Celebrity Divorce Blog | MyFamilyLaw » jesse james

Jesse James Wins Custody Battle Against Janine Lindemulder

K. McKinney — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:09:37 +0000

Jesse James, motorcycle builder, host of TV shows such as “Monster Garage” and husband of Sandra Bullock, won the latest custody battle between he and his ex-wife, Janine Lindemulder, over their five-year-old daughter, Sunny. Lindemulder is a former adult film star and is still working in the adult entertainment industry – although apparently not in front of the cameras.

A California judge denied Lindemulder’s request for extended custody of Sunny. Lindemulder, a former adult film star, sought to expand her current visitation to include overnight stays. Her visitation is still restricted to daytime hours only.

James took full custody of Sunny earlier this year when Lindemulder was sentenced to federal prison for tax law violations. She was released from prison this summer but has been required to live in a halfway house until recently.

While in the halfway house, Lindemulder met and married Jeremy Aikman, a convicted felon. Aikman was finishing up a four year sentence for being a felon in possession of a weapon.

After she was released from the halfway house, the family court commissioner granted Lindemulder daytime weekend visitation rights on the condition that she not consume any drugs or alcohol and that she keep Sunny away from Aikman. Then, more recently, Lindemulder requested the now-denied overnight visitation as well.

Despite James’ protests, the court did grant Lindemulder the ability to keep Sunny overnight on Christmas Eve. She must return Sunny to James by noon on Christmas.

In my experience, there is a high likelihood that the court’s custody decision is not based entirely on Lindemulder’s failure to pay income taxes and six months in prison. The commissioner must determine what custody arrangement is in the best interests of the child. The drug and alcohol abstinence conditions for visitation lead me to believe that Lindemulder has (or had) a drug and/or alcohol dependency – which addiction forms the basis for James’ allegations that she is unfit to make decisions for the child or have unsupervised, overnight visitation.

Lindemulder is scheduled to appear for a hearing next week on a possible violation of the terms of her supervised release, relating to her tax violation sentence.

Jesse James Goes Back to Court Over Daughter With Janine Lindemulder

K. McKinney — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 03:19:50 +0000

Motorcycle builder/reality television star Jesse James was in an Orange County, California court last week, where a judge was to decide whether his ex-wife Janine Lindemulder is fit to share custody of their 5-year-old daughter, Sunny. James owns the West Coast Choppers motorcycle shop and stars in the Discovery Channel show, “Monster Garage.” Lindemulder is a former Penthouse model and porn star. She has recently been serving a federal prison term for tax evasion.

The judge ruled that, for the next sixty days, Lindemulder will get six hours of visitation every Sunday and may pick up and drop off the child from 10:00am-4:00p.m. She may take the child on trips to the park and does not have to be monitored. Presumably, the custody arrangement will be reviewed after sixty days. The next hearing is scheduled for December 7th 2009.

James was granted full custody of Sunny while Lindemulder served her six-month prison term. Lindemulder has more recently been residing in a Los Angeles halfway house. James took Sunny to visit Lindemulder several times after she moved to the halfway house this summer. He claims that Lindemulder demanded that he leave the little girl there for three hours during a September visit, then called and asked him to pick her up early.

In his court filings, James asked the court to conduct a review upon Lindemulder’s release from custody to determine if their daughter will be safe during any custody/visitation time with Lindemulder.

In her court income declaration, a standard filing in family law cases, Lindemulder indicated that she works for Earl Miller Photography as a set designer. The company’s Web site carries a warning: “Contains explicit hardcore sexual images – minors under 18 (or under 21 where applicable) must leave now!”

At the hearing, James’ attorney raised concerns that Lindemulder had recently married someone she met at her halfway house. Her new husband has a criminal history including numerous felonies. His convictions include possession of a sawed-off shot gun, methamphetamine manufacture and possession, several DUIs, and driving without a license.

James and Lindemulder divorced in 2004, when Lindemulder was about eight months pregnant with their daughter. James married actress Sandra Bullock the next year.

Also See:

Jesse James Gets Custody as Ex Heads to Prison

Jesse James Gets Custody as Ex Heads to Prison

K. McKinney — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 04:25:40 +0000

TV personality and motorcycle builder Jesse James (West Coast Choppers and Monster Garage) has been awarded temporary full custody of his five year old daughter Sunny by a California court. Sunny’s mother (James’ ex-wife and porn star) Janine Lindemulder was recently sentenced to six months in prison by an Oregon federal judge. She reports to prison next month.

From 2000 through 2006, Lindemulder spent over $750,000 on homes, vehicles, furniture and a piano, while failing to voluntarily make any payments to the IRS. Those purchases included a home in Eugene, Oregon. During this period, she owed the IRS over $200,000.

Lindemulder was married to James from 2002 to 2004. Based upon the court documents, it appears that she owed income tax for the six years prior to her marriage to James and also failed to pay taxes upon separating from James in 2004.

After Lindemulder serves her six months in federal prison, she will be on one year of supervised release (probation). As a condition of her supervised release, she will be required to live in a “residential re-entry center” (commonly known as a halfway house) for up to six additional months. In addition, she must pay all her outstanding taxes,which currently are about $294,000.

So, it looks like James and his current wife, actress Sandra Bullock, will have full custody of Sunny for somewhere close to a year. James began dating Bullock just a month before Sunny was born, having split with Lindemulder while she was pregnant (they later divorced). James and Bullock reportedly sought to modify custody of the child several years ago due to suspicious marks and bruises they observed.

One note: OK! Magazine and The National Enquirer both report that Lindemulder was convicted of tax evasion. She was not. Maybe it’s just the picky attorney in me, but their fact-checkers need to do a better job. Lindemulder was convicted of failing to pay taxes, a federal misdemeanor. Failure to pay taxes is a different crime than income tax evasion. It may seem like technicalities or semantics – but there’s a difference and they should get it right before reporting it. (Oh, and the Enquirer may win the most-distasteful headline award for “Sandra Bullock Gets Porn Star Kid”. Unbelievable.)