J.P. v. C.E.

94 So. 3d 107, 2012 WL 1521538
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided May 2, 2012·No. No. 12-20·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

PETERS, J.

hJ.P. initially brought this action seeking paternity testing and named C.E., the biological mother of the child in question, as the sole defendant. The State of Louisiana, Department of Social Services, Support Enforcement Services (the state), intervened in the suit. J.P. now appeals from a trial court judgment sustaining a peremptory exception of prescription in favor of the state. For the following rea[109] sons, we reverse the trial court judgment and remand this matter to the trial court for further proceedings.

DISCUSSION OF THE RECORD

The minor child at issue in this litigation, N.P.,1 was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, on November 8,1999. His birthmother was C.E., and soon after N.P.’s birth, J.P. executed an affidavit certifying that he was N.P.’s biological father. N.P.’s Certificate of Live Birth lists J.P. as the biological father.

On September 22, 2009, J.P. filed a Petition for Paternity Testing, naming C.E. as defendant. In the petition, J.P. alleged the following concerning his right to paternity testing:

3.
Plaintiff shows that in accordance with La[.] C.C. art. 198 that the Defendant, [C.E.] did in bad faith deceive the Plaintiff into believing that he was the biological farther [sic] of her child, [N.P.]
4.
Further, after learning that the Defendant practices black magic, spells and curses, the Plaintiff discovered that the Defendant was working black magic in their relationship through her religious practice of witchcraft.
_k5.
The Plaintiff shows that he was warned by other men that the Defendant would produce an authentic looking document that claimed she was to inherit the sum of $5 million dollars. She would use this document to entice men into a long term relationship.
6.
The Plaintiff shows that as a result of years of deceitful practices in the form of witchcraft by the Defendant that he has suffered damages in the form of paying child support, financial distress and ridicule by his peers for being suckered into believing that [N.P.] was the Plaintiff’s biological son.

Based on these allegations, J.P. requested that C.E. be ordered to submit N.P. for paternity testing in order to determine whether he was N.P.’s biological father.

The state, rather than C.E., responded to the petition by filing an intervention naming both J.P. and C.E. as defendants in intervention. In its intervention, the state asserted that it was a necessary and indispensible party to this action as it had obtained a prior judgment of child support in favor of N.P. and against J.P., effective September 15, 2001. The trial court granted the state’s right to intervene by an order dated October 30, 2009. On the same day it filed the intervention, the state answered J.P.’s petition.

After a number of other pleadings were filed addressing discovery issues and service issues on C.E., J.P. amended his petition by a pleading filed December 21, 2010. Among other changes, the amendment replaced the original Paragraphs 3 through' 6 with the following:

3.
Defendant, [C.E.], and petitioner, [J.P.], are not married and have never been married.
4.
This court has jurisdiction over the status in question based on La.Code Civ. Proc. art. 10(A)(8). This court may exercise personal | ¿jurisdiction over the defendant, [C.E.], pursuant to La. R.S. 13:3201(A)(7).
[110]*1105.
Service of process of the original Petition for Paternity Testing was made on the non-resident defendant by as required by La. R.S. 13:8204(A), as evidence [sic] by the documents attached hereto as Exhibit A, in globo.
Alternatively, if the court finds that service of process cannot be made on the non-resident defendant by registered or certified mail or by actual delivery, then petitioner requests that the court appoint an attorney at law to represent the defendant pursuant to La.Code Civ. Proc. art. 5091 and that service of process be made on the attorney so appointed.
6.
Pursuant to La.Code of Civ. Proc. art. 5091.1, petitioner requests that the court appoint an attorney to represent the child whose status is at issue.

The deletion and replacement of the original paragraphs had the effect of eliminating the original reasons for J.P.’s request for paternity testing.

On January 6, 2010, J.P. filed a Motion for Hearing to Close Case. J.P. alleged in his motion that C.E. was served with notice of his petition by the St. Landry Clerk of Court’s reissue of its long arm service via the United State Postal Service (USPS). The petition was mailed to C.E.’s address in Houston, Texas. The USPS’s track and confirm showed that the document was unclaimed in Houston on July 12, 2010, but that it was delivered on July 17, 2010, in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. However, after a hearing on the motion, the trial court denied J.P.’s request to close the paternity case.

After more proceedings directed toward service on C.E., on May 2, 2011, the state filed exceptions of non-joinder of a necessary and indispensible party, prescription, no cause of action, prematurity, vagueness, and lack of service of process on C.E. J.P. responded to this filing by again amending his petition. This |4amendment, which was filed on May 27, 2011, again replaced previous paragraphs, including Paragraphs 6 and 7 which relate directly to the issue of knowledge. These paragraphs now read as follows:

6.
Pursuant to La.Code of Civ. Proc. art. 2004, a fraudulent judgment, the petitioner request [sic] that DNA testing be administered in this matter in order to further substantiate fraudulent allegations that [C.E.] knowingly and fraudulently deceived [J.P.] into signing the acknowledgement and birth certificate of her minor child by having [J.P.] believe that he was the father.
7.
Plaintiff has interviewed ex co-workers and personal associates of [C.E.] on or about September 2009 who made [J.P.] aware that the minor child was not his child and that [C.E.] did not know who was the father of her child due to the numerous sexual relationships that she had at the time of conception of the ■ minor child in question.

The state’s exceptions were tried on October 31, 2011. At the end of that hearing, the trial court granted judgment maintaining the state’s peremptory exception of prescription. The judgment ultimately executed by the trial court on November 14, 2011, constituted a form judgment apparently used by the state in support cases, which gave the trial court a number of paragraphs to choose from and complete. In this case, the trial court marked a box under the title “OTHER:” and inserted the following language:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

J.P. v. C.E., 94 So. 3d 107, 2012 WL 1521538 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

94 So. 3d 107 (J.P. v. C.E.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Jenkins v. Jackson
216 So. 3d 1082 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2017)
L.R.F. v. A.A.
133 So. 3d 716 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)
Johnathan Parker v. Clyneatha Ernestine
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2013