The appeals court appears to find no conflict with Shull’s maintaining the Republican-affiliated father’s custody case

Palm Beach Circuit Judge Darren Shull to be sworn in by Chief Justice Glenn Kelley in August 2022.

By Noreen Marcus, FloridaBulldog.org

Although state child welfare officials are still investigating an incident that raises concerns about Judge Darren Shull’s impartiality, superiors at his appeals court appear intent on allowing him to continue making questionable calls unhindered.

On Monday, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals entered into effect a second order from Shull directing sheriffs to immediately turn over two children to their politically-affiliated father. Shull issued the order without giving the mother a chance to protest.

When Shull first gave the pick-up order, the boys ran away from their father’s house and police called the Department of Children and Families (DCF), which opened an ongoing investigation. The results of the DCF must be available by September 13th.

“No one in this court cares about the interests of my boys, not a single person,” said Nanea Marcial. She said her 12- and 15-year-old sons are treated “like yo-yos, like objects.”

Shull, chief of the Family Division at Palm Beach Circuit Court, is leading the custody case of Miami-based political adviser David Custin and his ex-wife Marcial. She is trying to get court approval to relocate her sons to New Hampshire, where she moved last year for work reasons.

David Custin and his ex-wife Nanea Marcial

In addition to resisting the move, Custin is attempting to change the terms of their 2012 parenting plan so that he becomes the custodial parent and Marcial is restricted to visits. Given that Shull ruled against relocation, Marcial can only hope that he or another judge will reconsider and grant her request.

CONSULTANT OF DESANTIS, NUNEZ

Custin’s clients include Republican stars Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez and Gov. Ron DeSantis who appointed Shull to the Palm Beach Circuit Court in April 2022. Two months later, Custin was fired by a judiciary reshuffle and a motion by Palm Beach Chief Justice Glenn Kelley to put the case on Shull’s record.

The case is pending in Broward, where Marcial used to live. But in a highly unusual move, Custin’s attorneys got the entire Broward Circuit Court jury barred on the grounds that Custin feared that none of those judges would treat him fairly. Then the case was assigned to the judges of the Palm Beach Circuit Court.

Custin claims – and Marcial denies – that she is illegally keeping her sons away from him. After his attorneys convinced Shull to place the first pick-up order to transport the boys to Custin, Marcial and her brother drove them to his home in Kendall on July 8.

Within hours they ran away; The next day the police found her, took her back to Marcial and called DCF. Custin accused Marcial of manipulating her sons to make him look bad.

Marcial has been accused of abuse for three years. (Marcial granted Florida Bulldog access to confidential court documents, but the website does not release details of the claims to protect the privacy of the parties and minors.)

Custin and his attorney, Stacey Mullins, did not respond to an email from Florida Bulldog seeking comment.

4. DCA JUGGLES SHULL ORDER

Apparently, in order to comply with its obligations under state law, Shull should have held a hearing with both parties present to review the abuse allegation. If he determined that it was “reasonable,” he was obliged to appoint a guardian to protect the minor’s interests.

But Shull refused to appoint a guardian and did not address the abuse issue in a hearing after Marcial requested it. He also did not allow the boys to testify, saying he was not convinced they had the “skill and maturity” required.

Last year, Marcial’s attorneys asked Shull to retire; When he refused, they asked the 4th DCA to disqualify him. Without reason, Justices Robert Gross, Melanie May and Ed Artau declined to remove Shull from the case in November 2022.

Now the court is considering another Shull disqualification request from Marcial.

After Shull issued his second pick-up order on August 11, the 4th DCA granted a stay, which filed the motion pending resolution of Marcial’s appeal. Judges Martha Warner and Alan Forst signed the Aug. 16 stay order. Artau, who voted against Shull’s disqualification in November, disagreed.

That’s perhaps not surprising, since Artau is an outspoken fan of Shull. In his inauguration remarks, “Judge Artau described Judge Shull as a man of great character, humility and fortitude,” reported the 15th Circuit News Bulletin.

Over the next 12 days there was another procedural back and forth – stay was on, stay was off; It was an emergency, it wasn’t an emergency. One can only imagine the behind-the-scenes debates that preceded each order.

Eventually, the suspension was overturned by an unsigned “court order” on Monday. The court acted after considering Custin’s response, the terse order said.

Now, and as long as the pick-up order remains in effect, her sons are at risk of being handed over to their father, despite an apparent desire to stay with her, Marcial said. “They are afraid to go anywhere because they fear the police will come and take them back to their father,” she said.

CUSTIN RIDE AHEAD

According to a family attorney not involved in the Custin-Marcial case, the Court of Appeals appears to have dismissed Marcial’s petition and let Shull take the case.

“If the Appellate Body overturned the emergency stay based on a takedown order, that signals a denial of the mother’s motion,” said Margherita Downey, who practices in Palm Beach Circuit Court and the 4th DCA.

Shull only listened to Custin’s account of the events and responded accordingly, Marcial’s new appeals attorney, David Scott of Fort Lauderdale, argues in his latest brief.

The August 25 filing states that Shull issued his August 11 pick-up order ex parte, that is, without notifying Marcial or giving him an opportunity to be heard, in violation of her rights to a due process. According to the brief, without even attempting to arrange a hearing, Shull merely signed Custin’s proposed order.

Such unilateral orders are permissible when necessary to respond to an emergency or threatened breach of a previous order. Custin claimed Marcial violated the first pick-up order in July.

Marcial says she complied by taking the boys to Custin’s house the next day. There was also no evidence of an emergency. But she never got to say those things in court before Shull issued his order on Aug. 11.

At this point, Custin wins and Marcial runs out of options.

“Judge Shull violated my boys’ fundamental Fourth Amendment right to be free from wrongful seizure and caused my boys additional psychological and emotional harm,” she said. “Their physical safety and mental well-being have been completely ignored.”

“The court did not protect my children,” Marcial said. “As a mother trying to protect her children, I am both angry and scared.”