Marriage of C.S.D. and A.D. CA4/1

California Court of Appeal·Decided September 3, 2026·No. D086809·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed 9/3/26 Marriage of C.S.D. and A.D. CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

In re the Marriage of C.S.D. and A.D.

C.S.D., D086809

Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. 24FL008778C)

A.D.,

Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Rebecca F. Zipp, Judge. Affirmed.

A. D., in pro. per., for Appellant. Law Office of Beatrice L. Snider and John L. Romaker for Respondent.

I. INTRODUCTION

This is the second direct appeal by A.D. (Father) in this contentious

family law case.1 (See A.D. v. C.S.D. (Feb. 25, 2026, D085466) [nonpub. opn.]

(A.D. I).)2 In A.D. I, Father appealed the trial court’s issuance of a domestic violence restraining order (DVRO) protecting C.S.D. (Mother) after Father pushed Mother during an after-school pickup of their daughter (Daughter). Father argued on appeal that Mother and a disinterested eyewitness committed perjury, that Mother’s attorney engaged in misconduct, and that the trial court was biased against Father. This court rejected Father’s challenges and affirmed the DVRO.

Representing himself on appeal, Father now challenges the trial court’s dissolution judgment determining custody, visitation, support, and property issues. Father contends the trial court lacked jurisdiction to address these issues because, in doing so, the trial court relied on the DVRO — which was then still under appellate review — to invoke the statutory presumption against awarding custody to a perpetrator of domestic violence. (See Fam. Code, § 3044.) Father also argues the trial court was biased against him and that a third party engaged in discovery misconduct. For reasons we will explain, Father has not met his burden as the appellant to show prejudicial error on any of his claims.

Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.

1 Father previously filed six writ petitions in the case. This court summarily denied them all. 2 We grant Father’s unopposed request to take judicial notice of the docket in A.D. I.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Mother and Father married in 2015, had Daughter together in 2016, and separated in July 2024. Mother filed for dissolution in August 2024. As with many dissolutions, this one included vigorously contested custody and support issues.

A. A.D. I

To provide context for Father’s current appeal, we briefly describe his unsuccessful prior appeal.

1. DVRO Proceedings

In 2024, Mother filed a petition seeking a DVRO against Father. She supported her petition with declarations from herself and eyewitness Dora S. The declarations stated that Father pushed Mother during an after-school pickup of Daughter. The trial court (Judge Ialeggio) issued a temporary DVRO and set an evidentiary hearing.

The court held an evidentiary hearing on October 28, 2024. The parties agreed the matter could be heard within the 20 to 30 minutes provided for matters on the “regular domestic violence calendar.” Mother’s counsel informed the court that she had a 30-minute audio recording of the incident, but only about five or ten seconds of it were relevant. Father’s counsel agreed that the most relevant portion lasted only about 15 seconds but requested that the court also listen to the 15-minute lead-up to the incident. The court ultimately listened to the entire 30-minute recording.

The court received Mother’s and Dora’s declarations in evidence. Dora also testified in person. On direct examination, Dora testified that she wrote and signed her declaration, which contained her direct observations of an angry man (later identified as Father) pushing Mother at Daughter’s school.

On cross-examination, Dora clarified that Mother helped Dora prepare her declaration:

Q. And did you discuss with [Mother’s counsel] what to include in your declaration? And I would ask that you just answer my questions yes or no.

A. No.

Q. Did you discuss with [Mother] what to include in your declaration?

A. Okay. We did come to an agreement as far as where to meet so I could hand it or deliver it. Because . . . I am not good with multimedia, and so I had to give it to her in person. Okay. We agreed to meet outside of my church, and she arrived. Yes, she gave me the document, so I could sign it, but I did read it beforehand. I read it beforehand, and it was my statement and my signature.

Q. Okay. So [Mother] typed this statement for you?

A. I asked her to because . . . I don’t do typing. And I could indicate what to include and what not to include. She only helped me to express my statement. (A.D. I, supra, D085466.)

Father did not move to strike (or otherwise challenge) Dora’s declaration. He testified he did not push Mother.

Based on the evidence before it, the trial court found that portions of Mother’s declaration were “self-serving and not accurate” and that Father’s testimony was “not consistent with the evidence.” (A.D. I, supra, D085466.) Relying in part on Dora’s “neutral and unbiased” testimony, the trial court found that Mother met her burden to establish abuse entitling her to a DVRO. (Ibid.)

Accordingly, the trial court issued a DVRO through January 1, 2026, identifying Mother and Daughter as the protected parties. The DVRO also addressed custody and visitation issues.

2. Appeal

Father appealed the DVRO, “rais[ing] a variety of challenges that fall into the broad categories of evidentiary error, attorney misconduct, and judicial bias. The factual bases of each challenge [were] largely the same: (1) Dora committed perjury by testifying that she ‘wrote’ her declaration, when she also testified that Mother actually typed it and presented it to Dora for signature; and (2) Mother committed perjury . . . in her declaration . . . , which the trial court found to be ‘self-serving and not accurate’ based on the audio recording of the incident.” (A.D. I, supra, D085466.) Father also accused Mother’s counsel of attempting to “ ‘suppress[] exculpatory material’ ” by “propos[ing] to play only a few seconds of the 30-minute audio recording of the incident.” (Ibid.) “Finally, Father accuse[d] the trial court of judicial bias ‘by failing to ensure fair proceedings and exhibiting bias favoring one party.’ ” (Ibid.)

On February 25, 2026, this court affirmed the DVRO, concluding Father had not established the factual predicates for his claims, which he forfeited in any event by failing to raise them in the trial court. (A.D. I, supra, D085466.)

B. Trial Court Proceedings at Issue in This Appeal

In the meantime, on March 3, 2025, Father filed a motion regarding child custody, child and spousal support, attorney fees, and to set aside the DVRO to increase his share of custody over Daughter. The following month,

on April 30, 2025, Father filed a motion seeking sanctions. Neither motion is in the appellate record.

On June 6, 2025, the trial court (Judge Zipp) heard Father’s motions and held a trial on dissolution. Mother appeared with counsel; Father represented himself. The parties were sworn in as witnesses.

The parties agreed the trial court could begin by announcing its tentative rulings on the contested issues: spousal support, child support, property division, attorney fees as a sanction against Father for filing a

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

Marriage of C.S.D. and A.D. CA4/1, (Cal. Ct. App. 2026).

Marriage of C.S.D. and A.D. CA4/1 (Marriage of C.S.D. and A.D. CA4/1) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

In Re the Marriage of Broderick
209 Cal. App. 3d 489 (California Court of Appeal, 1989)
Hayworth v. City of Oakland
129 Cal. App. 3d 723 (California Court of Appeal, 1982)
People v. Bryant
190 Cal. App. 3d 1569 (California Court of Appeal, 1987)
In Re Marriage of Horowitz
159 Cal. App. 3d 377 (California Court of Appeal, 1984)
Smith v. Superior Court
41 Cal. App. 3d 109 (California Court of Appeal, 1974)
Mancini v. Superior Court
230 Cal. App. 2d 547 (California Court of Appeal, 1964)
Agnew v. Parks
219 Cal. App. 2d 696 (California Court of Appeal, 1963)
Eckert v. Superior Court
81 Cal. Rptr. 2d 467 (California Court of Appeal, 1999)
Varian Medical Systems, Inc. v. Delfino
106 P.3d 958 (California Supreme Court, 2005)
People v. Gamache
227 P.3d 342 (California Supreme Court, 2010)
People v. Rodriguez
319 P.3d 151 (California Supreme Court, 2014)
Brown v. American Bicycle Group, LLC
224 Cal. App. 4th 665 (California Court of Appeal, 2014)
American Indian Model Schools v. Oakland Unified School District
227 Cal. App. 4th 258 (California Court of Appeal, 2014)
Fajota v. Fajota
230 Cal. App. 4th 1487 (California Court of Appeal, 2014)
W.S. v. S.T.
228 Cal. Rptr. 3d 756 (California Court of Appeals, 5th District, 2018)
Wong v. Wong (In re Loy Tim)
244 Cal. Rptr. 3d 466 (California Court of Appeals, 5th District, 2019)
United Grand Corp. v. Malibu Hillbillies, LLC
248 Cal. Rptr. 3d 294 (California Court of Appeals, 5th District, 2019)