Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, October 16, 1993                   TAG: 9310160156
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: SACRAMENTO, CALIF.                                LENGTH: Short

MOTHER LOSES CUSTODY OF GIRL FOR SMOKING

The girl's father asked the court to remove the girl from the mother's home because the child was having trouble breathing. At least two court orders prohibited the woman from smoking in front of her daughter.

Superior Court Judge Nancy Sweet on Wednesday ordered 8-year-old Elyse Masone to be placed temporarily with her paternal grandmother, delaying any permanent custody order until both parents undergo psychological evaluations.

Susan Tanner and Steve Masone, who were divorced in 1987, have been fighting for six years over custody.

Sharon Huddle, a lawyer representing the father, said Elyse's lung capacity had been greatly reduced by secondhand smoke from her mother's cigarettes.

Tanner, a registered nurse, denies she smokes in front of her daughter, claiming Masone is using the smoking issue to divert attention from her allegation that he is an unfit father.

- Associated Press