Mother May Appeal in Custody Battle

Lawyers for Catherine F. Thomas said they will file an appeal since a Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied their request for a new trial on the question of who should have custody of Thomas’ 5-year-old daughter, Courtney.

Thomas, 46, lost all parental rights to the child this summer after a former family friend who helped care for the girl was granted paternity rights and primary physical custody and Thomas ran off with Courtney in violation of a court order.

It was the second time that Thomas had illegally fled with her daughter during the unusual custody battle and as a result, all her legal rights to the child were revoked, including monitored visits.

On Friday, her attorneys tried to persuade Judge Martha Goldin to reverse her decision or review the matter again, arguing that Courtney has a biological father whose parental rights were never fully considered before former family friend Kevin Thomas was declared her legal father.

Courtney now lives in Van Nuys with Kevin Thomas (who changed his original surname from McCain to Thomas to match the girl’s). Catherine Thomas, who is facing a felony child-stealing charge, is under house arrest in the San Fernando Valley.