Richard v. Richard

812 N.E.2d 222, 2004 Ind. App. LEXIS 1456, 2004 WL 1663180
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 27, 2004
Docket25A05-0402-CV-82
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 812 N.E.2d 222 (Richard v. Richard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Richard v. Richard, 812 N.E.2d 222, 2004 Ind. App. LEXIS 1456, 2004 WL 1663180 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

*224 OPINION

RILEY, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Appellant-Petitioner, Carl A. Richard (Carl), appeals the trial court's determination that he is the biological father of a daughter, C.R.R.

We affirm.

ISSUES

Carl raises two issues on appeal, which we restate as follows:

1. Whether the trial court violated Indiana Rule of Evidence 201 when it took judicial notice of facts not adduced at the hearing when entering its judgment; and

2. Whether the trial court erred in determining that Carl is the biological father of C.R.R.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Carl and Carmen Richard (Carmen) married on August 13, 1994. Two daughters were born during the course of their marriage. On September 1, 1999, Richard filed his Petition for Dissolution of Marriage in the Fulton Cireuit Court. On September 15, 2000, the trial court conducted a final dissolution hearing in this matter. At the hearing, Carmen testified that she was not pregnant. Following the hearing, the trial court issued its Decree of Dissolution, whereby the marriage of Carl and Carmen was dissolved.

Thereafter, on June 1, 2001, Carmen gave birth to a baby girl, C.R.R. On May 14, 2002, Carmen filed her Petition to Establish Paternity and Affidavit of Birth in which she named Carl as the respondent. However, on July 14, 2008, Carl filed his Third Party Complaint to Establish Paternity in which he named his identical twin brother, Charles Richard (Charles) as the third-party respondent. In his petition, Carl requested that the trial court enter an order determining Charles to be the biological father of C.R.R. and dismissing Carmen's Petition to Establish Paternity filed against Carl. Subsequently, Carl and Charles each submitted to DNA testing to determine if either of them was the biological father of C.R.R. Carl's test results indicated that his probability of paternity was 99.999% "as compared to an untested, unrelated random person of the Caucasian population." (Appellant's App. p. 75). Charles' test results indicated that his probability of paternity was 99.995% "as compared to an untested, unrelated random person of the Caucasian population." (Appellant's App. p. 76).

On October 30, 2008, the trial court conducted a hearing on the parties' petitions. On November 3, 2003, the trial court issued its Order finding Carl to be the biological father of C.R.R.

Carl now appeals. Additional facts will be supplied as necessary.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

I. Judicial Notice

Carl first argues that the trial court violated Indiana Rule of Evidence 201 when it took judicial notice of facts that were not adduced at the hearing and then relied upon those facts in entering its judgment. However, Carl's argument is unavailing in that he fails to support his argument with specific references to the record or to materials in the appendix as required by Indiana Rules of Appellate Procedure. As a result, we find this argument waived. See Ind.App. R. 46(A)(8)(a).

Waiver notwithstanding, we find that any error the trial court committed in taking judicial notice of facts not in evidence is harmless error. In its Order, the *225 trial court volunteered the following information:

The [clourt is aware of substantial family history concerning the Richard's family, counsel being aware of the [clourt's knowledge but failing to make a substantial record upon these topics at hearing. The Richard clan is a [close-knit] family in a manner unusual in today's society. The Richard's family runs a dairy farm under the name of the Richard's Family Farm, Inc. Carl is a shareholder in the farm and Charles is an employee but not a shareholder there. Approximately 15 years ago, Charles was involved in an accident which left him in a coma for three weeks. He emerged from the coma somewhat changed and more prone to violence, and has since been involved in some events of battery. The [clourt believes it fair to say that after the coma his higher reasoning abilities became marginally impaired so that he is somewhat less restrained in his statements and, occasionally in his behaviors than he was before. His crude statements in testimony here are typical of his behaviors since that time. Also flowing through this entire transaction are monetary issues which the parties did not argue but which are visible to the [clourt and which provides ulterior motives to each of the parties' testimonies. Carl is a person of means and may even be considered wealthy. Charles lives at the edge of poverty, perhaps subsistence being a more descriptive word, probably being maintained by other family members, but claiming incomes of no more than $100 per week as he attempts to meet previously determined child support arrearages for children born before his accident. The day preceding [the] hearing, he provided to the [clourt a paycheck stub confirming his income status. In claiming paternity, he requested, by his testimony at the hearing, that he be ordered to pay $25 per week in support. Carmen, of course, is aware of all of this.

{Appellant's App. pp. 17-8).

Carl asserts that the trial court's recitation of the above information violates Ind. Rule of Evid. 201 which allows a trial court to take judicial notice of a fact or law. A trial court may take judicial notice of records of a case over which it presides; however, the trial court may not take notice of records of another case, even if it involves the same parties with nearly identical issues. In re Paternity of Tompkins, 542 N.E.2d 1009, 1014 (Ind.Ct.App.1989). Nevertheless, while it was improper of the trial court in the instant case to volunteer the information set forth above in its Order, we fail to see how Carl was prejudiced by the error. See Matter of A.C.B., 598 N.E.2d 570, 573 (Ind.Ct.App.1992)("[elrror must result in prejudice in order to disturb the judgment"). Our review of the record yields no indication that the trial court based any of its decision on the information set forth in the Order but not adduced at the hearing. In fact, it is clear from the remainder of the trial court's Order that the trial court based its decision on the fact Carl simply failed to present sufficient evidence to overcome the presumption of paternity arising from the marriage pursuant to Ind.Code § 81-14-7-1. As discussed below, we agree with the trial court's conclusion in this matter; therefore, we find that any error committed with respect to the trial court's spontaneous judicial notice of facts is harmless. See A.C.B., 598 N.E.2d at 573; see also Tompkins, 542 N.E.2d at 1014.

II. Presumption of Paternity

Carl also challenges the trial court's conclusion that he did not successfully rebut the statutory presumption that *226 he is the biological father of C.R.R.

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Bluebook (online)
812 N.E.2d 222, 2004 Ind. App. LEXIS 1456, 2004 WL 1663180, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/richard-v-richard-indctapp-2004.