Ex parte Jordan Anderson PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS

• Court: Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama
• Decided: May 19, 2023
• Docket: CL-2023-0225
• Status: Published

Opinion

Rel: May 19, 2023

Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the advance sheets of Southern Reporter. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Alabama Appellate Courts, 300 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104-3741 ((334) 229-0650), of any typographical or other errors, in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is published in Southern Reporter.

ALABAMA COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS OCTOBER TERM, 2022-2023 _________________________

CL-2023-0225 _________________________

Ex parte Jordan Anderson

PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS

(In re: Jordan Latrielle Singh Anderson

v.

Giovanni Guerrero)

(Madison Circuit Court, DR-23-900285)

_________________________

CL-2023-0226 _________________________

Ex parte Alexis Valentin

(In re: Alexis Valentin CL-2023-0225 and CL-2023-0226

Celine Raquel Draper)

(Madison Circuit Court, DR-23-900254)

FRIDY, Judge.

These petitions for writs of mandamus arise from two actions that,

as is relevant to this opinion, are in the same procedural posture. The

petitioners seek the same relief in each petition -- that this court vacate

orders of the Madison Circuit Court ("the circuit court") transferring each

action to the Madison Juvenile Court ("the juvenile court"). At the

petitioners' request, this court consolidated the petitions. For the reasons

discussed herein, we grant the petitions.

Background

In petition number CL-2023-0225, Jordan Latrielle Singh Anderson

commenced an action in the circuit court seeking an adjudication of

paternity of the child she asserts that she had with Giovanni Guerrero,

to whom she has never been married but with whom she had a romantic

relationship. She also requested sole legal and sole physical custody of

the child and sought an award of child support from Guerrero.

2 CL-2023-0225 and CL-2023-0226

In petition number CL-2023-0226, Alexis Valentin commenced an

action in the circuit court seeking an adjudication of paternity of two

children born to Celine Raquel Draper, with whom he had had sexual

relations but to whom he was not married. In his action, Valentin sought

joint legal and joint physical custody of the children.

The circuit court entered orders in both cases on April 3, 2023,

transferring the actions to the juvenile court. In the orders, which are

identical, the juvenile court observed that paternity was "the primary

issue" in both cases. It stated: "While both the Circuit and the Juvenile

court may adjudicate paternity, the Juvenile Court is the Court of

original jurisdiction in Alabama for the establishment of paternity." The

circuit court also noted that the juvenile court was "an appropriate court"

to address custody of the children involved.

On April 13, 2023, Anderson and Valentin, who are represented by

the same attorney, filed their respective petitions for a writ of

mandamus, which are virtually identical.

Analysis

A petition for a writ of mandamus is an appropriate means to seek

to set aside an allegedly improper order transferring a case to another

3 CL-2023-0225 and CL-2023-0226

court within the same county. Ex parte N.G., 321 So. 3d 655, 657 (Ala.

2020).

"Mandamus is a drastic and extraordinary writ, to be issued only where there is (1) a clear legal right in the petitioner to the order sought; (2) an imperative duty upon the respondent to perform, accompanied by a refusal to do so; (3) the lack of another adequate remedy; and (4) properly invoked jurisdiction of the court."

Ex parte Integon Corp., 672 So. 2d 497, 499 (Ala.1995).

In their petitions for writs of mandamus, Anderson and Valentin

contend that the circuit court's orders transferring their actions to the

juvenile court deprive them of their right to choose the forum in which

their paternity and custody actions are to be adjudicated. In support of

their argument, they assert that the circuit court lacked the authority to

transfer their actions to the juvenile court and that the circuit court had

a "duty to sit" once Anderson and Valentin filed their actions in a court

that properly has jurisdiction over paternity and custody in these cases.

In Gurganus v. Clay, [Ms. 2210466, Sept. 16, 2022] ___ So. 3d ___

(Ala. Civ. App. 2022), this court observed that § 12-15-115(a)(6), Ala.

Code 1975, provides that juvenile courts shall exercise original

jurisdiction -- rather than exclusive jurisdiction -- over proceedings to

establish the parentage of a child pursuant to the Alabama Uniform

4 CL-2023-0225 and CL-2023-0226

Parentage Act ("the AUPA"), § 26-17-101 et seq., Ala. Code 1975. This

court noted that § 26-17-104, Ala. Code 1975, a part of the AUPA,

provides, in pertinent part, that "[a] circuit or district court of this state

or any other court of this state, as provided by law, shall have original

jurisdiction to adjudicate parentage pursuant to [the AUPA] and may

determine issues of custody, support, and visitation incidental to a

determination of parentage." See also Ex parte F.T.G., 199 So. 3d 82, 86

(Ala. Civ. App. 2015) (holding that "under present law, juvenile courts,

district courts, and circuit courts have concurrent jurisdiction to

adjudicate issues of parentage and to adjudicate issues of custody,

visitation, and child support incidental to an adjudication of parentage").

Here, the circuit court had jurisdiction over Anderson's and

Valentin's actions seeking the adjudication of paternity and the

incidental issues of custody, visitation, and child support. It was not

authorized by statute to transfer the actions to the juvenile court. Cf. §

12-11-11, Ala. Code 1975 (allowing the transfer of a case within the same

county when it appears that it should have been brought in another court

in that county). Therefore, Anderson and Valentin are entitled to have

5 CL-2023-0225 and CL-2023-0226

their actions heard in the circuit court, and their respective petitions for

a writ of mandamus are due to be granted.

CL-2023-0225 -- PETITION GRANTED; WRIT ISSUED.

CL-2023-0226 -- PETITION GRANTED; WRIT ISSUED.

Thompson, P.J., and Moore, Edwards, and Hanson, JJ., concur.