Waites, B. v. Evans, S.

• Court: Superior Court of Pennsylvania
• Decided: January 28, 2025
• Docket: 2286 EDA 2024
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

J-S48044-24

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

BRIDGETTE WAITES : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA Appellant : : : v. : : : STEVEN EVANS : No. 2286 EDA 2024

Appeal from the Order Entered August 12, 2024 In the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County Civil Division at CV-2021-002704

BEFORE: STABILE, J., NICHOLS, J., and BENDER, P.J.E.

MEMORANDUM BY BENDER, P.J.E.: FILED JANUARY 28, 2025

Bridgette Waites (Mother) appeals pro se from the order awarding joint

legal custody and shared physical custody of the children she shares with

Steven Evans (Father).

The parties have two children: C.W. (born August 2010) and R.W. (born

October 2015). As the trial court observed, custody “has been extensively

litigated over the course of four years.” Trial Court Opinion (TCO), 10/1/24,

at 1.1 On February 9, 2024, Mother filed a petition requesting primary physical

custody of the children. The court held a two-day trial on May 30-31, 2024.

On August 12, 2024, the trial court issued a 38-page order detailing its award

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1 According to Father, Mother has “an extensive history” of “lodging and pursuing baseless abuse claims.” Father’s Brief at 15. J-S48044-24

of joint legal custody and shared physical custody. 2 Mother filed a pro se

notice of appeal on August 28, 2024.

On October 18, 2024, Father petitioned to dismiss the appeal based on

Mother’s noncompliance with Pa.R.A.P. 1925 (filing of concise statement) and

Pa.R.A.P. 2154 (designation of record), as well as Mother’s “attempt to

mislead the Court by attempting to submit documents not of record.” Petition

to Dismiss Appeal, 10/18/24, at 2. Father “noted that Mother’s filing of her

appeal contained nine pages of handwritten expression,” and stated, “[t]o the

extent that these nine pages of expression (contained within [Mother’s] Notice

of Appeal) are viewed as her ‘Statement of Errors Complained of on Appeal,’

said Statement substantially fails to conform to the requirements of Rule

1925.” Id. at 3. Father averred, inter alia, that “the Statements contained

in those nine pages are lengthy, redundant, confusing and too vague to

properly identify and address the issue or issues to be raised on appeal.” Id.

In addition, Father averred that Mother “has improperly submitted to this

Honorable Court copious pages of undesignated documentation that was not

and is not part of the certified record.” Id. at 5 (footnote omitted).

On November 4, 2024, this Court entered a per curiam order deferring

disposition of Father’s petition “to the panel that will decide the merits of this

appeal.” Order, 11/4/24. On November 8, 2024, Father filed a second petition ____________________________________________

2 The first page of the order has a typographical error stating that the date of

the order is August 30, 2024. The docket indicates the order was filed on August 12, 2024, and the trial court stated in its opinion that Mother is appealing from the order “dated August 12 th, 2024.” TCO at 1-2.

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to dismiss this appeal. Father based his second petition on “(a) Mother’s

material non-compliance with the filing of her Reproduced Record; and/or (b)

Mother’s attempt to mislead the Court by attempting to submit documents not

of record; and/or (c) Mother’s material non-compliance with the filing of

Mother’s Brief.” Petition to Dismiss Appeal, 11/8/24, at 2; id. at 3-5 (citing,

inter alia, Pa.R.A.P. 2101 and Rosselli v. Rosselli, 750 A.2d 355 (Pa. Super.

2000)). Again, this Court issued a per curiam order deferring disposition to

the merits panel. Order, 12/4/24.

The appeal was assigned to this panel on December 30, 2024. Father

continues to argue:

Mother’s appeal should be dismissed due to her repeated and material failures to comply with the Rules of Appellate Procedure, including failure to file a conforming Statement of Errors Complained of on Appeal, failure to file her Designation of Record, and material non-compliance with the filing of her Brief and Reproduced Record to include her repeated attempts to mislead the Court by submitting documents not of record.

Father’s Brief at 1.3 We agree.

Notably, there are substantial defects in Mother’s brief which impede

our review. Mother fails to structure her brief as prescribed in Pa.R.A.P. 2111

(enumerating briefing requirements for appellate briefs), and Pa.R.A.P. 2119

(setting forth requirements for the argument section of appellate briefs).

3 Father also argues that “even if the procedural defects do not warrant dismissal, Mother’s appeal should be denied on the merits.” Father’s Brief at 1; id. at 11-16.

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Mother’s brief is comprised of a 27-page narrative in which she asserts

that the trial court “considered bad evidence” and “made a bad ruling.”

Mother’s Brief at 2 (unnumbered). Mother does not cite any legal authority

as required by Pa.R.A.P. 2119(a) (directing an appellant’s argument “shall be

divided into as many parts as there are questions to be argued; and shall have

at the head of each part … the particular point treated therein, followed by

such discussion and citation of authorities as are deemed pertinent”). As

Father states, “Mother has not even alleged an abuse of discretion and,

instead, simply expresses her displeasure with the decision of the [t]rial

[c]ourt and expounds her personal opinions and thoughts.” Father’s Brief at

11.

Mother does not present a coherent legal argument. When “issues are

not properly raised and developed in briefs, [and] when the briefs are wholly

inadequate to present specific issues for review, a [c]ourt will not consider the

merits thereof.” Elliot-Greenleaf, P.C. v. Rothstein, 255 A.3d 539, 542

(Pa. Super. 2021) (citation omitted). This Court may dismiss an appeal “if the

defects are in the brief or reproduced record of the appellant and are

substantial.” Pa.R.A.P. 2101. Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal. 4 ____________________________________________

4 We recognize Mother is pro se. While this Court is “willing to construe liberally materials filed by a pro se litigant, pro se status generally confers no special benefit.” Commonwealth v. Lyons, 833 A.2d 245, 251–52 (Pa. Super. 2003). “We shall not develop an argument for an appellant, nor shall we scour the record to find evidence to support an argument[.]” Milby v. Pote, 189 A.3d 1065, 1079 (Pa. Super. 2018). A person who represents (Footnote Continued Next Page)

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Appeal dismissed.

Date: 1/28/2025

herself in legal proceedings, “must, to a reasonable extent, assume that h[er] lack of expertise and legal training will be h[er] undoing.” Id.

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