Mel Gibson and Oksana Grigorieva met in court on Nov. 10 to discuss child custody arrangements over 1 year-old Lucia.
Gibson gained one extra day in visitation when Lucia turned one on Oct. 30. Gibson now has three days plus one overnight visit with his daughter per week. Grigorieva wanted to reduce the amount of visitation, previously agreed upon during their mediation in May, because she feels Gibson is dangerous for her daughter, according to TMZ.
Grigorieva made claims that daughter Lucia would return home from stays with Gibson acting “funny”. She never went into detail about what exactly “funny” meant, but insisted on reducing time with Gibson. On cross-examination, Gibson’s attorney’s showed video of Grigorieva talking to the media and made a statement asking “Do you think by talking to the media you are looking out for the best interests of Lucia?” According to TMZ, Grigorieva was also grilled about talking to them about the case.
The judge did not rule about the visitation but did decide that Gibson must pay out $60,000 in back child custody payments. He had been withholding the child support until $6000 in rent had been deducted, but must now give that claim up according to the ruling. The judge also allowed Grigorieva to live in Gibson’s Sherman Oaks home rent-free with their year-old daughter.
The very public battle between the pair has been ongoing since Grigorieva first came out with allegations of physical and emotional abuse from Gibson in January. Since then, tapes have been released of Gibson’s threats and rants. The courts are still looking into the abuse charges, as well as Gibson’s charges that Grigorieva has been extorting him for money.
Gibson’s attorney’s asked for a gag order in hopes of finally keeping some information private leading up to the next court date. Virtually all the details of the proceedings have been leaked thus far, and
Gibson gained a small victory when the judge granted detectives unrestricted rights to search Grigorieva’s computer for evidence of extortion on Oct. 28. Child custody issues will still be addressed at a later date.
The estranged couple are next scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 22.