Newspaper Page Text
Court grants hearing
in
Biological father will argue for legitimacy
By Stephen Gurr
Staff Writer
An unwed father fighting to
prevent his 1-year-old daughter
from being put up for adoption
by the child’s mother will be
granted a legitimation hearing, a
Forsyth County judge ruled
Thursday.
Superior Court Judge Jeffrey
Bagley denied a motion by the
mother, Marissa Boylan, asking
for a dismissal of a petition for
legitimation filed by the father,
George McCormick.
McCormick, who has never
met his daughter, has waged an
ongoing legal battle to prevent
Boylan from putting the child
up for adoption with an uniden¬
tified Forsyth County couple
who are caring for the child.
During a hearing on the
motion to dismiss held last week,
Boylan’s attorney,* Josey
Redwine, argued that
McCormick’s petition for legiti¬
mation should be dismissed
because he already had filed and
voluntarily withdrawn four prior
legitimacy petitions. Under
Georgia law, a civil action cannot
be brought again after it has been
voluntarily withdrawn twice.
McCormick’s counsel
argued that the two prior
Forsyth County petitions didn’t
count against him because they
were mistakenly filed when
McCormick saw a legal adver¬
tisement for the surrender of
parental rights for a different
child that was not his.
In his ruling, Bagley found
other reasons not to grant the
dismissal.
The judge, after noting the
“the complex and tortured pro¬
cedural history of these cases,”
L00KING TO CUT
YOUR TAXES
AND HELP INCREASE YOUR INCOME?
TAX-FREE MUNICIPAL BONDS* MAY HELP.
*Bonds may be subject to state, local or the alternative minimum tax.
Call or visit your local Investment representative today.
Rex E. Abbott, AAMS, CFP®
Investment Representative
911-C Cumming, Bus. 770-844-1000 Market GA 30041 Place, Toll-free Suite 12 800-755-7743 £I
Toll-free fax 888-805-0817 __
Edward Jones
www.edwardjones.com MAKING SENSE OF INVESTING
Member SIPC
QAMd Qlnfimifrd
Your Backyard Birdfeeding Specialist
ANNIVER! - /
07
* s
'v Y
*
>r
V if
v'"
m %
▼
*• Wtm
-
it
.
*
% ,
i Located south of on the GA400, Outlet Mall 1/4 next mile
to Outside World.
(706) 429-0077
qAM<TtofcqihM«r www.wbu.com
■V •
said that Boylan and her legal
counsel were never properly
served with McCormick’s pre
vious legitimacy petitions, ren
dering them null and void. He
also expressed doubt that one of
McCormick’s attorneys had the
authority to withdraw a petition
because she never made a for
mal entry of appearance as his
new lawyer.
(Boylan) was never proper
ly served ... and even if service
was perfected, (McCormick’s
attomey Laurene) Cuvillier did
not have the authority to execute
the voluntary dismissal in the
second petition to legitimate,"
Bagley wrote.
Reached Friday, Redwine
said she was “flabbergasted” by
the ruling.
I think it’s highly ironic
that the errors made by his
counsel served to deprive my
client of her rights,” Redwine
said.
She also disputed Bagley’s
finding that her client had never
been served with the previous
petitions, an issue that was not
raised in last week’s court hear
ing.
“Had we known proof of
service was going to be an
issue, we would have provided
documentation,” Redwine said,
adding that she was consulting
with her client on whether to
file a motion for reconsideration
with the court.
Jeffrey Bunch, one of two
attorneys representing
McCormick, said Bagley ruled
in his client’s favor “for very
technical reasons.”
“The judge ruled he’s enti¬
tled to his day in court, which is
simply wonderful for Mr.
McCormick,” Bunch said.
The battle is far from over,
however. In the legitimacy hear
ing, Boylan’s attorney and an
attorney for the prospective
adoptive parents are expected to
challenge McCormick’s fitness
to be a father and argue that
adoption is in the best interest of
the child, referred to in court
proceedings as “BGB.”
“All (this week’s ruling)
means is we don’t get the short,
technical victory,” Redwine
said. “There will still be a hear
ing on the merits, and all the
facts of this relationship
between this 19-year-old girl
and this 30-year-old man — the
whole saga — will be present
ed.
, No date has been set for a
legitimacy hearing, and sched
uling may depend on whether
Redwine asks Bagley to recon
sider his ruling,
\ ^ ve ri7on wireless
^ . IT'S THE
REASON TO SWITCH
Si.', • > ■ •: NETWORK SM
f
■
I ... it
I
.4 & ;
-S#; •.
...
'
r 4 Sr*
am r- barf!
* 9 r T t
>«« ;A W £
■ *
■ i \
iaeza k y r
Y
La
a
BUY ONE
{ ft CAMERAPHONE
GET ONE i 1
■/r FREE
for only $49.99 1
after $50 mail-in rebate
1 st phone $99.99 - $50 mail-in rebate = $49.99
With America's Choice SM k With new 2-year Activation per phone. A
any SAMSUNG B Samsung a850
Family SharePlan 2 lines share
©CALLING %
UNLIMITED
to any Verizon Wireless customer.
UNLIMITED NIGHTS & WEEKENDS :.A
ANYTIME MINUTES .»
700 11 y
all when calling from within the America’s Choice- Coverage Area \
on America's Choice Family SharePians' with $69.99 monthly access. 5
With new 2-year agreement per line. (Activation fees, taxes and other tvn
. V
charges apply.) *
PLUS, NO ROAMING MM \ ~
Coverage not available everywhere.
$9" TA\ '
ADD LINES FOR ly
monthly access per line on an America's Choice' " Family SharePlan
with two lines starting at $69.99 monthly access. ■
O'
Switch today and bring your number to Verizon Wireless. LNS
H^1.800.2 JOIN © B► verizonwireless.com any of our stores
VERIZON WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS STORES AUTHORIZED RETAILERS Ewromt |mcu ml mm pstlci tit, b,
location. Authorized Retailors may imposo additional oguipmont-ralatad charpos, inctudinp
ALPHARETTA SUWMEE BUSINESS Ceflutar Sales BUFORD
7301 North Point Pkwy. 2637 Peachtree Pkwy. CUSTOMERS 678-366-2111 Cellular Sales
770-643-8585 678-455-0223 United Kolor 678-546-6600
t CUMMING THE VERIZON PLEASE CALL 770-535-6567 678-546-6224
876 Buford Hwy. WIRELESS t-800-809-4240
678-455-4041 STORE AT
GAINESVILLE
952 Dawsonville Hwy. NW ol Goor^jig
678-450-8810 North PiM
Drive responsibly.
L Call with care. >
‘Our Surcharges (Incl. 2.29% Federal Universal Service (varies quarterly), 5f Regulatory & 40 t Admlnlstratlve/line/mo., & others by area) Agreements). are not taxes (details: 1-888-684-1888);
gov't taxes and our surcharges could add 8 - 27% to your bill. Activation fee/line: $35 ($25 lor secondary Family SharePlan lines w/2-yr.
IMPORTANT CONSUMER INFORMATION: Subject to Customer Offers Agreement, Calling Plan, rebate form & credit approval. $175 termination fee per line, 45y/min. after allowance, other
charges & restrictions. Usage rounded to the next full minute. and coverage not available everywhere. Shipping charges may apply. Network details, coverage limitations &
maps at verizonwireless.com. Eligibility to keep number varies. Rebate takes 8-10 weeks. America's Choice Coverage Area covers 291 million people. Nights 9:01pm - 5:59am M-F.
Max 5 lines, on same account. Limited time offers. ©2006 Verizon Wireless.
v
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS — Sunday, January 15,2006
no line, now
ByToddTruelove
Staff Writer
Georgia Transmission Corp. (GTC) cannot
build a high-voltage power line connecting a
substation in Cumming to one in northeast
Cherokee County until the state Supreme Court
rules on a local ordinance regulating utility lines.
The ruling will have statewide implications
on a local government’s ability to control the
placement of utility lines through zoning powers.
Forsyth County Superior Court Judge David
L. Dickinson on Thursday ruled in favor of tire
Forsyth County government’s request to stay a
portion of a former court ruling last summer that
the county’s ordinance was “unconstitutional.”
Dickinson’s former ruling, favoring GTC,
included a provision that the county could not
enforce its ordinance: The local government
wanted to delay that portion of the ruling until a
higher court rules on the county’s appeal.
“What I am intending to prohibit by this | rul¬
ing] is any construction by the placement of
poles, wiring, or any other physical structure on
any property,” said Dickinson, according to court
records.
“We’re going to keep it right where it is until
such time as the Supreme Court addresses the
appeal as filed by Forsyth County and the cross¬
appeal that has been filed by Georgia
Transmission,” he said.
GTC plans to construct a 230,000-volt trans¬
mission line across 20 miles in Forsyth and
PAGE 5A
Cherokee counties to connect the two substa¬
tions. Officials from the power company have
said the line is needed by 2007 for continued
reliable power service to Forsyth County resi¬
dents.
Much of the line runs along roadways includ¬
ing Hwy. 369.
GTC has filed for permits to build beside the
county roads. However, the Engineering
Department has denied those permits.
In February, the county will conduct a public
hearing for GTC concerning those right-of-way
easements. Also, on Feb. 27 the Georgia
Supreme Court will hear arguments relating to
the county’s appeal of Dickinson’s summer rul
ing.
The Forsyth County Board of
Commissioners attempted to regulate utility lines
through their zoning powers. However,
Dickinson ruled the ordinance was unconstitu¬
tional because, with the possibility of denying a
power line, it affected utility companies’ power
of eminent domain granted in the state constitu¬
tion to pay for land to build a utility line, regard¬
less of whether the owner wants to sell it.
The county government appealed that ruling,
and GTC also has requested the state rule on
whether local governments can regulate power
lines at all through zoning codes.
Dickinson said, “I’m anticipating that that
oral argument will be heard [by the Supreme
Court] on [Feb.] 27, and a ruling will be issued
shortly thereafter.”