Lepine v. Lepine

223 So. 3d 666, 17 La.App. 5 Cir. 45, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 1084, 2017 WL 2590537
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 15, 2017
DocketNO. 17-CA-45
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 223 So. 3d 666 (Lepine v. Lepine) 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
Lepine v. Lepine, 223 So. 3d 666, 17 La.App. 5 Cir. 45, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 1084, 2017 WL 2590537 (La. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinions

JOHNSON, J.

11 This is a domestic case in which Defendant appeals various rulings of the trial, court involving temporary restraining orders, a motion to recuse, pauper status, and a judgment addressing several domestic issues including a protective order based on a finding that Defendant was stalking Plaintiff, the suspension of co-parenting guidelines, the denial of Defendant’s request to sell the family home, and the award of attorney fees to Plaintiff and [669]*669assessment of costs against Defendant. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS & PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The parties were married in September 2003 and had two children, D.L. and A.L., born 2005 and 2007 respectively. On September 22, 2015, Mindy Lepine filed for divorce from Troy Lepine under La. C.C. art. 102. In her petition, she requested the parties be awarded joint custody of the minor children with her being designated as the domiciliary parent, and that she be awarded child support, interim periodic spousal support, exclusive use of the family home, ■ and other incidental requests. On October 13, 2015, Mindy filed a supplemental petition for divorce requesting that Troy undergo anger management assessment and possible counseling so he could better parent the children.

On November 19, 2015, the parties appeared before Hearing Officer Paul Fias-conaro and entered into a consent agreement wherein they agreed to joint custody of the children with Mindy as the domiciliary parent, that Troy should have unsupervised physical custody every other weekend, that they both attend parenting classes, that Troy would pay interim child support in the amount of $517.00/month, and that Mindy would have interim use and occupancy of the family home as well as the 2011 Toyota Sequoia. The parties also agreed to comply with specified co-parenting guidelines. Mindy further agreed to forego her request for interim periodic spousal’ support. This consent agreement was ^subsequently signed by Domestic Commissioner Ruben Bailey and made a consent judgment of the court,

A little over one month later, on December 29, 2015, Mindy filed a Petition for Temporary Restraining Order, Preliminary and Permanent Injunction pursuant to La. C.C.P. art. 3601, et seq., based on an incident that occurred on December 26, 2015, when Troy allegedly came to her home uninvited and tried to enter through the garage door after calling and texting her in a derogatory manner beginning at 1:00 a.m. She stated that she called the police as a result of the incident-and attached a copy of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office’s item/complaint number. Mindy further alleged that Troy previously made harassing phone calls to her on December 24th. Commissioner Bailey denied Mindy’s request for an ex parte temporary restraining order (TRO) and set the matter for a January 19,2016 hearing.

The January 19, 2016 hearing was subsequently continued to February 22, 2016 at Mindy’s counsel’s request. On that same date, Mindy filed a second request for an injunction. Commissioner Bailey denied an ex parte TRO and set the matter for February 22nd.

The parties appeared before Commissioner Bailey on February 22, 2016.1 After a hearing, Commissioner Bailey granted Mindy’s request for an injunction against Troy, specifically ordering him not to ha- ■ rass Mindy or the children. The injunction was effective until February 22, 2017.

• Thereafter, on April 29, 2016, Mindy filed a Petition for Protection from Abuse pursuant to La. R.S. 46:2131, et seq., alleging Troy was stalking her; She sought an ex parte TRO to prohibit Troy from harassing and stalking her.’ She also requested authority to move all of the property and equipment of the community business from the family home to a storage unit. On the same date, Mindy filed a [¡¡Rule to Show Cause why Troy should not be held in contempt of court for violating the February 22, 2016 injunction. Commissioner [670]*670Bailey denied an ex parte TRO and set both matters for a hearing on May 19, 2016.

Subsequently, on May 9, 2016, Mindy filed an objection to Commissioner Bailey’s denial, of her request for a TRO and requested consideration of the issue by the district court judge. On that same date, Judge John Molaison signed an ex parte order granting a TRO against Troy prohibiting him from contacting Mindy through phone, text, or email, and from going near her or her home, except in regards to the children’s events and only with Mindy’s written permission. The order also required any communication regarding the children be directed to Mindy through Our Family Wizard. Finally, the order granted Mindy’s request to move the business equipment to a storage facility.

The next day, on May 10, 2016, counsel for Troy enrolled and filed an answer to the petition for divorce and reconventional demand for incidental matters. Judge Mo-laison recused himself from the case on May 11, 2016 because he was related to Troy’s newly enrolled counsel, and the case was re-allotted to Judge Danyelle Taylor. On May 12, 2016, Mindy sought another TRO on the basis of domestic abuse, which Judge Taylor granted through May 19, 2016, the scheduled date of a hearing before Commissioner Bailey regarding Mindy’s petition for protection from abuse and contempt rule. When the parties appeared before Commissioner Bailey on May 19th, the parties advised him that the issues were going to be heard by Judge Taylor on May 24, 2016. On that same date, Mindy filed a request for a TRO, essentially seeking to extend the earlier TRO through the May 24th hearing date, which was granted by Commissioner Bailey.

The parties appeared before Judge Taylor on May 24, 2016. At that time, all pending matters, including the petition for protection from abuse and rule for contempt, were continued by consent of the parties until June 24, 2016. |4Additionally, Judge Taylor extended the TRO against Troy through the next hearing date of June 24th.

On June 24, 2016, Judge Taylor held a hearing on Mindy’s petition for abuse, rule for contempt, and several other issues, including Troy’s petition to partition co-owned property and Mindy’s motion for costs. The matter did not fully conclude and the hearing was held open and continued to July 26, 2016, with the temporary injunction remaining in effect until then,

In the interim, on July 14, 2016, Mindy filed a second rule to show cause why Troy should not be held in contempt of court for violating the TRO that was in effect from June 24-July 26, 2016. On the same day, Mindy filed a supplemental and amending petition for protection from abuse alleging that Troy’s abusive behavior had escalated. Mindy requested that all visitation and phone calls between Troy and the children be suspended until the July 26th hearing. Judge Glen Ansardi, who was the duty judge, granted a TRO on July 15th, ordering Troy not to contact Mindy except regarding the children and community property and only through Our Family Wizard; however, the TRO did not address visitation or the nightly phone calls. Three days later, on July 18, 2016, Mindy filed another request for a TRO, which Judge Taylor granted specifically prohibiting Troy from any contact with Mindy and the children and suspending all visitation and phone calls between Troy and the children until the July 26th hearing.

On July 26, 2016, prior to the scheduled hearing, Troy filed a motion to recuse Judge Taylor on the basis of alleged impropriety in Judge Taylor’s TRO dated July 18, 2016.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
223 So. 3d 666, 17 La.App. 5 Cir. 45, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 1084, 2017 WL 2590537, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lepine-v-lepine-lactapp-2017.