All 3 Parties in Bitter Custody Battle Assailed : Hearing: Baby’s attorney says the surrogate mother, as well as the couple she bore the child for, have ‘suspicious motives.’ A ruling is expected this month.

The biological father of a baby girl born to a surrogate mother is “manipulative” and should be kept “on a short tether” by the court, the attorney for the baby told a judge Tuesday.

As the emotional custody battle over 15-month-old Marissa Jordan Moschetta drew to a close, attorney Harold F. LaFlamme told the court during his summation that surrogate mother Elvira Jordan and the couple she bore the child for, Robert and Cynthia Moschetta, each have “suspicious motives” and could not be trusted.

“I guess that makes it unanimous--I don’t trust any of these folks,” LaFlamme told Superior Court Judge Nancy Wieben Stock.

But LaFlamme’s sharpest criticism was aimed at Robert Moschetta.

“I don’t think Mr. Moschetta has a high regard for women,” LaFlamme said. He also questioned whether Robert Moschetta would “be there in the long haul” as a parent.

LaFlamme said that despite his personal feelings, he agreed with a court-ordered evaluation of each of the parties, which recommended in a report that Robert Moschetta be given primary custody of Marissa.

“Just because I don’t like him personally doesn’t mean he isn’t a good father,” LaFlamme later said out of the courtroom.

Edie W. Warren, attorney for Robert Moschetta, said her client is willing to follow the recommendations in the court-sponsored report.

She said Robert Moschetta, who currently has custody of Marissa, “is the one constant in this child’s life. In Marissa’s best interest, this constant should not be taken away from her.”

Leslee J. Newman, Cynthia Moschetta’s attorney, said that her client “can play a role” in Marissa’s upbringing. She said Cynthia Moschetta’s temporary visitation situation is working well. “If it’s working, why change it?” she asked.

But the most fiery closing speech came from Elvira Jordan’s attorney, Richard Gilbert, who said the nasty custody battle stems from an unnatural situation.

“Who’s to blame for the predicament that this baby finds herself in?” he asked. “The flesh peddler baby brokers who teach people like Mr. Moschetta to use money as a leverage to take a mother’s baby. The flesh peddlers share blame for their crimes.”

Judge Stock said she will issue a ruling on who gets primary custody and who gets visitation rights on Sept. 26.

The bitter custody fight started as a surrogate contract between the Moschettas and Jordan. But six months after the child was born, the Moschettas separated and the surrogate contract dissolved. All three parties went to court to get custody of Marissa.

In April, Jordan, 42, and Robert Moschetta, 35, were declared legal parents, while Judge Stock ruled that Cynthia Moschetta, 51, had no parental rights.

The three-week trial was marred by name-calling and mud-slinging among the parties and a courtroom outburst by Cynthia Moschetta, who apparently set out to embarrass Robert Moschetta by ripping off his toupee in front of a television news crew taping the proceedings.

During his summation Tuesday, LaFlamme said he agreed with the recommendation in the court-ordered report that Cynthia Moschetta not be given any mandated visitation rights. However, he left open the possibility of her seeing the child if her estranged husband and Jordan agreed to such a arrangement. LaFlamme departed from the report’s recommendation that Jordan not be allowed to have Marissa visit her at her home because her Cudahy neighborhood in Los Angeles County is too dangerous.

“In all probability she should have more access to the child,” LaFlamme told the judge, including overnight visits to her apartment.

He further suggested that Jordan and Robert Moschetta seek counseling to work out any ill feelings and to learn how to act in Marissa’s best interest.