FRANKFORT — When Kentucky Supreme Court justices rule in the emotional Justin custody battle, their decision will cast a shadow on all future adoptions in the commonwealth, attorneys said Friday during arguments in court.

        The custody battle over 4-year-old Justin already has caused Kentucky legislators to twice amend the state statute that sets guidelines for the consents like those signed by Justin's biological parents, Regina Moore and Jerry Dorning, an unmarried couple of Boone County.

Regina Moore, (left), walks past Rich and Cheryl Asente (right) in the hallway outside the courtroom after Friday's hearing. Ms. Moore, of Boone County, is Justin's biological mother. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        The amendments emphasize that the consents are irrevocable 20 days after they are signed.

        The biological parents signed consent-to-adopt forms in January 1998 and let 11-month-old Justin go live with Rich and Cheryl Asente and his full biological brother, Joey, now 6, in Girard, Ohio, a month later. They have spent almost four years insisting that they were told that they had until a March 1998 hearing to change their minds.

        But their signatures “were valid. They were fully informed. Everything that was done in this case was done properly,” said Mitchell Charney, the Louisville attorney representing the Asentes. ""The only way it became complex is because the birth parents took an uncomplex matter and made it complex. The word "adoption' ... appears (on the form) several different times.”

        Deciding in favor of the biological parents will only set a precedent for other vacillating parents to “revoke the voluntary adoption process at will,” he said.

        Kentucky's highest court will take several weeks to a year to decide the custody battle that has a child's future in limbo. The Asentes have refused court orders to return Justin, who turns 5 in two weeks. The couple already has adopted Joey.

        The state Supreme Court rarely reverses rulings made by the Kentucky Court of Appeals. The appellate court has said Ms. Moore and Mr. Dorning knew the consequences of signing the consents.

        “At some point, people have to be held to documents they sign,” Chief Justice Joseph Lambert said.

        Both sets of parents were in the courtroom. Ms. Moore and Mr. Dorning, who had a group of supporters with them, declined comment.

        Their attorneys doubt whether they can get a federal court to hear their case, which is why they are likely to surrender if they lose in the state Supreme Court battle.

        Glenda Harrison of the Northern Kentucky Legal Aid Society represented the couple at Friday's hearing. She said the next months will be especially tense for the couple, who now see Justin every three weeks under a court order.

        “They're going to be awaiting a decision that will determine the relationship with their child,” she said.

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