Hastings v. Rigsbee

875 So. 2d 772, 2004 WL 1389114
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJune 23, 2004
Docket2D03-3547
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 875 So. 2d 772 (Hastings v. Rigsbee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hastings v. Rigsbee, 875 So. 2d 772, 2004 WL 1389114 (Fla. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

875 So.2d 772 (2004)

Marlene HASTINGS, Appellant,
v.
John Steen RIGSBEE, Appellee.

No. 2D03-3547.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

June 23, 2004.

*773 Robert L. Donald of Law Office of Robert L. Donald, and William T. Haverfield of Pavese, Haverfield, Dalton, Harrison & Jensen, L.L.P., Fort Myers, for Appellant.

Cary Alan Cliff of Faerber Lanier Deifik Cliff & Ross, P.A., Naples, for Appellee.

CANADY, Judge.

Marlene Hastings appeals an order of the trial court that modified the custody and visitation arrangements for her three-year-old child. The trial court's order was based on the recommendations of a parenting coordinator. Because the trial court abused its discretion by entering this order, we reverse.

*774 I. BACKGROUND

The order on appeal was entered as part of a paternity action that Mrs. Hastings initiated in February of 2001. In December of 2001, the parties reached a settlement agreement in which the respondent, John Steen Rigsbee, admitted paternity. The settlement agreement also made Mrs. Hastings the primary residential parent and set forth a visitation schedule for Mr. Rigsbee. A final order of paternity was entered that adopted and incorporated the settlement agreement. Mr. Rigsbee also separately agreed to pay $500 per month in child support to Mrs. Hastings.

In April of 2001, prior to the settlement agreement, the parties were having difficulty agreeing to matters related to their minor child. These difficulties resulted in a heated argument between the two parties in this case. As a result of this dispute, the trial court entered an order appointing Justine Healan as "parenting coordinator."

Although the initial appointment of the parenting coordinator was not objected to by either party, Mrs. Hastings subsequently developed a strained relationship with the coordinator. In August of 2001, Mrs. Hastings filed a motion to change the parenting coordinator, alleging that a "conflict of interest" had arisen between herself and the coordinator. This motion was denied. In August of 2002, Mrs. Hastings filed another motion seeking the removal of the parenting coordinator, alleging that the parenting coordinator was "openly hostile towards [Mrs. Hastings], [had made] unreasonable financial demands upon her, and [had] lost her objectivity and neutrality." This motion was also denied.

The events that led to the order on appeal occurred in May of 2003. Mrs. Hastings filed an emergency motion after Mr. Rigsbee refused to return the parties' child following a visitation. In response, Mr. Rigsbee filed a motion for temporary suspension of mother's parenting schedule. This motion alleged that Mrs. Hastings had been the victim of domestic violence by her present husband on March 10, 2003, and alleged that one of Mrs. Hastings' older children had been abused during the incident. The motion also stated that Mr. Rigsbee felt that he had been forced to withhold custody of the child because Mrs. Hastings had not provided proof that "the issues of domestic violence in her home had been resolved." The motion also noted that Mrs. Hastings had failed to respond to communications by the parenting coordinator about the incident while Mr. Rigsbee had been very cooperative with the coordinator.

Prior to the hearing on the motions, the parenting coordinator prepared a report on the domestic violence incident in the form of a letter addressed to the trial court. This report purported to reflect the content of the parenting coordinator's interviews of a number of people and also included the parenting coordinator's opinions regarding certain interviewees' honesty. The report suggested that Mrs. Hastings' husband, while intoxicated, engaged in disruptive behavior at a neighbor's house. It alleged that he threw furniture around in a pool area at a neighbor's house, let the air out of the tires of Mrs. Hastings' vehicle, broke one of the windows of the vehicle, and had a physical struggle with Mrs. Hastings' adult-sized minor son (not the child at issue in this case) inside a neighbor's house. The report stated that Mrs. Hastings' husband was arrested for physically attacking Mrs. Hastings' son. The report did not allege any significant injury to any person as a result of the incident.

The report also suggested that the domestic violence on March 10, 2003, was not an isolated incident, noting that the police *775 were called to the residence on March 1, 2003, as well. The report, however, provided few details of the earlier alleged occurrence of domestic violence and did not allege that any arrests resulted from that call. The parenting coordinator claimed in the report that Mrs. Hastings had not cooperated with her investigation of that incident, making it difficult for the parenting coordinator to determine what happened.

The report reached a number of conclusions. It stated that the risk of domestic violence posed a serious threat to the safety of the three-year-old child and faulted Mrs. Hastings (and her neighbors) for minimizing the importance of the March 10, 2003, incident. It also effectively concluded that Mrs. Hastings' contention that the March 10, 2003, incident was the first time that Mr. Hastings had demonstrated violent behavior was not credible. Additionally, notwithstanding the fact that there was no evidence that Mrs. Hastings had been struck by Mr. Hastings, the report criticized Mrs. Hastings for denying that she was a victim of domestic violence, stating that "everyone in the home" was victimized by the March 10, 2003, incident.

At the end of the report, the parenting coordinator provided a numbered list of six recommendations. The most significant recommendations are these:

1. Mrs. Hastings [should be required to] sign a release authorizing this coordinator to have full access to the results of her psychological testing that was performed in January 2003. If Mrs. Hastings does not sign a release[,] the court should order this report be release[d] to the parenting coordinator or the court. However, if the above recommendations are not viable then it is the recommendation of this coordinator that Mrs. Hastings be ordered by the court to have a complete psychological evaluation by Dr. Mary Ellen Frazier and the report be release[d] to this coordinator and the court. Mrs. Hastings shall undergo any further recommendations that are appropriate after the results of the psychological testing becomes available.
....
3. Mrs. Hastings shall seek and participate in appropriate counseling with a licensed mental health professionals [sic] who is trained in domestic violence and child protection. Mrs. Hastings shall sign releases so that this coordinator can monitor her counseling....
4. If Mr. and Mrs. Hastings continue with their relationship[,] Mr. Hastings shall participate in appropriate domestic violence counseling from a licensed mental health provider. Mr. Hastings shall follow all the recommendations of his counselors. Mr. Hastings shall also sign a release of information so that this coordinator may communicate with his counselors....
....
6. [I]t is this coordinator['s] recommendation that Mrs. Hastings have structured time with Jesse in order to reduce the risk of Mr. Hastings being present. This is designed to reduce the risk Jesse will be exposed to violence. However, this coordinator and [another parenting coordinator for Mrs.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
875 So. 2d 772, 2004 WL 1389114, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hastings-v-rigsbee-fladistctapp-2004.