Alvarado v Castanos, 2020 WL 3791569 (11th Cir., 2020)[Chile] [on remand] [Petition granted]

In Alvarado v Castanos, 2020 WL 3791569 (11th Cir., 2020) (not selected for publication) in  a previous appeal, involving Hague Convention proceedings initiated by Karen Berenguela-Alvarado, a Chilean citizen, who was seeking the return of her young daughter, EICB Berenguela-Alvarado alleged that EICB’s father, Eric Castanos—a naturalized U.S. citizen—wrongfully retained EICB in Florida while she was on a short-term visit and coerced Berenguela-Alvarado into signing a document purporting to consent to that retention. In the original proceedings, the district court found that although Berenguela-Alvarado had made out a prima facie case that Castanos had wrongfully retained EICB, Berenguela-Alvarado had consented to that retention and therefore wasn’t entitled to EICB’s return.” Berenguela-Alvarado appealed. The Ninth Circuit vacated and remanded the district court’s order, concluding that it had erred in two respects: (1) “[a]s a matter of fact ... by relying on non-existent testimony that Castanos never threatened Berenguela-Alvarado as a means of securing her consent to EICB staying the United States”; and (2) “[a]s a matter of law ... by shifting the burden on the consent issue back to Berenguela-Alvarado, requiring her to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that Castanos’s threat constituted ‘duress.’ ”(Berenguela-Alvarado v. Castanos, 950 F.3d 1352 (11th Cir. 2020). On remand the district court granted Berenguela-Alvarado’s petition for EICB’s return. Although Castanos requested that the record be reopened so that he could present further evidence on his affirmative defenses, the district court held that he had “provide[d] no persuasive reason the Court need[ed] to accept additional evidence on remand,” as he had already been given an opportunity to call witnesses and present his case in the initial proceedings. The district court went on to find that Castanos hadn’t met his burden to prove his asserted affirmative defenses.

 Castanos appealed the district court’s order on remand. He made two arguments: (1) that the district court erred in failing to consider the Supreme Court’s holding in Monasky v. Taglieri, 140 S. Ct. 719 (2020)—which was issued the same day as the  Court’s opinion in the first appeal—in its analyses of EICB’s habitual residence and his consent defense; and (2) that the district court abused its discretion by declining to reopen the record. Finding no error or abuse of discretion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed. 

It reviewed he denial of a motion to reopen the record for abuse of discretion. Cambridge Univ. Press v. Albert, 906 F.3d 1290, 1298 (11th Cir. 2018). Castanos contended that—in light of Monasky’s holding—the District Court erred in not allowing an additional or supplemental evidentiary hearing on remand, and denying [his] specific request for the same. This argument was unavailing. Castanos had ample opportunity to present evidence of his affirmative defenses during the original proceedings. The district court, therefore, acted well within its “sound discretion” in denying his request to reopen the record, especially in light of the sensitive and expedited nature of Hauge Convention petition.