Roanoke attorney helps reunite mother and child in international kidnapping case

A series of events, starting with the kidnapping of a newborn from their home in Mexico and culminating in a trial involving the Hague, led to the case of a lifetime for attorney Vicki Francois.

Earlier this year, after a father crossed national and state borders to kidnap his 6-month-old child, Francois received a letter from the State Department. They were contacting her on behalf of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, an agency that deals with child kidnapping cases, specifically those that cross international borders.

Francois knew this would not be a typical case.

According to Francois, the father and mother had moved to Mexico in March where they shared an apartment until their separation in May. Although the mother remained the child’s primary caregiver, the father left with the child in June. By the time Mexican authorities issued an Amber Alert, father and child were already back in the United States and on their way to Martinsville.

The day after the alleged kidnapping, the mother formally filed a criminal complaint in Mexico, which led to a felony criminal warrant. When the Hague became aware of the warrant, they contacted the U.S. State Department’s Office of Children’s Issues on behalf of the mother. The State Department began the process of finding appropriate legal counsel, sending letters to Francois and other attorneys in the region.

“Ordinarily, we write to attorneys in the all-volunteer Hague Convention Attorney Network to inquire if they would like to be included on a short list of attorneys that we will send to the applicant,” reads a portion of the State Department’s letter to Francois. “Because we have a very limited network in the vicinity of Martinsville, we are writing to attorneys in the area.”

Francois has worked as a professional lawyer for 26 years. She was named one of the 2021 Influential Women in Law by the Virginia Lawyers Weekly.

Francois said the kind of law her firm practices and its relative proximity to Martinsville made her an ideal fit for the case. Wiese Law Firm is multidisciplinary, taking on both criminal and civil cases. She, along with fellow Roanoke attorney John Johnson, served as co-counsels and agreed to represent the mother pro bono.

“Only one other attorney responded to [the mother],” Francois said. “That lawyer was in D.C. They wanted a $25,000 retainer fee up front to take the case. Obviously, my client did not have that kind of money to pay a lawyer.”

Francois said she did not have much experience with cases related to the Hague. She said although she was presented with an opportunity in the past, it never amounted to an actual case.

“I’ve been contacted twice over the course of approximately six years,” Francois said. “The first case never came to fruition. We made initial contact, but nothing was ever filed.” She was convinced the opportunity wouldn’t present itself again. Then the State Department sent out its letter.

Her prep work was over 50 hours.

“That is a massive amount of time considering this all took place in the span of just 20 calendar days,” Francois said. “And I still had all my other existing cases and clients I still had to tend to during that time.”

Francois said the preliminary work was worth the effort, citing her preparedness for what she described as a case that didn’t have many twists or hiccups.

On Aug. 1, the case ended after the judge ruled in the mother’s favor. While the father is waiting for extradition to Mexico to face child kidnapping charges, the mother was reunited with the child soon after the trial. The pair had been separated for over a month.

“I had also purchased a baby car seat a few days in advance to ensure I was able to safely transport the child if we won,” Francois said. “Then after court, we had to buy baby food and clothes and diapers since we walked out of court with literally just what the baby was wearing and his stroller.”

Francois said a bond formed between her and the mother during the case. A framed picture of mother and child sits prominently on her office desk.

Both the mother and her younger brother lived with Francois during the duration of the trial, something Francois said she doesn’t make a habit of doing.

“They basically had no money and no place to stay,” Francois said. “So, they stayed with me at my house for 12 days until court.”

Francois said that she loved having the pair as roommates.

“It was wild having Mom and her 18-year-old younger brother living with us for a week or two waiting for their trial,” Francois said. “We only had the baby with us for less than 24 hours. But we loved having them with us, and it enabled me to learn more about the case and the environment that this child would be returning to in the event we prevailed.”

She has kept in touch with the family, now back in Mexico, and says they are doing just fine.

Francois didn’t earn anything from the case, and she added it is unlikely there will be any compensation from the case in the future. While she doesn’t anticipate trying Hague-related cases in the near future, she is open to the experience.

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