Emery v. Sautter

788 N.E.2d 856, 2003 WL 21040184
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 7, 2003
Docket52A02-0211-CV-979
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 788 N.E.2d 856 (Emery v. Sautter) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Emery v. Sautter, 788 N.E.2d 856, 2003 WL 21040184 (Ind. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinions

OPINION

BAKER, Judge.

Appellant-defendant Craig Emery appeals the order of the trial court finding him in contempt of court in the child support proceeding brought against him by appellee-plaintiff Michelle Sautter. Specifically, Emery argues that the trial court did not follow the requisite statutory procedure in entering its finding of contempt and that the finding of contempt is supported by insufficient evidence. Finally, Emery maintains that his ninety-day sentence was unlawful. Concluding that the trial court may have wrongly sentenced Emery, we reverse and remand.

FACTS

The facts most favorable to the judgment reveal that during their marriage, Emery and Sautter had two children who were ages thirteen and fifteen at the time of these proceedings. The parties were divorced in 1994, and Emery was ordered into court for child support arrearages in September 1995, February 1996, May 1996, and January 1997. By May 2001, Emery's arrearages totaled $6,510.00 despite the fact that he worked as a lineman for QC Communications and earned approximately $808.00 per week.

(On September 9, 2002, Sautter filed a verified petition to determine arrearage and petition for citation, alleging that Emery had failed to pay child support and was now in arrears in the amount of $8,241.62. On October 22, 2002, the trial court held a hearing concerning the allegations of nonpayment of child support wherein Emery admitted that he owed $9,665.62 in child support. Tr. p. 8. Emery also stated, however, that he was unemployed and had been unable to find employment. Tr. p. 6. Emery testified that he quit his job with QC Communications in July 2002 because the work required that he travel, and he was unable to visit with his children due to the travel demands.

The trial court found that Emery's history of non-payment indicated a lack of commitment to paying child support. Tr. p. 20. The trial court said, "Putting you in jail is not going to accomplish anything other than punishing you but I'm not so sure you don't deserve some punishment. You've been off work, quit this job, I heard your excuse, I don't buy your exeuse." Tr. p. 20. The trial court found Emery in contempt and ordered Emery to spend ninety days in the Miami County Jail. Tr. p. 20. Emery now appeals.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

I. Notice

In objecting to the finding of contempt, Emery first charges that the trial court failed to abide by the procedural require[859]*859ments of Indiana Code section 34-47-3-5. Specifically, Emery urges that he was improperly found in contempt for failing to pay certain medical expenses because the trial court did not serve him with a rule of the court as required by statute.

In resolving this issue, we first note the relevant provisions of Indiana Code section 34-47-8-5:

(a) In all cases of indirect contempts, the person charged with indirect contempt is entitled:
(1) before answering the charge; or
(2) being punished for the contempt; to be served with a rule of the court against which the contempt was alleged to have been committed.

The goal of this statute is to provide the requisite notice to a person accused of indirect contempt. Carter v. Johnson, 745 N.E.2d 237, 241 (Ind.Ct.App.2001).

The trial court's September 10, 2002 order was an order charging Emery with contempt for failing to pay medical expenses on behalf of his two children. Appellant's App. p. 74. However, no fine or jail time was imposed. Instead, the trial court ordered Emery to attend a hearing set for September 17, 2002, wherein Emery's failure to pay medical expenses would be discussed. Appellant's App. p. 74. The hearing was continued until October 22, 2002, coincidently the same date of Emery's hearing on the contempt charge for failure to pay child support.

However, during the October 22, 2002 hearing, Emery's failure to pay medical expenses was not addressed by the trial court. Instead, he was found in contempt for failure to pay child support and was sentenced to ninety days in jail. Appellant's App. p. 87. In short, though Emery complains that he was punished without the procedural safeguards of Indiana Code section 34-47-8-5 for failure to pay medical expenses, the record reflects that there was no punishment for the non-payment of medical expenses. Thus, the provisions of Indiana Code section 34-47-8-5 do not apply here, and Emery's claim must fail.

IIL. Sufficiency of the Evidence

Emery next argues that the evidence presented did not support a finding that he "willfully disobeyed" the trial court as defined by our indirect contempt statute, Indiana Code section 34-47-8-1. Specifically, Emery notes that inasmuch as he had no income with which to pay his child support, the finding of contempt must be set aside because he could not possibly have "willfully" disobeyed the trial court. Appellant's Br. p. 10-11.

In addressing Emery's challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we first turn to the provisions of our indirect contempt statute:

A person who is guilty of any willful disobedience of any process, or any order lawfully issued:
(1) by any court of record, or by the proper officer of the court;
(2) under the authority of law, or the direction of the court; and
(3) after the process or order has been served upon the person;
is guilty of an indirect contempt of the court that issued the process or order.

Ind.Code § 34-47-8-1. The party in contempt bears the burden of demonstrating that his acts were not "willful." Williamson v. Creamer, 722 N.E.2d 863, 865 (Ind.Ct.App.2000). However, with respect to non-payment of child support, our supreme court has held that "contempt is not appropriate unless the parent has the ability to pay the support due." Pettit v. Pettit, 626 N.E.2d 444, 448 (Ind.1993).

Because the decision as to whether a party is in contempt is left to [860]*860the discretion of the trial court, we will reverse a trial court's finding only if "it is against the logic and effect of the evidence before it or is contrary to law." Mosser v. Mosser, 729 N.E.2d 197, 199 (Ind.Ct.App.2000). When reviewing a contempt order, we do not re-weigh the evidence or judge the witnesses' credibility and will uphold the order unless the record provides us with a "firm and definite belief a mistake has been made by the trial court." Piercey v. Piercey, 727 N.E.2d 26, 31-32 (Ind.Ct.App.2000).

In Peitit, the father fell into arrears in his child support payments after losing his employment. The trial court found him in contempt, but our supreme court reversed because the husband's uncontroverted testimony indicated that he was unemployed, could not find work, and had applied for a loan to pay his child support arrearage. Id.

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Emery v. Sautter
788 N.E.2d 856 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2003)

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