LeBlanc v. LeBlanc

472 So. 2d 312
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 26, 1985
Docket84-535
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 472 So. 2d 312 (LeBlanc v. LeBlanc) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
LeBlanc v. LeBlanc, 472 So. 2d 312 (La. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

472 So.2d 312 (1985)

Jack Roland LeBLANC, Appellant-Defendant,
v.
Marlene King LeBLANC, Appellee-Plaintiff.

No. 84-535.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

June 26, 1985.

*313 Jack Roland LeBlanc, in pro per.

Marlene King LeBlanc, in pro per.

Before FORET, LABORDE and YELVERTON, JJ.

LABORDE, Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the trial court finding defendant Jack Roland LeBlanc in contempt of court for failing to keep his minor children on his group medical insurance plan in accordance with a Judgment of Divorce rendered on Nov. 16, 1982. We affirm.

*314 FACTS

The never ending saga of LeBlanc v. LeBlanc graces a panel of this court once again. Since a judgment of divorce was rendered on November 16, 1982, Jack LeBlanc has appealed different orders of the Fifteenth Judicial District Court on three occasions. It is his right to do so.

The judgment of divorce awarded plaintiff Marlene King LeBlanc (now Marlene Martin) custody of the two minor children of the marriage and child support payments of $500.00 per month. The judgment of divorce also ordered defendant to "keep the minor children on his medical insurance plan he has with his company."

Three and one-half months later, on March 8, 1983, defendant filed a rule to decrease child support payments. Defendant's motion stated:

"On motion of JACK ROLAND LEBLANC, Mover in Rule herein, who has been condemned by this Honorable Court to pay the sum of FIVE HUNDRED AND NO/100 ($500.00) DOLLARS per month in alimony and child support as well as group insurance, for the support of his two minor children; and on suggesting to this Honorable Court that because Mover JACK ROLAND LEBLANC has experienced a decrease in his earnings since the above child support was set, it is Mover's desire to have the sum which he has been condemned to pay monthly reduced to a more equitable amount by this Honorable Court...."

On June 1, 1983, Judge Douglas Nehrbass modified the amount of child support awarded to plaintiff in the judgment of divorce. The modification decree, signed on June 15, 1983, stated:

"This cause came to be heard on May 9, 1983, for hearing on the Rule to Show Cause, why the amount of child support which defendant, JACK ROLAND LEBLANC, has been condemned to pay, should not be reduced to an amount to be set by this Honorable Court.
....

Considering the evidence presented at trial:

IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED by the Court that the child support mover JACK ROLAND LEBLANC is condemned to pay to movant, MARLENE KING LEBLANC MARTIN, be reduced effective June 1, 1983, from FIVE HUNDRED AND NO/100 ($500.00) DOLLARS to FOUR HUNDRED AND NO/100 ($400.00) DOLLARS per month.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED, that JACK ROLAND LEBLANC, pay the child support due in two increments the first installment of TWO HUNDRED AND NO/100 ($200.00) DOLLARS being due between the 1st and 5th of each month and the second installment of TWO HUNDRED AND NO/100 ($200.00) DOLLARS being due between the 15th and the 20th of each month and to continue until further orders of the court.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED, that the court costs in this matter will be determined at the conclusion of all Rules.
JUDGMENT READ, RENDERED [sic] AND SIGNED on the 15 day of June, 1983, Lafayette, Lafayette Parish, Louisiana.
s/ Douglas J. Nehrbass Judge"

Defendant appealed, alleging that the reduced payments were still excessive. On December 14, 1983, and while the appeal was pending, plaintiff, in proper person, filed a rule to show cause why defendant should not be held in contempt for failing to keep his minor children on his group medical insurance plan.

On February 2, 1984, defendant filed a motion to recuse Judge Nehrbass from the contempt proceedings. The contempt rule was set for trial on February 6, 1984. On this date, the parties, in proper person, met to try the contempt rule. Defendant's motion for recusation listed peremptory grounds for which Judge Nehrbass should be recused. The trial court, therefore, first heard the motion for recusation.

*315 After a hearing before Judge Ronald Cox, the motion to recuse Judge Nehrbass was denied. Immediately following the hearing on the motion to recuse, Judge Douglas Nehrbass returned to the courtroom to hear the rule for contempt. After presentation of the evidence, defendant was found in contempt of court and was ordered to spend five days in jail.

Defendant appeals, contending the following errors:

1. The trial court erred in failing to grant a continuance in defendant's motion to recuse on peremptory grounds as provided in Article 1602 of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure;
2. The trial court erred in failing to grant a continuance in defendant's motion to recuse since written notice of the date of the trial was not provided to the parties at least ten (10) days before the date fixed for the trial, as provided by Article 1572 of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure;
3. The trial court erred in failing to cast as costs the deposition of Kermit A. Doucet which was submitted as evidence during the hearing of the motion to recuse;
4. The trial court erred in its finding that there was no merit to the motion for the recusation of Honorable Douglas J. Nehrbass, District Judge;
5. The trial court erred in failing to dismiss plaintiff's rule for contempt for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because defendant was granted a devolutive appeal from the trial court's judgment on June 15, 1983, modifying the child support decree previously rendered in the parties' judgment for divorce;
6. The trial court erred in ruling by minute entry on March 5, 1984, that defendant was in contempt of court, when on February 22, 1984, the Honorable Marcus A. Broussard, Jr., had recalled and denied all pending motions, rules, exceptions, etc.;
7. The trial court erred in its finding that the appellant-defendant was in contempt of court for failing to keep his minor children on the group medical plan;
8. The trial court erred in its finding that appellant-defendant should pay for all medical bills for treatment of the minor children.

The evidence presented throughout these proceedings shows that, since their divorce, plaintiff and defendant have not had a congenial relationship. It appears that as a result of their differences, defendant has tried everything within his power to cause plaintiff as much hassle, irritation, turmoil, and expense as possible before she receives any support for the care of their minor children.

Defendant has walked a fine line between action conforming to the numerous judgments awarding child support to plaintiff and action conflicting with these judgments. The major issue before this court is whether the trial court erred in concluding that defendant has crossed that "fine line" and, therefore, has acted in such a contemptuous manner with respect to the orders of the trial court that the authority and dignity of the trial court requires vindication.

We shall now review defendant's contentions of trial court error.

RECUSATION

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Related

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Bluebook (online)
472 So. 2d 312, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leblanc-v-leblanc-lactapp-1985.