Gallet v. Gallet

86 So. 3d 179, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 1416, 2012 WL 716481, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 251
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 7, 2012
DocketNo. 11-1416
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 86 So. 3d 179 (Gallet v. Gallet) 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
Gallet v. Gallet, 86 So. 3d 179, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 1416, 2012 WL 716481, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 251 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

AMY, Judge.

hBy considered decree, the parties shared joint custody of their minor daughter, with the mother designated as the domiciliary parent. The father filed a petition seeking a change in custody and requesting that he be granted sole custody of the child, or, alternatively, joint custody with himself designated as domiciliary parent. He also sought review of various decisions made by the child’s mother with regard to health care services, among other things. The trial court ultimately denied the father’s requests in full. The father appeals. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

Gabrielle Gallet, born in 2002, is the only child of John Gallet and Crystal Gallet (now Crystal Breaux). In 2003, the divorcing couple agreed to joint custody of the minor child, with Ms. Breaux designated as the domiciliary parent. The trial court has denied. Mr. Gallet’s various requests to alter the custody arrangement in his favor. Due to the trial court’s repeated inquiry into the custody issue, however, the custody regime at issue resulted from a considered decree rendered in July 2008.1 That decree awarded the parties’ joint custody of Gabrielle, with Ms. Breaux maintaining status as the domiciliary parent.

The proceedings now under review were instituted in July 2010 when Mr. Gallet filed a “petition to modify custody, visitation, and restricted visitation.” He sought sole custody, arguing that Gabrielle would “suffer immediate and irreparable harm” if custody continued in the alternating week fashion previously designated. He 12alleged that numerous actions or inac-tions of Ms. Breaux warranted that he be awarded sole custody of Gabrielle. Alter[182]*182natively, and in the event joint custody was maintained, Mr. Gallet sought designation as the domiciliary parent. Mr. Gallet later amended his petition to question Ms. Breaux’s decision to change Gabrielle’s primary care physician. He also asked the trial court to hold Ms. Breaux in contempt of court and to assign court costs to her.

After four days of testimony, the trial court denied Mr. Gallet’s requests. The trial court further ordered that Gabrielle continue treatment with her counselor for anxiety issues until discharge by that counselor. It also appointed a parenting coordinator pursuant to La.R.S. 9:358.1, et seq.

Mr. Gallet appeals, asserting that the trial court erred in 1) finding that he failed to meet his burden under the Bergeron standard and, therefore, in failing to award him sole custody or, at a minimum, designate him as the domiciliary parent; 2) denying the father’s requests regarding the child’s primary care physician and psychiatrist; 3) denying the father’s request that the mother be held in contempt; 4) ordering a parental coordinator; and in 5) casting the father with the costs of this proceeding.

Discussion

Burden of Proof

Mr. Gallet first contests the trial court’s determination that he failed to meet his burden of proving the necessity of the change in custody. He contends that this finding was in error in light of testimony from Gabrielle’s former psychiatrist and counselors. He asserts that this evidence warranted a determination that Ms. Breaux has failed to appreciate the anxiety suffered by their daughter and that the continued custody arrangement is, therefore, deleterious.

Mr. Gallet’s request to change the custody and domiciliary status previously designated in a considered decree required him to satisfy the burden of proof set forth |sin Bergeron v. Bergeron, 492 So.2d 1193, 1200 (La.1986), wherein the supreme court explained that:

When a trial court has made a considered decree of permanent custody the party seeking a change bears a heavy burden of proving that the continuation of the present custody is so deleterious to the child as to justify a modification of the custody decree, or of proving by clear and convincing evidence that the harm likely to be caused by a change of environment is substantially outweighed by its advantages to the child.

We are mindful that a trial court’s determination in custody matters is entitled to great weight and will not be disturbed absent an abuse of discretion. Id.; AEB v. JBE, 99-2668 (La.11/30/99), 752 So.2d 756.

The record indicates that the parties and their daughter have been seen by a variety of professionals who have attempted to facilitate the parties’ parenting of Gabrielle and to assist Gabrielle with problems ranging from anxiety to sleep disturbances. As pointed out and relied on by Mr. Gallet, Dr. Joni Orazio, Gabrielle’s former psychiatrist, explained to the court that she felt that Ms. Breaux failed to adequately acknowledge Gabrielle’s problems and that this failure could be maltreatment. Mr. Gallet also relies on testimony expressing concern as to Gabrielle’s challenges from social workers Lisa Lincoln and Jill Yates. Along with Dr. Orazio, and social worker Danna Halpin, this group formed a “treatment team” composed to assist the members of the family.

Mr. Gallet asserts that this testimony from these members of the treatment team reveals emotional harm that could result from the continued custody plan. [183]*183However, the trial court, in detailed written reasons, resolutely discounted that evidence, finding, in particular, that Dr. Ora-zio had lost objectivity during the course of her treatment of Gabrielle as revealed through a number of her actions. Similarly, the trial court rejected Mr. Gallet’s allegations as to events or parenting decisions made by Ms. Breaux. The trial court instead concluded that Mr. Gallet had “either urged the minor Rchild to make false statements against [Ms. Breaux], or the child is manipulating the situation by making up false events while in the care of her mother to please her father and gain his attention.” While the trial court acknowledged that Gabrielle suffered from anxiety, it concluded that this condition was caused by her “having to constantly report everything that occurred in her mother’s home to her father, which she was encouraged to exaggerate.”

The trial court instead relied on the opinion of treatment team member Danna Halpin who expressed that Gabrielle’s anxiety stemmed from trouble between the parents’ households. Ms. Halpin denied that her therapy with Gabrielle revealed emotional abuse. Further, the trial court positively reported the testimony of Gabrielle’s social worker at the time of trial, Ron Butcher. Mr. Butcher testified that Gabrielle was not particularly anxious, that she was happy and inquisitive, and that he felt she was relaxed with her parents when she was with them alone. He explained that the case history indicated that the child became tense when with both parents together. Mr. Butcher denied that Gabrielle evidenced emotional abuse. Instead, he suggested that she may not need to continue in therapy much longer and that the parents should work to refocus their parenting efforts.

While the trial court largely focused on its rejection of Mr. Gallet’s argument regarding Gabrielle’s emotional health, it further referenced other areas in which it found the evidence lacking. It consistently discounted the numerous occurrences that Mr. Gallet asserted demonstrated that he would be the superior domiciliary parent and/or sole custodian of Gabrielle. Our review of this record reveals no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s determination as to the continued custody order.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
86 So. 3d 179, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 1416, 2012 WL 716481, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 251, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gallet-v-gallet-lactapp-2012.