stephen doyne failed custody evaluator redacted letter

I wrote a lengthy letter reminding him he agreed to mediate-not evaluate-and that he was breaching that agreement. It was clear that if we didn't pay him more than what he promised, and go along with his unilateral conversion of a mediation into a full-blown custody evaluation, he would take custody.Īt first I went along, but I soon complained. I was floored! This guy was extorting us. She (.-very weak) simply said 'if you ever want to see your attorney again you'll pay him what he's asking for and go along with it.' I spoke with my attorney, requesting that she intervene and get Doyne back on track to mediation and get the case settled. He demanded that we both take and MMPI (psychological inventory) and insisted that we would be required to pay $20,000 more for his new plan. He quickly turned what was to be a peaceful, quick mediation into a shooting gallery. I wanted to work out a peaceful schedule and move on with our lives.ĭoye fell for her lies. She was very manipulative, yet Doyne simply took her at face value, failing to verify her fabrications. She obeyed-criticizing petty issues such as my being late for a drop-off once. He immediately reneged-instead of helping us work out a custody schedule, he encouraged my ex and I to attack each other.

He promised to do so quickly and withing the $5,000 budget we gave him. We hired Doyne to mediate custody, not to conduct an 'evaluation'. He went into the courtroom and testified falsely, claiming that I held my son over the edge of a balcony. I was appalled-this man promised to mediate the case for $2,500-yet once I objected to his soaring fees and conflict-inducing behavior, refusing to pay for his conflict-inducing practices, he retaliated. Doyne simply stared at me and shook his head 'yes.' My attorney told me 'if you ever want to see your son again, you must pay his bill.' Dr. Outside of the courtroom before the hearing, my attorney and I met with Dr. The court immediately shifted custody to my ex-wife and scheduled a hearing. Doyne, on the other hand, filed a declaration with the family court claiming that I had 'frightened' my son. A CPS agent contacted me, interviewed me, and told me on the spot that he saw no child abuse. Doyne second guessed my judgment and reported me to CPS. He retaliated by reporting me to CPS for entirely ordinary 'rough-and-tumble' with my son, which my son loved for years. I told him I would continue to participate in quickly resolving the mediation, but he had different plans. I objected, and sent him a letter reminding him of the many promises (that he broke).

He also ran up his bill from an initial estimate of $2,500 to nearly a ten thousand dollar bill. He would also invite both parties to call him to discuss 'issues.' I simply wanted to end the process as quickly as possible as his practice of encouraging conflict was causing everyone unnecessary stress. He turned what should have been a three or four hour mediation into a multi-month long 'custody evaluation', insisting that I travel from my home in Los Angeles to his offices in San Diego almost weekly. I explained to him that we hired him because it was less confrontational than court, private, and would resolve the dispute quickly.

Stephen doyne failed custody evaluator redacted letter