Flashback: Appeals Court in Minnesota Says Homeless and Jobless but Must Pay Child Support
michaelvolpe.substack.com
In 2017, I covered a mind blowing part of the Rucki case: Sandra Grazzini-Rucki Vs David Rucki.
In that year, I covered how first a magistrate judge named Maria Pastoor and then an opinion by Minnesota Appeals Court Judge Jill Flaskamps Halbrooks both argued that while they ceded that Sandra Grazzini-Rucki was both homeless and jobless that this did not preclude her from having to pay child support.
Pastoor’s original ruling was even more bizarre because she made the ruling while Grazzini-Rucki was incarcerated for helping to hide her two oldest daughters after David Knutson forced them into the custody of her ex-husband’s sister, who the two girls insisted was abusive to them.
“Grazzini-Rucki argues that the CSM erred by imputing potential income to her because the CSM (1) disregarded her actual income, (2) failed to make a proper statutory analysis, and (3) improperly adopted a level of income determined by the district court in a prior order. A CSM must calculate a parent’s income based on her potential income.” Judge Halbrooks stated in the order, justifying how a homeless woman can be forced to pay child support.
Judge Halbrooks continued: “Grazzini-Rucki asserts that she had no ability to pay child support because her employment with the airline was ‘in flux’ and that the CSM made ‘vague, generalized and conclusory findings’ that did not justify imputing income under Minn. Stat. § 518A.32, subd. 1.5 But these assertions misconstrue the record, particularly the evidence admitted during the September 2016 hearing. The CSM found that after Grazzini-Rucki was released from jail, she submitted a document in March 2016 that stated that she currently worked as a flight attendant Grazzini-Rucki testified, and the CSM acknowledged, that her status of employment was unknown at the time of the September 2016 hearing. But Grazzini-Rucki did not provide any evidence that her employment status had changed or that her employment had been terminated after March 2016.”
While Grazzini-Rucki is technically still employed by American Airlines she is not allowed to earn any money unless and until her felony convictions are expunged.
I continued in the story.
In this case, Judge Pastoor and Judge Halbrooks have concluded that, despite having six felonies on her record, Sandra Grazzini-Rucki should be able to find work which pays her in excess of $40,000 per year.
Sandra Grazzini and her ex-husband David Rucki owned a trucking company during their marriage which generated millions in income, but Judge David Knutson, who presided over much of their divorce, ordered David Rucki to get 100% of their marital estate while ordering Sandra Grazzini-Rucki to pay child support after he also ordered sole-custody to go to David Rucki.
Rucki had been made homeless and jobless by the terms of her divorce which took ever asset she had and then by being convicted of six felonies after her daughters ran on April 19, 2013, rather than staying with their abusive father which the family court was insisting on. Samantha, one of the two daughters who ran, speaks about it in an audio made shortly after running below.
Flaskamps-Halbrooks has heard more than twelve cases involving the Rucki’s and ruled against SGR every time.
The Appeals hearing has wound up on-line and that is below.
Of note, sitting next to David Rucki’s attorney, Lisa Elliott, is James Donehower, an attorney for Dakota County.
It’s not the only time Donehower pops up on the Rucki case; Donehower even filed a brief on David Rucki’s behalf.
Note, the reason SGR provided “no address at all” is because she had none at the time; she was staying with whoever would take her in.
I found Donehower intervening- he’s referred to as an “intervenor” in court files- in another case.
That is Jessica Hartger, another case I covered. Jessica reached out to me several years ago, after finding a lot of information about the Rucki case.
She had been arrested eight times; her son was trafficked, and she was facing numerous court battles all at once.
She also had a police officer named Kelli Coughlin involved in her case. Below is Coughlin interrogating Samantha after Samantha was found.
Judge David Knutson was involved in Jessica’s case- he was the judge primarily responsible for SGR’s divorce- and the guardian ad litem Julie Friedrich, who was also on the Rucki case, were also involved in Jessica’s case.
To understand how corrupt Jessica’s case was check out one of her arrests.
Here is the arrest from outside the vehicle.
SGR was still dealing with this child support matter in 2021, when it was transferred to a Florida court.
Flashback: Appeals Court in Minnesota Says Homeless and Jobless but Must Pay Child Support
Flashback: Appeals Court in Minnesota Says Homeless and Jobless but Must Pay Child Support
Flashback: Appeals Court in Minnesota Says Homeless and Jobless but Must Pay Child Support
In 2017, I covered a mind blowing part of the Rucki case: Sandra Grazzini-Rucki Vs David Rucki.
In that year, I covered how first a magistrate judge named Maria Pastoor and then an opinion by Minnesota Appeals Court Judge Jill Flaskamps Halbrooks both argued that while they ceded that Sandra Grazzini-Rucki was both homeless and jobless that this did not preclude her from having to pay child support.
I continued in the story.
Rucki had been made homeless and jobless by the terms of her divorce which took ever asset she had and then by being convicted of six felonies after her daughters ran on April 19, 2013, rather than staying with their abusive father which the family court was insisting on. Samantha, one of the two daughters who ran, speaks about it in an audio made shortly after running below.
Flaskamps-Halbrooks has heard more than twelve cases involving the Rucki’s and ruled against SGR every time.
The Appeals hearing has wound up on-line and that is below.
Of note, sitting next to David Rucki’s attorney, Lisa Elliott, is James Donehower, an attorney for Dakota County.
It’s not the only time Donehower pops up on the Rucki case; Donehower even filed a brief on David Rucki’s behalf.
Note, the reason SGR provided “no address at all” is because she had none at the time; she was staying with whoever would take her in.
I found Donehower intervening- he’s referred to as an “intervenor” in court files- in another case.
That is Jessica Hartger, another case I covered. Jessica reached out to me several years ago, after finding a lot of information about the Rucki case.
She had been arrested eight times; her son was trafficked, and she was facing numerous court battles all at once.
She also had a police officer named Kelli Coughlin involved in her case. Below is Coughlin interrogating Samantha after Samantha was found.
Judge David Knutson was involved in Jessica’s case- he was the judge primarily responsible for SGR’s divorce- and the guardian ad litem Julie Friedrich, who was also on the Rucki case, were also involved in Jessica’s case.
To understand how corrupt Jessica’s case was check out one of her arrests.
Here is the arrest from outside the vehicle.
SGR was still dealing with this child support matter in 2021, when it was transferred to a Florida court.