PORTLAND, Ore. - Terri Horman was back in Portland for a court appearance related to her divorce from Kaine Horman, the father of missing Skyline student Kyron Horman. | Photos of missing boy Kyron Horman

Sheriff's deputies gathered at the back door of the courthouse Wednesday afternoon, waiting for the arrival of Kyron's stepmother Terri. She was flanked by her two attorneys - including high-powered defense attorney Stephen Houze - and was escorted into the Multnomah County Courthouse by deputies.

Kaine Horman was not at the courthouse Wednesday. However, his attorney, Laura Rackner, was.

Rackner told KATU they were there for "a scheduling hearing." The hearing concluded around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Terri Horman had no comment for reporters as she entered and left the courthouse but she was still wearing what appeared to be a wedding ring.

In court the two sides talked about three different things:

• First, Kaine wants Terri to show where she supposedly got $350,000 to hire Houze.
   
• Second, Terri wants all the legal issues Kaine has filed against her in their divorce postponed for up to two years. Legal experts say her side is trying to keep her out of any situation that would get her under oath.
   
• Third, they talked about the contempt of court case Kaine filed against Terri, claiming she broke a court order by showing the then sealed restraining order to friend Mike Cook.

Each side also laid out their arguments in court documents:

Terri’s divorce attorney, Peter Bunch, claims the divorce can’t go on right now because she’s a “de facto suspect” in the disappearance of her stepson, Kyron.

But Kaine’s side countered, saying Terri is stalling to “avoid possible self-incrimination.”

Kaine’s attorney, Rackner, questioned why Terri’s attorney was asking for two separate hearings: one for the divorce delay and the other to explain where Terri got the money to pay for her defense attorney, Houze.

Kaine would “incur extra fees and costs … miss additional work days” and that money “needed by him to support his family,” Rackner wrote.

But Bunch said Kaine is the one with the “significant income” and “substantial savings” and seems to want to “interfere” with her choice.

In the end the only thing that was decided is the judge will hear arguments on the money and postponement in early October, and the contempt case will be in mid-September.

Family law attorney Laura Graser, who’s also familiar with criminal appeals, says Kaine has every right as a spouse in a divorce proceeding to legally inquire about Terri’s ability to pay that fee. Legally, they’re still married and by law, their marital assets should be frozen, precluding someone from going out and spending an excessive amount of money on anything, let alone criminal defense.

“It sounds like these folks are sort of regular middle class people that have middle class income, and if in the middle of a divorce proceeding one middle class spouse arrives in a $350,000 or $100,000 expensive, fancy car, the other spouse has the right to inquire because it’s probably a marital asset until the divorce is final,” said Graser. “I don’t mean to suggest that Mr. Houze is like a fancy car. He’s a very fine lawyer and murder investigations are very time consuming to defend. That’s a very large retainer but I don’t find it outside the realm of possible.”

She says what is also at stake are the competing interests of Kaine and Terri, given that he wants a divorce from the woman he believes tried to have him killed and she’s been the focus of investigators looking into Kyron’s disappearance.

“He has a right to proceed with the divorce, and he has a right to get divorced if he wants to be divorced in a relatively expeditious manner,” she said. “She has a right to not incriminate herself. So there’s a tension there that some judge is going to have to resolve.”

A former prosecutor also says it’s not unusual to have a criminal case overlapping with a civil case. It happens quite frequently in domestic violence situations in which a divorce comes out of a domestic incident.

The question remains as to why Terri Horman came to the hearing. She certainly had the right to do so but said nothing in court, nothing to the media, and her presence, legally, wasn’t necessary.

Meanwhile, this hearing took on a life of its own. With the media barred from taking in-court images, at least two sketch artists were hired to draw images of the in-court scene.

Terri Horman has been largely absent from the Portland area since she left for Roseburg, Ore. - her family home - in July.

Investigators have not named Terri Horman a suspect or person of interest in this case, and they have not made any arrests.

Kyron’s biological parents, Desiree Young and Kaine Horman, will hold a news conference Friday at 11 a.m., they said in an e-mail sent to media outlets Wednesday night.

Young and Horman said the topics will include updates on the case, Kyron’s birthday and a fundraiser set for next Wednesday, September 1.

KATU News reporter Anita Kissée contributed to this report.

Court documents filed Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010:

• Terri Horman argument
• Kaine Horman argument
• Amendment to restraining order

Terri Horman accompanied by attorneys Peter Bunch and Stephen Houze, right. leaves the Multnomah County Courthouse Wednesday (AP Photo/Ross William Hamilton, Pool):