04-20-2011, 10:27 AM
i can't believe he did this in the courthouse, in chambers! we'll be reading about her murder later on.
Plantation, Florida (CNN) -- Being attacked in the courthouse was the last thing Catherine Scott-Gonzalez expected when she showed up for the final hearing in her divorce case.
"I just can't believe that it happened -- there are just no words for it," Scott-Gonzalez said Tuesday, as she continued to recover from a broken nose and a fractured jaw after being beaten by her estranged husband in a judge's chambers.
"The incident was disturbing and shocking," Broward County Circuit Court Judge Ronald Rothschild recalled Tuesday, adding, "In addition to the violence, the fact is that it happened in a court proceeding."
The proceeding that took place Friday in Judge Rothschild's chambers was the last hearing in the divorce of Scott-Gonzalez and her husband of about five years, Paul Gonzalez.
Thirty-five minutes into the hearing, when the issue of child support was brought up Gonzalez -- acting as his own attorney -- decided to leave the room, according to Michael Dunleavy, the attorney for Scott-Gonzalez. The couple, both former Marines, are the parents of two young children.
"He goes, 'I'm not going to pay child support,' and Judge Rothschild says, 'You know all parents have to pay child support, we all have to support our children,' and he (Gonzalez) stalked out of the room," said Dunleavy.
"He went calmly," remembered Judge Rothschild, "not happily, but calmly walked out of chambers, took one step out of the door, then in a blink of an eye -- I mean literally one step -- he came back in."
Upon returning, Gonzalez suddenly started punching his estranged wife, according to those in the chambers.
"It was from behind, I was blindsided, I was knocked out after the first punch," said Scott-Gonzalez.
A bailiff was not in the room at the time. The judge said if he had had any indication that Gonzalez was violent, he would have had security in his chambers. Scott-Gonzalez said in the past, she had twice sought restraining orders against her estranged husband but both attempts had been denied.
Plantation, Florida (CNN) -- Being attacked in the courthouse was the last thing Catherine Scott-Gonzalez expected when she showed up for the final hearing in her divorce case.
"I just can't believe that it happened -- there are just no words for it," Scott-Gonzalez said Tuesday, as she continued to recover from a broken nose and a fractured jaw after being beaten by her estranged husband in a judge's chambers.
"The incident was disturbing and shocking," Broward County Circuit Court Judge Ronald Rothschild recalled Tuesday, adding, "In addition to the violence, the fact is that it happened in a court proceeding."
The proceeding that took place Friday in Judge Rothschild's chambers was the last hearing in the divorce of Scott-Gonzalez and her husband of about five years, Paul Gonzalez.
Thirty-five minutes into the hearing, when the issue of child support was brought up Gonzalez -- acting as his own attorney -- decided to leave the room, according to Michael Dunleavy, the attorney for Scott-Gonzalez. The couple, both former Marines, are the parents of two young children.
"He goes, 'I'm not going to pay child support,' and Judge Rothschild says, 'You know all parents have to pay child support, we all have to support our children,' and he (Gonzalez) stalked out of the room," said Dunleavy.
"He went calmly," remembered Judge Rothschild, "not happily, but calmly walked out of chambers, took one step out of the door, then in a blink of an eye -- I mean literally one step -- he came back in."
Upon returning, Gonzalez suddenly started punching his estranged wife, according to those in the chambers.
"It was from behind, I was blindsided, I was knocked out after the first punch," said Scott-Gonzalez.
A bailiff was not in the room at the time. The judge said if he had had any indication that Gonzalez was violent, he would have had security in his chambers. Scott-Gonzalez said in the past, she had twice sought restraining orders against her estranged husband but both attempts had been denied.