ABC - ABC SAYS KID'S DIARY WILL CLEAR IT IN MAKEOVER CASE

A diary kept by one of five orphaned siblings after they moved into a home remodeled for them on ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition may reveal that the children left the home voluntarily and were not kicked out by the Leomiti family, which originally took them in, an attorney for the network said Tuesday. As reported by the Whittier Daily News, arguments over the diary, kept by youngest sibling Jeremiah Higgins, became the focus of attention at a court hearing, where defense attorney Mark Block argued that it "explains issues between the brothers" and would show that they left the home voluntarily "because of arguments." ABC also maintained that no contract was ever signed with the children and that the contracts with the Leomitis never promised "an ownership or other interest in the Leomitis' house" to the kids and that the network had "no duty to provide for [the children's] long-term safety and security." The Higgins children claim that they were cheated out of the home as well as other gifts amounting to tens of thousands of dollars, all of which were retained by the Leomitis, after they appeared on the television show.

21/02/2007