John C. White v. Malissa S. Fana

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedMay 31, 2023
DocketA23A0283
StatusPublished

This text of John C. White v. Malissa S. Fana (John C. White v. Malissa S. Fana) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
John C. White v. Malissa S. Fana, (Ga. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

FOURTH DIVISION RICKMAN, C. J., DILLARD, P. J., and PIPKIN, J.

NOTICE: Motions for reconsideration must be physically received in our clerk’s office within ten days of the date of decision to be deemed timely filed. https://www.gaappeals.us/rules

May 31, 2023

In the Court of Appeals of Georgia A23A0283. WHITE v. FANA.

DILLARD, Presiding Judge.

After a brief marriage, John C. White and Malissa S. Fana divorced in January

2016. The final judgment and decree awarded them joint legal custody of their then

two-year-old daughter, A. M. W., and awarded Fana primary physical custody. In

October 2019, Fana filed an emergency petition for change of custody and visitation,

based on allegations that White had been showering nude with A. M. W. in an

outdoor shower at his house and had also taken photographs of her in the nude.

Following a bench trial, the trial court denied Fana’s request for sole legal custody

but granted her request to limit White to supervised visitation and, inter alia, required

him to submit to regular drug testing. On appeal, White contends the trial court erred

in (1) limiting his visitation and requiring it to be supervised; (2) granting Fana “tiebreaker” authority as to religious issues; (3) prohibiting him from sharing images

of A. M. W. on social media; (4) requiring him to submit to regular drug testing; (5)

ordering that any positive drug test or failure to adhere to other requirements in the

parenting plan will result in loss of visitation; and (6) enjoining him from having an

outdoor shower at his residence. For the following reasons, we find the majority of

the trial court’s rulings did not constitute an abuse of discretion, but because its order

contained impermissible self-executing visitation provisions, we must vacate it and

remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Viewed in favor of the trial court’s ruling,1 the evidence shows that White and

Fana married in March 2013, and the couple had a daughter, A. M. W., on December

30 of that same year. A few years later, they separated; and on January 25, 2016, they

divorced. The final judgment and decree awarded them joint legal custody, awarded

Fana primary physical custody and tiebreaker authority for non-emergency medical,

educational, and extracurricular decisions, and awarded White tiebreaker authority

for religious decisions. Additionally, the judgment provided that visitation would be

1 See, e.g., Cooper v. Coulter, 335 Ga. App. 827, 827 (783 SE2d 350) (2016) (explaining that evidence in a custody case is viewed in favor of the trial court’s ruling).

2 left to the agreement of the parties, but it also outlined a detailed minium schedule for

White’s visitation if such an agreement could not be reached.

Fana remarried in May 2017, and around October of that year, White began

dating Kati Wright. For the next two years, White remained in a relationship with

Wright. Then, in late 2018, the couple learned Wright was pregnant with White’s

child, and they got engaged shortly thereafter. But on January 2, 2019, the couple

abruptly ended their relationship.

One month later, the Chatham County Department of Family and Children

Services (“DFCS”) received a report from Wright alleging that White and A. M. W.

frequently showered together in the nude in an outdoor shower at White’s residence.

In addition, Wright informed DFCS that nearly a year earlier, White sent her a nude

photograph, via text message, of A. M. W. wearing a cowboy hat on his front porch.

DFCS immediately opened an investigation, informed Fana of the allegations, and

issued an interim safety plan, in which it prohibited White from showering with A.

M. W. unless he was wearing a bathing suit. In the ensuing investigation, a DFCS

caseworker interviewed White and Fana, and A. M. W. underwent a forensic

interview. White acknowledged showering with A. M. W., and admitted to taking the

photograph at issue (as well as others), but he claimed that nothing about his conduct

3 was sexual in nature. On April 10, 2019, after concluding its investigation, DFCS

issued a letter, in which it stated that the report of White’s neglect and sexual abuse

of A. M. W. was unsubstantiated and no restrictions would be placed on his parental

rights. At the time, Fana lodged no objection to DFCS’s conclusions and, in fact,

according to the DFCS case worker, advocated on White’s behalf during the

investigation.

In May 2019, Wright gave birth to her and White’s son, but because Wright did

not want White to have any contact with the child, White filed a petition for

legitimation and sought visitation. On October 2, 2019, while that case was pending,

A. M. W. disclosed to Fana that during her recent visitation with White, she and

White showered together nude. Alarmed, Fana scheduled an emergency session the

next day with the counselor A. M. W. had been seeing for other issues, during which,

A. M. W. recounted the event. White acknowledged the incident but explained that

their daughter vomited on herself and him while at a restaurant and that he

immediately took her home and showered with her in order to clean both of them up.

Nevertheless, the counselor reported the incident to DFCS, which apparently did not

open a second investigation at that time, and similarly instructed White to refrain in

the future from showering with A. M. W. unless he was wearing a bathing suit.

4 Subsequently, on October 23, 2019, Wright deposed White in the legitimation

action. In that deposition, White admitted that he had showered with A. M. W. a few

times since the DFCS investigation, including after the incident at the restaurant. This

and other admissions of poor judgment by White—including using marijuana while

operating a boat and his SUV when A. M. W. was with him and failing to have a

proper car seat for the child—were immediately brought to Fana’s attention. On the

following day, October 24, 2019, Fana filed an Emergency Petition for Immediate

Change of Custody and Visitation, seeking sole legal custody of A. M. W. and a

suspension of White’s visitation until a safety plan could be implemented. As a result,

on October 30, 2019, the trial court issued an emergency order, prohibiting, inter alia,

White from having overnight visitation, bathing A. M. W., taking nude photographs

of his daughter, and transporting her in an inappropriate car seat.

White filed an answer and counterclaim, seeking increased visitation; and

discovery between the parties ensued. But on December 10, 2019, Fana filed an

Emergency Motion for Modification of Visitation, requesting that White only be

allowed supervised visitation for the time being on the grounds that he was using his

visitation to improperly influence A. M. W. and alienate her from Fana, and because

the child was returning from visitations with soiled underwear. With the petition,

5 Fana attached a DFCS Impending Danger Safety Plan (obtained the previous day),

recommending supervised visitation. Two days later, the trial court granted this

petition.

On January 7, 2020, the trial court held a temporary hearing, during which

White, Wright, Fana, and several counselors testified, and much of the above-

referenced evidence was admitted. White admitted to using marijuana in the past,

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John C. White v. Malissa S. Fana, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/john-c-white-v-malissa-s-fana-gactapp-2023.