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WARWICK, R.I. — The cellphone video a judge saw on Monday at Kent County Family Court showed a typical family scene: a little dark-haired girl playing with her grandmother at a lake house in Maine.
At the witness stand watching the video, the grandmother, Dr. Jila Khorsand, appeared emotional seeing her granddaughter, Laila, who was then a toddler. A few feet away in the courtroom, Scott Naso, Laila’s father and Khorsand’s son-in-law, stared at the video and wiped at tears.
In that moment, they didn’t look at each other.
At the time the video was taken, a person they loved was still alive. Shahrzad “Sherry” Naso, Naso’s wife, Laila’s mother, and the only child of Khorsand and Dr. Siavash Ghoreishi, was 37 when she died from cancer in April 2024.
After Sherry’s death, the family fractured. Within months, Ghoreishi and Khorsand petitioned Family Court under state law to force Naso to let them visit with Laila.
Judge Felix Gill is now presiding over a hearing where he will determine whether Laila’s grandparents can visit with her again.
Naso doesn’t want his in-laws anywhere near Laila again. He accuses them of contributing to Sherry’s death and endangering Laila through their medical care.
Khorsand, who took the stand in the hearing’s first day, testified that she didn’t know why Naso became “cold” and eventually shut them off from Laila.
“I don’t have any issues with my son-in-law. I’m confused about why this is happening,” Khorsand said. Laila “deserves to be loved by me, she deserves to love me. … If there is any misunderstanding or any grief that he went through [in] the loss of his wife and my daughter, we should be able to discuss those and be civilized for the sake of this child. She does not deserve to be deprived of the love of me."
Naso, a Middletown narcotics detective, has said he discovered that Ghoreishi, who was also Laila’s pediatrician, had written dozens of prescriptions for Sherry and Laila. Naso also found text messages that Khorsand, a chief pathologist, had written to Sherry that misdiagnosed her symptoms.
Ghoreishi and Khorsand both told their daughter that her illnesses were caused by lymphedema and weaning off Prozac. In reality, she had cancer.
State law allows people whose children have died or divorced to petition the Family Court for visitation rights with their grandchildren.
A judge must weigh whether visits are in the child’s best interest, including the nature of the relationship between the child and grandparent, the potential benefits and detriments to the child, and the reasons the parent believes the visits are not in the child’s best interest.
Last fall, then-Judge Debra DiSegna decided without holding a hearing to grant supervised hourlong visits to Ghoreishi and Khorsand. The visits stopped in January after Naso filed a complaint with the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families; the complaint was determined unfounded, but Naso refused to allow the visits.
Gill hasn’t yet decided whether to hear evidence and testimony about their alleged medical neglect of Sherry or improper medicating of Laila.
Lawyer Michael Ahn, who is representing Ghoreishi and Khorsand, argued on Monday to block the evidence and testimony. Naso’s lawyer, Veronica Assalone, argued that information is at the heart of why Naso decided to keep the 4-year-old away from his in-laws.
Naso also filed a complaint with the state Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline, which is investigating. Brian Fielding, a malpractice attorney representing Ghoreishi and Khorsand on that complaint, attended the Family Court hearing.
Under questioning by Ahn, Khorsand wasn’t asked about Naso’s allegations. She testified about her closeness with her daughter: “She was the light of my life. Not just mother and daughter, we were best friends.”
Khorsand testified that, after Sherry, she was the closest to Laila. She said she took care of her granddaughter regularly.
She also testified that she thought Naso and Sherry’s relationship was deteriorating. She spoke about Naso being away, working at his job or taking care of projects at various properties that Khorsand and Ghoreishi owned. She said Naso texted loving messages to her, especially just before Sherry died: “You are Laila’s rock right now and I need you to stay as strong as you possibly can for her and Sherry,” Khorsand read from Naso’s texts to her. … Sherry is a fighter and we are not giving up hope. … you hear me? We are not giving up."
She recalled times that Naso lost his temper and shouted. She said that Sherry showed them a video of Naso screaming obscenities at her, angry with her and her parents, and saying he wasn’t respected by them and he was “done.” The video was taken two weeks before Sherry died; it wasn’t played in court.
When questioned, Khorsand admitted that after Sherry’s death, she told other people that Naso was “soulless” and a “megalomaniac.”
Now, though, she testified that she respected Naso as a father and wouldn’t intervene with his rights as a parent, if the judge granted them visits with Laila.
“We love that child with every fabric of our beings and have never harmed her in any way or shape,” Khorsand told the judge. “I love that child to death and would never do anything to harm her. … Why would she be deprived of this love?"
Khorsand is expected to be cross-examined when the hearing continues Tuesday.
Amanda Milkovits can be reached at amanda.milkovits@globe.com. Follow her @AmandaMilkovits.