K.L.S. v. T.L.S. v. A & E.E.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided April 15, 2015·No. 1651 MDA 2014·Unpublished

Opinion

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

K.L.S., IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Appellant

v.

T.L.S., v.

A. & E.E. No. 1651 MDA 2013

Appeal from the Order entered September 18, 2014, in the Court of Common Pleas of Columbia County, Civil Division, at No(s): 934 of 2011

BEFORE: LAZARUS, WECHT, and JENKINS, JJ.

MEMORANDUM BY JENKINS, J.: FILED APRIL 15, 2015 K.L.S. (“Mother”) appeals, pro se, from the order entered on

September 18, 2014, in the Columbia County Court of Common Pleas, Civil Court Division, (1) finding T.L.S. (“Father”) not in contempt of its order granting Mother visitation rights, and (2) suspending Mother’s visitation with their two minor daughters, K.S., born in June of 2002, and R.S., born in August of 2003 (collectively, the “Children”). We affirm the order insofar as it determines that Father was not in contempt, and vacate and remand the order to the extent it suspends Mother’s visitation with Children.

The relevant facts and procedural history of this case are as follows.

Mother and Father were married on October 10, 2001. Ms. Sue Hoffman’s Custody Evaluation Report, 12/26/13, at 1 (“Hoffman Report”). After they married, Mother and Father lived with A.E. and E.E. (“Maternal Grandparents”) at their residence in Berwick, Pennsylvania. Id. Mother

gave birth to the couple’s first daughter, K.S., in June of 2002, and to their second daughter, R.S., in August of 2003. Id. On September 1, 2003, Mother, Father, and Children moved into the marital residence, located in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. Id.

During this time, Mother worked as a firefighter in the fire company where Father worked as the fire chief. Trial Ct. Op., 10/23/14, at 3. At some point in 2008, Mother began an extramarital affair with C.B., a teenage fellow-firefighter. Hoffman Report at 2.

On May 13, 2009, police arrested Mother and charged her with multiple felony counts in connection with two arsons. In its 1925(a) opinion, the trial court related the facts pertaining to Mother’s arrest as follows:

[Mother’s] boyfriend, [C.B.], had pleaded guilty to crimes arising out of the two arsons involved in [Mother’s] two cases and to several other arson related crimes in Columbia County and Lycoming County. The two fires. . .

were the “Belles” fire and the “Albertson” fire. On March 16, 2009, [Mother] and [C.B.] had discussed setting several fires and scouted out locations, including the Belles and Albertson houses. [Mother] and [C.B.] were firefighters. They apparently wanted to have more opportunities to extinguish fires. On March 16, 2009, both [Mother] and [C.B.] together went to the Belles house and set it afire. Mr. Belles escaped uninjured. . . . On or about May 11, 2009, [C.B.] set the Albertson house afire, injuring Reuben and Pauline Albertson. [Mother] and [C.B.] had conversations after March 16, 2009, and before the fire was set at the Albertson location. [Mother] did not go to the Albertson fire location or help set the house afire.

Trial Ct. Op., 10/23/14, at 2 (citation omitted).

On January 28, 2011, following trial, a jury convicted Mother of three counts of Criminal Conspiracy to Commit Third Degree Murder, ten Arson- related counts, and one count of Burglary. Id. On April 17, 2011, Mother

was sentenced to a term of incarceration of seventeen to thirty-four years. Id. She is currently incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution at Cambridge Springs (“SCI Cambridge Springs”), located in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. Master’s Report, 8/2/13. Father has since filed for divorce. Id.

The instant custody matter began on June 17, 2011 when Mother filed a complaint seeking visitation with Children. On June 20, 2011, Maternal Grandparents, who visited regularly with Children until Father discontinued contact upon Mother’s incarceration, also filed a complaint seeking partial physical and shared legal custody of Children. According to Father, he terminated Maternal Grandparents’ contact because of their statements in defense of Mother regarding her criminal convictions, which Father believed upset the Children. Master’s Report, 8/31/11. The trial court consolidated the two complaints and referred the matter to a Specially Appointed Master (the “Master”).

On August 24, 2011, the Master held a conference with the parties.

On August 31, 2011, the Master issued a report recommending that Father have primary physical and legal custody of Children and that Maternal Grandparents have partial physical custody of Children.1 Master’s Report, 8/31/11. On September 1, 2011, the trial court issued an interim order ratifying the Master’s recommendations and allowing the parties twenty days to file objections to the recommendations. On September 15, 2011, both

1 Although it was still pending, the Master’s Report paid little attention to Mother’s complaint. See Master’s Report, 8/31/11. The Report concentrated instead on explaining its recommendation to award primary physical and legal custody to Father and partial physical custody to Maternal Grandparents. Id.

Father and Maternal Grandparents filed exceptions to the Master’s recommendations. Maternal Grandparents also filed a petition for civil contempt against Father for failure to comply with the visitation schedule set forth in the trial court’s order.

The trial court held a pre-hearing conference on October 7, 2011, at the conclusion of which it denied all exceptions as well as Maternal Grandparents’ contempt petition. The trial court awarded two visitation make-up days to Maternal Grandparents. The trial court further directed that a licensed psychologist conduct a custody evaluation to address (1) whether it was in Children’s best interest to visit Mother in prison, and (2) the appropriate frequency of Maternal Grandparents’ periods of physical custody of Children. Order, 10/12/11.2 On November 29, 2011, the trial court issued an order directing Father to schedule a conference call with the court-appointed psychological evaluator and Maternal Grandparents. Order, 11/30/11.

On January 25, 2013, Mother notified the trial court by letter that she would no longer be represented by counsel for Maternal Grandparents and would be proceeding pro se. That same day, Mother filed a petition for civil contempt against Father for failure to proceed with the psychologist’s custody evaluation as required by the trial court’s order. Thereafter, the trial court issued a rule to show cause why Father should not be found in contempt and a hearing on the matter was scheduled for March 25, 2013.

2 While not explicitly mentioning Mother’s complaint, presumably the trial court’s order following the hearing on Father and Maternal Grandparents’ exceptions to the Master’s Report disposed of both Mother’s and Maternal Grandparents’ complaints, which the court previously consolidated.

On February 6, 2013, Mother filed a motion requesting visitation with Children and a separate motion requesting that the trial court allow her telephone and written correspondence with Children. On February 8, 2013, the trial court issued an order, deferring action on Mother’s motions until resolution of the custody evaluation. On March 11, 2013, Mother filed a motion requesting documents from the therapists/psychological professionals that had been treating Children prior to her incarceration. Mother also filed a motion requesting that she be allowed to participate via telephone/video conference in the contempt hearing scheduled for March 25, 2013. On March 19, 2013, the trial court issued an order denying Mother’s motion to participate in the contempt hearing and granting her motion for documents, directing Father to provide such documents to Mother within 30 days. Subsequently, the contempt hearing was continued to an undetermined future date to be scheduled by praecipe.

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K.L.S. v. T.L.S. v. A & E.E., (Pa. Ct. App. 2015).

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