Toupee Snatched as Emotions Soar in Custody Case : Courts: Woman seeking to maintain ties to baby lashes out at her estranged husband during testimony in suit brought by the child’s surrogate mother.

A woman who wants to maintain contact with the baby she helped raise lashed out in court Wednesday, ripping the toupee off her estranged husband’s head after testimony by a psychologist that she should be denied visitation rights.

The outburst occurred toward the end of the first day of what has proved to be a highly emotional custody battle over a baby girl that surrogate mother Elvira Jordan bore through artificial insemination for Robert and Cynthia Moschetta.

Jordan is seeking sole custody of the child, but a court-ordered evaluation recommends that Robert Moschetta, the baby’s biological father, be granted custody.

Shortly after hearing testimony from a court-appointed psychologist that she should be denied any mandated visitation rights, Cynthia Moschetta, 51, went over to her 35-year-old estranged husband, yanked off his toupee in front of reporters and television cameras and ran from the crowded courtroom.

Robert Moschetta, who was visibly upset, left the courtroom through a side exit and was unavailable for comment.

His attorney, Edie W. Warren, said later that the outburst “was a tragic situation” and “indicative of her (Cynthia Moschetta’s) hidden agenda.”

“She is obviously very angry and vindictive,” Warren said. “Who’s to say what she would do to the child? Mr. Moschetta is obviously embarrassed. It was an unpleasant situation for anyone to see.”

Cynthia Moschetta could not be reached for comment, and her attorney, Leslee J. Newman, declined to talk to reporters.

The courtroom drama underscores the intensity of the battle that began in January when Jordan went to court to gain custody of the now 15-month-old baby after learning that the Moschettas were planning to divorce.

Jordan had agreed in 1989 to bear a child for the Moschettas in exchange for $10,000. The arrangement became complicated when the Moschettas started having marital problems. The day before Jordan gave birth on May 28, 1990, Cynthia Moschetta told her that the couple were considering a divorce.

At that point, Jordan balked. However, she agreed to give up her child on condition that the adoption not occur for at least a year and that the Moschettas seek marriage counseling, among other provisions.

When the Moschettas broke up, the case went to court.

Last April, in the first stage of the custody battle, both Jordan, 42, and Robert Moschetta were declared legal parents following the dissolution of the surrogacy contract. Under current arrangements, the baby, who is called Marissa by the Moschettas and Millessa by Jordan, lives with Robert Moschetta in Lakewood. Jordan is allowed to see her three times a week.

Cynthia Moschetta was denied any parental rights because she has no biological ties to the baby. However, she was granted temporary visitation rights pending the outcome of the custody trial. She had helped raise the baby as her own for six months before the custody fight.

On the witness stand Wednesday, Dr. Gerri M. Olin, the court-appointed psychologist, said she was recommending that Cynthia Moschetta be denied any court-ordered visitation rights because a three-parent situation would be “stressful for the child.”

“A three-parent situation would not be appropriate to mandate,” said Olin, who authored the court-ordered report that recommends custody be granted to Robert Moschetta. However, she said, “it would be nice to continue (Cynthia Moschetta’s) role as an aunt or something.”

Olin testified earlier in the day that Jordan, who lives in Cudahy in Los Angeles County, should not even be allowed to receive visits from her child because her neighborhood is dangerous.

“Her present living circumstances present a potential endangerment for the child,” Olin concluded.

Olin said the “potential risk” of harm to the baby was too great to allow because Jordan’s neighborhood has a “high crime rate, high drug rate and high gang activity.” By contrast, she said, Robert Moschetta’s Lakewood residence was a much safer environment for the child.

Jordan’s attorney, Richard C. Gilbert, dismissed Olin’s custody report as biased against his client and attempted to discredit her research methods and her doctorate degree, which he said came from an unaccredited graduate school.

The report was conducted to help guide Orange County Superior Court Judge Nancy Wieben Stock’s decision as to what type of parenting situation would be best for the child.

Olin, a clinical psychologist, supervised and interviewed both Moschettas and Jordan. The report included “home” observations of each party with the child, as well as psychological evaluations.

The custody report was kept sealed, and attorneys were barred from discussing its contents except in court.

Under direct examination by Gilbert, Olin admitted that she based her conclusions on the safety of the neighborhoods from conversations with a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy in each city.

Gilbert also got Olin to testify that her psychological tests indicated that Robert Moschetta had the potential to show his “temper” and be “impulsive and unpredictable” if under extreme stress. But she added that these traits were not unusual in the custody situations.

Under cross-examination by Warren, Olin said she had serious reservations about recommending that Jordan be given sole custody of the child.

Olin said Jordan’s “ability to make informed decisions was lacking.” Further, she said, Jordan at times “seemed to focus” more on her own needs than the child’s.

Olin said she also considered other factors, such as how Jordan raised her three other children, one of whom was shot outside their apartment and had been convicted of a drug-related offense.