Posted on 09/12/2007 8:16:16 AM PDT by RabidBartender
David Salazar was jailed for not paying child support - for a girl that isn't his biological daughter.
The Missouri Supreme Court heard Mr. Salazar's case Tuesday, and its decision could have sweeping impact on child support cases throughout the state. Mr. Salazar, a former Buchanan County resident, was found guilty and jailed for 28 days for failing to pay child support for a 5-year-old girl whom no one argues is his biological daughter. Even the girl's mother, Shannon McClure, says Mr. Salazar isn't the father.
But under current Missouri statute none of that matters. If a man is married to a woman at the time she gives birth, a court administrative order can legally bind the man as the child's father, regardless of whether he's the biological parent.
Mr. Salazar's public defender, Merle Turner, appealed the conviction on the grounds Missouri's paternity laws are "antiquated," in part, by not allowing Mr. Salazar to challenge paternity with a DNA test.
"In Missouri, where failure to pay child support can result in a misdemeanor, and even felony convictions and long incarcerations, the state's refusal to use simple, respected DNA testing in situations (like Mr. Salazar's) is inexcusable," Ms. Turner wrote in a brief submitted to the Supreme Court.
"This really only deals with situations where the wife committed adultery," Ms. Turner said in an interview Tuesday after appearing in front of the state's highest court.
Buchanan County assistant prosecutor Laura Donaldson argues the conviction followed the law, since an administrative order deemed Mr. Salazar the father and he failed to fight paternity when given the chance.
"Once such an order has been entered establishing (the girl) as the child of (Mr. Salazar), biological paternity is irrelevant," Ms. Donaldson wrote in a brief submitted to the court.
There's a time frame during which a man can challenge paternity, but after that time lapses, there's no recourse.
Both Mr. Salazar and Ms. McClure said they did not have sexual relations in the 14 months leading up to the girl's birth in 2001, according to court documents. The two were separated but still legally married at the time of the birth.
Mr. Salazar was named as the girl's father on her birth certificate because a hospital clerk insisted her husband's name be placed on the document, Ms. McClure has testified. The two even contacted Missouri's Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE) to deny Mr. Salazar's paternity after he was notified that he had financial responsibility for the girl.
But Mr. Salazar failed to appear for a paternity hearing in 2003 and was ordered to pay almost $300 a month in child support. Since he failed to appear, the DCSE director authorized the administrative order establishing Mr. Salazar as the girl's father.
Two years later, Mr. Salazar was charged with misdemeanor nonsupport.
After Mr. Salazar admitted that he knew he was ordered financially responsible for the girl but had failed to make any payments, Associate Circuit Judge Keith Marquart found Mr. Salazar guilty in 2005 and sentenced him to 28 days in jail.
Ms. Turner appealed the case to the Western District Court of Appeals, where Mr. Salazar's conviction was affirmed by a 6-5 margin in February.
There's no timetable for a decision, according to a Missouri Supreme Court representative. If the Supreme Court finds a state statute unconstitutional, the Legislature would be the body that addresses the issue.
During the past legislative session, a bill that would have allowed fathers to present DNA evidence at any time proving that they are not the biological parent and shouldn't be obligated to pay child support failed to come up for a final vote this year.
Attempts to contact Mr. Salazar, who now resides in Kansas City, have been unsuccessful. Ms. Donaldson didn't immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
bump
We have already done so...these laws when passed assumed that husbands had absolute control over their wives and families, and therefore were to blame by not being "mindful." Now, because of the changes in societal attitudes and laws, that's considered stalking, harassment, and domestic abuse.
It's a scam to expect men to adhere to traditional notions of responsibility, when we don't expect women to.
Please see my Reply #86.
Ecxuse my lack of tact, but besides reinforcing the notion that you didn't read the article, you are reinforcing the idea that you are pretty stupid. The mother has named another guy as the father, and she's had a second child with him.
Just for giggles, why don't you explain how that scam would work?
It's pretty obvious you haven't read the article(s) about this couple in any meaningful sense.
It's not about you this time.
So far, no DNA tests.
The only thing at stake is the welfare payment she seems to have asked for, but she's got a baby daddy and a husband (she claims) who can take care of this situation themselves without you and I paying for it.
Let me amend the thought "think welfare fraud" to "think about someone getting caught attempting welfare fraud".
Both the mother and he said he wasn't the father, and named the real father, who has had another child with her. The court confirmed a fraud which was perpetuated by DCSE. How could DCSE ask for an order against him when they had statements by both parents that he wasn't the father, and named the real father?
There's fraud here, but it's on the part of the bureaucracy, not the mother or the victim. As another poster's story confirms, no man is safe while state support workers are on the clock.
The article doesn't state, and I don't know why he didn't appear...and neither do you. Can you explain the mentality that supports blaming the victim?
Can you justify the bureaucratic mentality that pushes for a result all know to be fraudulent?
Egads, you are slow...she's my ex-wife now; obviously she wasn't while she was dragging out the process.
True. But anyone can leave property to anyone they want. I believe the ultimate goal is automatic eleigbility for spousal coverage at work, survivor's and SS benefits. When the life expectancy of gay males is about half of non-gay males, that becomes an important point.
What...don’t you believe in immaculate conception?
They made statements which pre-dated this administrative hearing. This hearing was necessitated by the deliberate decision by DCSE to ignore the facts. The entire process was a scam and a fraud, and I do not hold him responsible for not participating in it. I blame DCSE.
This attempt at welfare is so transparent I cannot believe that these people are anything but hopelessly retarded.
This guy got hosed, pure and simple, by a bureaucrat paid for by tax dollars. You can't justify that, regardless of the amount of your words.
Evidence consists of something other than the claims of the supplicants. Let’s see the blood tests and the DNA results.
The father and mother (who are the ones who got the ball rolling by getting married) can VOLUNTARILY enter any evidence they wish into court.
It's up to them ~ after all, they're the ones who are asking for the benefits and privileges.
Seems to me that longevity would be a better goal, but they are in denial on that one.
I wonder why so many buy it...
Because they are so obnoxious.
amen! put that in your pipe and smoke it muawiyah!
I ran into this article and I thought I could clear some things up about this situation. I’m the first husband for Ms. McClure. I’m responsible for our first two boys, who I have custody of. We were pretty much the usual story of high school sweet hearts who made a baby a little too early in life. Anyways, our marriage went south and Shannon was free to live the life she thought she’d missed out on. She married David Salazaar and after three months he ran away from her. Literally. Priceless quote from him that he told me, “I have no idea how you managed to live with her for so long.”
Anyways, she gets pregnant with a guy named Puentes child. The one in question here. He didn’t get his name on the birth certificate not cause Shannon was bullied by some nurse, but because he was violent towards her. She also had another child (for a total of 4) with this same guy. The state went after Salazaar when she filed for welfare in St. Joe, MO.
Which brings us back to Salazaar’s hearing that he missed to get out of this mess. Both he and Shannon neglected to go. He had a warrant out for his arrest at the time. Another pricless quote from the situation.. In an attempt at deadpan smart assed humor I asked them with a straight face if they had tried to get on the Maury Povich show for a paternity test, since they can’t afford one. The reply, “We’ve tried three times, but the producers never call us back.” Needless to say, it was very hard to keep my straight face when I heard that.
What I’m trying to say hear is that yes, I agree the system is broken. At the same time, these people don’t deserve your sympathy for their lack of responsibility. Shannon has not held gainful employment in over five years at least. She is currently over $3000.00 behind in child support for our first two children and she’s trying to live off of the “grid” to avoid paying. She has seen our boys once in the last seven months and only spoken with them on the phone a half dozen times in that time period. The woman is too afraid of the father of the other two children she’s spawned to attempt to go after him for support. The woman can’t seem to make any responsible choices and has no real drive to better her situation.
Please, don’t come at me like I’m some jilted ex-spouse. Shannon and I had been over long before she married David (who she is still married to technically today). Up till I took custody of my boys from her we were on good speaking terms. I never had anything personally against David either. At one time I was routing for him to straighten up so he could help keep her stable. For a bit more insight into Shannon’s logic, one of my main problems with her was that she moved at least once per year. By the time my eldest boy was starting 4th grade he was in his fifth school. Her response to my concern was, “There’s nothing wrong with moving around. Military families do it all the time and it’s ok for them.” I’m not joking. She tried to say that in court, too. While representing herself because she stiffed her lawyer. After I tried three different times to have her sit down and switch joint custody in the lawyer’s office so she could avoid paying child support. Check the Missouri court docket, search for Shannon’s name in 2006.
Well, that’s quite the wall of text. If anyone has questions - cause I might of missed something - I’ll check this article from time to time.
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