Amy Goldberg v. Jarrod Goldberg

Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided October 6, 2010·No. CA-0010-0452·Unknown

Opinion

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

STATE OF LOUISIANA

COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT

10-0452

AMY GOLDBERG VERSUS JARROD GOLDBERG

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APPEAL FROM THE

ELEVENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT PARISH OF SABINE, NO. 60,961 HONORABLE STEPHEN B. BEASLEY, DISTRICT JUDGE

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JIMMIE C. PETERS

JUDGE

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Court composed of Jimmie C. Peters, Billy H. Ezell, and Shannon J. Gremillion, Judges.

AFFIRMED.

Robert I. Thompson, III 900 Pierremont Road, Suite 102 Shreveport, LA 71106 (318) 865-2345 COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT:

Amy Goldberg

William D. Dyess 870 West Main Many, LA 71449 (318) 256-5667 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLEE:

Jarrod Goldberg

PETERS, J.

This litigation arises from a dispute over the custody of two minor children born of the marriage of Amy Goldberg (Amy) and Jarrod Goldberg (Jarrod). The matter is now before this court because Amy has appealed the trial court’s designation of Jarrod as the domiciliary parent in a joint custody judgment. For the following reasons, we affirm the trial court judgment in all respects.

DISCUSSION OF THE RECORD

Amy and Jarrod were married on August 1, 2003, in Baytown, Texas, and two children were born of this marriage: Ethan Goldberg, born July 15, 2004, and Ayden Parker Hall Goldberg, born August 10, 2006. The marriage relationship underwent various separations and reconciliations, and the parties were ultimately divorced in Ohio on September 7, 2007. The divorce decree named Amy as the “sole residential parent and legal custodian” of the minor children, provided Jarrod with parenting time that increased in three phases, and awarded Amy $828.13 per month in child support.

At some unspecified point during or immediately after the divorce proceedings Amy and the two children returned to Texas, and ultimately settled in her mother’s home in Many, Sabine Parish, Louisiana. Jarrod also returned to Texas during the same time period. After the divorce, both parties remarried: Jarrod married Jeanna Elizabeth Goldberg (Jeanna)1 and Amy married Larry Metcalf (Larry).

On June 17, 2008, Amy filed a petition under La.R.S. 13:1827,2 seeking to have the Ohio custody decree recognized and enforced in Louisiana. She attached an affidavit to her petition asserting that Jarrod “took these children and has secreted

1 Jeanna is sometimes referred to in the record as “Gina.”

2 Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:1827 establishes the method by which a child custody determination issued by the court of another state may be registered in Louisiana.

them since May 28, 2008 at an address and/or location unknown to [her], but believed to be in the State of Texas in the Beaumont, Texas area.” Ultimately, on August 6, 2008, the trial court registered the Ohio judgment pursuant to La.R.S. 13:1827.3 On August 11, 2008, Amy filed a petition for a civil warrant, seeking to have the children returned to her physical custody. Jarrod responded on August 28, 2008, by filing his own petition seeking sole custody of the two children. The custody issue ultimately went to trial on the merits on December 9, 2009.4 At that trial, the primary evidence directed at the custody issue was provided by the testimony of Jarrod and Amy,5 and through evaluation reports prepared by Dr. John C. Simoneaux, a Pineville, Louisiana psychologist.

Upon completion of the evidentiary stage of the trial, the trial court took the custody issue under advisement and, on January 7, 2010, rendered judgment awarding the parents joint custody of the minors, designating Jarrod as the domiciliary parent, and establishing the particulars of the joint custody plan. After the trial court denied Amy’s motion to reconsider the judgment, she perfected this appeal, with two assignments of error:

I. The trial court erred in not determining the proper burden of proof that defendant-appellee had to meet, as the result of a prior Ohio judgment, to change custody.

II. The trial court erred in not accepting the conclusions of Dr.

Simoneaux, especially in light of the paucity of other evidence presented, when the court changed custody removing two

3 Initially, the trial court stayed the Louisiana proceeding pursuant to La.R.S. 13:1829 because Jarrod had filed a similar suit in Hardin County, Texas.

4 The record contains numerous stipulations, agreements, and trial court orders relative to interim issues of continued custody, support, visitation, and psychological testing, most of which are not pertinent to the issues addressed at trial on the merits.

5 Amy’s mother and step-father also testified, as did Jarrod’s current wife.

brothers, 5 and 4-year-old [sic], from the only caregiver they had had and from the stable environment they had been raised in.

OPINION

Each child custody case must be viewed in light of its own particular set of facts and circumstances, with the paramount goal of reaching a decision that is in the best interests of the children. Barberousse v. Barberousse, 556 So.2d 930 (La.App. 3 Cir. 1990). On appeal, a trial court’s ruling on a change of custody request may only be disturbed if the reviewing court determines that the trial court abused its discretion in making its ruling. Franklin v. Franklin, 99-1738 (La.App. 3 Cir. 5/24/00), 763 So.2d 759. In addition, a reviewing court may set aside the trial court’s findings of fact only upon determining that the trial court was manifestly erroneous or clearly wrong. Rosell v. ESCO, 549 So.2d 840 (La.1989). The issue is whether the trial court’s conclusion was reasonable in light of the entire record. Mart v. Hill, 505 So.2d 1120 (La.1987).

In seeking a review of the trial court’s judgment, Amy first suggests that, because the trial court committed legal error in not providing written reasons for its judgment, this court should perform a de novo review of the record as a whole. In rejecting this argument, we note that Amy did not avail herself of La.Code Civ.P. art. 1917, which requires a trial court to provide written reasons for judgment “when requested to do so by a party.” Thus, there is no merit in her argument that the trial court’s failure to provide written reasons for judgment is a legal error. Meyers v. Fairfield Inn, 01-801 (La.App. 3 Cir. 12/12/01), 801 So.2d 632, writ denied, 02-119 (La. 3/22/02), 811 So.2d 933. We will review the factual findings pursuant to the manifest error standard of review. Rosell, 549 So.2d 840.

Assignment of Error Number One In her first assignment of error, Amy argues that the Ohio judgment should be analyzed as a considered decree, and that the trial court erred in not designating it as such. According to Amy, this determination of whether the Ohio decree is a considered decree or a consent decree is essential to determine the burden of proof to be applied to Jarrod’s request to change custody.

While we agree that the determination of the Ohio judgment is necessary to establish Jarrod’s burden of proof, we do not agree with Amy that the Ohio judgment is a considered decree as contemplated by the holding in Bergeron, and we do not agree with Amy’s suggestion that this court remand the matter to the trial court to determine the nature of the decree. The content of the Ohio judgment makes it clear that it was rendered as a consent decree. In fact, the judgment itself is titled as an “AGREED JUDGMENT ENTRY - DECREE OF DIVORCE.” Furthermore, the preamble paragraph of the judgment recites that both parties were present in court with their attorneys and that “[t]he parties being desirous of resolving the pending matters before the Court, entered into an agreement, which was read into the record and acknowledged by both parties before the court.” (Emphasis added.) The initial paragraph concludes that “[t]he Court hereby adopts, approves and incorporates herein, said agreement and makes it an Order of the Court.” (Emphasis added.)

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Barberousse v. Barberousse
556 So. 2d 930 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1990)
Franklin v. Franklin
763 So. 2d 759 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
Rosell v. Esco
549 So. 2d 840 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1989)
Meyers v. Fairfield Inn
801 So. 2d 632 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)
Mart v. Hill
505 So. 2d 1120 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1987)