In re Marriage of Garnhart

2021 IL App (2d) 191043-U
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided October 29, 2021·No. 2-19-1043·Unpublished·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

No. 2-19-1043

Order filed October 29, 2021

NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23(b) and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(l).

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

SECOND DISTRICT

In re MARRIAGE OF ) Appeal from the Circuit Court JUSTIN C. GARNHART, ) of Winnebago County.

)

Petitioner-Appellee, )

)

and ) No. 17-D-41 )

MEGHAN M. GARNHART, ) Honorable ) Ronald A. Barch,

Respondent-Appellant. ) Judge, Presiding.

PRESIDING JUSTICE BRIDGES delivered the judgment of the court.

Justices Hudson and Birkett concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: The trial court did not abuse its discretion when it ordered respondent-appellant to undergo a drug and alcohol abuse assessment and treatment, if necessary, as a prerequisite to modifying its order limiting her to supervised parenting time. The trial court also did not abuse its discretion when it admitted into evidence certain of respondent-appellant’s social media posts presented by the guardian ad litem which had not been disclosed in discovery because they were made subsequent to the trial’s commencement. Therefore, we affirm.

¶2 Following a three day hearing on the allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time for the parties’ two children, the trial court awarded sole decision-making authority to petitioner-appellee Justin C. Garnhart. The trial court also found that respondent-appellant Meghan

M. Garnhart had engaged in conduct which seriously endangered the children’s mental, moral, and emotional health, and it restricted Meghan’s parenting time to supervised time pursuant to section 603.10(a) of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (750 ILCS 5/603.10(a) (West 2018)). As part of its decision, the trial court also required Meghan to, inter alia, undergo an assessment and, if necessary, treatment for drug and alcohol abuse before she could seek unsupervised parenting time. On appeal, Meghan argues that the trial court abused its discretion when it admitted certain social media posts into evidence and when it ordered her to undergo an evaluation and treatment for drug abuse. We affirm

¶3 I. BACKGROUND

¶4 Relevant Procedural History

¶5 On January 17, 2017, Justin filed a petition for dissolution of the parties’ marriage. On February 15, 2017, Justin filed a petition for an emergency order of protection against Meghan, alleging that she assaulted him and complaining of her hysterical conduct in front of their children. His request was granted. That same day, Meghan was arrested and charged with obstructing service of process of the order of protection, a Class B misdemeanor, to which she pled guilty in exchange for 12 months of court supervision.

¶6 On February 23, 2017, the trial court modified the February 15, 2017, order of protection by removing the children as parties and by adding a provision preventing the parties from discussing the divorce proceedings with or disparaging one another to the children.

¶7 On March 2, 2017, a temporary agreed order was entered which set a parenting schedule, ordered the parties to attend co-parenting classes, limited communication between the parties to text messages, and vacated the emergency order of protection.

¶8 On April 19, 2017, an order was entered which, inter alia, prohibited the parties from

making disparaging remarks to each other in front of the children.

¶9 On August 9, 2017, at the request of an individual who is not a party to this litigation, an emergency stalking no contact order was entered against Meghan. On August 10, 2017, Meghan was arrested for violation of that order after she sent a text message to the individual after being served with the order. Meghan pled guilty to a Class A misdemeanor charge for violating that order in exchange for 12 months of court supervision.

¶ 10 On November 21, 2017, Justin filed a petition for temporary relief based upon Meghan texting and calling him hundreds of times in violation of the March 2, 2017, order and her discussing the litigation with the children and disparaging him in front of them.

¶ 11 On January 23, 2018, a supplemental order was entered which limited the parties’ communication to Our Family Wizard, 1 prohibited them from speaking to each other during exchanges, and placed restrictions on phone conversations with the children during the other’s parenting time.

¶ 12 On March 26, 2018, Meghan was arrested and charged with a Class 3 felony for aggravated assault against Justin’s step-father, Mark Lotzer, for which she was tried and found not guilty. Based in part upon the alleged assault, Justin filed a second petition for an emergency order of

1 Our Family Wizard is an application designed to promote better communication between

divorced or divorcing parents. It is a tool to help parents communicate, schedule custody, and enter specific appointments for their children. It allows the parents to send messages to each other about what the children are or should be doing during the week and provides a contemporaneous record of those communications. Barry D. Bayer, Better Searching, and Matrimonial Communication on the Web, LAW OFFICE TECHNOLOGY REVIEW, Nov. 14, 2001, 2001 WL 1829161.

protection against Meghan. Justin’s request was granted and the trial court suspended Meghan’s parenting time pending further order of court.

¶ 13 On April 9, 2018, another agreed temporary order was entered which suspended Meghan’s parenting time and limited her contact with the children to phone calls initiated by the children. It also provided that Justin could monitor and record the phone calls and that he could terminate them if Meghan began discussing the proceedings or using foul language.

¶ 14 On April 19, 2018, Meghan filed a petition to restore her parenting time. On April 30, 2018, Justin filed a petition requesting that Meghan’s parenting time be supervised and that exchanges take place at Safe Harbor.

¶ 15 On May 16, 2018, after conducting an evidentiary hearing, the trial court entered an order granting Meghan supervised parenting time, and which again barred the parties from discussing the case or one another with the children. On July 3, 2018, an order was entered which provided for the transition from supervised to unsupervised parenting time for Meghan and again barred the parties from discussing the case or one another with the children. On August 14, 2018, an order was entered allowing unsupervised parenting time for Meghan.

¶ 16 On September 14, 2018, the trial court issued a rule to show cause against both parties based on allegations that they had been discussing the case with and making disparaging comments about each other to the children.

¶ 17 On December 14, 2018, Justin filed a petition to place Meghan back on supervised parenting time based on her violation of the orders prohibiting discussion of the case and disparaging Justin towards the children. On December 19, 2018, an order was entered suspending Meghan’s unsupervised parenting time and phone communications with the children.

¶ 18 On February 1, 2019, an order was entered vacating the rule to show cause against Justin

and finding Meghan in contempt for violating the trial court’s previous orders. The trial court entered a stayed sentence of 12 days in jail which she could purge by complying with the trial court’s orders in the future.

¶ 19 On February 26, 2019, a temporary order was entered providing a schedule for supervised parenting for Meghan and allowing for scheduled phone calls between the children and Meghan. Justin had the right to monitor, record, and terminate the phone calls if Meghan discussed any prohibited subjects.

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In re Marriage of Garnhart, 2021 IL App (2d) 191043-U (Ill. Ct. App. 2021).

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