Hasselhoff’s Visitation Rights With Daughters Suspended

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (May 7, 2007) — City News Service reports that a Los Angeles judge has suspended David Hasselhoff’s visitation privileges with his two teenage daughters, pending further review of a videotape showing the actor apparently intoxicated. “This videotape changes the landscape, it just does,” Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark A. Juhas reportedly told lawyers for both parties. The order by Judge Juhas will be in effect until at least May 21, when he will hold another hearing to determine how long ago the videotape of the drunken former “Baywatch” actor was taken in his Las Vegas hotel room. Hasselhoff was not in court for today’s hearing, but his ex-wife, Pamela Bach, was present.

Juhas said he wants Hasselhoff, Bach and their daughters to meet with Angus Stracham, the court appointed psychologist, to evaluate the current custody and visitation arrangements.Bach told Access on Friday that she knew about the tape, in which an allegedly intoxicated Hasselhoff lies on a floor, bare chested, attempting to eat a hamburger.“I know that there is a tape out there,” an emotional Pamela admitted. “If it’s anything of what I’m hearing it is, he is very sick and he does need help. I want my children away from that.”Hasselhoff admitted to watching the tape, which was reportedly shot by either his then 16-year-old daughter, Hayley, or her boyfriend (Justin), and he released a statement last week:“I am a recovering alcoholic. … Unfortunately, one evening I did have a brief relapse, but part of recovery is relapse. Because of my honest and positive relationship with my daughters who were concerned for my well being there was a tape made that night to show me what I was like. I have seen the tape. I have learned from it. …The tape was never meant to become public, but got into the hands of individuals who are not worthy of mentioning, who maliciously released the tape for their own self purpose. I hope that someone else will learn from the tape, as I have.” According to CNS, Bach’s new attorney, Debra A. Opri, asked in court today that Hasselhoff be barred from visiting (now)17-year-old Hayley and 14-year-old Taylor until June 1, which until today was the next scheduled hearing date. Opri said after today’s hearing that she is pleased with the two-week suspension, even though it allows Hasselhoff to have unmonitored telephone calls with the girls during the suspension period. But Hasselhoff’s lawyer, Melvin S. Goldsman, said after the hearing he is confident Stracham will use his power to override Juhas’ ruling and restore Hasselhoff’s visitation privileges, adding that Stracham concluded in a report that Hayley should be in the custody of her father instead of her mother. Stracham also reportedly said that Taylor should have the option of living with her father if she believes she is being physically and verbally abused by her mother. Stracham wrote in his report that Bach tested positive several months ago for using cocaine and alcohol, an allegation she and Opri deny.

Judge Juhas reportedly said in court that he agreed with Opri that the Hasselhoff videotape raises serious concerns about the well-being of the girls when they are with their father, but Bach was reportedly “visibly disturbed” by the judge’s order that she meet with Stracham. Both she and Opri have questioned his impartiality. Goldsman told CNS that Hasselhoff is returning to Los Angeles soon from Nevada, where he has been appearing in the Las Vegas production of “The Producers.” Hasselhoff and Bach married in December 1989, and he filed for divorce in January 2006.

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