Name: Man who requested trial by combat in custody dispute clears sanity test, requests testing for ex-wife and her attorney
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Man who requested trial by combat in custody dispute clears sanity test, requests testing for ex-wife and her attorney

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Des Moines RegisterA Kansas man who asked a judge to allow him a&nbsp;trial by combat with Japanese swords&nbsp; in a child custody dispute with his Iowa ex-wife is sane, a court-ordered psychological evaluation has concluded.Now David Ostrom is&nbsp;seeking to have the court order that his ex-wife&nbsp;and her attorney undergo psychological evaluations as well.The judge in March ordered Ostrom, 40, to&nbsp;&nbsp;and banned him temporarily from seeing his children without supervision.&nbsp;Ostrom, of Paola, Kansas, filed the motion for trial by combat on Jan. 3, asking&nbsp;the Iowa District Court in Shelby County to allow him to&nbsp;settle his child custody dispute&nbsp;with a duel.He summoned his ex-wife, Bridgette Ostrom,&nbsp;38,&nbsp;of Harlan, to the battlefield, noting that her attorney, Matthew Hudson, could stand in&nbsp;her place if he wished, court records show.&nbsp;There, he said in his motion, he would "rend&nbsp;their souls&nbsp;from their (corporeal) bodies."David Ostrom's psychological&nbsp;evaluation indicates that he is not troubled, but has "adjustment disorder with mixed emotional features" — in other words, he's angry about the dispute with his ex-wife."It essentially says I'm not crazy, I just don't like being denied access to my children," David Ostrom told the Des Moines Register.&nbsp;David Ostrom, who is representing himself in court, filed a counter-motion&nbsp;Friday to have his ex-wife and Hudson&nbsp;undergo psychological evaluation as well, contending he had not received equal treatment under the law.David Ostrom further describes Hudson in the motion&nbsp;as a "crazy" and "threatening attorney" who should be tested to determine his fitness to practice law.&nbsp;"Mr. Hudson, with presumed mental illness, is in a position as a Family Law Attorney, where he is likely causing much discord, harm, and conflict in many other families caught up in the court system," David Ostrom wrote in the motion.&nbsp;"This pathological behavior should be identified and curbed, post-haste, for the broader public good."Neither Hudson nor Bridgette Ostrom responded to the Des Moines Register's requests for comment.Bridgette Ostrom&nbsp;created a GoFundMe account in January asking for help covering her legal fees. As of Saturday, she'd raised almost $3,000.&nbsp;"Prior to him filing a motion asking the courts for permission to kill me (because really…how else would one rend a soul from a body?), I had never refused him visits with the kids," she&nbsp;wrote in the fundraiser description.David Ostrom filed a second motion Friday&nbsp;asking that he be allowed to spend&nbsp;parenting time with his children and that he&nbsp;be reimbursed for $4,765 in legal fees and&nbsp;$2,200 for the psychological evaluation. The motion also seeks&nbsp;$255,000 for emotional damages.In the motion, David Ostrom argues that&nbsp;the court wasted his time and money."They evaluated a man who did not have mental illness. My time was wasted as well as the court's," he told the Register.In the motion, he argues that "needless" evaluations and "restrictions of parenting time" serve to&nbsp;"diminish and destroy" his relationship with his children."This is an egregious failure of the family court system and judge in this matter," David Ostrom wrote. "This proceeding has devolved from a court of law into an arena where one attorney fuels discord and encourages parents to air their subjective,&nbsp;and often irrelevant,&nbsp;opinions about the other parent. Nothing could be further from the actual 'best interests' of the children."David Ostrom previously told the Register he filed the trial by combat request&nbsp;in an attempt to get media attention and with the hope it could lead to both parties airing their grievances in front of a judge and reach a resolution.Andrea Sahouri covers breaking news for the Des Moines Register. She can be contacted at asahouri@registermedia.com, 515-284-8247 or on Twitter at .&nbsp;Your subscription makes work like this possible. Subscribe today at&nbsp;.

Des Moines RegisterA Kansas man who asked a judge to allow him a&nbsp;trial by combat with Japanese swords&nbsp; in a child custody dispute with his Iowa ex-wife is sane, a court-ordered psychological evaluation has concluded.Now David Ostrom is&nbsp;seeking to have the court order that his ex-wife&nbsp;and her attorney undergo psychological evaluations as well.The judge in March ordered Ostrom, 40, to&nbsp;&nbsp;and banned him temporarily from seeing his children without supervision.&nbsp;Ostrom, of Paola, Kansas, filed the motion for trial by combat on Jan. 3, asking&nbsp;the Iowa...

Man who requested trial by combat in custody dispute clears sanity test, requests testing for ex-wife and her attorney

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