In Re DA

307 S.W.3d 556, 2010 WL 797277
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 7, 2010
Docket05-09-00410-CV
StatusPublished

This text of 307 S.W.3d 556 (In Re DA) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re DA, 307 S.W.3d 556, 2010 WL 797277 (Tex. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

307 S.W.3d 556 (2010)

In the Interest of D.A., a Child.

No. 05-09-00410-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Dallas.

March 10, 2010.
Rehearing Overruled April 7, 2010.

*557 Michael Mowla, Attorney at Law, Duncanville, TX, for Appellant.

Joy David, Dallas, TX, for Appellee.

*558 Before Justices O'NEILL, LANG, and MYERS.

OPINION

Opinion By Justice MYERS.

Clifton Deadmon appeals the trial court's judgment appointing him possessory conservator and Joy David sole managing conservator of their son, David Atam. In three issues, Father contends the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support (1) the jury's verdict on the parents' conservatorship; (2) the restrictions on Father's access to the child until he successfully completes an anger-management class; and (3) the trial court's findings and judgment that the child's surname is "Atam." We affirm the trial court's judgment.

BACKGROUND

Father and Mother met while working for the same employer, they became friends, and their relationship resulted in the conception of the child. Father filed a petition to establish the parent-child relationship between him and the child of "Unknown Name." His amended petition identified the child as "David Nwokocha," and Father attached the results of DNA testing showing the probability that he was the father was greater than 99.999 percent. In the amended petition, Father requested that the child's surname be changed to "Deadmon." Mother filed a counterpetition identifying the child as "David Nwokocha Atan" [sic], requesting that she be appointed sole managing conservator, alleging Father "has a history or pattern of committing family violence during the two-year period preceding the date of filing of this suit," and requesting the court either deny Father access to the child or issue orders for the child's protection.

On December 8, 2008, the trial court issued temporary orders that identified the child as "David Atam" and appointed both parents temporary joint managing conservators. The temporary orders restricted the child's residence to Dallas County until further order of the court, prohibited Mother from removing the child from the country, and ordered Mother to surrender any passport issued to her or the child. The orders stated Father would have possession of the child for one hour on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every other Saturday, with the exchanges to take place at a McDonald's restaurant. The orders stated, "It has been represented to the Court that there has been no pattern of child neglect or family violence by any party to this case within two years preceding the filing of this case or during the pendency of this case."

On December 22, 2008, Father's counsel filed a demand for a jury trial and paid the fee. That same day, Father's counsel filed a motion to withdraw as Father's attorney alleging he was unable to communicate effectively with Father and that Father had "on many occasions" refused his advice and interpretation of the law.

On February 17, 2009, when the child was a year old, the trial court conducted a jury trial on the issue of the conservatorship of the child. Father appeared pro se. When the venire was seated, the trial court asked Father if he wanted to ask the prospective jurors any questions, and he declined. Mother's counsel then questioned the venire. When she finished, the trial court gave Father another opportunity to question the panel, but he told the court he would not participate in the trial. He stated that Mother was a terrorist, and he would not be a part of the proceeding. When the court asked Father if he had any peremptory challenges, he refused to *559 answer. Father also refused to answer when the court tried to swear him in as a witness before the beginning of testimony. When the time came for Father to present his case in chief, he refused to speak. Mother's counsel moved for a directed verdict, which the trial court denied, stating some evidence needed to be presented for the jury. Mother's counsel then presented Mother's case in chief.

Mother testified she was originally from Nigeria and that she had three other children. It appears from her testimony that she came to the United States in 1999 with her oldest children under a United Nations' program as a war refugee. She met Father at the restaurant where they both worked. She testified they became friends and had a relationship but later broke up. The child was conceived when she was involved with another man. She testified she was unaware Father was the father until the DNA results proved his paternity. Since learning Father was the father, she has tried to cooperate with him about parental issues, but her testimony demonstrated that Father's animosity toward her has made their relationship as parents of the child difficult.

She testified that exchanges of custody took place at a McDonald's restaurant because when they met at her house, Father would verbally abuse, insult, and humiliate her in front of all of her children. With the exchanges at McDonald's, Father still verbally abused her. She testified:

Every visit is almost an insult. I'm insulted. There are some things I cannot say, but I'm a terror and he hate me, he despise me so much, he will do anything possible to make my life miserable. It's—the baby will be crying, people will be looking at me, he would humiliate me in front of people.

The police often were called to the exchanges of the child. When Mother would pick up the child after the visitation with Father, the child was "intense like something is wrong, fussing and yelling." Once, when she took the child to the hospital because he had a high fever, Father met her there, and she described how Father verbally berated and humiliated her:

The baby has his thumb in his mouth and I was rocking him. He started yanking the baby hands from the baby mouth and told me that I should that this is American citizen and that if anything happens to the baby that I'm responsible of it and I'm so stupid, calling me names and saying all kind of awful things and made a statement that since I'm not an American, because the baby is in America, he will do anything to take the baby from me and then will ship me back to Africa. If I—if I'm not dead, they will ship me back for life, and he would be the one to purchase the first ticket to take me there. . . . He started going on and being loud, making statement, people looking at me like I was—like I stole the child or something.

She testified Father refused to discuss the child's medical expenses with her and refused to provide medical insurance for the child. She stated Father repeatedly called her a terrorist and told her she was a criminal because she came from a different country.

Mother testified that Father brought his sixteen-year-old daughter to one of the visits, and she described what occurred:

One time, he brought his daughter and she walked—she was, like, "Are you the mother of my brother?" And I said, yes. And she looked into my eye and said that, "I hope your are strong enough because dad is evil. My dad did all of this stuff to my mom, trying to take me away from my mom." And she looked at me and say that to me, a 16-years-old girl, it hurt. Right from that *560 day, then he yell at her, and right from that day, that girl has not been coming to visit and I don't know.

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Bluebook (online)
307 S.W.3d 556, 2010 WL 797277, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-da-texapp-2010.