Clark County Family Court Hearing Master Frank Sullivan barred the public from the abuse and neglect trial of Samaneh Rezaei, the German mother who was deported before she could answer charges in Nevada.
Rezaei was to be tried in absentia on the neglect issues Monday. Before the proceeding began, Sullivan's bailiff notified members of the media that Sullivan had exercised his discretion and closed the proceedings. Reporters were not allowed into the courtroom.
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Rezaei's daughter, who will be 4 years old in March, suffered near-fatal head trauma in August. Rezaei, in Las Vegas to visit boyfriend Arash Hashemi, took her daughter to Summerlin Hospital's emergency room where she told staff her daughter had fallen down the stairs. Medical experts told police the girl's injuries were not consistent with a fall. The head injuries required emergency surgery.
In addition, Child Protective Services already had an open case on the girl, who suffered an escalating series of injuries over a two-month period that included bite marks, facial bruising and a broken arm. The child was placed in foster care after she was released from the hospital.
A criminal child abuse case also is pending against Rezaei. Prosecutors withdrew initial charges related to felony child abuse against Hashemi, but have notified him that he faces the prospect of a grand jury indictment for the harm done to Rezaei's daughter.
Attorneys who attended the closed proceedings in Family Court said that Rezaei's trial has been pushed back to Feb. 9. The girl's father, Murat Celebi, has retained Las Vegas attorney Don Randles to represent him during the proceedings. Before Rezaei left Germany for Las Vegas in 2006, Celebi had custody of his daughter one week, every month.
"He wants to seek the return of his child to Germany," Randles said. "He is the father and he's concerned about the separation."
Celebi is a Turkish citizen with permanent resident status in Germany. At the closed hearing, attorneys said Sullivan was given a letter from the German Consulate that supports the return of the child to Germany. It's a move that seems premature to the girl's advocate, Steve Hiltz of the Children's Attorney Project.
"I would like to see as much of an inquiry as is possible made into what kind of life this girl was living before coming here," Hiltz said. "I think we need to know that before any decisions are made."
Hiltz said that although the girl's condition has improved, there are factors that raise a question about her earlier life. Hiltz said his client was not used to being around other children, was fearful of men and has a negative reaction when talking about her mother.
Attorney Joseph Sciscento, who represents the absent mother, said German authorities are better suited to maintain oversight of the child. The German court is opening its own abuse and neglect investigation involving Rezaei, Sciscento said, and German child welfare services have identified a foster care family for the girl.
"Eventually, she has to be returned," Sciscento said, whose concerned about the girl's lengthy separation from her extended family.
