Thursday, April 10, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- An angry Family Court judge has denied there were any improper contacts or meetings in a highly publicized guardianship case involving a 16-year-old girl.
Judge Terrance Marren told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that it was a "gross mischaracterization" that he had social contacts with Kirby Burgess, director of Clark County Family and Youth Services, who allegedly vouched for a couple to become the guardians of Tiffany Ambrose of Las Vegas.
"This is one of the things that gets me so damn mad when people impugn your integrity and indicate you have some social or personal interest in a case and then rule in that case," he said. "That would be highly improper. I did not do that."
The hearing, which lasted more than two hours, featured conflicting statements. The committee will decide later what action to take on a bill to change the guardianship laws, including giving parents notice of a possible change.
The Ambrose case was first disclosed in the SUN after the guardians left Nevada with Tiffany. Because of the publicity, the guardians put her on a bus to Las Vegas.
Committee Chairman Mark James, R-Las Vegas, said the Clark County district attorney's office -- not the committee -- is the proper place to determine if there should be any criminal charges.
Tiffany, now 17, struck up a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship with Gino Cincotta in 1996. Gino's parents, Sal and Kathy Cincotta, pressured her to spend more time with their son. Tiffany's parents objected.
Tiffany told the committee that at the suggestion of the Cincottas, she ran away from home to teach her parents a lesson. When she returned after a weekend, her parents allowed her to quit karate classes but still insisted she spend more time with their family.
The Cincottas, according to Tiffany, encouraged her to run away a second time to make a point to the Ambroses. "For the next 16 days, the Cincottas hid me in various hotel rooms around Las Vegas," Tiffany said, adding that the Cincottas then decided to hire a lawyer to scare Tiffany's parents, Kyle and Sandy Ambrose, and obtain guardianship of the girl in Family Court.
"But before I knew it I was signing a paper for my consent to have the Cincottas as my guardians. Things were moving too fast and they were too blurry," Tiffany testified. The documents she signed alleged she was the victim of abuse by her parents -- which she said was not true.
The documents were prepared by the office of attorney Tom Bell, Tiffany said. But she never talked to Bell and only spoke to Bell's secretary, whom she identified as "Barbara," one time.
Tiffany said the Cincottas knew Burgess because their daughters played for the same soccer team. She and the Cincottas went to Burgess' home one night after dinner. "The Cincottas asked him (Burgess) to tell the judge that they were upstanding citizens and parents and that he saw no reason why the Cincottas should not have guardianship of me.
"Kirby said that he knew Judge Marren for 20-odd years and he had dinner with him on many occasions and that he would talk to him (Marren)," she said.
Tiffany said the Cincottas told Burgess that she was the victim of abuse by her parents. And when questioned by Burgess, she said that was true.
Burgess, in his testimony before the committee, said, "Had I known about a report of abuse, I would have initiated an investigation." He said his agency has 72 hours after a report is made to start an inquiry.
Burgess, who was under subpoena to appear before the committee, was not asked if he ever talked to Marren about the case. He said his agency deals with children who commit crimes or who are neglected and abused. It does not deal with guardianship cases.
Nevada law allows a youngster 14 years or older to petition the court to have a guardian appointed for them. At the Cincottas' suggestion, Tiffany said she did that. No notice to the teen's parents is required for temporary guardianship.
Judge Robert Gaston granted the petition. Later, a hearing was held before Judge Marren for a permanent change of guardianship and it was approved over the protests of the Ambroses.
After that, a drastic change came over the Cincottas, Tiffany said. "They acted very childish, and they would degrade me in public when I had done or said something they did not like or agree with.
"I would spend nights crying in the bathroom with the door locked. The lock was later removed. I felt very lonely and trapped. There was nothing I could do.
"If I had said that I did not want to live with the Cincottas anymore, I would be letting down men in high positions who had put their jobs on the line for me by making the guardianship a sure win. And even if I could go home, why would my parents even want me back after all the things I said and done," she said in prepared testimony.
During the guardianship proceeding, Burgess was contacted by the Family Mediation and Assessment Center (FMAC), which did the report on Tiffany's petition. That report is confidential. The committee had subpoenaed Burgess and the report, but Burgess said FMAC was another agency and he did not have control of the report.
That confidential report would show what Burgess said about the Cincottas. Marren said the committee could get the report by asking Gaston to permit members to review it in chambers with the permission of Kyle and Sandy Ambrose. It would not be public.
Marren also denied that he ever socialized with Burgess or his family. He said he had only business luncheons with Burgess, which were attended by other public officials. He said he read the statements of Burgess in the FMAC report.
In a later meeting, Marren said Burgess raised the issue that he had given comments to the FMAC specialists. "He (Burgess) felt uneasy about it because of his being director of Child and Family Services," the judge said. "I cut him off at that point. I told him 'we will see that when we see the report.'"
Tiffany said after the guardianship case was completed, the Cincottas sent a plant to Burgess as a sign of appreciation. Burgess' wife told the Cincottas that they could not accept the gift, but it would be OK if they did something for the Burgess children, Tiffany said.
Sen. James told Tiffany, "I believe you were manipulated by people with ulterior motives," and said the case should be investigated by the Clark County district attorney's office.
But he was disturbed that she allowed the lie (abuse allegation) to persist.
"If you had not gone along with the scheme to lie to the court, none of this would have happened," James said. He added that Tiffany had placed her credibility at issue because she admitted she lied about the abuse.
But Sen. Bill O'Donnell, R-Las Vegas, who brought the case to the committee's attention, told James it took a lot of courage for Tiffany to come to Carson City to testify. "She knows she did wrong. I hope you don't disregard her comments. I believe what she said (today) is the truth."
Sen. Maurice Washington, R-Reno, said this case had "slipped through the cracks" because there was no investigation of Tiffany's initial allegations that she was physically and mentally abused.
Marren said field investigations by FMAC were discontinued in 1992 for most cases because of a lack of staff. But he said that at the end of last year, Family Court judges voted to hire private individuals to do the evaluations and look into any allegations. That process should begin in July.
Marren said he signs 50 guardianship orders a week and there's no time to review the details of every case. He relies on the guardianship commissioner in the court for recommendations.
Guardianship Commissioner Jennifer Henry said that because of the Ambrose case and others, the procedure has been changed. She said she, Gaston and Marren have decided to give these cases more scrutiny. "There are very few of these temporary guardianships of a minor that will go through without consent of at least one parent," she said. "We know that one parent at least knows what is going on."
Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, questioned why no one checked into Tiffany's allegations. Henry replied that she was appointed in September and came in the day before the final hearing in the Ambrose case.
She said the priority is to protect the child, and a check is made whether the family services department is contacted about any allegations.
However, as the SUN reported previously, no official agency or investigator discussed the case with anyone other than Burgess, the Cincottas and Ambroses.
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