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Lawyers for R&B singer Bobby Brown have asked a California judge to throw out his divorce from Whitney Houston and reopen the question of custody over the couple's 14 year-old daughter.
"He did not have his day in court," Brown's attorney Stacy Phillips told the Orange County Superior Court.
The uncontested divorce judgement ended the couple's stormy 15-year marriage, and Houston got sole custody of daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown.
Phillips said Brown believed the pair were working on their marriage and that Houston had told him not to worry about the divorce proceedings. She said the two had made an agreement.
"Who is he going to rely on the most?" Phillips said. "The woman he loves. He thinks they're working on their marriage."
Houston moved from Atlanta to Orange County, south of Los Angeles, when the couple split last year and she went into drug rehab for the third time in three years.
Brown has a history of arrests for failure to pay child support, drug possession and drunk driving. Houston's lawyer said Brown could appeal or vary the custody award without throwing out the divorce.
Judge Claudia Silas said she would have to listen to testimony from both singers before deciding the issue.
Lawyers must decide whether the couple can testify by video or appear in person.
- REUTERS
