MIAMI -- By Glenna Milberg
Local 10 Reporter

MIAMI -- The mother of the 4-year-old at the center of the custody tug-of-war over a 4-year-old girl took the stand to tell her side of the story in courtroom 6-1 of the Dade County Courthouse on Wednesday.

The testimony of Elena Perez, through a Spanish translator, provided dramatic explanation of how her daughter came to be the center of a fight between her biological Cuban father and the State of Florida, which currently has guardianship.

DCF is trying to stop Rafael Izquierdo, a farmer from Central Cuba, from gaining custody of his biological daughter and taking her back to Cuba. He has said he would like to raise the girl with his current wife and their 7-year-old daughter.

---

BLOG: Milberg's Musings: Courtroom Notes

---

Perez looked pained and uncomfortable as she described life in Cuba with an abusive father, a brief relationship with Izquierdo and an unplanned pregnancy. Perez described how the day she arrived in the United States in 2004 with her two children and the man who had talked her into marriage. She told the court that her new husband abandoned them at the airport.

"We didn’t have a place to stay or anybody for that matter," said a tearful Perez.

Perez's sense of abandonment and declining mental health led to a suicide attempt a year later. When the Florida Department of Children and Families intervened, she allowed the state to take custody of her children. Foster parents Joe and Maria Cubas, who have been caring for the two since April 2006, have adopted the now 13-year old boy and would like to adopt the girl, too. But Izquierdo has refused to give up his parental rights.

The DCF is trying to support claims that Izquierdo has, until recently, shown no interest in his daughter, and neglected to step in to protect the girl from a mentally ill mother.

Judge Scolds Attorneys

Meanwhile, when the court convened Wednesday morning, an angry judge unleashed on DCF attorneys for the absence of a court file.

"I'm surprised it's not here," said Judge Jeri Beth Cohen. "And I'm actually shocked and disappointed in the department,” she said as she walked off the bench.

At issue is the case file containing the information that supported the testimony of caseworker Maria Zamora.

Zamora is the social worker who manages the girl at the center of the custody dispute.

Soon after she took the stand, Zamora's answers about information in the case file were challenged by Izquierdo’s attorney. The judge asked to see it, but DCF attorneys didn't have it in court.

"I’m getting nowhere," said the frustrated judge. "There is a smarter, more efficient way to do this."

It's not the first time Cohen admonished DCF attorneys for technical glitches that are slowing the pace of the case.

"I'm giving them 15 minutes to have that file in this courtroom," the judge demanded. "We are adjourned. We are adjourned."