Martin v. Martin

3 So. 3d 512, 2008 La. App. LEXIS 1594, 2008 WL 5071769
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 3, 2008
Docket44,020-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 3 So. 3d 512 (Martin v. Martin) 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
Martin v. Martin, 3 So. 3d 512, 2008 La. App. LEXIS 1594, 2008 WL 5071769 (La. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

MOORE, J.

| [Cynthia M. Harrison appeals a judgment that allowed her former husband, Ricky D. Martin, to move from Shreveport to Fincastle, Virginia, taking the parties’ 11-year-old daughter KM. with him. For the reasons expressed, we affirm.

Procedural Background

The instant appeal is Cynthia’s seventh appearance before this court. 1 Prior rulings awarded Ricky and Cynthia joint custody of KM., naming Ricky the domiciliary parent and granting Cynthia supervised, limited visitation. Because of allegations that Cynthia’s current husband, Jeffery Harrison, had abused K.M., in October 2003 the district court subjected Cynthia’s visitation to the condition that she and Jeffery undergo mental health examinations by Dr. Richard Williams. For over 2⅜ years, Cynthia failed to contact Dr. Williams, but she finally made an appointment in November 2006. Dr. Williams requested various documents which she never furnished. She set another appointment for July 24, 2008.

Coincidentally, the instant rule arose on July 24, 2008, when Cynthia filed a pro se pleading entitled “Expedited motion for non-relocation of minor child, expedited motion for visitation and custody.” She alleged that Ricky was planning to move from Shreveport to Virginia, 1,200 miles away, creating a hardship financially and emotionally, and Ricky could show neither the economic benefit of moving nor why he could not be financially | ¿independent in Shreveport. She also alleged that Ricky had failed to comply with various aspects of the joint custody plan, thus entitling her to custody and visitation. Finally, she asked for a status hearing on KM.’s health. The district court signed an order fixing Cynthia’s rule for August 4, 2008; apparently, she failed to appear for this, and the matter was refixed for August 12.

Meanwhile, Ricky filed a rule seeking the court’s approval to move with K.M. to Fincastle, Virginia, where he could earn a higher wage and be closer to his immediate family. He alleged that in accordance with the joint custody plan, he had notified Cynthia of his intended move by certified mail and she signed the receipt. Finally, he alleged that Cynthia was $461 behind in child support and had never met with Dr. Williams, for which he asked to hold her in contempt. The district court fixed this rule for August 25, but relocation was before the court at the August 11 hearing.

At the hearing, the court stated that the issue was Cynthia’s motion to deny the relocation; Cynthia did not object or request hearing on any other matters. As in most of the prior proceedings, Cynthia appeared pro se. She narrated that Ricky had denied her contact with K.M.: he changed his phone number and, apparently, his address, as birthday and other cards she mailed to his University Drive house were returned “forwarding order expired.” However, she admitted that she mailed two of these cards from France and Egypt, where she and Jeffery were vacationing, that she received Ricky’s certified letter, and that she and Jeffery now live in *514 Tomball, Texas (near Houston). She stated that her parents’ health and Jeffery’s work schedule [¡¡prevented her from seeing Dr. Williams any sooner than five years after the court order. At first, she denied that the mental health examination was a prerequisite for resumed visitation, but eventually admitted that this was in fact the case. Finally, she tendered $200 toward the back child support.

The district court stated from the bench that it would not consider her request to modify custody or visitation until both Cynthia and Jeffery submitted to examinations by Dr. Williams.

Ricky testified that his brother owns a construction company in Fincastle, Virginia, 986 miles from Shreveport, and has promised him a job paying $35,000 a year. Although Ricky once made $42,000 a year in Shreveport selling swimming pools, that job ended and he had gone months unable to find work. If allowed to move, he would initially stay in his parents’ 4,000-sq. ft. house, and the public school that KM. would attend was “very clean.” He admitted not often forwarding information about K.M. to Cynthia, but maintained that the joint custody plan, as amended, required him to notify her only if K.M. was hospitalized, which never occurred. 2 He felt that complying with Cynthia’s requests early in the proceedings had only incited her to file more rules, so he quit. He admitted that he had moved from University Drive to a house owned by his parents on Woodbriar Street, but he maintained he was allowed to change residence in Caddo Parish without court approval. 3

|4Pr. Williams testified that shortly after the court order, Ricky paid him $3,000 for the evaluations of himself, his current wife and K.M.; Cynthia waited over 2½ years to pay, failed to give him necessary documents, and did not see him again until July 24, 2008, the day she filed this rule. He testified that he really needed to see Jeffery, who had been charged with indecent exposure to K.M., but that Cynthia insisted that all charges had been dropped. Finally, he testified that K.M. was doing very well with Ricky; the child had voiced virtually no interest in staying with Cynthia. Dr. Williams considered it in KM.’s best interest to move to Virginia with Ricky.

The court ruled orally, granting Ricky permission to relocate to Virginia with K.M., conditioned on another examination by Dr. Williams. It deferred ruling on all other issues until Dr. Williams completed his assessments of Cynthia and Jeffery. It rendered judgment to this effect and Cynthia took the instant appeal.

Discussion

By pro se brief, Cynthia has listed 12 “Issues for review and errors of the court,” numbered 1M and 6-13 (omitting No. 5). Most of these may be dismissed summarily. The first five are as follows (verbatim):

(1) The transcripts are not accurate. The recorded proceedings need to be listened to and the transcripts need to be corrected.
(2) The court did not allow Cynthia Harrison to introduce all evidence in this case.
*515 (3) Judge Waddell’s conduct in not allowing Cynthia Harrison to address the court.
(4) Judge Waddell’s conduct in not allowing Cynthia Harrison to Improperly question the witnesses.
(6) The court erred in allowing Dr. Richard Williams to testify on the evaluations.

These assignments lack merit for several reasons. They are purely conelu-sory, lacking even a scintilla of substantiation: Cynthia does not show what part or parts of the record she considers inaccurate, what documents or testimony were improperly excluded or admitted, or when she was denied the right to address the court. As framed, these errors present absolutely nothing for the court’s review. 4 Moreover, the record does not show that Cynthia objected to any of the court’s rulings. Failure to object deprives the district court of the opportunity to correct a contested ruling and constitutes waiver of the issue on appeal. La. C.C.P. ait. 1635;

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
3 So. 3d 512, 2008 La. App. LEXIS 1594, 2008 WL 5071769, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/martin-v-martin-lactapp-2008.