Case Title: Ex parte Lori Jane Ethridge McCormick. PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS (In re: Lori Jane Ethridge McCormick v. William Curtis Ethridge) (Autauga Circuit Court: DR-99-307.02; Civil Appeals : 2070405). WRIT DENIED. NO OPINION.

Citation: 

Docket Number: 1080149

State: alabama

Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Date: 2009-02-27T00:00:00Z

Document:
REL:02/27/2009
Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the advance
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Alabama Appellate Courts, 300 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104-3741 ((334) 229-
0649), of any typographical or other errors, in order that corrections may be made before
the opinion is printed in Southern Reporter.
SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA
OCTOBER TERM, 2008-2009
____________________
1080149
____________________
Ex parte Lori Jane Ethridge McCormick
PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE COURT OF CIVIL APPEALS
(In re: Lori Jane Ethridge McCormick
v.
William Curtis Ethridge)
(Autauga Circuit Court, DR-99-307.02;
Court of Civil Appeals, 2070405)
BOLIN, Justice.
WRIT DENIED.
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2
Cobb, C.J., and Lyons, Woodall, Stuart, Smith, Parker,
and Shaw, JJ., concur.
Murdock, J., dissents.
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3
MURDOCK, Justice (dissenting).
As indicated in the Court of Civil Appeals' opinion, to
justify a change of custody in a child-custody-modification
case, not only must the noncustodial parent seeking the change
demonstrate that he or she is a fit custodian, (1) there must
have been a material change of circumstances since the
previous custodial award and (2) the positive good to be
brought about by the proposed change of custody must more than
offset whatever disruption will be caused by the change.
McCormick v. Ethridge, [Ms. 2070405, Oct. 17, 2008] ___ So. 2d
___ (Ala. Civ. App. 2008).  The reason for the first
requirement -- that there has been a material change of
circumstances -- is to overcome the res judicata effect of the
prior custodial judgment.  See Self v. Fugard, 518 So. 2d 727,
730 (Ala. Civ. App. 1987); Spears v. Wheeler, 877 So. 2d 607,
609 n.1 (Ala. Civ. App. 2003).  See generally Ex parte J.P.,
641 So. 2d 276, 278 (Ala. 1994).  The latter requirement,
often referred to as the "material promotion" test of Ex parte
McLendon, 455 So. 2d 863 (Ala. 1984), is a separate
requirement.  I would grant certiorari review in this case to
examine the record and, in the context of that record, to
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4
review the holdings of the trial court and the Court of Civil
Appeals to determine whether there has been some confusion of
these two requirements.  It is hard for me to conceive that
where, in the words of the Court of Civil Appeals, at the time
of the divorce "the mother was mired in a substance-abuse
problem and agreed to give custody of the child to the father
because of that problem," but undisputedly "has since overcome
that problem, remarried, obtained steady employment, given
birth to another child whom she is raising with her current
husband, and established a suitable home for her children,"
___ So. 2d at ___, there has not been a material change of
circumstance since the divorce.  (Whether a change of custody
to the mother would satisfy the "material promotion"
requirement would then be a separate question.)  Even aside
from this change of circumstance, which the petition appears
not to treat as the basis for concluding that there has been
a material change of circumstances, I would like to consider
further the arguments made by the mother in her petition as to
a change of circumstances, namely that, since the parties'
divorce, the father has developed an alcohol problem, has
cohabited with a series of women, and has committed acts of
1080149
5
domestic violence against some of the women, or their
children, all of which the mother argues have adversely
affected the child.  
Based on the foregoing, I conclude the petition should be
granted; therefore, I respectfully dissent.