Opinion ID: 1436580
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Brian Arrington

Text: Brian Arrington sired three children within an eighteen month period but has steadfastly refused to support any of them. In February, 1992, through a consent paternity judgment entered by the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, he was ordered to pay $25 per week to Audra Hardy for the support of their minor child, Sonata, born in October, 1991. In August, 1992, through a second consent paternity order entered by the Circuit Court, he was ordered to pay Kimberly Valentine $45 per week for the support of their minor child, Martia, born in January, 1992. Finally in October, 1993, through a third consent paternity order entered by the Circuit Court, he was ordered to pay Ms. Hardy $28 per week for the support of their minor child, Rian, born in March, 1993. By late 1998, Arrington had accumulated an arrearage of nearly $14,800 with respect to Sonata and Rian and over $14,000 with respect to Martia, and contempt charges were filed. It appears that he was incarcerated, at least for a time, when he failed to appear as directed. There is some indication that in September, 1999, he was found in contempt in all three cases but was released from confinement upon his agreement to pay certain lump sums by January 3, 2000. Whether those sums were paid is not clear. In October, 2001, the three support orders were modified with respect to amounts and payments on the arrearages. [2] The cases now before us commenced in January, 2004, apparently upon the issuance of two Paternity Contempt Warrants, one with respect to Sonata and Rian (the Hardy case) and the other with respect to Martia (the Valentine case). Both warrants state that they were based on verified petitions, but the only petitions that we can locate in the record were those filed in December, 1998, which, of course, were five years old at the time and appear to have been adjudicated in September, 1999. The warrants directed that Arrington be apprehended and committed to the Baltimore City Jail pending a hearing but authorized bail of $5,000. For whatever reason, it took eighteen months  until July 26, 2005  for those warrants to be served. Upon his arrest, Arrington was incarcerated pursuant to the warrants until mid-September. At some point, a hearing on the contempt petitions was scheduled for October 4, 2005. At that hearing, it appears that an agreement was reached between the State and Arrington, who was represented by counsel, that the case would proceed through an agreed statement of facts. After questioning Arrington, the court found that his consent to that approach was knowing, intelligent, and voluntary. The agreed statement, recited by the prosecutor, established that the current arrearage with respect to Sonata was $14,933, the arrearage as to Rian was $16,421, and the arrearage with respect to Martia was $27,390. It was agreed as well that Arrington had never claimed any mental or physical disability that would have prevented him from complying with the support orders, that he was employed in the first quarter of 2005 but earned only $166, that he was employed in the second quarter of that year but earned only $1,361, and that he had been employed in 2003 and 2004 but earned only a pittance. On that record, the court found the arrearages as agreed. It also found that Arrington had the ability to work, that he did in fact work during the relevant period, that he suffered from no apparent physical or mental disability, that he wilfully failed to comply with the court order, and that he was therefore in civil contempt. Arrington, who had been released from jail only two weeks earlier, informed the court that he was currently employed, that he made $8 an hour, and that he was living with his sister. In accordance with the understanding between the parties, the court continued the matter until January 12, 2006, but directed that Arrington pay a lump sum of $750 ($250 per child) on the arrearage and that he continue to pay current support. Arrington agreed to that condition. The hearing scheduled for January 12 was postponed, for reasons not appearing in the record. It was rescheduled for April 26, 2006, but was again postponed when Arrington failed to appear. A warrant was issued for his arrest, and he was again ordered committed to the Baltimore City Detention Center, subject to bail of $10,000. The warrant was served in July, at which point, following a bail hearing, his aggregate bail, on all three cases, was reduced to $2,000, pending a rescheduled hearing on October 3, 2006. [3] The October 3 hearing began on a note of frustration. Ms. Valentine, Martia's mother, complained that it was the ninth time she had to appear in court in an effort to enforce the support order. She reminded the court that Arrington had been ordered to make a lump sum payment on January 12, and that he had failed to do so, and that all she had received were three checks for $48 in April. She complained that he would just work a job for just a couple of weeks and then stop. When the court expressed its own uncertainty as to what to do, the prosecutor suggested, based on what another judge had been doing, that Arrington, who had already been found in contempt, be incarcerated but immediately put on work release  that the purge be the work release through which he could make the required payments  and that this be done through an entity known as Dismas House. [4] The prosecutor advised the court that, if Arrington were committed to the Baltimore City Detention Center, someone from Dismas House would come to the jail to interview him to see if he qualified as a candidate for the Dismas House program. In the end, the court continued the case so that Arrington, who remained incarcerated in default of the $2,000 bail, could be interviewed. The proceeding resumed on October 25, before a different judge. The arrearages as of then were nearly $34,000 with respect to Sonata and Rian and $29,500 with respect to Martia. Aside from that, the only new information was that Arrington had been found by the Detention Center to be an acceptable candidate for work release, although it was not clear at the time whether he had been accepted into Dismas House. Defense counsel objected to any incarceration absent a finding of present ability to meet whatever purge was set by the court. Unimpressed, the court committed Arrington to the Division of Correction for a period of eighteen months, subject to the following purge: Defendant to enter Dismas House and secure full-time employment with earnings withholdings for purge (work release program). The Commitment Record shows a sentence of eighteen months for civil contempt to be served at Baltimore City Work Release Program. From that order, Arrington appealed. We are advised that, on November 16, 2006, the court entered additional orders in each case committing Arrington to Dismas House and that separate appeals were taken from those orders. On Arrington's motion, the Court of Special Appeals, on January 31, 2007, stayed the Circuit Court commitment orders and directed that Arrington be released pending the appellate proceeding. Coincidentally, on the same day, the Circuit Court, advised that Arrington had been accepted into Dismas House on October 25, 2006, and that he had obtained full-time employment, entered an order finding that he had purged his contempt and ordering his release from Dismas House. In April, 2007, we granted certiorari prior to any other significant proceedings in the Court of Special Appeals.