“Yes.”
“So your prior testimony was misleading when you stated that the Petition was filed by Anna, wasn’t it?”
“No.”
Linda frowned. “Dr. Alderman, wasn’t the Petition filed by both Annaandyour wife Maggie?”
“No.” Noah and Thomas had discussed how to handle this line of questioning. “Anna’s handwriting is at the top. Anna wrote her name in the Plaintiff box and my name in the Defendant box. Anna filled out the form.”
“But doesn’t this form clearly show a box checked, indicating that the Petition was filed by a parent of a minor plaintiff?”
“Regardless, it was filed by Anna. My wife had to sign only because Anna was a minor.”
“Dr. Alderman, are you suggesting that your wife didn’t agree with the allegations that Anna made in the Petition?”
“Yes, they were Anna’s allegations, and my wife only signed to enable Anna to file, like a cosigner.”
Linda’s eyes flew open. “Is a young girl trying to protect herself from sexual abuse like somebody getting acar loan?”
“No, I was trying to explain. It’s an analogy.”
Linda nodded to her paralegal. “I’m going to call to the screen the very last page of the Petition. Please read it yourself and we’ll discuss it.”
Noah turned:
VERIFICATION: I verify that I am the Petitioner designated in the present action and that the facts and statements contained in the above Petition are true and correct to the best of my knowledge. I understand that any false statements are made subject to the penalties of 18 Pa.C.S.A. section 4904, relating to unsworn falsification to authorities.
Margaret Ippoliti
Anna Desroches
“Dr. Alderman, isn’t it true that two signatures appear there, Anna’s and your wife’s?”
“Yes.”
“Your wife was smart enough to understand that she was subjecting herself to penalties of perjury if she signed a Petition she believed to be false, wasn’t she?”
“Yes.”
“So isn’t it true that your wife’s signature on the Petition shows that she believed the allegations to be ‘true and correct’?”
“No, because you have to consider that the PFA Order was not issued. After the hearing, my lawyer and I went to the attorneys’ conference room to await Judge Hamilton’s decision, but there was a knock on the door. We assumed it was the bailiff telling us that the judge had decided, but it was my wife. She initiated a settlement, which I think shows that she was ambivalent about whether Anna’s allegations were true.”
Linda scoffed, her impatience plain. “Dr. Alderman, isn’t it true that you settled Anna’s Petition because you knew that Judge Hamilton was going to issue a PFA Order against you?”
“No.”
Linda shot him a skeptical look. “Why would you settle if you thought you were going to win?”
“I settled because it made sense for all of us.”
“Dr. Alderman, wouldn’t it have been a disaster for your medicalpractice as apediatric allergistif a PFA Order had been issued against you for sexual abuse of Anna,a minor?”
“Yes.”
“So it was consistent with your self-interest to settle, was it not?”
“Yes,” Noah had to admit.
