Losing Act?

My coverage of the child custody case involving the 4-year-old Cuban girl and her Cuban dad has been minimal at best. This is partially intentional - I don't think this has much in common with Elian except for some superficial circumstances, therefore I refuse to stand up and scream every time a new twist in the story unfolds.

Basically, let the courts handle this, the way Elian should have been handled.

I couldn't resist, though, commenting on the latest developments reported by the Herald that the lawyer for the Cuban dad is urging the removal of Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jeri Cohen:

During a brief court hearing Wednesday, attorney Ira Kurzban told Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jeri B. Cohen he will argue that she does not have authority to hear the case because it involves parents and a sibling who are foreign nationals. As foreign citizens, he said, they should be allowed to resolve the dispute in Cuban courts.

''We believe this court no longer has jurisdiction,'' Kurzban said. ``The child is a foreign national. Both parents are foreign nationals, and the parents wish to dispense of this matter in foreign courts.''

I'm not a lawyer and I won't even begin to start questioning the legality of Kurzban's recommendation. However as a layman, I can make the following observations:

- Kurzban is strggling to make a strong case, and realizes that the best way to get his client reunited with his daughter is to move the case to a more favorable venue.

- If the above is even partially true (it might be total BS for all I know), why not just admit that you're on the wrong side, allow the case to proceed, and wait for Cohen's ruling. If the girl stays, then good for her. End of story.

Why would Kurzban make an apparently last ditch effort to move the case to a place like Cuba, where jurisprudence isn't exactly a hallmark of society?

That's the $64,000 question I'd like to know the answer to.