State v. Mauney

415 S.E.2d 208, 106 N.C. App. 26, 1992 N.C. App. LEXIS 333
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedApril 7, 1992
DocketNo. 9125DC608
StatusPublished

This text of 415 S.E.2d 208 (State v. Mauney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Mauney, 415 S.E.2d 208, 106 N.C. App. 26, 1992 N.C. App. LEXIS 333 (N.C. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

WYNN, Judge.

The State’s evidence tended to show that defendant was charged with willfully neglecting or refusing to provide adequate support or maintenance for his illegitimate child pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 49-2 (1984). On 24 September 1990 and on 18 December 1990, the district court ordered defendant to submit to blood tests, but defendant refused.

The State made a show cause motion, and the district court found that Judge Hodges had entered an order compelling blood tests to determine parentage on 18 December 1990. The order directed defendant to appear at the Caldwell County Health Department on 16 January 1991 to submit to “Red Cell, HLA and any other blood-grouping tests and comparisons which have been developed and adapted for the purposes of establishing or disproving parentage.” The district court further found that defendant appeared, but refused to submit to the test because the blood was to be withdrawn by a phlebotomist rather than a nurse or a physician licensed under Chapter 90 of the General Statutes.

The district court concluded, as a matter of law, that defendant, without reasonable cause, had failed to comply with a reasonable court order. The district court further found that defendant was in “Indirect Civil Contempt” and ordered him to submit to the blood test on 17 April 1991 as arranged by laboratory personnel. Finally, the district court named the person to withdraw defend[29]*29ant’s blood, and determined that she was qualified. From the judgment or other disposition, defendant appealed.

I.

Prior to discussing the merits of this case, we must first address the State’s motion to dismiss defendant’s appeal. For the reasons which follow, we deny the State’s motion.

The State contends that this Court lacks jurisdiction to hear this appeal because, as a criminal action, appeal lies in the superior court. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 5A-17 (1986), “[a] person found in criminal contempt may appeal in the manner provided for appeals in criminal actions, except appeal from a finding of contempt by a judicial official inferior to a superior court judge is by hearing de novo before a superior court judge.” Alternatively, “[a] person found in civil contempt may appeal in the manner provided for appeals in civil actions,” id. § 5A-24; specifically, to the Court of Appeals, id. § 7A-27 (1989).

In O’Briant v. O’Briant, 313 N.C. 432, 329 S.E.2d 370 (1985), our Supreme Court discussed the difficulty of distinguishing between civil and criminal contempt. The Court stated the following: “Where the punishment is to preserve the court’s authority and to punish disobedience of its orders, it is criminal contempt. Where the purpose is to provide a remedy for an injured suitor and to coerce compliance with an order, the contempt is civil.” Id. at 434, 329 S.E.2d at 372 (citing Blue Jeans Corp. v. Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, 275 N.C. 503, 508-09, 169 S.E.2d 867, 869 (1969)). See also N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 5A-11, 5A-21 (1986). This Court, in Bishop v. Bishop, 90 N.C. App. 499, 369 S.E.2d 106 (1988), because of the confusion engendered by discerning the purpose of a given remedy, clarified the O’Briant test. See Note, The Distinction Between Civil and Criminal Contempt in North Carolina, 67 N.C. L. Rev. 1281 (1989). The Bishop Court created a bright-line rule derived from the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Hicks ex rel. Feiock v. Feiock, 485 U.S. 624, 99 L.Ed.2d 721 (1988):

Civil Relief: If the relief is imprisonment, it is coercive and thus civil if the contemnor may avoid or terminate his imprisonment by performing some act required by the court (such as agreeing to comply with the original order). If the relief is monetary, it is likewise civil if the monies are either paid [30]*30to the complainant or defendant can avoid payment to the court by performing an act required by the court;
Criminal Relief: If the relief is imprisonment, it is punitive and thus criminal if the sentence is limited to a definite period of time without possibility of avoidance by the contemnor’s performance of an act required by the court. If the relief is monetary, it is punitive if payable to the court rather than to the complainant.

Bishop, 90 N.C. App. at 505, 369 S.E.2d at 109.

In the case at bar, the trial judge concluded, as a matter of law, “that defendant has without reasonable excuse failed to comply with the lawful order of the court, and that the defendant had the means to comply with the court order and still has the means to comply with the court order, and that he is in indirect civil contempt for his failure to comply.” Although the trial judge’s characterization of the form of contempt is not conclusive, we agree that the defendant was in civil rather than criminal contempt. According to the Bishop Court’s definition, the relief granted by the trial court, ordering defendant to submit to blood tests, was unequivocally civil in nature. Because we find this to be civil contempt, appeal lies in this Court.

As an alternative basis for its motion to dismiss, the State contends that this appeal is interlocutory and is not immediately appealable. An appeal is available prior to a final decision if (1) the trial court’s order affects a substantial right; and (2) the loss of that right will injure the party appealing if it is not corrected prior to final judgment. Goldston v. American Motors Corp., 326 N.C. 723, 392 S.E.2d 735 (1990). See N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 7A-27(d) (1989), 1-277 (1983).

In Willis v. Power Co., 291 N.C. 19, 229 S.E.2d 191 (1976), the trial court found defendant in contempt for failure to comply with an order compelling discovery. Our Supreme Court reasoned that, by not entertaining defendant’s appeal, defendant would be placed in the position of either risking a fine or imprisonment or complying with an erroneous order. Id. at 30, 229 S.E.2d at 198. The Court also stressed that the issues raised on appeal would become moot if the defendant complied with the purging conditions to avoid punishment. Id.

[31]*31In the instant case, upon consideration of the rationale set forth by the Willis Court, we find that the contempt order is immediately appealable. If defendant refuses to comply, he risks a fine or imprisonment; if he complies, his challenge to the blood test may become moot. Accordingly, we find the State’s argument to be without merit and deny its motion to dismiss defendant’s appeal.

II.

Defendant first contends that the record does not show that the order to compel blood tests was entered in open court or that it was served on the defendant or his attorney. Consequently, defendant argiies that the trial court’s finding the he was in willful contempt of the blood test order was erroneous. We disagree.

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Related

Breithaupt v. Abram
352 U.S. 432 (Supreme Court, 1957)
Schmerber v. California
384 U.S. 757 (Supreme Court, 1966)
Hicks Ex Rel. Feiock v. Feiock
485 U.S. 624 (Supreme Court, 1988)
O'Briant v. O'Briant
329 S.E.2d 370 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1985)
Blue Jeans Corp. v. AMALGAMATED CLOTH. WKRS. OF AM.
169 S.E.2d 867 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1969)
MG Newell Co., Inc. v. Wyrick
370 S.E.2d 431 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 1988)
Goldston v. American Motors Corp.
392 S.E.2d 735 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1990)
Wilson v. Wilson
390 S.E.2d 354 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 1990)
Bishop v. Bishop
369 S.E.2d 106 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 1988)
Willis v. Duke Power Co.
229 S.E.2d 191 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1976)

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Bluebook (online)
415 S.E.2d 208, 106 N.C. App. 26, 1992 N.C. App. LEXIS 333, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mauney-ncctapp-1992.