Cook v. Wofford

458 S.W.2d 691, 1970 Tex. App. LEXIS 2754
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 20, 1970
DocketNo. 17420
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 458 S.W.2d 691 (Cook v. Wofford) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cook v. Wofford, 458 S.W.2d 691, 1970 Tex. App. LEXIS 2754 (Tex. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinion

BATEMAN, Justice.

In this child custody case Mrs. Frances Cook, maternal grandmother, and her husband Lansford Cook, sought the care, custody and control of two small children of C. J. Wofford and his first wife Barbara. The jury verdict was in favor of the father, and Mr. and Mrs. Cook appeal from the judgment rendered thereon.

[693]*693Appellee and his first wife were divorced, and in that proceeding custody was given to the mother, Barbara, but she died shortly thereafter. During Barbara’s terminal illness her mother, whose home was and is in Houston, Texas, spent a great deal of time managing the home for Barbara and the children.

Mrs. Cook testified that she was 58 years old, had two college degrees and is a teacher and counselor employed by the Houston Independent School District; was divorced from Barbara’s father, and her present husband is 62 years old, also a college graduate and a barber. They have a three-bedroom home in Houston, in which each of the children would have a separate bedroom.

Appellants’ attack on the fitness of ap-pellee to have custody of his own children is based entirely on the facts that his present wife was formerly a prostitute for more than a year in a New Orleans brothel, where he met her; that she had four children by her first husband and abandoned them to him when they were divorced; that her second husband was an ex-convict who had been in the penitentiary for white slavery, and that he and she both used narcotics. She had one child, Benjamin, by the second marriage. Appel-lee is her third husband.

Appellee and his wife in their testimony candidly admitted the foregoing facts, but in mitigation thereof she testified that she was only 17 years old when she first married and that she agreed that her first husband have custody of the four children because she was financially unable to feed and clothe them, whereas their father could do so and had married a fine woman who agreed to take care of them; that her second husband arranged for her employment in the house of ill repute, and that she did not know that he was an ex-convict or a user of narcotics when she married him, and that she divorced him. She said the only drug she used was “some kind of pep pill,” which she quit using after approximately six months; that she never worked as a prostitute except in the New Orleans place; that she met with ap-pellee twice while she was there, after which she left the house of prostitution and lived in an apartment in New Orleans, shortly thereafter moving to Fort Worth, Texas, where she went to business school for six to eight months; that after completing the business course she worked as an office assistant for the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company until her marriage to appellee on July 21, 1967; that while living in Fort Worth her son, Benjamin, attended church regularly and continues to do so; that after her marriage to appellee she, ap-pellee and Benjamin began living in Arlington, Texas, where she was active in the Ladies Guild of St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church, which she and her son attended regularly; that in Arlington she was Social Chairman in the PTA and attended its meetings regularly.

Appellee testified that he is employed by an oil company at a monthly salary of $1,100; that he did not take his present wife out of the house in New Orleans, but that after she “started to go straight and get her life in order” he contributed financially to her support, that he also “helped her out financially” when she lived in Fort Worth and in Arlington. He said he was divorced in June, 1963 and was ordered to pay $300 per month for child support, which he paid regularly and in addition thereto bought the children clothing, paid for their summer camp trips, their doctor bills, the dentist and the orthodontist, all amounting to approximately $640 per month; that he was actively involved with the children’s school and knew all of their teachers personally, having visited with each of them to see if he could help in their schooling and outside activities, that he was interested in PTA, the science fair programs, outside sports activities and the YMCA; that he checked out books for them at the public library and made every attempt to make sure that their schooling and the relationship that they had in school were not affected by the divorce; that he visited the school every two weeks and [694]*694sometimes much more often; that he was also active in the Indian Guides, a father-son participation program.

There was testimony by friends and neighbors, including an Episcopal minister, all to the effect that Mrs. Wofford, who was 34 years of age, had become a good mother, a good neighbor and a good citizen, and that her son, Benjamin, was well looked after and was well mannered.

Appellee’s son, 11 years of age, testified that he would prefer to live with the grandmother. Appellee’s daughter is not shown to have expressed a preference.

Appellants’ first two points of error on appeal complain of the action of the court in permitting Mrs. Wofford (1) to explain why she surrendered custody of her four children to her first husband, and (2) to relate her plans to regain custody of those children as soon as she became able to make a home for them. We know of no rule of law that would prohibit one from endeavoring to palliate such disparaging evidence by showing extenuating circumstances. The first two points are overruled.

By Points of Error 3, 4 and 5 appellants complain of the admission of testimony: (3) of a neighbor that Mrs. Wof-ford was a good mother; (4) of her minister concerning the nature of her discipline over her son Benjamin; and (5) of a friend of appellee to the effect that the relationship between appellee and his son did not appear to be strained at any time. Appellee was entitled to the benefit of this testimony in contradiction of the attack made upon him and his wife. These were not matters calling for expert testimony. The witnesses were shown to have more or less intimate knowledge of the persons involved, yet the facts upon which the opinions were based were so numerous, complicated or evanescent that they could not be communicated to the minds of the jurors by words or gestures in such a manner as to give them the knowledge possessed by the witnesses. In other words, the opinions complained of were “an automatic reflection of facts incapable of adequate description to the jury,” or “a shorthand rendering of the facts.” They were admissible. McCormick & Ray, Texas Law of Evidence, §§ 1397 and 1398; Cooper v. State, 23 Tex. 331, 338-339 (1859); Stephen v. State, 123 Tex.Cr.R. 505, 293 S.W.2d 789 (1956). However, if error was shown, it was harmless. Rule 434, Vernon’s Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. Points of Error 3, 4 and 5 are overruled.

Appellants’ sixth point of error complains of the trial court’s instruction to the jury after the argument and during the jury’s deliberations. While appellants’ trial attorney (not one of the attorneys appearing in this court) was arguing to the jury he made the following comment concerning appellee:

“He was the natural father of the children, and he loved his children. He really loved his children. He loved them so much that when his wife was dying of cancer he was out in New Orleans in a house.”

Appellee quickly jumped to his feet and shouted to the attorney making the argument, “You’re a God Damn liar.” After retirement of the jury for deliberation the jury sent this note to the trial court:

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Bluebook (online)
458 S.W.2d 691, 1970 Tex. App. LEXIS 2754, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cook-v-wofford-texapp-1970.