{"id":8906,"date":"2011-05-11T12:26:04","date_gmt":"2011-05-11T03:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=8906"},"modified":"2011-05-11T12:29:51","modified_gmt":"2011-05-11T03:29:51","slug":"chris-savoie-wins-court-award-of-6-1-million-against-ex-wife-for-breach-of-contract-emotional-distress-and-false-imprisonment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=8906","title":{"rendered":"Chris Savoie wins US court award of $6.1 million against ex-wife for breach of contract, emotional distress, and false imprisonment of his children in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"IN<\/a>
New novel IN APPROPRIATE by ARUDOU Debito<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Handbook<\/a>\"Foreign<\/a>\"\\\"<\/a>\"\u300c\u30b8\u30e3\u30d1\u30cb\u30fc\u30ba\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30ea\u30fc\u3000\u5c0f\u6a3d\u5165\u6d74\u62d2\u5426\u554f\u984c\u3068\u4eba\u7a2e\u5dee\u5225\u300d\uff08\u660e\u77f3\u66f8\u5e97\uff09\"<\/a>\"JAPANESE<\/a>\"sourstrawberriesavatar\"<\/a>\"debitopodcastthumb\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>UPDATES ON TWITTER: arudoudebito
\nDEBITO.ORG PODCASTS on iTunes, subscribe free<\/p>\n

Hi Blog. Congratulations to Chris Savoie on his massive U.S. court victory against his ex-wife for, inter alia<\/em>, false imprisonment of his children in Japan.<\/p>\n

Debito.org has talked about the Savoie Case for quite some time now (do a search<\/a>), but I devoted a Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE column to it back in October 2009<\/a>. I’m personally glad he’s staying the course, and seeking judicial recourse that is amounting to legally-binding agreement. This is setting an important precedent regarding the issue of international child abduction, and drawing attention to a long-neglected problem. Arudou Debito<\/p>\n

PS: Note the lame (if not just plain inaccurate) headline by the Japan Times\/Kyodo News on this, “Wife fined for taking children to Japan<\/a>“; makes it sound like she got punished for being a tourist. Get on the ball. Call it what it is: Child abduction.<\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

Order for ex-wife to pay millions doesn’t make up for time lost with kids, says Franklin father<\/strong>
\n Court rules mom who took kids to Japan owes $6.1M<\/strong>
\n The Tennesseean, May 10, 2011<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.tennessean.com\/article\/20110510\/NEWS03\/305100033\/Dad-whose-ex-wife-moved-kids-to-Japan-says-6M-win-bittersweet-<\/a><\/p>\n

A mother who left Middle Tennessee with her two young children to live permanently in her native Japan \u2014 leaving behind an ex-husband with joint custody rights \u2014 has been ordered to pay the father $6.1 million in damages.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But Christopher J. Savoie of Franklin said the money alone is a hollow victory. He hopes the ruling will help end a battle he has waged since 2009 to bring the children home.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAnything about this just reopens a lot of wounds. It\u2019s bittersweet,\u201d said Christopher Savoie, who said he hasn\u2019t been allowed even to speak to Isaac, 10, and Rebecca, 8, in more than a year. \u201cAt the end of the day, I\u2019d much rather have one afternoon in the park with my kids than one penny of this judgment.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Shortly after Noriko Esaki Savoie permanently moved with the children to Japan, a Williamson County court gave Christopher Savoie full custody, and the Franklin Police Department issued an arrest warrant for Noriko Savoie charging her with custodial interference. But because of domestic laws pertaining to custody and divorce, Japan will not help the United States resolve parental abductions to the country. The U.S. Department of State\u2019s Office of Children\u2019s Issues reports that it \u201cdoes not have a record of any cases resolved through a favorable Japanese court order or through the assistance of the Japanese government.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In March, Noriko Savoie was charged in federal court with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, and an arrest warrant was issued. That effort also has failed so far.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMy understanding is we don\u2019t have an extradition agreement with Japan as it relates to parental kidnapping,\u201d Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie Daughtrey said. \u201cAs far as I know, nothing has been done.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Christopher Savoie believes Monday\u2019s ruling may open a door. His attorney, Joseph A. \u201cWoody\u201d Woodruff of Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, said that while Japan won\u2019t enforce U.S. judgments that pertain to custody or otherwise order Japanese citizens to \u201cdo the right thing,\u201d they will enforce money judgments.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThey will enforce orders that assess damages for breach of contract and civil wrongs,\u201d Woodruff said. \u201cThis is a tool we\u2019re going to try to use to convince Noriko Savoie she needs to do the right thing.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Williamson County Chancery Court Judge Tim Easter announced the damages Monday, having previously found Noriko Savoie guilty of three crimes in September. Easter ordered Noriko Savoie to pay Christopher Savoie more than $1 million for breach of contract and the intentional infliction of emotional distress. She was ordered to pay Christopher Savoie $1.1 million, to be held for the benefit of the children, for falsely imprisoning them since August 2009. Easter ordered Noriko Savoie to pay additional damages for each day she continues to falsely imprison the children up to a maximum of $4 million.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, she has another chance to lower the amount of damages,\u201d Christopher Savoie said. \u201cNoriko is not an enemy here. She\u2019s just got to do the right thing here.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Noriko Savoie was not represented at the hearing. Marlene Moses, an attorney who represented Noriko Savoie in 2009, said she no longer represents her and is unfamiliar with the latest developments.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cShe chose to ignore these proceedings,\u201d Woodruff said. \u201cShe was served in person in Japan.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In a related proceeding, Savoie is suing Williamson County Judge James G. Martin III for negligence and violations of his constitutional rights. Martin was the judge who lifted a restraining order on the children\u2019s passports so that Noriko Savoie could take them on a six-week trip to Japan. He did so after Noriko Savoie promised at a hearing that she would not permanently move there. She returned from the trip as scheduled, but left again shortly thereafter and has remained in Japan since.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

U.S. District Court Judge Aleta A. Trauger dismissed the case in December after ruling that Martin has judicial immunity. Savoie has taken the case to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Woodruff said Christopher Savoie\u2019s lawyers in Japan are working to \u201cdomesticate\u201d Easter\u2019s orders. Christopher Savoie said he is frustrated the laws of Japan have left him with no other choice than to seek a large money judgment against his ex-wife, but hopes it will compel her to at least talk to him.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI would much rather her return the kids than see 1 cent of this money,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel disappointed that the only thing we can do is ask for money. Even God can\u2019t buy me back the year and a half I\u2019ve missed. I feel bad for the judge even having to put a number on it.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Contact Brandon Gee at bgee@tennessean.com<\/p>\n

ENDS<\/p>\n

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n

Ex-R.I. man wins $6.1 million in custody case<\/strong>
\n The Providence Journal, Tuesday, May 10, 2011<\/strong>
\n By Richard C. Dujardin, Journal Staff Writer<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.projo.com\/news\/content\/JAPAN_CUSTODY_05-10-11_3JO0LTA_v14.348c536.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Christopher Savoie, a former Rhode Islander who drew international attention when he was thrown into a Japanese prison in 2009 for trying to recover his two children from his Japanese ex-wife by grabbing them as they walked to school, has won a $6.1-million judgment against his former wife.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But in an interview from his home in Franklin, Tenn., the University of Rhode Island and Bishop Hendricken High School graduate called the award issued by Franklin Chancellor Timothy Easter a \u201ctwo-edged sword\u201d in that it gives his ex-wife a strong financial incentive \u201cto do the right thing\u201d and allow him to see his two children, but there is no guarantee that he\u2019ll see his 10-year-old son, Isaac, and 8-year-old daughter, Rebecca, before they reach 20, the age of majority in Japan.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s bittersweet, because rather than getting any money, I\u2019d much rather be in the park playing with my kids. No amount of money can compensate for that time with the kids,\u201d said Savoie.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Along with his second wife, Amy, another former Rhode Islander who began a career in immunology at URI, Savoie, 40, became enmeshed in an international custody battle that unfolded two years after Christopher, who had achieved international stature as an innovator in biotechnology, returned to the United States with his children and Japanese wife, Noriko, in the hope of starting another business.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Not long after the couple arrived, Christopher sued for a divorce, and two months after being granted the divorce decree in January 2009, married Amy, whom he had known since his days at URI. Savoie says that, as part of the settlement, his ex-wife agreed to provide him custody of the children in exchange for a monthly payment of $5,500 along with other payments for their education.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Then, just days after Christopher and Amy gathered with friends and relatives and their two young children at a waterside restaurant in East Greenwich to celebrate their six-month wedding anniversary, Noriko told Savoie and the judge in Tennessee that she wanted to take the children on a brief vacation in Japan before they resumed school in the United States. It was only when the Savoies saw that there was no planned trip back that they began to suspect that their children had been abducted.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Savoie says that contrary to some reports in the media, his two children had always been brought up in an English-speaking environment. Isaac, who was born in California and went to preschool in the United Kingdom, scored in the 98th percentile on the standardized English test in Tennessee, and Rebecca was doing well, also.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In fact, he says, when he came upon their children on the street in Japan, their mother was walking closely behind because she needed to interpret for them because they were not fluent in Japanese. Savoie thought he could whisk them off the street, carry them off to the U.S. Consulate and bring them back to the U.S., only to see his plan foiled when officials at the consulate did not open the door and allowed him to be arrested by Japanese police.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite the exposure provided by his nearly three-week imprisonment, Savoie said he has not seen his children again. Every time he attempts to reach the children by phone, their grandparents hang up on him.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Savoie said his anxieties increased significantly after the Japanese earthquake and nuclear disaster. He said that while he was told the children are safe, by his calculations, \u201cthey are within the nuclear fallout zone.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Savoie said the events of the last few days have given him some new hope. The judgement issued by a Tennessee court on Monday is designed to get his ex-wife\u2019s cooperation by cutting off any future financial payments by her as soon as she agrees to return the children.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Although the court system in Japan recognizes that he has been awarded custody of the children by a Tennessee court, the problem is that Japan has no way of enforcing the custody settlement, Savoie said, but it does have a method of enforcing the financial penalties. \u201cWe have a set of lawyers waiting in the wings\u201d to put in the mechanism to see the judgment implemented.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Savoie said he has also been buoyed by what he says is a recent announcement by Japan that it plans to sign the Hague Convention on international child abduction, a move that would make it easier for international parents to recover their children who have been taken in custody disputes.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the meantime, Savoie said the international custody battle has caused him and Amy to reconsider their calling. Instead of immunology, both are now students at Nashville School of Law in the hope that they may be able to help parents of other children \u2014 including some 300 in Japan alone \u2014 who have been abducted by spouses and are being held in Japan.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

rdujardi@projo.com
\nENDS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congratulations to Chris Savoie on his massive U.S. court victory against his ex-wife for, inter alia, false imprisonment of his children in Japan.<\/p>\n

Debito.org has talked about the Savoie Case for quite some time now (do a search), but I devoted a Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE column to it back in October 2009. I’m personally glad he’s staying the course, and seeking judicial recourse that is amounting to legally-binding agreement. This is setting an important precedent regarding the issue of international child abduction, and drawing attention to a long-neglected problem. Arudou Debito<\/p>\n

PS: Note the lame (if not just plain inaccurate) headline by the Japan Times\/Kyodo News on this, “Wife fined for taking children to Japan”; makes it sound like she got punished for being a tourist. Get on the ball. Call it what it is: Child abduction. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,50,35,5,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-child-abductions","category-gaiatsu","category-good-news","category-human-rights","category-lawsuits"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8906\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}