Sproles v. Sproles

782 So. 2d 742, 2001 WL 328693
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedApril 5, 2001
Docket1999-CA-01502-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by52 cases

This text of 782 So. 2d 742 (Sproles v. Sproles) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sproles v. Sproles, 782 So. 2d 742, 2001 WL 328693 (Mich. 2001).

Opinion

782 So.2d 742 (2001)

Thomas Franklin SPROLES
v.
Teresa Mae SPROLES.

No. 1999-CA-01502-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

April 5, 2001.

*744 Orvis A. Shiyou, Jr., Attorney for Appellant.

Christopher M. Howdeshell, Hattiesburg, Attorney for Appellee.

Before BANKS, P.J., SMITH and MILLS, JJ.

SMITH, Justice, for the Court:

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

¶ 1. Thomas Franklin Sproles appeals from a chancery court judgment granting his wife, Teresa Mae Sproles, a divorce on the grounds of Thomas's habitual drunkenness and cruel and inhuman treatment but denying Thomas a divorce on the ground of adultery.

¶ 2. On July 23, 1997, Teresa Mae Sproles (hereinafter "Teresa") filed a Complaint for Divorce against Thomas Franklin Sproles (hereinafter "Thomas") in the Chancery Court of Lamar County, Mississippi. She alleged that she was entitled to a divorce on the grounds of cruel and inhuman treatment and habitual drunkenness or, alternatively, irreconcilable differences. Thomas filed an Answer and counterclaim denying the allegations of Teresa's complaint and alleged that he was entitled to a divorce on the grounds of adultery and cruel and inhuman treatment or alternatively, irreconcilable differences.

¶ 3. Teresa filed an answer to Thomas's counterclaim denying the relief sought by the Thomas.

¶ 4. The trial court rendered its judgment on November 3, 1998, granting a divorce to Teresa on the grounds of habitual drunkenness and cruel and inhuman treatment, but denied Thomas a divorce on the grounds of cruel and inhuman treatment and adultery. The trial court found marital assets totaling $134,333.51. The court awarded Teresa $53,733.20 from Thomas's retirement accounts; Thomas was awarded title to the marital home, two Sheltie dogs, and the 1968 Mustang. On August 6, 1999, the court entered an amendment of judgment, adjusting the value of the marital assets to $118,952.49 and awarding Teresa $46,180.00 from the marital assets. Thomas now appeals to this Court, arguing the chancery court erred by not granting him a divorce on the grounds of adultery, the division of the marital assets was inequitable, that an audio tape of a conversation between Thomas and Teresa should not have been admitted into evidence, and a divorce should not have been granted to Teresa without findings of fact. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

¶ 5. Thomas and Teresa were married on or about May 28, 1988, in Thomaston, Maine. They moved to Lamar County, Mississippi, and lived there as husband and wife until they separated on February 19, 1997. No children were born of the *745 marriage. Teresa attended school during the first four years of her marriage and did not work. During that time, her father and Thomas paid the tuition. Thomas also paid for food, utilities, and made payments on their residence.

¶ 6. Purchased in 1992; the marital home was jointly owned by Thomas and Teresa. Also, in 1992, Teresa graduated and began working as a nurse at Methodist Hospital. Thomas clearly had total control of all the finances for the couple. According to the record, Teresa got all her money from Thomas, even though she had her own job. Indeed, most of Teresa's purchases were on a credit card monitored by Thomas. Teresa had no 401(k) or other retirement plan.

¶ 7. In 1991 or 1992, Thomas began drinking heavily. Teresa and her mother, Sheila Daniels, testified that Thomas regularly drank a case of beer at night. Furthermore, around the time Thomas's drinking increased, he became abusive towards his wife. Teresa testified, and Thomas admitted on cross-examination, that he pointed a firearm at her and threatened to kill her if she tried to leave. The record also reveals that Thomas, when intoxicated, was critical of Teresa's house-cleaning, eating habits, and would make accusations of her infidelity, even to the extent of pulling her pants down. He also made Teresa feel "less than human, degraded, and depressed" by telling her that she wasted more than she was worth. On the night before Teresa left the marital home, she came home from work and found no lights on in the house and the door duct-taped. Thomas confronted Teresa while intoxicated and accused her of infidelity.

¶ 8. The day after the duct-taped door incident, Teresa moved out of the marital home and moved into an apartment. Thomas continued to harass his Teresa. Both Teresa and her apartment neighbor, Rashel Willis, testified that Thomas came to the apartment on several occasions and beat on the door and threatened Teresa's life. Thomas admitted that he told Teresa on the phone, "You'll be coming back in a body bag." Thomas admitted in a letter to his wife that he was at fault in the separation. He said he was sorry for his drunkenness and its effects of it on their marriage.

¶ 9. Teresa admitted to having an extramarital affair about a year after the parties separated. There is also evidence in the record that Thomas was having an extramarital affair after he and his wife separated.

¶ 10. At trial, Teresa's attorney sought to introduce audio tapes of a conversation between Thomas and Teresa in order to impeach Thomas's testimony. The chancellor admitted the audio tapes of the telephone conversations "for whatever probative value it had," over Thomas's objections that the tapes had not been produced in discovery.

¶ 11. Aggrieved, the Thomas appeals to this Court and assigns the following issues as error:

I. WHETHER THE CHANCELLOR ERRED IN NOT GRANTING THOMAS A DIVORCE ON THE GROUNDS OF ADULTERY?
II. WHETHER THE CHANCELLOR MADE AN EQUITABLE DIVISION OF MARITAL ASSETS?
III. WHETHER THE CHANCELLOR ERRED IN ADMITTING CERTAIN AUDIO TAPED EVIDENCE AT TRIAL?
IV. WHETHER THE CHANCELLOR ERRED IN GRANTING A DIVORCE TO THE TERESA ON THE GROUNDS OF HABITUAL DRUNKENNESS AND CRUEL *746 AND INHUMAN TREATMENT WITHOUT A FINDING OF FACT?

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 12. This Court has repeatedly stated that it will examine the record and accept the evidence reasonably tending to support the findings made below, along with all reasonable inferences which may be drawn therefrom and which favor the trial court's finding of fact. In re Estate of Taylor, 609 So.2d 390, 392 (Miss.1992); Williams v. Evans, 547 So.2d 54, 58 (Miss. 1989); Clark v. Myrick, 523 So.2d 79, 81 (Miss.1988). The chancery court sitting as the trier of fact has the primary authority and responsibility to assess the credibility of witnesses. Bryan v. Holzer, 589 So.2d 648, 659 (Miss.1991). Moreover, where we find substantial evidence in the record supporting the findings of fact, we will seldom reverse, whether those findings be of ultimate fact or evidentiary fact. Mullins v. Ratcliff, 515 So.2d 1183, 1189 (Miss.1987). Put another way, unless the chancellor's determination of fact in a divorce case is manifestly wrong, this Court will uphold the chancellor's decision. See Dillon v. Dillon, 498 So.2d 328, 329 (Miss.1986).

¶ 13. As this Court has stated in previous decisions, these standards are general and elusive of precise meaning and application, and this Court has struggled to articulate precisely what is meant. See Taylor, 609 So.2d at 392. This Court has held that the findings of a chancellor are upheld unless those findings are clearly erroneous or an erroneous legal standard was applied. Hill v. Southeastern Floor Covering Co., 596 So.2d 874, 877 (Miss. 1992).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
782 So. 2d 742, 2001 WL 328693, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sproles-v-sproles-miss-2001.