Peralta v. Peralta

CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedDecember 24, 2019
Docket1 CA-CV 19-0065-FC
StatusUnpublished

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

Bluebook
Peralta v. Peralta, (Ark. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

NOTICE: NOT FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATION. UNDER ARIZONA RULE OF THE SUPREME COURT 111(c), THIS DECISION IS NOT PRECEDENTIAL AND MAY BE CITED ONLY AS AUTHORIZED BY RULE.

IN THE ARIZONA COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION ONE

In re the Marriage of:

HERIBERTO PERALTA, Petitioner/Appellant,

v.

BERTHA ALICIA PERALTA, Respondent/Appellee.

No. 1 CA-CV 19-0065 FC FILED 12-24-2019

Appeal from the Superior Court in Yuma County No. S1400DO201601068 The Honorable Levi Gunderson, Judge Pro Tempore

AFFIRMED IN PART; VACATED IN PART; REMANDED

COUNSEL

Bishop Law Office, P.C., Phoenix By Daniel P. Beeks Counsel for Petitioner/Appellant

S. Alan Cook, P.C., Phoenix By S. Alan Cook Counsel for Respondent/Appellee PERALTA v. PERALTA Decision of the Court

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Judge Lawrence F. Winthrop delivered the decision of the Court, in which Presiding Judge Jennifer B. Campbell and Judge Michael J. Brown joined.

W I N T H R O P, Judge:

¶1 Heriberto Peralta (“Father”) appeals various aspects of the dissolution decree ending his marriage to Bertha Alicia Peralta (“Mother”). For the following reasons, we affirm the legal decision-making and parenting time orders, but vacate the child support orders and remand for reconsideration in light of Father’s correct 2017 income. We also vacate the court’s award of attorneys’ fees to Mother, and remand for reconsideration as to the unreasonableness of Father’s conduct during the litigation.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶2 The parties married in 2010 and have one child, who was born in 2013. Both parties worked for the United States Border Patrol. In September 2017, Father was terminated for lack of candor after he admitted making a false statement to the Yuma Police in connection with a domestic violence incident.

¶3 In August 2016, Father filed a petition for dissolution and a motion for temporary orders without notice seeking sole legal decision- making authority. Father alleged that Mother committed three separate acts of domestic violence. The superior court granted Father temporary sole legal decision-making authority. At the first temporary orders hearing on September 1, 2016, the court affirmed the award of sole legal decision- making authority to Father and granted Mother unsupervised parenting time.

¶4 Father’s attorney withdrew shortly before the two-day trial. On what was scheduled to be the first day of trial, Father successfully moved for a continuance. In light of the continuance, Mother requested additional temporary orders, and the court held a third temporary orders

2 PERALTA v. PERALTA Decision of the Court

hearing on December 11, 2017.1 After taking evidence, the court denied Mother’s request to modify the temporary orders hearing, and the matter proceeded to trial on March 9, 2018.

¶5 Following the trial, the superior court allocated the parties’ community property and debts, awarded sole legal decision-making authority to Mother, granted Father equal parenting time, entered past and current child support orders, and awarded Mother a portion of her attorneys’ fees. Father filed a motion for new trial from the final decree.

¶6 The superior court granted Father’s motion for new trial, in part, on issues related to Father’s income and child support. Following the new trial on November 16, 2018, the court affirmed its prior findings regarding Father’s income and child support. Father filed a timely notice of appeal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes (“A.R.S.”) section 12-2101(A)(1), (2), and (5)(a).

ANALYSIS

I. Alleged Violation of Father’s Due Process Rights

¶7 Father contends he was denied due process because the superior court initially set the matter for a two-day trial, then reduced it to one day after his counsel withdrew. Due process claims are issues of law, which we review de novo. Mack v. Cruikshank, 196 Ariz. 541, 544, ¶ 6 (App. 1999).

¶8 Due process requires that the court “afford the parties ‘an opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner.’” Volk v. Brame, 235 Ariz. 462, 468, ¶ 20 (App. 2014) (citation omitted). Although the original trial was scheduled for two days, the superior court explained that a one-day trial was sufficient in light of the multiple pretrial hearings and, in particular, its familiarity with the domestic violence issues. At two prior evidentiary hearings, the court heard testimony about the domestic violence allegations, Father’s income, and the parties’ ability to co-parent. As he did in his motion for new trial, Father argues that, given the limited trial time, he only had seven minutes to testify.

1 The court held a second temporary orders hearing on May 31, 2017, to address Mother’s motion for temporary orders regarding summer vacation and travel to Mexico.

3 PERALTA v. PERALTA Decision of the Court

¶9 The parties received equal trial time. Father, however, chose to call Mother and three other witnesses before testifying himself. As noted in its subsequent detailed ruling, the superior court frequently reminded Father that his testimony was important and to reserve sufficient time to present his own testimony. Instead, Father spent significant time questioning Mother about the same domestic violence allegations raised in the prior hearings. Father’s inefficient use of time does not constitute a due process violation.2 See id., at 469, ¶ 22.

¶10 Father also suggests he was prejudiced because the superior court deducted the time it took to renumber Father’s trial exhibits from his allotted time. According to the transcript, the court took a ten-minute recess to address the issues with the exhibits. This delay was a result of Father failing to list the exhibits from an earlier hearing as trial exhibits. Thus, it was not unfair for the court to attribute to Father the time needed to renumber his earlier exhibits.

¶11 Finally, when notified that the trial would be one day instead of two, neither party objected or expressed concern that one day was insufficient. Likewise, at trial, Father did not object to his allotted time, and at the end of his case, he did not request additional time or make an offer of proof regarding the additional evidence he would have presented. Under these circumstances, we find no denial of due process. See Nicaise v. Sundaram, 244 Ariz. 272, 277, ¶ 15 (App. 2018) (finding no due process violation where a party made a strategic decision regarding use of trial time and then failed to request additional time or make a proffer of evidence), vacated in part on other grounds, 245 Ariz. 566, 569, ¶ 17 (2019).

II. Awarding Sole Legal Decision-Making Authority to Mother

¶12 The superior court awarded sole legal decision-making authority to Mother. In denying Father’s motion for new trial on this issue, the court provided a thorough discussion of the evidence of the mutual acts of domestic violence that constituted a large portion of the pretrial hearings and the trial.

¶13 We review the superior court’s legal decision-making and parenting time orders for an abuse of discretion. Engstrom v. McCarthy, 243 Ariz. 469, 471, ¶ 4 (App. 2018). We accept the court’s findings of fact absent clear error. Id. Courts must consider the child’s best interest in deciding

2 Father was able to present additional evidence regarding his income during the new trial as it related to child support issues.

4 PERALTA v. PERALTA Decision of the Court

legal decision-making and parenting time. A.R.S. § 25-403. One of the factors relevant to determining the child’s best interest is whether there has been domestic violence. A.R.S.

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Bluebook (online)
Peralta v. Peralta, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peralta-v-peralta-arizctapp-2019.