Criminal Justice
Lawyer: Kaye Scholer Partner Quickly Returned for Kids Ousted from Car
Posted Apr 27, 2009 7:43 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A lawyer for the Kaye Scholer bankruptcy partner who made national headlines last week for ordering her sparring children from the car is telling his client’s side of the story—and emphasizing that the mother quickly returned to pick up her two girls.
Madlyn Primoff, 45, pleaded not guilty to endangering a child last Monday. Authorities said Primoff ousted her 10- and 12-year-old daughters from her car, but allowed the 12-year-old back in. A passerby saw the younger girl crying, bought her ice cream, and contacted police, according to the early reports.
Now Primoff’s lawyer, Vincent Briccetti, says his client simply drove around the block after ordering the girls out of the car, the Associated Press reports. When she returned, both girls were gone.
The 10-year-old was taken in hand by the passerby and the 12-year-old had begun the 3-mile walk home, Briccetti said. He said Primoff returned home to get her husband when she couldn’t find the girls, and they found the older daughter walking home. When they couldn’t find the younger girl, they reported her missing.
“She wasn't abandoning her children,'' Briccetti said of Primoff. ''She expected to find her children.''
The Westchester County Journal News reviewed a taped call to police from Primoff. The newspaper says she spoke in a “controlled and calm tone.”
"Hi, my daughter is missing," Primoff reportedly said. "My two daughters were together on White Plains Road, and, my older one came home first and the younger one is missing."
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Comments
Marc J. Randazza
Apr 27, 2009 8:34 AM CST
Okay, bad judgment on her part. REALLY bad judgment on her part. Nevertheless, the media pillorying she is getting is pretty damn unfair.
I’m sure that this woman is as good a mom as any. The only reason this makes news is because she is a biglaw partner. Must we sink so low?
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B. McLeod
Apr 27, 2009 8:55 AM CST
Actually, this was all over the national news before the media even picked up on the fact that she was an attorney. I don’t think the job at a large firm gets her a “pass” for this (and I’m skeptical about the late-breaking, just-drove-around-the-block claim). How far could a 12-year old walk while the car was going around the block? How could she fail to immediately find the 12-year old if she simply followed the route home? Also, note the contradiction in the stories above, between going back with her husband to find the 12-year old, or (as indicated on the emergency call) waiting to phone in until the 12-year old “came home” (completing what has been described as a three-mile walk). To a person of average intelligence, this might seem like a defendant attorney compounding an act of supremely freakish poor judgment with a cover story that would carry its own ethical issues. I don’t think the media reporters are the ones “sinking” here. This defendant should be thinking about striking her flag, overhauling her tags and lowering her boats, before she makes the situation any worse.
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not a sailor
Apr 27, 2009 10:17 AM CST
So, I take it she practices maritime law?
Other than not following the analogies, I think I agree with B. McLeod—she messed up pretty big. And my BS detector is going off, reading the statements she made in attempt to minimize and cover up.
Lucky for everyone that a benevolent nice person picked up the 10-year-old—not, for example, a Sunday school teacher from Tracy, California.
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Alvin Schuck
Apr 27, 2009 10:37 AM CST
Why are they THROWING this woman under the bus? She was stressed out with two nasty teens and she told them to get out of the car.
I was thrown out many times, just like this, and no one bothered my parents for so doing.
Have we become a nation of sissies or what?
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DR
Apr 27, 2009 11:35 AM CST
I agree with most above that this woman used poor judgment. The White Plains business district is not a good place to leave young kids, even teenagers. I’ve been up there for court appearances and even during the day it can be desolate even though it is a stop for a major commuter line. I’m a parent too and understand this mom’s frustration, but this story seems sketchy to me. I’d rather be called a “sissy” than the parent of a dead or missing child. For the mom to be gone long enough in this situation for a stranger (albeit a nice one) to pick up her child is what leaves me feeling a bit cold. I think the reason this story has become such big news is that there have been so many recent disappearances and tragedies around the country which have made us hyper-aware.
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K.
Apr 27, 2009 12:55 PM CST
To Alvin @#4, parents get stressed out all the time and it comes with the job that we have to be able to deal with that stress—and deal with it in a way that does not endanger our children. What the mother/lawyer, Ms. Primoff, did appears to have been an example of exceptionally bad judgment.
And to address another point Alvin made: even if the girls were “nasty” (which I’m not willing to concede), they’re not “teens.” Two teenagers on their own would be another story. These were girls, aged 12 and 10. Ten is a long way away from being a teen. (How significant are those few years? Well, many teenagers go to high school, and a lot of them drive there in their own cars; ten-year-olds go to elementary school. Maybe some ten-year-olds walk places on their own, but not under the circumstances of being thrown out of a car mid-trip.)
I started walking to school on my own when I was around 10. (It was approximately five blocks, no big streets to cross.) For the first two weeks, a relative walked with me and let me lead the way. Then, for a week, I walked to school “by myself” (with a relative walking half a block behind me, unbeknownst to me, making sure I made it all right and didn’t get lost.)
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R
Apr 27, 2009 4:40 PM CST
“Allll-Vinnnn!!!!” A ten-year-old is not a “teenager.” No soup for YOU!
I would say “endangering a child” seems about like the right charge for leaving your 10-year-old in a business district. Thank God nothing bad happened to the little girl.
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Paul the Magyar
Apr 27, 2009 6:48 PM CST
I agree:
1) 10- and 12-year-old daughters are not teens.
2) this was bad parenting.
3) the explanation compounds the error.
4) proof beyond a reasonable doubt that a certain mother has bad judgment and needs to count toi ten before decision-making.
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fed up
Apr 27, 2009 7:36 PM CST
10 and 12 year-olds are not “teenagers”, they are minor children. The mother was appropriately charged with the crime of endangerment. As for Primoff’s phony phone call to the police, she should be charged with making a false report too. If the 10 year-old child were subsequently struck and killed while walking along the road, manslaughter or murder would be appropriate. The fact that she is a lawyer is immaterial, other than as an aggravating factor during sentencing. Once convicted, she should be disbarred. That fact that so many of her lawyer-colleagues have come to her defense is nauseating, but typical of the profession.
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Jennifer
Apr 28, 2009 2:28 AM CST
All of you are wrong. In most states 12 is old enough to be left alone and babysit. Therefore, leaving 12 and 10 year old siblings alone on the side of the road is nothing out of this world. Obviously mom was stressed out. Not a smart thing to do but all of you are taking this above and beyond normal.
It seems none of you had a bike when you were a kid and were allowed to ride within a 3 mile radius of your home.
I don’t think this is anybody’s business. I don’t understand why the sisters separated (albeit I understand they were arguing), I think that is the scariest part of the whole story. 10 year old going off with a stranger who bought her ice cream is a huge red light. She should have been skulking behind her 12 year old sibling.
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DR
Apr 28, 2009 7:51 AM CST
Jennifer: I had a bike when I was a kid, and yes, I rode all over the place. But, we lived in the country and then in suburbia, not an huge urban area one stop from New York City. I know the area and I know what I’m talking about. What the kids should have done in this situation is not the issue here.
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Paloma
Apr 28, 2009 2:45 PM CST
This new story isn’t making me feel any better about it. I know that area. Around the corner are a lot of bars and nightclubs. It only takes a few seconds for a child to be snatched. There’s just no excuse for driving away. For any length of time. Period. That woman needs to take a parenting class and learn about some appropriate forms of discipline.
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Paloma
Apr 28, 2009 2:55 PM CST
Jennifer That’s not completely accurate. Only two states actually have a law on the books setting a minimum age for leaving a child alone and even then, those laws don’t say it’s always appropriate for a 12 yo to babysit a younger child. In all states, the parent is charged with making a responsible decision in consideration of the maturity of the children involved and the safety of the environment in which the children are left. Here there was no reason for that mother to believe her 12 year old would watch over the 10 yo in that situation - especially when they had just been arguing so badly that they were being kicked out of the car. Nor is a city street at night a safe environment or an environment in which a 12 yo could be expected to be able to keep a 10 yo safe ( no less herself).
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SLB
May 8, 2009 8:23 PM CST
Alvin Schuck wrote: “I was thrown out many times, just like this, and no one bothered my parents for so doing. Have we become a nation of sissies or what?”
No, but unfortunately, we’ve become a nation with greater numbers of pedophiles than when you were growing up. The kid was picked up by a complete stranger. Lucky for everyone involved that the stranger was a “Good Samaritan.”
I ask you—what if ...? You know what that mom is thinking at 3 a.m. What if….
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