K-Fed to retain sole custody of Spears’ boys

A court commissioner decided Monday to keep in
effect an order suspending Britney Spears’ right to visit her two sons
and keeping them in the custody of ex-husband Kevin Federline.

Britney
Spears went to a courthouse Monday but abruptly left amid a swarm of
paparazzi without attending a hearing in her child-custody battle with
her ex-husband, missing a chance to try to persuade a commissioner to
restore her visitation rights to her two little boys.
Instead,
the Superior Court commissioner heard a day of closed-door testimony
from Kevin Federline and witnesses to a bizarre situation this month in
which police took the pop singer to a hospital after a standoff in her
home when she refused to return the boys to Federline’s bodyguard after
a visit.
Commissioner Scott Gordon then ruled that a
Jan. 4 emergency order suspending her visitation rights and giving
custody to Federline would remain in effect. He scheduled another
hearing for Feb. 19.

“The
word victory is not something Mr. Federline or his counsel would
ascribe to this. There is no joy. This is a grave situation for all,”
Federline’s attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, said outside the courthouse.
Although
Federline thought the ruling was correct, Kaplan said, “his goal, his
hope for the future is at some point he will be able to parent the
children with the participation of their mother.”
Kaplan would not answer questions.
Court
spokesman Allan Parachini said those who testified were two Los Angeles
police officers; Paula Strong, the court-appointed monitor who was
present for the visit at Spears’ home; Lisa Hacker, a parenting coach
who has been working with Spears and Federline; and Lonnie Jones, the
bodyguard.
Parachini did not reveal what the witnesses said during their testimony.
Gordon’s
order noted that during an officer’s testimony there were two exhibits,
one described as a photocopy of a police report and the other as a
“photocopy of Application for 72-hour Detention for Evaluation and
Treatment.” All exhibits were ordered sealed.
Neither
Spears nor Federline were required to attend, but Federline arrived
early, sporting a mohawk-style haircut and dressed in a suit. Spears
didn’t arrive until early afternoon.
A sport-utility vehicle took her into a civic
center garage, but only her attorneys got out before it left. It later
stopped outside the courthouse, where Spears got out of a passenger
seat and took over the driver’s seat. It was not clear in the crush of
photographers whether she or a companion was at the wheel when it left.

Gordon
scheduled Monday’s hearing at the same time he issued a Jan. 4 order
suspending Spears’ monitored visits with sons Jayden James, 1, and Sean
Preston, 2, and giving full legal and physical custody to Federline,
who previously had temporary custody.
Gordon
issued that order the day after police were called to Spears’ home when
she refused to return the children to Federline after a monitored visit
and officers had paramedics haul the pop star off to a hospital for
undisclosed reasons. She was released after a day and a half at
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Police
officers monitoring the paparazzi outside the courthouse warned them to
stay on the sidewalk, and several were issued citations for being in
the street.
Spears married Federline in 2004 and filed for
divorce in 2006. Throughout 2007, her behavior was erratic — and highly
public, as a train of photographers trailed her everywhere.

A
court ordered her to undergo random drug and alcohol testing, and to
temporarily give the boys to Federline. Spears’ attorneys asked the
court this month to be relieved as her counsel because of a “breakdown”
in communication. That motion is scheduled to be heard on Feb. 4.