Mitchell v. Geiger

2025 Ohio 4808
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 21, 2025
Docket24AP-366
StatusPublished

This text of 2025 Ohio 4808 (Mitchell v. Geiger) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mitchell v. Geiger, 2025 Ohio 4808 (Ohio Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

[Cite as Mitchell v. Geiger, 2025-Ohio-4808.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO

TENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

Porter Mitchell, :

Plaintiff-Appellant, : No. 24AP-366 v. : (C.P.C. No. 18DR-3751)

Shawna Geiger, : (REGULAR CALENDAR)

Defendant-Appellee. :

D E C I S I O N

Rendered on October 21, 2025

On brief: Porter Mitchell, pro se. Argued: Porter Mitchell.

On brief: Shawna Geiger, pro se. Argued: Shawna Geiger.

APPEAL from the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Division of Domestic Relations

BEATTY BLUNT, J.

{¶ 1} Plaintiff-appellant, Porter Mitchell (“Father”), appeals from the decision and entry of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Division of Domestic Relations, granting his motion to terminate shared parenting plan and awarding sole legal custody of the minor child to defendant-appellee, Shawna Geiger (“Mother”). For the reasons that follow, we reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand for further proceedings. I. Facts and Procedural History {¶ 2} The within matter arises out of the parties’ previous marriage, subsequent divorce, and protracted and ongoing disputes pertaining to the parties’ shared parenting of the minor child at issue, S.M. (DOB November 5, 2017). The parties were divorced on September 24, 2019 pursuant to an agreed judgment entry and divorce decree which No. 24AP-366 2

incorporated the Parents’ Plan for Shared Parenting. (Sept. 19, 2024 Agreed Jgmt. Entry Divorce Decree at 3.) {¶ 3} The record indicates that less than two months later the parties were already at odds with each other concerning the shared parenting arrangements, as evinced by Mother’s first motion to terminate shared parenting and designate her as sole legal custodian of the minor child, filed on November 6, 2019. Indeed, as the trial court observed in its March 14, 2024 judgment entry1 on multiple motions, “[t]his case has been highly contested and there have been a least two dozen motions filed since the parties divorced on or about September 24, 2019.” (Mar. 14, 2024 Jgmt. Entry at 13.) {¶ 4} Relevant to this appeal, on October 14, 2022, Father filed a motion to terminate the shared parenting plan. The trial court dismissed that motion on December 5, 2022 for failure to prosecute when Father failed to appear at the December 1, 2022 hearing on the motion. (See Dec. 5, 2022 Mag.’s Decision & Entry.) {¶ 5} On December 13, 2022, Father filed another motion to terminate the shared parenting plan. Mother filed her own motion to terminate the shared parenting plan on February 3, 2023, but she voluntarily dismissed that motion at the March 8, 2024 hearing conducted by the trial court to address multiple motions filed by the parties, including cross-motions for contempt pertaining to alleged violations of parenting time filed by the parties against each other. At the March 8, 2024 hearing, the trial court ordered that Father’s December 13, 2022 motion to terminate the shared parenting plan be reset for further hearing as it had apparently been overlooked by the trial court when preparing for the March 8, 2024 hearing. (See Mar. 14, 2024 Jgmt. Entry at 2-3.) {¶ 6} On May 15, 2024, a hearing on Father’s December 13, 2022 motion to terminate the shared parenting plan was held at which both Father and Mother appeared pro se. {¶ 7} On May 16, 2024, the trial court issued its decision and entry granting Father’s motion to terminate the shared parenting plan and awarding legal custody of the minor child to Mother. (May 16, 2024 Jgmt. Entry on Pl’s Mot. to Terminate Shared Parenting Plan.)

1 This judgment entry was issued following a hearing on March 8, 2024 on multiple motions filed by the parties

which are not directly relevant to the instant appeal. No. 24AP-366 3

{¶ 8} On June 11, 2024, appellant timely filed a notice of appeal, which is now before the court. II. Assignments of Error {¶ 9} Appellant assigns the following errors for our review: 1. The trial court erred in failing to conduct a proper trial after resetting the case for trial, thereby denying Appellant due process.

2. The trial court erred in awarding sole custody to Appellee despite her contempt findings and failure to purge said contempt.

3. The trial court exhibited bias and failed to properly apply the statutory best-interest analysis under R.C. § 3109.04.

III. Discussion {¶ 10} Because we find it dispositive of this appeal, we begin by addressing Father’s third assignment error. In his third assignment of error, Father asserts the trial court exhibited bias and failed to properly apply the statutory best interest of the child analysis under R.C. 3109.04. While we do not find the trial court exhibited bias, we agree the trial court failed to conduct the proper best interest analysis in terminating the parties’ shared parenting plan, as explained below. {¶ 11} “When reviewing the propriety of a trial court’s determination in a domestic relations case, an abuse of discretion standard is used.” Taylor v. Taylor, 2018-Ohio-2530, ¶ 5 (10th Dist.), citing Booth v. Booth, 44 Ohio St.3d 142, 144 (1989). This standard has been applied in cases concerning orders relating to alimony, the division of marital property, child custody, and child support. (Internal citations omitted.) Id. It is well- settled that “[t]rial courts have broad discretion in determining custody issues, and an abuse of discretion standard of review applies to appeals of custody matters.” Meyer v. Wile, 2023-Ohio-4624, ¶ 10 (10th Dist.), citing Baze-Sif v. Sif, 2016-Ohio-29 (10th Dist.). {¶ 12} A trial court abuses its discretion when it exercises its judgment in an unwarranted way regarding a matter over which it has discretionary authority. Johnson v. Abdullah, 2021-Ohio-3304, ¶ 35. The term abuse of discretion, “ ‘commonly employed to justify an interference by a higher court with the exercise of discretionary power by a lower court, implies not merely error of judgment, but perversity of will, passion, prejudice, No. 24AP-366 4

partiality, or moral delinquency.’ ” (Emphasis sic.) Id., quoting Black’s Law Dictionary 11 (2d Ed. 1910). An abuse of discretion connotes a decision that is unreasonable, arbitrary, or unconscionable. Blakemore v. Blakemore, 5 Ohio St.3d 217, 219 (1983); State ex rel. Deblase v. Ohio Ballot Bd., 2023-Ohio-1823, ¶ 27. {¶ 13} Accordingly, under the abuse of discretion standard discussed above, “a trial court’s decision in domestic relations matters should not be disturbed on appeal unless the decision involves more than an error of judgment.” Taylor, 2018-Ohio-2530 at ¶ 5, quoting Booth at 144. Because this court is not a trier of fact, our role is to determine whether there is relevant, competent, and credible evidence upon which the fact finder could base his or her judgment. See, e.g., Miller v. Miller, 2021-Ohio-4573, ¶ 15 (10th Dist.); Tennant v. Martin-Auer, 2010-Ohio-3489, ¶ 16 (5th Dist.). {¶ 14} Turning to the instant matter and Father’s motion to terminate shared parenting, R.C. 3109.04(E)(2)(c) provides, in pertinent part, “[t]he court may terminate a prior final shared parenting decree that includes a shared parenting plan approved under division (D)(1)(a)(i) of this section upon the request of one or both of the parents or whenever it determines that shared parenting is not in the best interest of the children[.]” R.C. 3109.04(D)(1)(a)(i) applies to shared parenting plans that are jointly filed, as was the plan in the instant matter. {¶ 15} The Supreme Court of Ohio has found that pursuant to the language of R.C. 3109.04, “a trial court need consider only the best interest of the child when deciding whether to terminate a shared-parenting plan and which parent to designate as the residential and custodial parent of a minor child” and a change in circumstances finding is not required. Bruns v. Green, 2020-Ohio-4787, ¶ 1, 21.

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Baze-Sif v. Sif
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Taylor v. Taylor
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Bruns v. Green (Slip Opinion)
2020 Ohio 4787 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2020)
State v. Gideon (Slip Opinion)
2020 Ohio 5635 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2020)
Johnson v. Abdullah (Slip Opinion)
2021 Ohio 3304 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2021)
Miller v. Miller
2021 Ohio 4573 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2021)
Blakemore v. Blakemore
450 N.E.2d 1140 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1983)
Booth v. Booth
541 N.E.2d 1028 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1989)
State ex rel. DeBlase v. Ohio Ballot Bd.
2023 Ohio 1823 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2023)
Meyer v. Wile
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2025 Ohio 4808, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mitchell-v-geiger-ohioctapp-2025.