In re J.S.

2021 Ohio 1678
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided May 14, 2021·No. L-20-1109·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

[Cite as In re J.S., 2021-Ohio-1678.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT LUCAS COUNTY

In re J.S., H.S., K.V. Court of Appeals No. L-20-1109

Trial Court No. 19272672

DECISION AND JUDGMENT

Decided: May 14, 2021

*****

Anthony J. Richardson II, for appellant.

ZMUDA, P.J.

I. Introduction

{¶ 1} Appellant, H.S., appeals the June 22, 2020 judgment of the Lucas County

Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, naming appellee, J.S., the residential parent

and legal custodian of their only child, K.V.1 For the reasons that follow, we affirm the

trial court’s judgment.

1 Pursuant to the trial court’s judgment, K.V.’s birth certificate was ordered to be amended to reflect a change of last name to match appellee’s. For consistency, we reference K.V. by his name as captioned in this appeal despite the name change. A. Facts and Procedural Background

{¶ 2} The parties have one child, K.V., born on January 4, 2019. At the time of

K.V.’s birth, appellant was 18 and appellee was 17. The parties have never been married.

On January 17, 2019, appellee’s mother, C.S., filed a complaint to establish a parent/child

relationship and a motion to establish allocation of parental rights and responsibilities on

appellee’s behalf. Prior to the filing of the complaint, the parties had not entered into any

agreement regarding parenting time and visitation.

{¶ 3} At the initial pretrial hearing, the parties were ordered to attend mediation on

May 21, 2019. There, the parties agreed to an interim parenting schedule in which

appellant would remain the residential parent and appellee would be permitted parenting

time, supervised by appellant, on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The Sunday and

Friday visitations were to take place at appellee’s mother’s residence. The Wednesday

visitation was to take place at either appellee’s mother’s residence or at the residence of

M.B., a mutual friend of both parties’ families. The agreement did not state a

presumption as to the location of the Wednesday visits or a procedure by which the

parties would select the location. The magistrate approved of the parties’ interim

agreement and incorporated it into an order the following day (“Interim Order No. 1”).

The magistrate also ordered the parties to attend a second mediation on July 11, 2019, to

address any remaining issues.

{¶ 4} Appellant initially facilitated appellee’s parenting time without incident.

Then, a few weeks after the mediation, appellant and her grandfather were involved in a

2. physical altercation with members of appellee’s extended family at her high school

graduation. Appellant alleges that appellee’s cousin pushed her from behind while she

was carrying K.V. Appellant’s sister intervened and removed K.V. from the scene.

Appellant then engaged in a physical confrontation with members of appellee’s family

before exiting the ceremony. Outside, she and her grandfather were approached by

responding police officers. After speaking with the officers, appellant was arrested and

charged with misdemeanor assault. She was ultimately found not guilty. Appellee was

not present at the graduation ceremony or for the altercation.

{¶ 5} Both parties agree that appellee did not receive his ordered parenting time

after the altercation. On June 27, 2019, appellee filed a motion to show cause why

appellant should not be held in contempt for violating Interim Order No. 1. Appellee

alleged that on at least four occasions, appellant denied him his parenting time with K.V.

The motion to show cause was still pending at the time of the second mediation. The

mediator determined that the case was not appropriate for mediation at that time. The

magistrate set the matter for trial on October 10, 2019.

{¶ 6} On that date, the parties made a joint request to continue the trial and instead

to hold a hearing on appellee’s show cause motion. The magistrate granted the parties’

request and conducted the requested hearing. The magistrate determined that appellant

failed to comply with Interim Order No. 1 which required appellee to receive supervised

parenting time. The magistrate entered a new order (“Interim Order No. 2”) providing

appellee with unsupervised parenting time on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays

3. beginning on October 11, 2019. Appellee’s Sunday parenting time was to convert to

overnight parenting time ending on Monday mornings beginning on November 3, 2019.

K.V. was to be picked up at appellant’s residence for appellee’s parenting time.

Appellant was ordered to provide appellee with a diaper bag containing all of the food,

formula, clothing, and diapers necessary for K.V.’s care as well as a written schedule of

K.V.’s routine.

{¶ 7} On October 23, 2019, at appellee’s request, the magistrate appointed a

guardian ad litem, Amy Stoner, to represent the interests of K.V. Stoner conducted in-

person interviews with appellant and appellee and observed their interactions with K.V.

at each of their respective residences. Stoner also interviewed appellant’s grandfather

and appellee’s mother.

{¶ 8} On November 19, 2019, appellee filed his second motion to show cause why

appellant should not be held in contempt for violating Interim Order No. 2. Appellee

alleged that appellant denied him the parenting time granted in the order on numerous

occasions. The parties again attempted mediation on December 3, 2019, but no

agreement was reached.

{¶ 9} On January 21, 2020, appellee filed a combined emergency motion to show

cause, for possession of the minor child, and for supervised visitation for appellant.

Appellee’s motion alleged appellant failed to comply with Interim Order No. 2 by

denying him his parenting time on January 17, 2020. On that date, appellee arrived for

his scheduled parenting time. After K.V. was placed in appellee’s vehicle, appellee and

4. his mother engaged in a physical altercation with appellant’s mother and sister. During

the altercation, appellant took K.V. from appellee’s vehicle and refused to allow appellee

to take K.V. as ordered. Appellee’s motion was heard the following day. The trial court

ordered both parties to undergo psychiatric evaluations and also amended Interim Order

No. 2 to state that transfer of K.V. was to take place at the Toledo Police Department’s

Scott Park Location in Toledo, Ohio. The matter was set for trial on March 10, 2020.

{¶ 10} The trial took place over two days on March 10 and June 15, 2020. The

following relevant testimony was presented at trial:

Testimony of Appellant H.S.

{¶ 11} Appellant testified on both days of the trial. Appellant began her

March 10, 2020 testimony stating that from K.V.’s birth up to the date of trial, she had

never identified appellee as K.V.’s father on any medical records. Appellant explained

that she did this because before K.V. was born, appellee told her that he did not want to

be involved in K.V.’s life. Appellant also identified appellee’s refusal to provide

financial support or to purchase any clothing or other materials necessary for K.V.’s care

as the basis for her decision. Appellant conceded that because appellee has not been

identified as K.V.’s father, he has been unable to access K.V.’s medical records or ask

questions of his pediatrician. Appellant acknowledged that should appellee be allocated

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