Judge Michael Moore dismissed the case and lost jurisdiction to rule when the case was appealed. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals now has jurisdiction and is making procedural rulings in the case. There is a petition pending for appointment of a guardian ad litem to represent Elian's interests, which I assume will be granted, since his interests in this matter are not necessarily the same as his father's. So the magistrate was the appropriate party, they generally are the ones to issue warrants in federal cases. It's standard operating procedure. They told the magistrate judge that Elian was an illegal alien and was being illegally held by Lazaro Gonzalez, which, IMO, is true. The documents are all available at the Miami Herald site,
herald.com
FYI, here is the salient excerpt from the Final Order of the state court:
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 11 TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
IN AND FOR MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA
FAMILY DIVISION
IN RE: THE MATTER OF CASE NO. 00-00479-FC-28
LAZARO GONZALEZ, as Custodian of
ELIAN GONZALEZ, a Minor,
Petitioner,
and
JUAN MIGUEL GONZALEZ-QUINTANA,
Respondent.
_______________________________________/
Final Order
THIS CASE comes to the Court upon various emergency motions brought by Petitioner
seeking expedited discovery and an imminent hearing upon his Petition for temporary custody
of the minor child, Elian Gonzalez.
For the reasons stated below, and with concern for those on both sides who feel so
passionately about this case, the Court finds that this matter is federally pre-empted and that
this court further lacks subject matter jurisdiction, and therefore dismisses this action and
terminates the order of January 10, 2000 entered by a predecessor judge. |
