Jesse James, Sandra Bullock Win Custody Battle With Porn Star Janine Lindemulder

Dec. 9, 2009 — -- Miss Congeniality wins.

Jesse James, the husband of "Blind Side" actress Sandra Bullock, won his custody battle with his porn star ex-wife, Janine Lindemulder, earlier this week. Bullock and James get custody of James' 5-year-old daughter, Sunny.

Court papers say Lindemulder, Sunny's mother, can now visit her daughter only during daytime hours. While Lindemulder wanted Commissioner Thomas Schulte to expand the visits to include overnight stays, he negged her request, but threw her a bone: Sunny can spend Christmas Eve with Lindemulder, as long as she returns the girl to James and Bullock by noon Christmas day.

It's a bittersweet end to James and Bullock's battle. Last month, the star of the Spike TV series "Jesse James Is a Dead Man" finally spoke out about the months-long bitter custody dispute.

"Sandra Bullock is not a party to this litigation," James' attorney, Marilyn Slifman, said in a statement to People magazine in November. "Mr. James' sole concern is for the safety, welfare and best interests of his daughter. The proper forum to resolve this case is in the courtroom."

Slifman called Lindemulder's claims about the custody battle, made recently on "Good Morning America," "inaccurate and unfortunate."

"It hurts tremendously, the accusations, especially from Sandra," Lindemulder said on "GMA" in her first interview about the case. "Even more so because we've never sat down and talked. You know, that's the one thing that I wish more than anything, for a remedy for what's happening here, is just communication."

Bullock, the perpetual girl-next-door actress famous for films including "The Proposal" and "Miss Congeniality," has been helping her husband raise Sunny since January, when Lindemulder was in prison for tax evasion.

Now out of jail, Lindemulder wanted custody of her girl again.

"What would give her the right to take away my daughter?" Lindemulder said. "You know, this is my daughter. I am the best mother I can be."

Lindemulder, who has appeared in more than 100 adult films, acknowledged making "horrific choices in the past," but says her life is back on track and that she deserves to keep custody of her daughter.

Bullock and James have called Lindemulder and her new husband, also a convicted felon, unfit.

In a letter to the judge at Lindemulder's sentencing, Bullock raised concerns about the girl's safety, alleging that the child was left alone during the day while Lindemulder was "asleep from drug use."

CLICK HERE to read the full text of Bullock's letter.

"I myself have stopped working like I used to in order to be here with Jesse and the kids because we are on constant high alert," Bullock wrote, "never knowing what condition Janine will be in, and even more concerning, the condition [the girl] will be in."

Lindemulder, 40, has admitted to substance abuse in the past but told "GMA" there have been long stretches of time when she hasn't used any drugs.

"Sandy doesn't know what goes on in my house," she said. "I'd love for her to. Please come over, you know, I'll make dinner, you know, let's sit down, [as] two women."