McCarrel v. McCarrel

363 N.E.2d 198, 48 Ill. App. 3d 666, 6 Ill. Dec. 669, 1977 Ill. App. LEXIS 2638
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 16, 1977
Docket13634
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 363 N.E.2d 198 (McCarrel v. McCarrel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McCarrel v. McCarrel, 363 N.E.2d 198, 48 Ill. App. 3d 666, 6 Ill. Dec. 669, 1977 Ill. App. LEXIS 2638 (Ill. Ct. App. 1977).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE GREEN

delivered the opinion of the court:

On February 23,1971, plaintiff Donald McCarrel sued defendant Carol McCarrel for divorce in the Circuit Court of Pike County on grounds of mental cruelty. Defendant counterclaimed for divorce on the same grounds. After a hearing, a divorce was awarded to plaintiff. Upon defendant’s appeal, this court in McCarrel v. McCarrel (1974), 17 Ill. App. 3d 1034, 309 N.E.2d 252, reversed and remanded with directions that a judgment be entered in favor of defendant on the complaint and a new trial be granted on her counterclaim. At retrial, which ended July 15,1976, defendant was awarded a divorce, certain property as alimony in gross, a judgment for back support and attorney’s fees. Less than 30 days after the entry of the decree, the trial court amended its decree to include a finding that defendant had no right to the proceeds from a certain contract for the sale of real estate. Plaintiff appeals from each grant of relief to defendant and defendant cross-appeals from the finding concerning the proceeds from the contract.

Plaintiff contends that the trial court erred because: (a) the findings that plaintiff was guilty of mental cruelty and that defendant had not condoned any such conduct were both against the manifest weight of the evidence; (b) the award of attorney’s fees was excessive in amount and improper to the extent that fees were awarded for her prosecution of the first appeal; and (c) no showing of need was made for the various orders of support and, in any event, the orders were excessive in amount. Defendant maintains that the court’s finding that she had no interest in the proceeds of the real estate contract was contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence as aided by the presumption in favor of a gift and that, in any event, the court erred in making the finding because plaintiff had not pleaded any equity in the contract.

We consider first the award of the divorce itself. Conduct of one spouse that causes the other spouse embarrassment, humiliation and anguish which renders the life of the other spouse miserable and unendurable constitutes mental cruelty. (Stanard v. Stanard (1969), 108 Ill. App. 2d 240, 247 N.E.2d 438.) The parties were married September 3, 1968. Evidence was presented that thereafter plaintiff committed several unprovoked physical acts of cruelty upon defendant, once breaking her jaw. Evidence was also presented of threats he made to her and of scurrilous remarks he made about her in the presence of others. At the times of many of these acts and remarks, he was said to be intoxicated. Some evidence was also presented of his failure to support her. Such conduct would obviously cause her embarrassment, humiliation and anguish. Because of the repetition of this conduct, the trial court could have determined that, in toto, this conduct made defendant’s life miserable and unendurable. Although not all of the acts of mental cruelty referred to were properly pleaded, those that were not may be considered to explain and give weight to those that were properly pleaded. (Blair v. Blair (1950), 341 Ill. App. 93, 93 N.E.2d 95.) The finding that plaintiff had been guilty of mental cruelty was not contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence.

A closer question is presented by plaintiff’s claim that he had proved this affirmative defense of condonation. The evidence is undisputed that prior to February 18, 1971, defendant had always returned or continued to live with plaintiff after each act of cruelty and continued to perform her household functions and to have marital relations with plaintiff. She also testified that she continued to love plaintiff until that date. Clearly condonation until then had been proved. Condoned acts of mental cruelty are revived, however, by subsequent acts of mental cruelty. (Deahl v. Deahl (1973), 13 Ill. App. 3d 150, 300 N.E.2d 497.) Defendant testified that for several months prior to February 18, 1971, plaintiff had not given her sufficient monetary support and that on that date she appeared at his place of business and demanded that he give her *40. Upon his refusal, she told him that she was going to put his clothes out of their house. Later that day she did so. According to defendant, when plaintiff came home that evening he was intoxicated. Upon arrival, he entered the house, grabbed her around the shoulders and started to choke her, whereupon she sprayed him with mace. Defendant testified that she and her two daughters by a previous marriage were the only persons home at the time. Only one of the daughters testified. She substantiated her mother’s testimony.

Plaintiff, on the other hand, stated that when he stepped inside the door she immediately sprayed him with mace. He denied any threats or choking. Two persons who were Jehovah’s Witnesses testified that they were visiting in the house at the time and confirmed plaintiff’s version of the occurrence. One of them testified that he later drove plaintiff in his car and did not think plaintiff was intoxicated. The county’s State’s attorney and sheriff both saw plaintiff later and they also did not think he was intoxicated. Although defendant’s version of this last episode was strongly disputed, we do not determine that the trial court’s finding in favor of defendant on this issue to be contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence.

In total the trial court awarded defendant’s attorney’s fees and expenses in the amount of *13,853.25. Because of the length of the litigation and the investigation defendant’s counsel was required to make to determine why plaintiff’s assets had greatly diminished during the litigation, we do not find these fees to be excessive. A substantial portion of this award was allowed upon remand for the prosecution of the original appeal. Plaintiff contends that the trial court can award fees and expenses for the defense of an appeal but cannot properly do so for the prosecution of an appeal. He relies on the language of section 15 of the Divorce Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 40, par. 16), which expressly states that in case of an appeal in a divorce case, the trial court “may grant and enforce the payment of such money” for the “defense” of the party in whose favor the order appealed was entered. He argues the statutory wording indicates that the trial court may not, at any time, award fees and expenses for the prosecution of an appeal.

Statements in Buehler v. Buehler (1940), 373 Ill. 626, 27 N.E.2d 466, and Hall v. Hall (1975), 25 Ill. App. 3d 524, 323 N.E.2d 541, support plaintiff’s position.! In Buehler the fees were disallowed because they were awarded by the appellate court which had no authority to award any fees and in Hall the fees were disallowed because they had been awarded for appeal of a post-decretal order. Holmstedt v. Holmstedt (1943), 383 Ill. 290, 49 N.E.2d 25, and Bramson v. Bramson (1958), 17 Ill. App. 2d 87, 149 N.E.2d 399, are more directly in point.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
363 N.E.2d 198, 48 Ill. App. 3d 666, 6 Ill. Dec. 669, 1977 Ill. App. LEXIS 2638, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccarrel-v-mccarrel-illappct-1977.