October 10, 2009

The Committee on Judicial Responsibility and Disability

P.O. Box 8058
Portland, ME 04104-8058
(207) 780-4775

Chair Richard J. Maiman of Portland

Hon. Thomas E. Humphrey of Sanford
Ronald W. Bourque, Esq. of Sanford
Craig A. McEwen of Brunswick
Dr. Robert Moyer of North Yarmouth
Hon. John V. Romei of Machias

Dear Honorary Members of the Committee on Judicial Responsibility and Disability;

I have long wanted to file a request for Judge Moskowitz to disqualify himself in the family
matter of three year old Mila Malenko, daughter of Lori Handrahan and Igor Malenko.

I have been strongly advice not to file a complaint as the fear is I will suffer ramifications from
the Judge and there is very little likelihood my complaint will be heard or taken seriously. While
this may be true, I have reached a point where I have nothing to lose since I believe, after coming
before Judge Moskowitz four times, with every ruling ignoring completely the evidence at hand
and ruling no evidence against me and my daughter, that I will suffer retribution regardless, as
I already have from Judge Moskowitz.

I make this complaint and request with the hope that the Oversight Commission will act to
protect a mother and child from a destructive lawyer who is out of control and a judge who is
sanctioning this lawyers conduct and ignoring all evidence of abuse and harm for a child,
ingoing and denying, at every hearing, entire bodies of credible and concerning evidence
concerning a child and a mother.

I am requesting that Judge Moskowitz be disqualified from hearing this case as I and my
daughter are unable to obtain a fair hearing, mine and my daughters constitutional right, before
his court.

Under Maine Judicial Code of Conduct

(2) A judge who receives information indicating a substantial likelihood that a lawyer has
committed a violation of the Maine Bar Rules should take appropriate action. A judge having
knowledge that a lawyer has committed a violation of the Maine Bar Rules that raises a
substantial question as to the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other
respects shall inform the Board of Overseers of the Bar or other appropriate authority and may
take other appropriate action.

Judge Moskowitz listened to a three hour hearing attempting to disqualify Mr. Waxman by my
then Attorney Altshuler. Clear and excessive evidence of numerous Maine Bar Rule violations by
Mr. Waxman were presented to Judge Moskowitz. Judge Moskowitz found, as he has in every
hearing in my case, no evidence. The Maine Bar, however, has found otherwise. Please see
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attached letter and recommendation by Bar Counsel Aria Eee. Not only did Judge Moskowitz
take no appropriate actionhe failed to stop a lawyer who is obsessively determined to destroy
me and my daughter, as he attested to in Judge Moskowitzs court, saying he would stop at
nothing to destroy me.

The Supreme Court decision asked for mediation and to put an end to the litigation. There is
nothing I would like more. I have offered, when I still had a job and an income, to pay entirely
for private mediation. I have begged and pleaded and offered every concession possible. As
Judge Moskowitz is well aware Mr. Waxman will agree to no mediation and no settlement absent
sole custody for his client. Mr. Waxman has filed so many motions against me I, and all of my
lawyers, have lost count. Mr. Waxman has filed letters with the court nearly every day begging
for this or that. Mr. Waxman is driving this destructive litigation forward. Judge Moskowitz has
allowed this to continue.

(5) A judge shall perform judicial duties without bias or prejudice. A judge shall not, in the
performance of judicial duties, by words or conduct manifest bias or prejudice, including but not
limited to bias or prejudice based upon race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual
orientation, or socioeconomic status, and should not permit staff, court officials, and others
while subject to the judge's direction and control to do so. (6) A judge should require lawyers in
proceedings before the judge to refrain from manifesting, by words or conduct, bias or prejudice
based upon race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, or
socioeconomic status, against parties, witnesses, counsel or others.

I believe in all of Judge Moskowitzs ruling he shows a clear bias against women. The President
of the Maine Bar has informed me the Bar is investigating his record. Attorney Ken Atlshuler has
told me he shares my concerns. Judge Moskowitz appears to find men credible no matter
the evidence or the reality of their credibility and find women not credible as he did me
despite the evidence of my character and claims.

Judge Moskowitz has allowed Attorney Michael Waxman, lawyer for my former husband, to
express, again and again bias and prejudice towards my socioeconomic status where somehow
because I have a higher degree and was the earner in my family this has made me a despicable
person as Mr. Waxman has written and attested to in Judge Moskowitzs court.

Summary of the Hearings

I find it incredible that the first judge on this case, Judge Mary Gay Kennedy, placed my former
husband on supervised visits based on his police record of domestic assault alone. Judge
Kennedy affirmed this decision in two separate hearings, the first and the second when the then
GAL Liz Stout attempted to lift supervised visits. Then Judge Moskowitz who benefited from
much greater and far more concerning evidence of abuse than Mr. Malenkos police record, finds
no evidence of abuse and dissolved the PFA that Judge Kennedy had set in place. Judge Eggers
was scheduled for months to be the judge for the family matter and yet, at the last minute, the
judge was switched, inexplicitedly, to Judge Moskowitz who has proceeded to rule against me
and my child every time.

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To date:

1. First in the divorce hearing Judge Moskowitz ruled no evidence of abuse despite an entire
day of evidence including the arresting police officer and guilty plea of domestic assault
by Mr. Malenko.

a. I am including a three inch thick binder of material that Judge Moskowitz

admitted as evidence and then ignored. I am also including the transcript from
the hearing, along with Mr. Malenkos police record and court record from
when he was 16 and nearly killed another child.
b. The Supreme Court ruling affirmed that Judge Moskowitz had erred in
attempting to condition primary residence. The ruling went on to say that
while the issues of abuse and bias against women in family courts might be
relevant but they could not consider this because of legal technical errors that
Attorney Ken Altshuler had made. The Supreme Court ruling does not say
these did not occurit says because Mr. Altshuler failed to file Rule 52 the
Supreme Court could not consider these issues.

2. Second in the disqualification hearing of Mr. Waxman, Mr. Altshuler presented an

amazing amount of evidence which, again, Judge Moskowitz claims does not exist.

a. I am including evidence that Mr. Atlshuler presented. Mr. Waxman lied on the
stand and Lisa Bisceglia, the witness that Mr. Waxman lied about, has already
filed her own separate complaint with the Overseers. Polly Campbell, another
witness that day, has also filed a separate complaint with the Overseers.
Stephanie Wright was not present to testify because she has been so scared by
Mr. Waxman she will not have anything to do with the case. Dr. Braden was
not allowed to testify due to court imposed time constraints.

3. Most recently we had yet another hearing for a PFA on behalf of my daughter to due
sexual abuse which Spurwink testified for 6 hours to the reality and evidence of this
sexual abuse. Judge Moskowitz ruled againno evidence.

a. I am including Spurwinks report and will forward the transcript.

Judge Moskowitzs Decision in the Divorce Hearing

I draw the Commissions attention to a few key areas of Judge Moscowitzs Final Decision,
which is attached.

(1) Court took testimony from five witnesses called by the Defendant.

Igor Malenko called one witness, the GAL in the case, Liz Stout. Ms. Stout called the
court-appoint psychologist, Dr. Kabacoff as her witness. I called twenty witnesses,
character and direct witness to the abuse. Judge Moskowitz limited my time and thereby
most of my witnesses were not allowed to testify; however, five did testify and he notes
this at the outset of the report. This belies his later claim that I provided no corroborating
evidence.

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(3) Defendant claims that Plaintiff has significant mental illness, he is violent and abusive, and
he poses a significant risk to Milas well-being. She urges the court to order sole parental rights
to her (even if she relocates out of state) and supervised visitation to Plaintiff.

I did not request sole parental rights. My request for supervised visits was conditioned
upon Mr. Malenkos willingness to be a safe parent and take responsibility for his well-
documented inability to control his anger and rage. This was also the recommendation of
Mr. Malenkos own counselor Allie Knowlton who testified to this in court.

The GAL and the court-appointed psychologist refused to request Mr. Malenko sign a
waiver to obtain his psychiatric records from Macedonian. Mr. Malenko had told me and
the court-appointed psychologist, as noted in her report, that he had been given a
psychiatric discharge from the Yugoslavian National Army. The GAL and Dr. Kabacoff
insisted that a military psychiatric discharge was not concerning or relevant nor a
necessary component of a mental health evaluation of Mr. Malenko.

(4) The matter was litigated in Macedonian juvenile court and a finding was made that the act
was one of negligence with no intention to harm. Defendant asserts that this event has
significant to the issue of Plaintiffs alleged violent nature but this court accepts the Macedonian
courts findings that the event was one of negligence occurring during a heated athletic contest.

The Macedonian Court record documents that the incident was not, as Judge Moscowitz
claims, a heated athletic event but after previous argue because of playing soccer by
hand, the juvenile Malenko Igor start walking to the damaged Baceski Naum and when
he was close enough, he hit damaged with his head in area of forehead and the root of
nose bone. The damaged gained serious bodily injury expressed as a brain coma, brain
contusion and brain steam and blood coagulation in brain cortex in tempo of parietal left
sided area, and the life of the damaged was in danger, and his health was seriously
violated; paralysis on right extremities has occurred.

The Macedonian Court went on to say According to art. 43 par 2 and regarding par 1 of
the Criminal Code within juveniles act displayed, criminal act characteristics as serious
bodily injury are contained because the damaged serious violated his health, putting his
life in danger and has significantly reduced movement on right extremities, which caused
permanent work disability on the damaged and permanently violated his health.

(4) The third incident occurred within three months after Milas birth. Defendant claims that as
she was breast-feeding Mila on a bed, Plaintiff threw a sweater at her during a dispute.
Defendant says the sweater hit her and Mila. Plaintiff has acknowledge that the incident
occurred but claims that he threw the sweater on the bed and it did not hit Defendant or Mila

Mr. Malenko told Ms. Knowlton in detail about this and she testified to this, that he had
told her in private sessions that he no control over his anger and that he would be
coming at me in rage attacks before he even knew he was angry

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(5) The fourth incident occurred during a discussion the parties were having about a home
purchasePlaintiff went into a rage and rushed at her. She raised her arm defensively; Plaintiff
slapped it hard twice and walked out of the room. Plaintiff claims that the incident occurred but
that Defendant was pointing her finger in his face making accusations that he was not being
supportive and spending too much money. Plaintiff claims that he swiped at Defendants hand
and walked out of the room

Mr. Malenko told Allie Knowlton, in an emergency joint session held the day after this
event with Allie Knowlton that he had attacked me in yet another rage attack again while
I was lying in bed breast-feeding Mila. Allie Knowlton testified to this.

(6) The fifth incidentDefendant claims Plaintiff raised a fist and she ducked. She felt a jar hit
her had and thought she might have sustained a mild concussion. She called the South
Portland Police to respond and they did so. Plaintiff claims that the incident occurred but that he
swept a plastic peanut butter jar off the table and it didnt hit Defendant at all.

I did not call the police but ran screaming in terror out of the house with Mila in my arms.
The neighbor was the Police Lt Cook. His son was in the yard and ran to help me and the
baby. He brought me inside their house where Lt. Cook was home. Lt. Cook called the
police. The testifying police officer testified in court that he remembered this incident so
well because the Police Lt. Cook himself made the call. Police officer testified to his
record (attached) where Mr. Malenko immediately admitted to the police that he had
thrown, and hit, a jar at my head because he didnt want a part-time nanny helping with
child care.

(7) Defendant believes that Plaintiff suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorderthere were
no indications that he was mentally ill at all.Defendants quest to obtain a PTSD diagnosis
regarding Plaintiff has not only been unsuccessful it has resulted in some suggestion from
physicians that Defendant herself may require mental health treatment.

Mr. Malenko was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by Dr. Miles
Simmons at True North. The GAL, Liz Stout, even noted this in her report.

Dr. Frank Ochburg, former Assistant Director for the National Institute of Mental
Health and current psychiatrist at University of Michigan, one of the leading mental
health professionals in the country, stated that after a year and a half of work with me,
when I engaged his services to help me cope with Mr. Malenkos unemployment,
mood swings, refusal to care for Mila as a baby, and increasing rage attacks and
violence, that he had no concerns about my mental health and specifically court-
ordered DBT therapy would be detrimental as there was no clinical basis for such a
recommendation (see attached). Judge Moskowitz refused to allow Dr. Ochburg to
testify.

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(8) Dr. Carol Lynn Kabacoff although Dr. Kabacoff did no specifically state so in her written
report she made a finding that Defendant has a narcissistic personality. On the other hand Dr.
Kabacoff found that Plaintiff is not mentally ill at all. The court finds Dr. Kabacoffs report and
her testimony to be very credible.

Dr. Leslie Drozd, the leading child custody psychologist in the country, disputes Dr.
Kabacoffs findings. Judge Moskowitz refused to allow Dr. Drozds testimony. Dr.
Drozds report is attached.

(9) The court finds Plaintiffs testimony credible. His demeanor while testifying appeared
appropriate and many of his assertions are corroborated by other evidence. On the other hand
the court does not find Defendants testimony to be very credible. This may be related to the
observation made by both Dr. Kabacoff and the Guardian that Defendant seems to perceive
events differently than others. In any event, Defendant maintained a very defensive demeanor
while she testified, and her answers, particularly on cross-examination indicated a lack of
candor. Additionally, Defendants assertions are refuted by other evidence.

Evidence that allegedly refutes my assertions is absent.

None of Mr. Malenkos assertions were corroborated by other evidencein fact there
was corroborative evidence by the GAL and psychologist reports alone of Mr.
Malenkos blatant lies. See Devoe report.
The credibility of Mr. Malenkos testimony was challenged by Allie Knowlton,
Lesley Devoe, the Police Officer, Stephanie Bisol, our nanny, Sabine McElrath, our
real estate agent, Dr. Jackie Campbells report, and Dr. Leslie Drozd report.

(10) Plaintiff earns about $25,000 per year Defendant income is $87,000 per year.
Primary physical residence of Mila is allocated to Defendant. There was some indication made
at trial that Defendant may intent to relocate to the Washington DC area in a job-related move.
If Defendant does in fact relocate out of state, primary physical residence of Mila shall be
granted to Plaintiff

Evidence had been presented to the GAL long before the hearing, which was again
presented in court that I will lose my job, and career, if I do not relocate to Washington
DC. Given my salary, which is the salary that sustains Mila, and given the current
economic crisis, of the entire judgment, this is perhaps the cruelest and the most difficult
to understand how this could be, in anyway, construed as being in a childs best interest;
to render her primary earner unemployed with no hope of obtaining a comparable
position in Maine.
I did lose my job in June. As a result of Judge Moskowitzs judgment and am now facing
foreclosure as a result of my job loss. My daughter would like swimming and piano
lessons. I cannot afford these. I cannot even afford new clothing for her.

Mila Malenkos safety and well-being, as well as my own, have been compromised by Judge
Mosowitzs decision to actively ignore a substantial and serious body of evidence that was
presented. Moreover, my ability to earn a living and support my daughter has been seriously,
perhaps permanently damaged, by Judge Moskowitz ordering that I not be allowed, although I
have primary residence, to leave Maine.

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Judge Moskowitz has placed a survivor of abuse, a mother and a child, at risk, as well as having
destroyed my ability to earn a living that supports my daughters financial well-being. He has
placed a child back in unsupervised contact with her father, a man, that the Co-Directors of
Spurwink testified to at length is sexually abusing her and strongly recommended supervised
contact only.

I am requesting the Judicial Oversight Commission to do whatever is in the power of the office
to obtain justice, a fair hearing before the courts for myself and more importantly for my
daughter.

Sincerely,

Lori Handrahan, Ph.D.

207-221-7706
28 Franklin Ter.
South Portland ME 04106