Crabb v. Bowden

110 So. 3d 346, 2013 Miss. App. LEXIS 96, 2013 WL 927618
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 12, 2013
DocketNo. 2011-CA-01012-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 110 So. 3d 346 (Crabb v. Bowden) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crabb v. Bowden, 110 So. 3d 346, 2013 Miss. App. LEXIS 96, 2013 WL 927618 (Mich. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

LEE, C.J.,

for the Court:

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 1. Amber Leigh Crabb and Jessie Joe Bowden had a relationship that resulted in a daughter, Lilyana, who was born on July 23, 2009, while Jessie was deployed in Iraq. Upon returning from Iraq in March 2010, Jessie sought custody of Lilyana, and he was granted custody by the Alcorn County Chancery Court on May 27, 2011. Jessie was determined to be the biological father of Lilyana. As a result, her name was legally changed from Lilyana Joleigh Crabb to Lilyana Joleigh Bowden. Additionally, Jessie was given physical custody of Lilyana, and Amber was granted visitation and ordered to pay $100 in monthly child support.

¶ 2. Amber appeals, arguing the chancellor erroneously applied the Albright factors to the facts of the case.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 3. This Court will not disturb a chancellor’s findings “unless manifestly wrong or clearly erroneous.” Sanderson v. Sanderson, 824 So.2d 623, 625 (¶ 8) (Miss.2002). However, “[a] chancellor’s conclusions of law are reviewed de novo.” Lowrey v. Lowrey, 25 So.3d 274, 285 (¶ 26) (Miss.2009).

DISCUSSION

¶4. Amber argues that the chancellor misapplied the Albright factors to the facts of the case, specifically that certain factors should not have been weighed in Jessie’s favor and that certain factors considered neutral should have favored her.

¶ 5. In child-custody cases, the polestar consideration is the best interest of the child. Albright v. Albright, 437 So.2d 1003, 1005 (Miss.1983). In Albright, the Mississippi Supreme Court designated factors to determine the “best interest” of a child in a custody case. Id. These factors include:

[1] the age[,] ... health, and sex of the child;
[2] a determination of the parent that has had the continuity of care pri- or to the separation;
[3] which parent has the best parenting skills and which parent has the willingness and capacity to provide primary child care;
[4] the employment of the parent and responsibilities of that employment;
[5] the physical and mental health and age of the parents;
[6] the emotional ties of the parent and child;
[7] the moral fitness of the parents;
[8] the home, school, and community record of the child;
[9] the preference of the child at the age sufficient to express a preference by law;
[10] stability of home environment and employment of each parent; and
[11] other factors relevant to the parent-child relationship.

Id. at 1005.

¶ 6. The chancellor found the following factors favored Jessie: the age, health, and sex of the child; parenting skills; physical and mental health and age of the parents; moral fitness of the parents; and stability of the home environment and employment. The chancellor found that Amber was the best suited parent in regards to continuity of care.

¶ 7. The chancellor found the following factors favored neither parent: employment and responsibilities of that employment; emotional ties of parent and child; [350]*350home, school, and community record of the child; and other factors. Since Lilyana was not of a sufficient age to express a preference, the chancellor found that factor inapplicable.

¶ 8. Neither party contests the findings of the chancellor regarding continuity of care; home, school, and community record of the child; preference of the child; and other factors. Therefore, these factors will not be addressed.

I. Age, Health, and Sex of the Child

¶ 9. As to the age, health, and sex of the child, the chancellor focused on the health of Lilyana. The chancellor noted that Lilyana’s medical problems arose from lack of proper care, finding that Amber “failed to provide consistent proper care for the infant child in tending to her diaper[s], safety, and clothing.”

¶ 10. Two health issues the chancellor addressed were Lilyana’s diaper rash and her respiratory problems. According to the testimony and evidence presented, Lil-yana had persistent and severe diaper rash, which lead to a staph infection for which she was hospitalized. Although Amber testified that the diaper rash was a result of Lilyana’s sensitive skin, Jessie stated when he treated Lilyana’s diaper rash while she was in his custody, the rash began to heal. Ben Crabb, Amber’s ex-husband with whom she lived for a period of time, testified that on one occasion Lil-yana was left in her car seat for multiple hours with her diaper and clothes soaked with urine.

¶ 11. Also, Lilyana suffered from seasonal allergies and had been admitted to the hospital for bronchitis. Amber testified that she lived with her mother and that her mother smokes cigarettes but not around the children. Jessie’s wife, Nicole, testified that Lilyana smells of cigarette smoke almost every time she comes to their house. The chancellor noted that Jessie did not have “cigarette use at his residence.”

¶ 12. Amber contends that the chancellor erred by failing to consider that Lilyana was a child of tender years and failed to address her age in its consideration of this factor. Under Mississippi Code Annotated section 93-5-24(7) (Rev. 2004), awarding either legal or physical custody to the mother is no longer presumed to be in the child’s best interest. Although the tender-years doctrine was “significantly weaken[ed]” by section 93-5-24(7), “there is still a presumption that a mother is generally better suited to raise a young child.” Passmore v. Passmore, 820 So.2d 747, 750 (¶ 9) (Miss.Ct.App.2002).

¶ 13. The chancellor did, in fact, address Lilyana’s age, noting that at the time, she was twenty-two months old. And the chancellor specifically stated that “Jessie Joe [had] demonstrated the ability to properly care for the needs of a small child on a consistent basis.... ” The chancellor was not manifestly wrong in finding this factor favored of Jessie.

II. Parenting Skills and Willingness and Capacity to Provide Primary Child Care

¶ 14. The chancellor found this factor favored Jessie, stating Amber’s slow response in attending to Lilyana’s medical needs and Amber’s poor choices had “exposed [Lilyana] to unfavorable circumstances.”

¶ 15. Besides Lilyana, Amber has four other children, all boys, from her previous marriage to Ben. At the time of trial, Amber did not have custody of the boys.

¶ 16. Testimony was given that Amber used profanity when speaking to both Lil-yana and her four boys; that she was violent with the children, including slap[351]*351ping them; that she was inattentive, allowing them to play with gasoline or with charcoal and a lighter; that she disregarded Lilyana’s safety by placing the car seat in the front seat of the car rather than in the back seat where it belonged; and that she did not know how Lilyana had burned her leg. Lilyana’s condition worried Jessie’s mother so much that she contacted the Mississippi Department of Human Services.

¶ 17.

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

Related

Victoria Wilbourn v. Richard Wilbourn, III
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2024
Rosser v. Morris
135 So. 3d 945 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
110 So. 3d 346, 2013 Miss. App. LEXIS 96, 2013 WL 927618, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crabb-v-bowden-missctapp-2013.