Will a judge hear evidence on past behavior?

My custody hearing has been continued, yet again, and I am now representing myself.

We began the hearing in a few weeks ago, but ran out of time and the rest of the hearing was continued. We got as far as my ex and his new wife testifying. My ex had no other witnesses.

Basically, my ex is stating he visited with our girls 3-4 times per week,including weekends and taking them to dinner during the week, without any problems until he remarried and I began withholding visitation. My daugthers of educational issues and are repeating second grade this year. His claim is that I have neglected their education.

The truth is he saw the girls for a few hours on Sunday afternoons every few weeks, sometimes going as long as three months without seeing them. He started showing some interest in seeing the girls when he remarried, but still wanted to see them on his terms (when he wanted) and at the same time started calling to yell and scream at me about witholding the girls. This was all a show for the new wife.

My ex has a 21-year-old daughter from his first marriage. His history with her mirrors that of his history with our daughters. He barely saw her prior to our marriage, made plans to see her then called with one excuse or another at the last minute. (I didn’t know any of this during our marriage). He told me his ex and her mother were keeping his daughter from him. He filed a motion for custody when she repeated second grade - stating the same things he is stating about my daughters now. He was never involved with her education or medical care, etc. He settled with a visitation change after a custody evaluation did not go his way.

When she came to visit with us, his daughter spent most of her time with me, since he was always playing in a band (on top of his regular job). After we separated, he never went to pick her up - not once. I continued to pick her up when she called wanting to visit with me and the girls and he would see her some then.

His history with out daughters is exactly the same. He has barely seen them in six years and has only shown interest whenever there is new woman in his life.

His ex-wife and daugther are willing (actually want) to testify on my behalf. Past behavior is a great predictor of future behavior. Would a judge consider his history with the first daughter relevant and allow this testimony?

If you have enough court time I do suggest you have these folks testify, it seems the pattern is consistent, and I think a judge would certainly see that as relevant.