Bobby Brown went to court Friday to seek custody of his and Whitney Houston’s teenage daughter.
Brown and his attorney asked Orange County Superior Court to dismiss a default judgment issued in December that granted Houston sole custody of 14-year-old Bobbi Kristina.
Brown wasn’t given enough time to respond to Houston’s divorce filings, his attorney Stacy D. Phillips said: “He didn’t have his day in court.”
Judge Claudia Silbar ordered Brown and Houston to argue their case at an Oct. 22 hearing before she decides who will get custody.
“I cannot determine credibility on paperwork,” Silbar said. “This really boils down to credibility.”
Houston’s attorney, Stephen Kolodny, said that Brown can contest the custody award or make arrangements to visit his daughter, but that he can’t change the divorce judgment.
In court filings released last week, Brown claimed that Houston has kept him from seeing their daughter and that he deserved custody because he had been her primary caretaker.
“I just miss my daughter,” Brown told People.com. “The goal is to see her a lot more and to be involved in the decision making in her life, the places she goes, the people she hangs out with. All of that.”
Houston and Brown wed in 1992, when she was at the height of her fame as a Grammy-winning superstar known for such hits as “I Will Always Love You.” Brown, a former member of New Edition, gained solo fame with singles such as “Don’t Be Cruel” and “My Prerogative.”
During their 14-year marriage, Brown was arrested for drugs and alcohol, and Houston twice entered drug rehab programs.
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