Tribal Hearing set for Today in Baby Veronica Case

A Cherokee Nation District Court in Oklahoma will hold an emergency hearing today in the case of 3-year-old Veronica, who is mired in a child custody dispute between her biological father and her adoptive family in Charleston.

It's the latest twist in a case that has languished in courts for years. Here's a timeline.

Monday: A Cherokee Nation District Court judge could claim authority in the Baby Veronica case at a 10 a.m. EST Monday hearing in Oklahoma. The judge could decide who should care for the child, but South Carolina courts have already ruled in favor of Matt and Melanie Capobianco of James Island and the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to stop the adoption.

Sunday: Charleston authorities thought Veronica's biological father, Dusten Brown, would be arrested when he reported for duty at an Iowa military installation. Instead, the National Guard allowed Brown to return to Oklahoma to answer the emergency Cherokee Tribal Court summons. 

Saturday: Charleston County Solicitor Scarlett Wilson issued an arrest warrant for Veronica's biological father, Dusten Brown, for failing to show up for a court-ordered transfer of custody. The warrant doesn't compel Brown to turn over Veronica, but it does bring felony charges against him for not complying with transfer order.

The case has been in the courts since January 2010 when Brown began contesting custody of Veronica. The Capobiancos had been caring for the child since her birth. The little girl's mother chose the couple to adopt her. 

The South Carolina Supreme Court in July 2012 gave Brown custody after his attorneys argued that the Indian Child Welfare Act prohibited the adoption to the Capobiancos. The U.S. Supreme Court voided that ruling in June 2013, and in July the S.C. Supreme Court ordered the child be returned to Charleston.