Father Wins Almost $1 Million Verdict Against Law Firm in Paternal Kidnapping Case

A jury in Bergen County, N.J., awarded $950,000 to Roy Innes and his daughter after finding that the New Jersey law firm of Lesnevich & Marzano-Lesnevich had released the passport of Innes’ daughter — allowing his mother to take her to Spain where she remains. Partner Madeline Marzano-Lesnevich was named as the attorney responsible for giving the passport to Maria Jose Carrascosa.

The daughter remains in Spain with her grandparents. Carrascosa is in prison after returning to the United States in 2006. She was convicted of criminal interference with child custody and given a 14-year sentence in state prison.

The law firm was brought in to replace a prior firm fired by Carrascosa. Madeline Marzano-Lesnevich found the passport in the files and insists that she was not aware that she was supposed to act as trustee.

The ruling against the Hackensack law firm is new precedent for such cases.

The case sharply differs from the treatment of my former client Eric Foretich in the Elizabeth Morgan case. Courts in three states ruled in favor of Foretich who saw Morgan take his daughter to New Zealand. Morgan was jailed for a time and then fled the country after the intervention of friends in Congress. We ultimately had the Elizabeth Morgan law (sponsored by Tom Davis, Frank Wolf, Susan Molinari, and Comiie Morella) struck down as an unconstitutional abuse of power. The rare D.C. Circuit opinion found the act to be a bill of attainder.

Here is the Foretich opinion: foreitchus121603opn

Source: North Jersey