Jay Franklin Smith v. Patricia Ann Smith

Court of Appeals of Tennessee

Jay Franklin Smith v. Patricia Ann Smith

Court of Appeals of Tennessee·Decided March 6, 1996·No. 03A01-9511-CH-00381·Published

Opinion

I N THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

EASTERN SECTI ON FILED March 6, 1996

Cecil Crowson, Jr. J AY FRANKLI N SM TH, I ) C/ A NO. 03A01- 9511- C ourt Clerk Appellate CH- 00381 ) Pl a i nt i f f - Appe l l e e , ) HAMBLEN CHANCERY ) ) v. ) HON. DENNI S H. I NMAN, ) CHANCELLOR ) PATRI CI A ANN SM TH, I ) AFFI RMED I N PART, ) REVERSED I N PART De f e nda nt - Appe l l a nt . ) AND REM ANDED

HERBERT M BACON a nd M . ARK A. COW AN, BACON, J ESSEE, PERKI NS & SWANSON, M r i s t own, f or Pl a i nt i f f - Appe l l e e . or

ETHEL P. LAW M r i s t own, f or De f e nda nt - Appe l l a nt . S, or

O P I N I O N

Fr a nks . J .

I n t hi s c us t ody di s put e , t he pa r t i e s we r e di vor c e d

i n 1 9 9 2, a nd t he mot he r wa s gr a nt e d c us t ody of t he pa r t i e s ’

mi n o r s on. The de c r e e pr ovi de d t ha t t he mot he r woul d not

r e mo v e t he c hi l d f r om t he St a t e wi t hout pe r mi s s i on of t he

Co u r t , but no s c he dul e d vi s i t a t i on wa s or de r e d.

Subs e que nt l y, vi s i t a t i on s c he dul e s we r e or de r e d o r

a g r e e d upon a nd i n J une of 1993 t he mot he r a s ke d pe r mi s s i on t o

mo v e t o Fl or i da wi t h t he c hi l d, whi c h pe t i t i on wa s de ni e d. In

1 9 9 4 , t he f a t he r pe t i t i one d f or a c ha nge of c us t ody a nd

c o n t e mpt f or f a i l ur e of t he mot he r t o a l l ow or de r e d v i s i t a t i on. The Cour t r e f us e d t o c ha nge c us t ody, but

s e n t e n c e d t he mot he r t o t wo da ys i n j a i l f or c ont e mpt of

c o u r t , but s t a ye d t he s e nt e nc e i nde f i ni t e l y on ?t he a s s umpt i o n

t h e r e wi l l be no r e c ur r e nc e of t hi s pa r t i c ul a r pr obl e m?. Th i s

j u d g me nt wa s e nt e r e d on De c e mbe r 13, 1994.

I n J a nua r y of 1995, t he f a t he r f i l e d a pe t i t i on f o r

c o n t e mpt , c ha nge of c us t ody a nd ot he r r e l i e f , a s ki ng t ha t t h e

wi f e b e he l d i n c ont e mpt f or f a i l ur e t o honor t he vi s i t a t i o n

s c h e d u l e dur i ng t he Chr i s t ma s hol i da ys a nd i n J a nua r y of 19 9 5 .

Th e mo t he r f i l e d a de t a i l e d a ns we r ge ne r a l l y de nyi ng t he

a l l e g a t i ons , a nd no i mme di a t e he a r i ng wa s s c he dul e d.

On M y 23, t he f a t he r f i l e d a n a me nde d pe t i t i on a

a l l e g i ng f ur t he r vi ol a t i ons of t he or de r e d vi s i t a t i on by t h e

mo t h e r . The mot he r a ns we r e d t he a me ndme nt t o t he pe t i t i on f o r

c o n t e mpt a nd c ount e r e d wi t h a r e que s t t ha t t he Cour t a l l ow h e r

t o r e l oc a t e wi t h t he c hi l d t o t he St a t e of Fl or i da .

The Tr i a l J ud ge , upon he a r i ng pr oof , de ni e d t he

mo t h e r ’ s a ppl i c a t i on t o move wi t h t he c hi l d t o t he St a t e of

Fl o r i d a , a nd f ound t ha t s he ha d wi l f ul l y r e f us e d t o ma ke t h e

c h i l d a va i l a bl e f or or de r e d vi s i t a t i on on t hr e e oc c a s i ons , a n d

s e n t e n c e d he r t o t e n da ys i n j a i l f or e a c h c ont e mpt , pl us t h e

t wo d a ys me nt i one d i n t he De c e mbe r j udgme nt , f or a t ot a l of 3 2

da ys . He t he n or de r e d t ha t s i xt e e n da ys woul d be r e s e r ve d,

t h e r e ma i ni ng woul d be ?t e mpor a r i l y s t a ye d?. The j udgme nt wa s

s t a y e d a nd t hi s a ppe a l e ns ue d.

As t o t he i s s ue on t he j udgme nt f or c ont e mpt , t he

mo t h e r e s s e nt i a l l y a r gue s t ha t t he j udgme nt i s f or c r i mi na l

c o n t e mpt s houl d be r e ve r s e d be c a us e t he r e wa s no s how c a us e

o r d e r i s s ue d r e qui r i ng t he mot he r t o a ppe a r a t a c e r t a i n t i me

2 a n d s how why s he s houl d not be he l d i n c ont e mpt of c our t , o r

wh y h e r c ont e mpt s houl d not be puni s he d wi t h i nc a r c e r a t i on,

a nd a s s e r t s : ?W t hout s uc h not i c e , t he c onvi c t i on c a nnot i

s t a nd. ?

W c a nnot a gr e e . e The f or e goi ng a r gume nt woul d be

v a l i d ha d t he Cour t be e n pr oc e e di ng unde r Te nne s s e e Code 1 An n o t a t e d §36- 5- 104( a ) . I n t hi s c onne c t i on, our Supr e me

Co u r t i n Br own v . Lat ham and W k e r v . W k e r , J r . , ___ S. W 2 d al al .

_ _ _ , ( f i l e d J a nua r y 22, 1996 a t Na s hvi l l e ) , s a i d:

The de c i s i on of t hi s Cour t i s t ha t §36- 5- 104( a ) de f i ne s a c r i mi na l of f e ns e a nd t he r e s ponde nt s a r e e nt i t l e d t o j ur y t r i a l s . The s t a t ut e s t a t e s t he e s s e nt i a l i nd i c i a of a c r i mi na l of f e ns e . Its vi ol a t i on i s not de c l a r e d t o be a c ont e mpt a s c ont e mpl a t e d by Te nne s s e e Code Annot a t e d §29- 9- 102 .

Th e Co ur t t he n c ont r a s t e d t hi s s e c t i on wi t h §29- 9- 102 2 a nd

1 36- 5- 104. Fa i l u r e t o c o mp l y wi t h c h i l d s u p p o r t o r d e r - Cr i mi n a l s a n c t i o n s . - ( a ) An y p e r s o n , o r d e r e d t o p r o v i d e s u p p o r t a n d ma i n t e n a n c e f o r a mi n o r c h i l d o r c h i l d r e n , wh o f a i l s t o c o mp l y wi t h t h e o r d e r o r d e c r e e , ma y , i n t h e d i s c r e t i o n o f t h e c o u r t , b e p u n i s h e d b y i mp r i s o n me n t i n t h e c o u n t y wo r k h o u s e o r c o u n t y j a i l f o r a p e r i o d n o t t o e x c e e d s i x ( 6 ) mo n t h s .

2 29- 9- 102. S c o p e o f p o we r . - Th e p o we r o f t h e s e v e r a l c o u r t s t o i s s u e a t t a c h me n t s , a n d i n f l i c t p u n i s h me n t s f o r c o n t e mp t s o f c o u r t , s h a l l n o t b e c o n s t r u e d t o e x t e n d t o a n y e x c e p t t h e f o l l o wi n g c a s e s :

( 1 ) Th e wi l l f u l mi s b e h a v i o r o f a n y p e r s o n i n t h e p r e s e n c e o f t h e c our t , o r s o n e a r t h e r e t o a s t o o b s t r u c t t h e a d mi n i s t r a t i o n o f j u s t i c e . ( 2 ) Th e wi l l f u l mi s b e h a v i o r o f a n y o f t h e o f f i c e r s o f s a i d c o u r t s , i n t he i r of f i c i a l t r a ns a c t i ons . ( 3 ) Th e wi l l f u l d i s o b e d i e n c e o r r e s i s t a n c e o f a n y o f f i c e r o f t h e s a i d c o u r t s , p a r t y , j u r o r , wi t n e s s , o r a n y o t h e r p e r s o n , t o a n y l a wf u l wr i t , p r o c e s s , o r d e r , r u l e , d e c r e e o r c o mma n d o f s a i d c o u r t s . ( 4 ) Ab u s e o f , o r u n l a wf u l i n t e r f e r e n c e wi t h , t h e p r o c e s s o r pr oc e e di ngs of t he cour t . ( 5 ) W l l f u l l y c o n v e r s i n g wi t h j u r o r s i n r e l a t i o n t o t h e me r i t s o f i t h e c a u s e i n t h e t r i a l o f wh i c h t h e y a r e e n g a g e d , o r o t h e r wi s e t a mp e r i n g wi t h t h e m. ( 6 ) An y o t h e r a c t o r o mi s s i o n d e c l a r e d a c o n t e mp t b y l a w.

29 - 9- 10 3. Pu n i s h me n t . - Th e p u n i s h me n t f o r c o n t e mp t ma y b e by f i ne or b y i mp r i s o n me n t o r b o t h . ( b ) W e r e n o t o t h e r wi s e s p e c i a l l y p r o v i d e d , t h e c i r c u i h t , cha nc e r y, a n d a p p e l l a t e c o u r t s a r e l i mi t e d t o a f i n e o f f i f t y d o l l a r s ( $50. 00) , a n d i mp r i s o n me n t n o t e x c e e d i n g t e n ( 1 0 ) d a y s , a n d a l l o t h e r c our t s a r e l i mi t e d t o a f i n e o f t e n d o l l a r s ( $ 1 0 . 0 0 ) .

3 c o n c l ude d:

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