Judge asked to throw out Whitney Houston divorce
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lawyers for R&B singer Bobby Brown asked a California judge on Friday to throw out his divorce from Whitney Houston and reopen the question of custody over the couple's 14 year-old daughter.
"He did not have his day in court," Brown's attorney Stacy Phillips told the Orange County Superior Court.
The uncontested divorce judgment, which became final in April, ended the couple's stormy 15-year marriage, and Houston got sole custody of daughter Bobbin Kristin Brown.
Phillips said Brown believed the pair were working on their marriage and that Houston had told him not to worry about the divorce proceedings. She said the two had made an agreement.
"Who is he going to rely on the most?" Phillips said. "The woman he loves. He thinks they're working on their marriage."
Houston moved from Atlanta to Orange County, south of Los Angeles, when the couple split last year and she went into drug rehab for the third time in three years.
Brown has a history of arrests for failure to pay child support, drug possession and drunk driving. Houston's lawyer said Brown could appeal or vary the custody award without throwing out the divorce.
Judge Claudia Silas said she would have to listen to testimony from both singers before deciding the issue, and she set a hearing for October 22.
Lawyers for both sides must decide whether the estranged couple can testify by video or should appear in person.
