Ham v. Ham

2009 Ohio 3668
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided July 27, 2009·No. 16-09-04·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT

WYANDOT COUNTY

DANIEL G. HAM, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, CASE NO. 16-09-04 v.

DARLA HAM, OPINION DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

Appeal from Wyandot County Common Pleas Court Domestic Relations Division Trial Court No. 05DR122

Judgment Affirmed

Date of Decision: July 27, 2009

APPEARANCES:

J. C. Ratliff and Jon L. Jenson for Appellant Dennis E. Pfeifer for Appellee

ROGERS, J.

{¶1} Defendant-Appellant, Darla Ham, appeals the judgment of the Wyandot County Court of Common Pleas finding her in contempt of court for failing to provide Plaintiff-Appellee, Daniel Ham, with keys to a camper and several vehicles Daniel was awarded pursuant to the parties’ divorce decree; for causing damage to the camper; and, for failing to provide Daniel with various tools he was awarded pursuant to the divorce decree. On appeal, Darla argues that the trial court erred in finding her in contempt of court because Daniel failed to establish that she violated the trial court’s order by clear and convincing evidence. Based upon the following, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

{¶2} Daniel and Darla were married in 1998. In October 2005, Daniel filed a complaint for divorce and voluntarily vacated the marital residence located at 18205 County Road 96 in Upper Sandusky, Wyandot County (“the residence”). In December 2005, the trial court granted an order restraining both parties from dissipating the parties’ assets, properties, and funds, and granting Darla exclusive use of the residence.

{¶3} On January 10, 2007, Darla and Daniel were divorced pursuant to a final judgment entry decree of divorce. The decree provided, in part, that Daniel was awarded “equipment and personal property in the semi trailer.” (Jan. 10, 2007 Decree, p. 4). Attached to the decree was an appraisal of the Hams’ property,

including an appraisal of property inside the semi-trailer, specifically including a tool chest, drill press, AC 295 welder, Makita grinder, and parts washer.

{¶4} Neither party appealed from the January 10, 2007 final judgment;

however, on January 19, 2007, Darla filed a motion to vacate the final judgment pursuant to Civ.R. 60(B), which the trial court denied. Thereafter, on January 31, 2007, Darla filed a motion for reconsideration of the trial court’s denial of her Civ.R. 60(B) motion. Subsequently, in February 2007, the trial court purported to grant Darla’s motion for reconsideration, vacate the final judgment entry decree of divorce, and grant Darla leave to object to the magistrate’s decision. In May 2007, the trial court overruled Darla’s objections and issued a second final judgment entry decree of divorce, from which Darla and Daniel both appealed.

{¶5} In March 2008, this Court dismissed Darla’s and Daniel’s appeals, finding that the rules of civil procedure did not authorize the trial court to grant Darla’s motion for reconsideration. See Ham v. Ham, 3d Dist. No. 16-07-04, 2008-Ohio-828. Additionally, this Court found that the trial court should vacate its February 2007 order granting her motion for reconsideration as well as the May 2007 judgment entry decree of divorce. Shortly thereafter, the trial court vacated its February 2007 order and the May 2007 decree of divorce.

{¶6} In May 2008, Daniel moved the trial court for an order directing Darla to show cause why she should not be held in contempt for failing to comply

with its January 10, 2007 order, claiming that she refused to (1) provide him with keys to a camper, four-wheeler, one-ton truck, and GMC Sierra truck; (2) transfer titles to the camper and four-wheeler from her name to his; and, (3) make available various items of personal property, which he alleged she hid or removed from the residence.

{¶7} In July 2008, Darla moved the trial court to find Daniel in contempt for failing to comply with its January 10, 2007 order for removing certain items of her personal property.

{¶8} In August 2008, the trial court held a hearing on both motions for contempt before a magistrate, at which the following testimony was heard.

{¶9} Darla testified that she was awarded the residence in the divorce;

that, on January 15, 2007, someone broke into the residence by kicking in the door and “robbed” her; and, that she believed it was Daniel who broke into the residence. Darla then testified that, within the same time frame of the robbery, someone killed her chickens and dogs, and insinuated that Daniel was responsible. However, Darla then admitted that the police officer investigating the incident concluded that a raccoon killed the chickens. Additionally, Darla first testified that she had not filed a claim against a dog food company claiming that tainted dog food caused her dogs’ death, but then admitted that she did file such a claim.

{¶10} Concerning the keys at issue, Darla testified that she never provided Daniel with keys to the camper, four-wheeler, one-ton truck, and GMC Sierra because she did not have possession of the keys at the time the divorce was initiated, and that she never saw any of the keys after Daniel left and filed for divorce, which was in October 2005. However, Darla then testified that she rode the four-wheeler several times in 2006 with her boyfriend, Jeremy Frisch, prior to Daniel coming into the residence to retrieve his property, and that she believed Daniel or his acquaintances may have taken the keys after coming to the residence to retrieve his property. Additionally, Darla testified that she was able to access the camper because it was not locked, and that she did not know how it later became locked because she did not have the key.

{¶11} Concerning the titles at issue, Darla testified that she never transferred titles to the camper or four-wheeler to Daniel; that she did not know where the original titles were, and she did not have them; that she turned the original titles over to her first trial attorney, who copied them, and she had not seen them since; that her first trial attorney returned all of her papers, but the original titles were not with them; that her second trial attorney only had copies of the titles; that she never inquired of her trial attorneys whether they still had the original titles; and, that she had taken no action to obtain duplicate titles because she did not know how.

{¶12} Regarding the camper, Darla testified that she removed the microwave from the camper and her son removed the faucet from the camper prior to Daniel filing for divorce because the faucet in the house was bad. However, Darla later testified that she directed her son to remove the faucet from the camper because the camper was damaged due to the pipes freezing. Darla then testified that she noticed the camper was gone on January 19 or 20, 2007, and reported it as stolen to the police, even though Daniel had been awarded it in the divorce decree of January 10, 2007; and, that some of her personal belongings were in the camper when Daniel took it.

{¶13} Regarding Daniel’s tools, Darla testified that, to her knowledge, she gave Daniel everything he was awarded in the divorce decree; that she believed Daniel came to the residence on at least five occasions to retrieve his property; that she did not recall if any of the tools Daniel was awarded were still present at the residence after the divorce was filed and while she was dating Jeremy Frisch; that some of the items Daniel claimed he had been unable to retrieve were still sitting in the yard of the residence; that she hired Bob Culver to do construction on the residence soon after she was awarded it by the final divorce decree; and, that, to her knowledge, none of the property Daniel claimed he had been unable to retrieve was in the home while Culver was doing construction because he had already retrieved his property.

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Ham v. Ham, 2009 Ohio 3668 (Ohio Ct. App. 2009).

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