Appeals Court Grants Temporary Stay in Giordano Custody Case

Durham, NC, June 15, 2011 --(PR.com)-- The North Carolina Court of Appeals today issued a temporary stay of the custody order involving the children of Alaina Giordano, the Durham woman who is battling Stage 4 breast cancer.

Attorneys for Ms. Giordano on Tuesday filed the temporary stay motion with the court, stating that Ms. Giordano and her children would “suffer irreparable harm” if her children, Sofia, 11, and Bud, 6, were forced to move to Illinois before her appeal was resolved.

Though her cancer currently is stable, District Court Judge Nancy Gordon cited the illness as the primary reason for an April 25 ruling granting full custody of the children to their father, Kane Snyder, who resides 800 miles away in Chicago, IL. A worldwide furor ensued, with sentiment strongly supporting the notion that Ms. Giordano, a stay-at-home mom, should remain the primary caregiver.

Though today’s decision effectively allows the children to remain in their home in Durham under the care of their mother, the children still will travel to Chicago this Friday to commence a three-week summer vacation with Mr. Snyder, based upon a previously-agreed summer custody schedule. However, the children no longer have to view Friday’s trip as a permanent relocation.

“I am so pleased to hear the news that the Court of Appeals has granted this stay,” said Ms. Giordano. “My children wish to remain here, with me, in Durham, where they have great friends and familiar surroundings. They are so relieved to know that they will be coming back here – to their home – after this brief vacation with their father.

“Though this is one step in what will be, I’m sure, a lengthy appeals process, I am gratified to see that justice can still be served and that the best interests of my children have finally been acknowledged.”

The Court of Appeals will next consider the Petition for Writ of Supersedeas, also filed Tuesday, in determining whether to grant an additional stay -- which would last for the duration of the appeals process. No timetable for that decision has been given.

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