the question I would ask my ex is:
"Do you think it would be in the best interest of a minor child if they were left unsupervised with a parent that threatened the other parent with murder-suicide?"

Click to expand...

What does that question have to do with what happened TODAY.

Answer: Nothing.

Your ex wants unsupervised visitation based on conditions TODAY.

You have to prove that your ex is not suitable for unsupervised visitation based on conditions that exist TODAY.