Berthelot v. Berthelot

254 So. 3d 730
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided July 18, 2018·No. 2017 CA 1331·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

HOLDRIDGE, J.

Heather Leigh Berthelot appeals a judgment rendered in favor of Jeffrey1 Mikal Berthelot on May 22, 2017. For the reasons that follow, we affirm in part and reverse in part.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A companion case, Berthelot v. Berthelot, 2017-1055 (La. App. 1 Cir. 7/18/18), 254 So.3d 800, 2018 WL 3470591, also rendered by this court, contains a thorough recitation of the factual and procedural background of the parties' litigation.

*732Heather and Jeffrey were married on July 10, 1999, and two children were bom of the marriage. On July 14, 2010, Jeffrey filed a petition for divorce. Heather filed a petition for partition of community property on November 3, 2014. On April 17, 2015, the parties entered into a stipulated judgment, granting Jeffrey use of the 2007 Ford F-250 Super Duty King Ranch truck (truck) until the community property partition. The truck was titled in the name of both parties.2 A trial was held on November 3, 2016, on the parties' partition of community property and reimbursement claims, and the trial court awarded Jeffrey the truck valued at $9,000.00. The trial court signed a judgment in accordance with its ruling on January 31, 2017. Heather filed a Motion for New Trial that was denied by the trial court on April 4, 2017.

Incidental to the parties' divorce and community property partition, several disputes arose between the parties regarding the disposition of the truck. On March 24, 2017, Heather filed a Petition for Rule Nisi for Contempt related to Jeffrey's disposal of the truck. In the petition, Heather argued that Jeffrey obtained a new title for the truck issued only in his name then traded in the truck at Bill Hood Automotive, alienating the community property asset without her consent and before the community property partition was final. Specifically, she argued that Jeffrey disposed of the truck before the appeal delays had run for the Motion for New Trial she filed on February 13, 2017. Therefore, she argued that Jeffrey was in contempt of court for alienating a community asset in violation of a previous trial court judgment containing an injunction preventing him from doing so prior to the community property partition being final.

In response to Heather's petition, Jeffrey answered seeking sanctions against Heather's counsel for filing the Rule for Contempt with an intent to unnecessarily delay, harass, and increase the cost of litigation pursuant to La. C.C.P. art. 863. Jeffrey argued that Heather's counsel violated La. C.C.P. art. 863(B)(1) in that she continued to file pleadings for a truck that Heather testified that she did not want. Jeffrey further argued that the continuous filings regarding the disposal of the truck were disingenuous because Heather's counsel manipulated the facts to make it appear that Jeffrey's actions impaired Heather.

After a hearing on April 24, 2017, the trial court denied Heather's Rule for Contempt and sanctioned her counsel pursuant to La. C.C.P. art. 863(B), ordering her attorney to pay Jeffrey the sum of $1,000.00. The trial court signed a judgment in accordance with its ruling on May 22, 2017. Heather subsequently appealed assigning as error: (1) that the trial court erred in failing to hold Jeffrey in contempt of court for his actions in transferring ownership of the truck prior to the time community property partition was final; (2) that the trial court erred in finding that a party was required to request a stay of proceedings in order for a judgment not to be considered a final judgment while a *733Motion for New Trial was pending; and (3) that the trial court erred in assessing sanctions against Heather's counsel in the instant matter.

DISCUSSION

In Heather's first assignment of error, she argues that Jeffrey should be held in contempt of court because he alienated a community asset after the trial court rendered a judgment separating the community property, but before the trial court ruled on Heather's timely filed Motion for New Trial. We find that while there is a technical argument to be made that Jeffrey should not have alienated the community property without the consent of Heather until after the community property partition judgment was final, the actions of Jeffrey do not warrant a finding of contempt of court.

A contempt of court is any act or omission tending to obstruct or interfere with the orderly administration of justice, or to impair the dignity of the court or respect for its authority. See La. C.C.P. art. 221. Contempt of court are of two kinds, direct and constructive. Direct contempt is committed in the presence of the Court, and constructive contempt is committed outside of the presence of the Court. DeGruy v. DeGruy, 98-1416 (La. App. 4 Cir. 1/27/99), 728 So.2d 914, 919. Contempt proceedings are designed for the vindication of the dignity of the court rather than for the benefit of a litigant. Brunet v. Magnolia Quarterboats, Inc., 97-187 (La. App. 5 Cir. 3/11/98), 711 So.2d 308, 313, writ denied, 98-0990 (La. 5/29/98), 720 So.2d 343.

Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 224(2) defines constructive contempt of court as the "[w]ilful disobedience of any lawful judgment, order, mandate, writ, or process of the court[.]" To find a person guilty of constructive contempt, it is necessary to find that he or she violated the order of court intentionally, knowingly and purposefully, without justifiable excuse. Lang v. Asten, Inc., 2005-1119 (La. 1/13/06), 918 So.2d 453, 454. A trial court is vested with great discretion in determining whether circumstances warrant holding a party in constructive contempt of court pursuant to La. C.C.P. article 224 for willful disobedience of a court order. South East Auto Dealers Rental Ass'n, Inc., v. EZ Rent To Own, Inc., 2009-0011 (La. App. 4 Cir. 6/30/10), 42 So.3d 1094, 1099, writ denied, 2010-1810 (La. 10/29/10), 48 So.3d 1093.

Heather argues that Jeffrey is in contempt of court because he transferred ownership of the truck to Bill Hood Automotive before the time delays had expired for the community property partition judgment. Heather argues that Jeffrey's actions denied her the use of the truck "during the pendency of the property partition appeal ...

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Berthelot v. Berthelot, 254 So. 3d 730 (La. Ct. App. 2018).

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