J. K. v. R. K.

30 So. 3d 290
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 13, 2009
DocketNo. 2008-CA-01026-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 30 So. 3d 290 (J. K. v. R. K.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J. K. v. R. K., 30 So. 3d 290 (Mich. 2009).

Opinion

PIERCE, Justice,

for the Court.

¶ 1. This case presents the second appeal to this Court in the domestic-relations dispute between R.K. and J.K. on an issue regarding a portion of the property settlement agreement incorporated in the divorce decree granted on August 29, 2002. In R.K. v. J.K., 946 So.2d 764 (Miss.2007), this Court reversed and remanded in part, with instructions, the chancery court’s decision denying R.K.’s request for relief provided by Rule 60(b) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure. On May 20, 2008, the chancery court granted R.K. that relief from the court’s previous judgment on the basis of double recovery and entered a final judgment in accordance with this Court’s ruling.

¶ 2. J.K. timely appeals, assigning as error the chancery court’s decision granting R.K. relief under Rule 60(b). Upon further consideration, having reviewed the full and complete record now before this Court, we find clear error in our previous ruling, thus requiring the reversal of the chancery court’s May 20 final judgment.

[292]*292FACTS

¶ 3. The pertinent facts were stated in R.K. v. J.K., 946 So.2d 764 (Miss.2007), this Court’s first opinion in this case.

¶ 4. R.K. and J.K. married in 1976. They had two children, L.K. and B.K., and the family resided in Hinds County, Mississippi, until 2001, when the couple separated and R.K. subsequently filed for a divorce. J.K. planted a recording device in R.IL’s car, which recorded R.K. talking at various times with other health professionals concerning patients and with lawyers regarding his personal legal matters as well as the matters of others in which he served as a medical expert. Upon learning of these recordings, R.K. filed a Motion for Injunctive and Other Relief and subsequently a Motion to Quash, both in May 2002, to prevent J.K. from ever using or divulging the information on the tapes. Later that May, the trial court granted in part R.K’s motion for injunctive relief, instituting a preliminary injunction enjoining J.K. from admitting as evidence any of the recorded communications protected by the doctor-patient privilege. While the court did not quash the recorded communications, the court enjoined J.K. from using any of the recordings until the court could determine whether the communications should be quashed pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 2511(l)(b)(I). R.K. filed a motion to reconsider, which the court denied. The parties agreed on their own terms as to the regulation of the information on the tapes in the divorce settlement agreement.

¶ 5. The court issued a final judgment of divorce on August 29, 2002, on the ground of irreconcilable differences, including the parties’ agreement for property settlement and child support.

¶ 6. Section 11 of the agreement, titled “Installment Payments,” provided in the first paragraph that R.K. would pay J.K. periodic alimony for four months, commencing as monthly payments of $5,000 on September 1, 2002, and thereafter, a lump-sum property distribution in monthly payments of $5,000, commencing on January I, 2003, for fifty-six months, totaling $280,000. The second paragraph of section 11 allowed R.K. to “deduct one half of his cost of defending, settling, or discharging claims arising from his actions which took place prior to the date of the divorce.” One of the three types of claims to which this deduction privilege applied was for “any litigation that may arise as a result of J.K.’s instigation, encouragement, or in which J.K. provides assistance, directly or indirectly.”

¶ 7. Section 19 of the agreement, titled “Additional Covenants,” required, inter alia, that J.K.:

(2) will return to [R.K.] all tapes, photos, and any other evidence or material she has in her possession concerning [R.K.j’s or any of his associates’ conduct, and all copies, transcripts thereof or other reproductions thereof, (3) will keep confidential and not divulge to anyone any of the content or evidence derived from the use of the materials listed in clause (2), and promptly advise him of any accidental disclosure, (4) agrees not to pursue any litigation, civil or criminal relative to his relationship with other women, and in general will refrain from making any comments to anyone concerning [R.K’s] alleged marital misconduct, except in counseling which is confidential.

¶ 8. Later in the same paragraph, J.K. and R.K. additionally agreed to the following:

J.K. warrants that she will not divulge the contents of the tapes to anyone.... If Defendant breaches this Agreement in regards to the tapes, she will pay in liquidated damages the greater of (1) all amounts remaining due hereunder, or [293]*293(2) One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($ 100,000).

¶ 9. On December 17, 2002, C.G., longtime friend and legal counsel to R.K., filed suit [in federal court] against J.K. for wiretapping fraud, alleging that her recordings included his conversations with R.K. On December 12, 2003, J.K. filed a Petition to Re-Open and Modify Divorce Settlement and Court Order for a Limited Purpose in chancery court, requesting that the court modify the Agreement in such a manner as to allow her to defend herself. R.K. filed a Motion to Dismiss, Answer to Petition and Counter-claim for Contempt and Specific Performance on March 12, 2004. The counterclaim requested that the court find J.K. in contempt, inter alia, for violating section 19 by disclosing the contents of the tapes, and consequently, that the court order specific performance of the liquidated damages provision in section 11, which would require J.K. to forfeit the remaining $ 215,000 due of the property distribution lump sum. R.K. offered no evidence of his actual damages. The chancery court denied J.K’s motion on March 31, 2004, finding that the tapes certainly were discoverable but leaving the determination as to whether J.K. could disclose the contents to the federal district court, which was in the best position to decide what information was necessary for disclosure in the wiretapping suit. The court did not address R.K’s counterclaim for breach of contract at that time.

¶ 10. J.K. counterclaimed in federal court against C.G. on April 2, 2004, for conspiracy, abuse of process, and conversion, and R.K. intervened in the suit on April 12, 2004, consequently making him subject to J.K’s counterclaim as well. On July 7, 2004, J.K. filed in the federal district court a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment as to the admissibility of certain tapes, treated by the court as a Motion in Limine. J.K. asked the court to rule that the Agreement could not be used to prevent her from defending herself in the wiretapping suit. On September 14, 2004, the federal district court granted J.K’s motion.

¶ 11. J.K. was the only person who the court was certain knew the content of the tapes, thus her testimony was crucial in defense to the wiretapping suit. Since the wiretapping suit was based upon the content of the tapes, it was necessary for J.K’s defense that she be able to discuss the information on the tapes. Thus, the court granted J.K’s motion, holding that, solely within the context of that trial, J.K. could discuss the tapes in order to defend herself in the wiretapping suit. The court would address matters concerning eviden-tiary privileges as the need arose.

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Bluebook (online)
30 So. 3d 290, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/j-k-v-r-k-miss-2009.