Chauvin v. Chauvin

49 So. 3d 565, 2010 La.App. 1 Cir. 1055, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 1452, 2010 WL 4272728
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 29, 2010
DocketNos. 2010 CU 1055, 2010 CU 1056
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 49 So. 3d 565 (Chauvin v. Chauvin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chauvin v. Chauvin, 49 So. 3d 565, 2010 La.App. 1 Cir. 1055, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 1452, 2010 WL 4272728 (La. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

McClendon, j.

|2In this custody proceeding, a father appeals a judgment granting the domiciliary custody of the minor child to the mother. For the following reasons, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Meredith Bourg and Todd David Chau-vin were married on May 22, 2004, and their son, Logan, was born on September 2, 2005. Petitions for divorce were filed by both parties in April of 2008, and the matters were consolidated on May 6, 2008. On September 26, 2008, the trial court signed a judgment of divorce, as well as a judgment based on the consent of the parties regarding child custody and other incidental matters. Among the stipulations in the custody judgment was one that the parties would have shared joint custody on a rotating week-to-week basis to coincide with Mr. Chauvin’s employment. Also by consent judgment, signed on March 26, 2009, Mr. Chauvin was granted the exclusive use and possession of the former matrimonial domicile in Bourg, Louisiana.

Thereafter, on June 8, 2009, upon obtaining information that Ms. Bourg had enrolled Logan in two other elementary schools, Mr. Chauvin filed a rule requesting that Logan be enrolled at Bourg Elementary School. Opposing rules for modification of custody followed shortly thereafter. Trial on the three rules was held on August 11, 2009. At the start of the trial, the court advised the parties that each side would have two hours to present their case. At the conclusion of trial, the matter was taken under advisement. Judgment was signed on January 15, 2010, granting the parties the joint, care, custody, and control of their minor child, with Ms. Bourg being designated as the custodial domiciliary parent, subject to the visitation rights of Mr. Chau-vin as established in the Joint Custody Implementation Plan.

|sMr. Chauvin appealed.1 In his appeal, Mr. Chauvin alleges that the trial court erred in limiting him to two hours to pres-. [569]*569ent his case on his two rales and to defend against Ms. Bourg’s rale. He also assigned as error the grant of domiciliary custody to Ms. Bourg, because the court made no determination that Ms. Bourg met her burden of proving that there had been a change in circumstances, and because the court did not balance the factors for awarding custody as required by the Civil Code.

DISCUSSION

The best interest of the child is the guiding principle in all custody litigation. LSA-C.C. arts. 131 and 134. Keeping in mind that every child custody case must be viewed in light of its own particular set of facts, the jurisprudence recognizes that the trial court is generally deemed to be in the best position to ascertain the best interest of the child given each unique set of circumstances and because of its superior opportunity to observe the parties and the witnesses who testified at the trial. Babin v. Babin, 02-0396, p. 7 (La.App. 1 Cir. 7/30/03), 854 So.2d 403, 408, writ denied, 03-2460 (La.9/24/03), 854 So.2d 338, cert. denied, 540 U.S. 1182, 124 S.Ct. 1421, 158 L.Ed.2d 86 (2004); State in the Interest of AR, 99-0813, p. 8 (La.App. 1 Cir. 9/24/99), 754 So.2d 1073, 1078. Accordingly, the trial court is vested with a vast amount of discretion in child custody cases, and its determination of custody is entitled to great weight, which will not be reversed on appeal unless an abuse of discretion is clearly shown. Elliott v. Elliott, 05-0181, p. 7 (La.App. 1 Cir. 5/11/05), 916 So.2d 221, 226, writ denied, 05-1547 (La.7/12/05), 905 So.2d 293; State in the Interest of AR, 99-0813 at p. 8, 754 So.2d at 1077-78.

In this case, as in most custody cases, the trial court’s determination was based on factual findings, which are sub-ject to the manifest error standard of review. Specifically, an appellate court cannot set aside a trial court’s findings of fact in the absence of manifest error or unless those findings are clearly wrong. Rosell v. ESCO, 549 So.2d 840, 844 (La.1989). If the findings are reasonable in light of the record reviewed in its entirety, an appellate court may not reverse those findings even though convinced that had it been sitting as the trier of fact, it would have weighed the evidence differently. Id. at 844. In order to reverse a fact finder’s determination of fact, an appellate court must review the record in its entirety and (1) find that a reasonable factual basis does not exist for the finding, and- (2) further determine that the record establishes that the fact finder is clearly wrong or manifestly erroneous. Stobart v. State, through Dep’t of Transp. and Dev., 617 So.2d 880, 882 (La.1993). Thus, when there are two permissible views of the evidence, the fact finder’s choice between them cannot be manifestly erroneous. Id. at 883.

However, where one or more legal errors by the trial court interdict the fact-finding process, the manifest-error standard is no longer applicable. Evans v. Lungrin, 97-0541, p. 6 (La.2/6/98), 708 So.2d 731, 735. A legal error occurs when a trial court applies incorrect principles of law and such errors are prejudicial. Legal errors are prejudicial when they materially affect the outcome and deprive a party of substantial rights. Pruitt v. Brinker, Inc., 04-0152, p. 4 (La.App. 1 Cir. 2/11/05), 899 So.2d 46, 49, writ denied, 05-1261 (La.12/12/05), 917 So.2d 1084.

In his first assignment of error, Mr. Chauvin argues that he had no knowledge that there would be a limitation im[570]*570posed upon the presentation of evidence. He asserts that by giving him only two hours to present evidence on |fitwo rules and defend a third, his rights to due process were violated under the Louisiana Constitution.2

A court has the power to control its proceedings pursuant to LSA-C.C.P. art. 1681 A, which provides:

The court has the power to require that the proceedings shall be conducted with dignity and in an orderly and expeditious manner, and to control the proceedings at the trial, so that justice is done.

The court’s power under LSA-C.C.P. art. 1631 to control trial proceedings is limited by the phrase “so that justice is done.” Further, the due process clauses of the Louisiana Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees litigants a right to a fair hearing. However, “due process” does not mean litigants are entitled to an unlimited amount of the court’s time. Goodwin v. Goodwin, 618 So.2d 579, 588 (La.App. 2 Cir.), writ denied, 623 So.2d 1340 (La.1993).

The court in Goodwin

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
49 So. 3d 565, 2010 La.App. 1 Cir. 1055, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 1452, 2010 WL 4272728, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chauvin-v-chauvin-lactapp-2010.