ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 27, 1996 TAG: 9602270118
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
A lesbian mother returned to court Monday for another round in her battle to regain custody of her 4-year-old son from his grandmother.
Lawyers for Sharon Bottoms tried to shift the main focus of the case off her homosexuality, arguing that she could offer Tyler Doustou a more secure, loving home than that of Kay Bottoms, her mother, who won custody of the boy in 1993.
``Her life has stabilized compared to the life that she led once she left her mother's home,'' Sharon Bottoms' lawyer, Donald Butler, said outside court. ``There was no evidence he was doing badly'' with his mother before she lost custody, he said.
Butler said he intended to show that living with Kay Bottoms in her Spotsylvania County home has harmed Tyler's development.
Sharon Bottoms' lawyers also contend that Kay Bottoms has violated the terms of Tyler's visitation agreement. Kay Bottoms, Sharon Bottoms and her lover, April Wade, testified, but were not permitted to comment about the case, which the judge closed to the media.
Kay Bottoms testified that on more than one occasion, a scheduled visitation between Sharon and Tyler failed to take place, said Steven Pershing, a lawyer with the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
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