NY Judge Mulls Allowing Facebook Posts In Custody Battle

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A New York state judge may allow a mother's social media posts to be used in a parental custody fight, a first for the state.

As CBS2's Lou Young reported, a judge in Westchester County has ordered Christina Antoine to turn over all her private Facebook postings as potential evidence in the dispute.

Both Antoine, a psychiatrist, and her estranged husband, Anthony DiMartino, a social worker, are seeking sole custody of their 4-year-old son. The couple split after five years of marriage.

DiMartino's lawyer, Gordon Burrows, said the Facebook posts are important to the case.

"I think it's going to demonstrate that Mom traveled the world and outside the state, leaving the de facto custody of the child with the father," Burrows said. "The mother is contesting that. I believe these records are going to support his contention."

In New York, courts try hard to keep custody battles as nonintrusive as possible. For instance, the court doesn't allow cellphone records or computer hard drives to be used as evidence in custody fights.

But the judge said social media could be an exception.

"That's what makes this case so important," said John Pappalardo, the lawyer representing the child in the acrimonious divorce.

The judge will examine the postings and decide which ones, if any, are relevant. He wants the Facebook posts by Sept. 14.

Antoine's lawyer, Jerold Rotbard, said there's not much there.

"Looking at Facebook is not going to show you anything," he said. "So she takes a picture of herself inside a restaurant and the child is not in the picture. That doesn't mean the child wasn't there."

In fact, the mother said the boy was with her on many of her trips and plans to produce plane tickets and hotel receipts as proof.