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Angelina Jolie quizzed judge for she was 'concerned that something untoward' afoot in Brad Pitt divorce case
It was previously reported that Angelina Jolie has asked for the removal of the private judge presiding over her case against Brad Pitt. Now, new details about the filing have been revealed.
Angelina Jolie raised eyebrows when reports revealed that she questioned the private judge presiding over her ongoing case with Brad Pitt. Angelina reportedly filed court papers to disqualify Judge John W. Ouderkirk after he was not forthcoming about his connection with Brad's attorney Anne C Kiley in other cases. It is now revealed that the actress filed for the papers because she was “concerned that something untoward was happening." A source informed Page Six that the actress is not attempting to delay the case.
"Angelina isn’t trying to delay this process. In fact, the court papers state that she wants to get this issue with the judge resolved so there are no further delays [in deciding custody and financial issues like child support]," the insider informed the international outlet. The papers state that the Judge's connection with Brad's lawyer was not previously connected until Jolie's "counsel conducted her own inquiry into missing disclosures,” which “left [Jolie] without an … [understanding] of the professional relationship between the judge and [Pitt’s] counsel.”
Angelina's attorney discovered the truth "of what should have been disclosed long before,” according to the filing. According to the international report, Jolie's team pointed out that from 2012 to 2013, Judge Ouderkirk “had heard a few cases involving [Pitt’s] counsel, but that in recent years he had only undertaken one or two cases that settled without his involvement. Hidden was the fact that Judge Ouderkirk’s relationship with Respondent’s counsel had continued and expanded into 2020.”
It is further reported that Jolie's lawyer discovered that one of these cases, featuring Modern Family co-creator and executive producer Steve Levitan and wife Krista, “had not in fact settled in 2018 as had been represented by the judge’s disclosures. Rather, Judge Ouderkirk’s appointment was extended from June 20, 2019 to August 1, 2020.”
The papers also stated that "several cases" in 2019 and 2020, presided over by the judge for Pitt’s attorney “were not disclosed at all.” When Jolie's team asked the judge about the non-disclosure, "he [appeared] to concede that he had a duty to do so." The paper notes that this failure of disclosure is an "error". The papers point out that the two parties did not let Jolie know. "Instead, it was a little secret between Judge Ouderkirk and [Pitt’s] counsel," the paper notes. "The cover-up (or perceived cover-up) drives home the concern that something untoward is happening,” the court papers added.
Filing the papers, Jolie has demanded the "disqualification" of the private judge as a "remedy for the private judge’s failure to disclose ongoing financial and professional relationships" with Pitt's counsel. Judge Ouderkirk is given 10 days to respond to the filing submitted on August 7.
Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more updates.
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