Brignolo v. King, No. 323676 (Oct. 18, 1996)

1996 Conn. Super. Ct. 8186
CourtConnecticut Superior Court
DecidedOctober 18, 1996
DocketNo. 323676
StatusUnpublished

This text of 1996 Conn. Super. Ct. 8186 (Brignolo v. King, No. 323676 (Oct. 18, 1996)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brignolo v. King, No. 323676 (Oct. 18, 1996), 1996 Conn. Super. Ct. 8186 (Colo. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

[EDITOR'S NOTE: This case is unpublished as indicated by the issuing court.]MEMORANDUM OF DECISION REGARDING MOTION TO SET ASIDE AND VACATE,MOTION TO STAY ENFORCEMENT, AND MOTION TO ENFORCE Joseph Brignolo has filed a motion to set aside and vacate a custody order entered by the Oklahoma court. He has also filed a motion to stay enforcement of that order. James Donald King, Jr. seeks to enforce the custody order entered by the Oklahoma court.

Many of the facts that give rise to the above motions are not in dispute and have been stipulated to by the parties. Those facts are as follows:

1. The minor children of the marriage of NORA BRIGNOLO and JAMES DONALD KING, JR., EVAN KING a/k/a EVAN BRIGNOLO (born 11/3/83, aged 12) and JARED KING a/k/a JARED BRIGNOLO (born 8/25/86, aged 9) were born in Oklahoma and resided there with their parents until 1989.

2. In 1989, the children and their mother moved to Texas.

3. NORA BRIGNOLO and JAMES DONALD KING, JR. obtained an Oklahoma divorce on January 19, 1990. The decree incorporated . . . a "joint custody plan" agreed to by the parties. The plan provided that the parents share joint custody of the minor children, with primary physical custody in the mother. The father was entitled to visitation as mutually agreed in addition to two overnight visits each week.

***

9. The Plaintiff mother married the Intervenor JOSEPH BRIGNOLO and relocated with the children to Redding, Connecticut in June, 1992.

10. The Defendant father has lived in Oklahoma continuously since the divorce.

11. The children have lived in Redding, Connecticut, continuously since June, 1992, with their mother (until her CT Page 8188 death on March 10, 1996) and stepfather, the Intervenor BRIGNOLO. They attend school here, are treated by physicians, dentists and therapists here, and participate in various religious and extracurricular activities here.

13. The children's maternal grandparents, paternal grandmother and paternal aunt live in Oklahoma. Their maternal aunt lives in Connecticut and has shared a home with the children for the last three years. Another maternal aunt lives in Texas.

14. On February 1, 1996, having learned that the Plaintiff Mother was terminally ill, the Defendant Father filed a Motion to Modify Custody in the Oklahoma court and named BRIGNOLO a Third Party Defendant [or in the alternate petition for declaration of custody].

15. On February 16, 1996, BRIGNOLO brought a UCCJA action to this Court, claiming jurisdiction pursuant to the "emergency" provision of Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-93 (a)(3)(B).

16. The Plaintiff Mother also brought a UCCJA action to this Court claiming emergency jurisdiction and filed a Motion to Dismiss the Motion to Modify in the Oklahoma Court.

17. On February 23, 1996, the Oklahoma Court denied the Plaintiff Mother's Motion to Dismiss and awarded Temporary Custody of the children to MARLYN and TOM RONAN, then in Connecticut, "to provide for the best interest of the minor children until they return to Oklahoma . . . at the appropriate time, following the funeral of Nora Brignolo." MARLYN and TOM RONAN, the children's maternal grandparents, were not at the time parties to the Oklahoma action, nor is there any indication in the Order that they had requested custody of the children.

18. The Oklahoma Court found in relevant part:

1. That this Court has jurisdiction and venue over the parties and the minor children in compliance with the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act. Okla. Stat. CT Page 8189 Tit. 43, Sec. 501 et seq.

3. That the residence of the minor children is in Connecticut.

4. That this Court finds that the natural father, James Donald King, the maternal grandparents, Tom and Marlyn Ronan, and the paternal grandmother, Barbara King, reside in the State of Oklahoma.

6. That this Court finds that upon the death of the custodial parent the domicile of the children will be the State of Oklahoma.

19. The Connecticut actions were denied for lack of "emergency" jurisdiction.

20. On March 10, 1996, the Plaintiff Mother died.

23. BRIGNOLO did not appear in the Oklahoma Court with the children on March 27, 1996, although his counsel was present.

24. On March 28, 1996, the Oklahoma Court issued a "Final Custody Order," finding "8. That this Court has jurisdiction and venue over the parties and the minor children . . . in compliance with the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act. Okla. Stat. Tit. 43, Sec. 501 et seq." (A copy of the Oklahoma version of the act is attached.)

25. The Oklahoma Court awarded "final custody" of the minor children to the Defendant Father and maternal grandparents Marlyn and Tom Ronan, by then Intervenors. The Court reserved the right to "determine which of these individuals should be awarded the primary custody of the minor children at a later date."

26. The Oklahoma Court also ordered, pursuant to the same finding, "that it is in the best interest of the children that they be immediately returned to the State of Oklahoma. . . ." No facts are recited in support of this finding. It does not CT Page 8190 appear from the Order that any investigation of the children's care has been undertaken or that any other evidence of their care in Connecticut was before the Court.

27. The Oklahoma Court "further ordered, adjudged and decreed" that "Joseph Brignolo is injoined and prohibited from filing any further lawsuits affecting either custody, residence or best interest of the minor children except in this court."

28. The minor children were not represented by counsel or guardian at litem in the Oklahoma proceedings.

29. On April 3, 1996, BRIGNOLO caused a variety of Oklahoma orders, including the March 28, 1996 "Final Custody Order," to be filed in this Court pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-71.

30. On April 16, 1996, BRIGNOLO filed in this Court a Motion to Set Aside and Vacate the March 28, 1996 Oklahoma Order, claiming that Oklahoma lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the custody proceeding. A Show Cause hearing was scheduled for June 4, 1996.

32. This Court consolidated the hearings and rescheduled them for May 23 and 24, 1996. This Court also requested Briefs from the parties and the undersigned, appointed as the children's Guardian ad litem by the Redding Probate Court, as to their mother's estate.

36. No attorney or guardian ad litem for the children has been appointed in the Oklahoma proceeding.

37. BRIGNOLO has appealed from the Oklahoma orders. That appeal is pending.

The court finds from the evidence presented that Joseph Brignolo raised the issue of the Oklahoma court having jurisdiction to enter a custody order at the Oklahoma hearing held on February 20, 1996, before the Honorable Thomas C. Gillert, District Judge, Tulsa County, Oklahoma. CT Page 8191

The court further finds from the evidence presented that the issue of jurisdiction was fully and fairly litigated in the February 20, 1996 Oklahoma proceeding.

The court also finds that all parties entered an appearance in the Oklahoma custody proceedings.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Haddock v. Haddock
201 U.S. 562 (Supreme Court, 1906)
Sistare v. Sistare
218 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1910)
California v. Sierra Club
451 U.S. 287 (Supreme Court, 1981)
Thompson v. Thompson
484 U.S. 174 (Supreme Court, 1988)
Wilks v. Wilks
1981 OK 91 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1981)
Woodrow v. Ewing
263 P.2d 167 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1953)
Ogles v. Warren
170 A.2d 140 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1961)
Nowell v. Nowell
254 A.2d 889 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1969)
Morabito v. Wachsman
463 A.2d 593 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1983)
Morrill v. Morrill
77 A. 1 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1910)
Freund v. Burns
40 A.2d 754 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1944)
Gildersleeve v. Gildersleeve
92 A. 684 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1914)
Pettis v. Johnston
1920 OK 224 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1920)
Brown v. Trent
1912 OK 749 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1912)
Methvin v. Methvin
1942 OK 176 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1942)
Willetts' Appeal from Probate
50 Conn. 330 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1882)
In re Juvenile Appeal (85-BC)
488 A.2d 790 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1985)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1996 Conn. Super. Ct. 8186, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brignolo-v-king-no-323676-oct-18-1996-connsuperct-1996.