Irvin v. Eichenberger

2017 Ohio 5601
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 29, 2017
Docket16AP-657
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 2017 Ohio 5601 (Irvin v. Eichenberger) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Irvin v. Eichenberger, 2017 Ohio 5601 (Ohio Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

[Cite as Irvin v. Eichenberger, 2017-Ohio-5601.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO

TENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

Maxine C. Irvin, :

Plaintiff-Appellee, : No. 16AP-657 v. : (C.P.C. No. 14DR-4674)

Raymond L. Eichenberger, : (REGULAR CALENDAR)

Defendant-Appellant. :

D E C I S I O N

Rendered on June 29, 2017

On brief: Petroff Law Offices, LLC, and Erika M. Smitherman, for appellee. Argued: Erika M. Smitherman.

On brief: Raymond L. Eichenberger, pro se. Argued: Raymond L. Eichenberger.

APPEAL from the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Division of Domestic Relations, Juvenile Branch

BRUNNER, J. {¶ 1} Defendant-appellant, Raymond L. Eichenberger, appeals a divorce decree issued on September 7, 2016 by the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Division of Domestic Relations, Juvenile Branch, by which the trial court granted a divorce to plaintiff-appellee, Maxine C. Irvin and equitably divided the couple's assets. For the reasons that follow, we reverse in part and affirm in part the trial court's decision, and we remand the matter to the trial court for proceedings consistent with this decision. I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY1 {¶ 2} On December 30, 2014, Irvin filed with the Domestic Relations Court a complaint for divorce with minor children (specifically, one child, a daughter, who was 1Owing to the fact that Eichenberger argues 13 assignments of error regarding a variety of topics, a lengthy recitation of the case history is required. 2 No. 16AP-657 almost 17 years old at the time of the complaint) against Eichenberger. (Dec. 30, 2014 Compl.) Irvin simultaneously filed a motion for exclusive use of the home that her family occupied based on the allegations that she purchased the home (a house located at 4981 Pegasus Court) before the marriage and Eichenberger had never contributed to the mortgage payments or household expenses during the marriage. (Dec. 30, 2014 Mot. for Beneficial Use at 2.) On February 6, 2015, Eichenberger counterclaimed for divorce. (Feb. 6, 2015 Answer & Counterclaim.) He also sought beneficial (but non-exclusive) use of the residence on Pegasus Court. (Feb. 9, 2015 Mot. for Beneficial Use at 2.) Both sides sought and received temporary restraining orders forbidding a number of things including harassment of each other and diminishment or encumbrance of assets. (Dec. 31, 2014 Restraining Order; Feb. 9, 2015 Temporary Restraining Order.) {¶ 3} Approximately two weeks later, the trial court denied Irvin's motion for exclusive use of the Pegasus residence reasoning that: [T]o be successful on her motion and have Defendant ordered to vacate the marital residence, Plaintiff credibly must prove that she has been subject to physical violence by Defendant, that Defendant poses a credible threat of imminent physical violence to her, or that Defendant has or will be destructive to the parties' real or personal property if allowed to remain in the residence. (Feb. 19, 2015 Mag. Order at 1.) As a consequence, both parties continued to reside together at 4981 Pegasus Court. {¶ 4} On March 3, 2015, Irvin sought temporary orders for child support and spousal support to ensure that Eichenberger would contribute to household expenses while living at the Pegasus house (which he had never done during the course of the marriage). (Mar. 3, 2015 Irvin Aff. in Support of Temporary Orders.) The same day, Eichenberger argued against temporary orders for support on the grounds that he was without resources to meet the amounts sought by Irvin. (Mar. 3, 2015 Eichenberger Aff. Contra Mot. for Temporary Orders.) One week later, the trial court issued a temporary order requiring an equal division of household and child-rearing expenses. (Mar. 10, 2015 Mag. Order.) Eichenberger objected. (Mar. 17, 2015 Objs.; see also May 29, 2015 Order (converting objections into a Civ.R. 75 request for a hearing).) {¶ 5} At approximately 2:36 p.m. on March 20, 2015, Eichenberger moved to compel discovery of a number of items including the recent text messages of Irvin. 3 No. 16AP-657 (Mar. 20, 2015 Mot. to Compel.) Attached to his motion was a letter allegedly sent by Eichenberger to Irvin's counsel on March 17, 2015. (Mar. 20, 2015 Mot. to Compel (see attachment).) The letter threatened a motion to compel in the event Irvin failed to produce the requested discovery by the end of the day on March 20. Id. On April 1, 2015, Irvin filed in opposition to Eichenberger's motion and sought attorney fees against him, alleging that Eichenberger had not, in fact, made contact with Irvin's counsel in an effort to resolve the dispute before filing his motion to compel. (Apr. 1, 2015 Memo. in Opp. at 4-5.) Eichenberger replied two days later asserting that he had mailed the attached letter on March 17, 2015 and, therefore, had complied with the rules before filing a motion to compel. (Apr. 3, 2015 Reply in Support of Mot. to Compel.) {¶ 6} On April 17, 2015, Eichenberger filed a motion for temporary custody of the couple's 17-year-old daughter (who already lived with both parents at the house on Pegasus Court). (Apr. 17, 2015 Mot. for Temporary Custody.) The motion alleged that Irvin had engaged in a "systematic and heinous plan" to poison the mind of their daughter against Eichenberger with the result that the daughter refused to engage in activities with Eichenberger; for example, she had refused to allow him to accompany her on college visits. Id. at 2. One week later, the trial court denied Eichenberger's motion but ordered the couple's daughter attend counseling with Eichenberger. (Apr. 27, 2015 Entry.) {¶ 7} Shortly after Eichenberger filed his motion for custody, but before the trial court ruled on it, Irvin filed a motion to compel production of discovery items and attached an email sent to Eichenberger on March 30, 2015 requesting the production of late discovery materials and asserting that a motion to compel would be filed if the materials were not produced. (Apr. 20, 2015 Mot. to Compel.) The same day Irvin also filed a motion to hold Eichenberger in contempt for his failure to pay his court-ordered share of the household and child-rearing expenses as well as for his harassing behavior toward Irvin. (Apr. 20, 2015 Mot. for Contempt at 2-3.) Attached to the motion were a number of e-mails from Eichenberger to Irvin evidencing his refusal to pay expenses and threatening, among other things, motions for contempt against Irvin to force her to make their teenage daughter treat Eichenberger with more respect. (Exs. B, D, Apr. 20, 2015 Mot. for Contempt.) Eichenberger opposed the contempt and demanded attorney fees in connection with the motion to compel. (Apr. 23, 2015 Memo Contra Mot. to Compel.) 4 No. 16AP-657 {¶ 8} On June 4, 2015, a magistrate of the trial court ruled on the motions to compel. Although a record of the hearing was not preserved for review, the magistrate's order recounted that the magistrate met twice with the parties in an attempt to resolve their discovery issues. (June 4, 2015 Mag. Order at 1.) Eichenberger requested a continuance due to the fact that he had an appointment scheduled with a client at 11 a.m. Id. Rather than immediately grant the continuance, the magistrate judge recessed for ten minutes to allow the parties time for further discussion with the instruction that it would reconvene to decide if the matter would be heard or continued. Id. However, Eichenberger did not return ten minutes later, did not notify court personnel where he would be or where he was going, and appeared to be nowhere on the floor. Id. After delaying for a further 40 minutes, the magistrate reconvened, dismissed Eichenberger's motion to compel, and granted Irvin's motion to compel, identifying in considerable detail the information Eichenberger was ordered to produce. Id. at 2-5.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2017 Ohio 5601, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/irvin-v-eichenberger-ohioctapp-2017.