Pruett v. Prinz

979 So. 2d 745, 2008 WL 1723442
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedApril 15, 2008
Docket2007-CA-00156-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 979 So. 2d 745 (Pruett v. Prinz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pruett v. Prinz, 979 So. 2d 745, 2008 WL 1723442 (Mich. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

979 So.2d 745 (2008)

Tammy (Prinz) PRUETT, Appellant
v.
Christopher Steven PRINZ, Appellee.

No. 2007-CA-00156-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

April 15, 2008.

*747 Henry Bernard Zuber, Ocean Springs, attorney for appellant.

Michael J. Vallette, Ocean Springs, attorney for appellee.

Before MYERS, P.J., GRIFFIS and ROBERTS, JJ.

ROBERTS, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. This is an appeal from a custody modification action in which the Chancery Court of Harrison County granted Christopher Steven Prinz's motion for custody modification. Aggrieved by the trial court's ruling, Tammy Pruett, Christopher's ex-wife, appeals and raises the following issues:

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT FAILED TO IDENTIFY AN ADVERSE EFFECT ON TIMOTHY;
II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ADMITTING THE DVD; AND
III. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT FAILED TO CONSIDER THE EFFECT OF SEPARATING TIMOTHY FROM HIS HALF-SISTER.

¶ 2. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 3. The testimony showed that Tammy and Christopher were divorced in August 2000. At that time Christopher and Tammy were living in Gulfport, Mississippi. The couple had three children during the course of their marriage: Lucy, Josh, and Timothy.[1] Lucy and Josh were twenty-one and eighteen, respectively, at the time of the modification hearing in December 2006. Timothy was eight.

¶ 4. At the time of the parties' divorce, Tammy was given custody of Josh and Timothy.[2] Soon after the divorce, Tammy married James Pruett and moved to South Carolina. While in South Carolina, Tammy and James had their first child, whom they named Carmen. At the time of the modification hearing, Carmen was three years old.

¶ 5. At some point during Tammy and James's marriage, their relationship became verbally abusive, and possibly physically violent. Josh testified that typically Tammy would start yelling at James, and James would verbally retaliate. Timothy also testified that he heard them yelling at each other. On one occasion, Timothy saw James throw Tammy against the wall. Tammy testified that she never instigated any altercation with James, but she would verbally defend herself.

¶ 6. Also, Tammy testified that while she lived in South Carolina, she allowed Lucy's boyfriend, identified as Matt, to live in the *748 house with her, James, Timothy, Josh, and Lucy. This went on for two and a half to three years until Lucy and Matt married in February 2006. She stated both Lucy and Matt were over eighteen years old during the time Matt lived in her house. Tammy testified that she did not allow Matt and Lucy to sleep in the same room. She stated that Matt slept in the same room as Josh. However, Josh testified that Matt did not sleep in his room. Josh claimed that Matt slept in the same room as Lucy every night except when Tammy's mother came to visit.

¶ 7. As a result of the abusive relationship between her and James, Tammy decided to leave James and South Carolina. In mid-2006, Josh joined the South Carolina Army National Guard and left for basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia. Josh was seventeen years old at the time and still had one year of high school to complete before graduating. Soon after, Tammy took Timothy to Gulfport, Mississippi for his summer visitation with Christopher. She did not tell Josh of her plans to move. However, he eventually found out, while he was attending basic training, from a letter sent by his ex-girlfriend in South Carolina. Tammy testified that she made arrangements for Josh to stay with her sister in Ardmore, Oklahoma or with a family friend in South Carolina. However, while at basic training, Josh spoke with Christopher regarding the possibility of living with him in Mississippi. Following graduation from basic training, Josh moved in with his father and began his senior year in high school in Mississippi. Josh testified that he was never informed of his mother's arrangements. Christopher and Tammy later agreed that Christopher should have physical custody of Josh.

¶ 8. After dropping Timothy off with his father in June 2006, Tammy visited her mother for a short time in Coldwater, Mississippi. At the conclusion of her visit, she moved in with her sister in Ardmore, Oklahoma because she was offered employment with H & P Services. H & P handled accounting and bookkeeping for small businesses. In addition to her position with H & P, Tammy testified that she had a web-based business in which she recruited individuals to sell nutritional and health-related products.

¶ 9. After her move to Ardmore, Oklahoma, Christopher had difficulty contacting Tammy. He was given a post office box number and a 1-800 number to call. However, he testified that no one ever answered the telephone number provided. When he asked Tammy's mother for a direct telephone number, she explained that he did not need one. Tammy claimed at trial that her reluctance to give Christopher her actual address stemmed from her fear that James would discover her whereabouts. Additionally, further confusion surrounding Tammy's place of residence surfaced when Christopher mailed a check for child support to Tammy's South Carolina address. It was later returned as unclaimed after being forwarded to Ardmore, Oklahoma. However, following the August 2, 2006, hearing in which Christopher requested temporary custody, Tammy provided him with her sister's address and telephone number.

¶ 10. Nonetheless, Christopher was still unsure of where Tammy was actually living. When Tammy called Christopher's home in Gulfport, during Christopher's 2006 summer visitation to speak with Timothy, her telephone number was blocked from identification. Additionally, the telephone number on Tammy's website was listed to a Kenneth Davis in Colorado. Furthermore, in a letter sent to Josh while he was at Fort Benning, she used her South Carolina address as the return address, *749 but it was post marked from Denver, Colorado.

¶ 11. Tammy testified at the August 8, 2006, hearing that she did not know who Kenneth Davis was or why his telephone number was on her website. She claimed she knew the number was incorrect and asked for it to be changed. She explained that the reason her mail was postmarked from Denver was that she sent all her mail, business and personal, to H & P in Colorado to mail out in bulk. As to her familiarity with Davis, she later testified during the December 4, 2006, hearing that she was mistaken. She explained that she did know Davis, but she did not know his last name. She clarified that Davis was the son of the owner of H & P, and the owner's last name was Henry.

¶ 12. After attending Josh's graduation from basic training on August 11, 2006, Tammy returned to Coldwater, Mississippi for a short time and learned she had been essentially promoted by H & P. In combination with the promotion, she was asked to move to Littleton, Colorado. She accepted the promotion and moved to Colorado with Timothy. In advance of her move, her employer arranged a lease for a four-bedroom home. Testimony at trial indicated that Davis and his family originally lived in the house. Though she was still married to James, she testified she was going to file for divorce once she established residency in Colorado.

¶ 13. After extensive questioning during the December hearing about her relationship with Davis, Tammy admitted that they were good friends and occasionally had gone out together. She explained that he was married, but separated.

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Related

Hardin v. Hardin
172 So. 3d 748 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2011)

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