People v. Coulthard
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Coulthard was convicted of abducting his eight-year-old daughter after he failed to return the child to her mother in the United Kingdom (Pen. Code 2781 ). For this offense, the trial court suspended the imposition of sentence and placed Coulthard on probation for two years.
The court of appeal affirmed. The prosecution was not required to prove that a foreign court order used to prove Coulthard’s guilt had previously been registered under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. There was no violation of the prohibition against ex post facto laws; the court rejected Coulthard’s argument that “no reasonable interpretation of [section] 278" would put him on notice that violating an order of a foreign court, never registered with any U.S. court, could subject him to criminal penalties in this country. The court also rejected a preemption argument and an argument that the trial court denied Coulthard’s constitutional right to present a defense by failing to give him “a Hague Convention hearing,” denying him an opportunity to show that the laws of the UK granted him a right to custody; and foreclosing arguments about the necessity to protect the child. The remote, two-way audio/video testimony of the child’s mother did not violate his confrontation rights.
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