UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

SETH BASIL COLCHESTER, No. 21-35210 Petitioner-Appellee, D.C. No. v. 2:20-cv-1571- JCC JEWEL LAZARO, Respondent-Appellant. OPINION

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington John C. Coughenour, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted August 31, 2021 Seattle, Washington

Filed October 22, 2021 Before: A. Wallace Tashima and Ronald M. Gould, Circuit Judges, and Jed S. Rakoff, * District Judge.

Opinion by Judge Rakoff

* The Honorable Jed S. Rakoff, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, sitting by designation. 2 COLCHESTER V. LAZARO

SUMMARY **

Hague Convention

The panel (1) vacated the district court’s order, after a bench trial, granting a petition for the return of a child under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and (2) remanded for appointment of a psychologist and a new trial.

The child’s father sought the return of the child to Spain. The mother argued that returning the child to her father, who she alleged had abused both her and her baby, would present a grave risk of psychological or physical harm to the child, and a defense under Article 13(b) of the Convention therefore applied.

The panel held that neither the Hague Convention nor its implementing legislation, the International Child Abduction Remedies Act, provides for appointment of a psychologist as of right. Nonetheless, the district court erred in refusing the mother’s request for appointment of a forensic psychologist to examine the child and provide an expert opinion regarding the mother’s allegations of abuse and the psychological harm to the child arising therefrom. The panel concluded that the district court’s refusal to permit the requested examination amounted to an abuse of discretion that rendered the subsequent bench trial fundamentally unfair.

** This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader. COLCHESTER V. LAZARO 3

The panel held that the district court also erred by failing to make findings of fact adequate to support its order returning the child to Spain under Fed. R. App. P. 52(a).

COUNSEL Aaron P. Brecher (argued), John W. Wolfe, and Melanie Phillips, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Seattle, Washington, for Respondent-Appellant. Caleb O. Bonm (argued), William J. Bender, and Peter Offenbecher, Skellenger Bender P.S., Seattle, Washington, for Petitioner-Appellee. William D. Dalsen, Proskauer Rose LLP, Boston, Massachusetts; Margaret A. Dale and Lucy Wolf, Proskauer Rose LLP, New York, New York; for Amici Curiae Sanctuary for Families, Legal Momentum, Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, Family Violence Appellate Project, Joan S. Meier, Lawyers Committee Against Domestic Violence, Legal Voice, Merle H. Weiner, Sexual Violence Law Center, and Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Angela Vigil, Baker & McKenzie LLP, Miami, Florida; David Zaslowsky, Nicole Ford, Debra Dandeneau, and Kirsten Jackson, Baker & McKenzie LLP, New York, New York; for Amici Curiae National Association of Social Workers, Pamela Krasner, Dr. Stephanie Brandt, Dr. Marie Rudden, Professor Evan Stark, and Professor Jeffrey L. Edleson. 4 COLCHESTER V. LAZARO

OPINION RAKOFF, District Judge:

This case concerns the balance between expeditiously adjudi