Opinion ID: 2630728
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The magistrate court's decision

Text: Again, this Court's review of the magistrate court's decision will be limited to determining solely whether the magistrate court's factual findings were supported by substantial and competent, albeit conflicting, evidence and whether the conclusions of law properly follow from those findings. See Roe Family Services, 139 Idaho at 934, 88 P.3d at 753. The magistrate court's decision that visitation, in this case, was not in Adam's best interests is supported by the evidence presented to the magistrate court. Adam's teacher testified as to Adam's negative reaction to Crawford's visit at school and Adam's misbehavior immediately before and after Adam spent the weekend with Crawford. The relationship between Leavitt and Crawford was, at best, adversarial such that its effects could be devastating to Adam. When the time came that Mundee could no longer care for Adam, Crawford deliberately withheld that information from Leavitt so that primary physical custody of Adam would not switch over to Leavitt, as the parties had previously agreed. Crawford failed to sustain her clear and convincing burden of demonstrating she was entitled to some visitation despite Leavitt's wishes. In fact, it appears Crawford only presented evidence concerning her relationship with Adam to support her argument that she should be elevated to the status of a parent because Mundee and Adam had resided with her. The magistrate court's finding it was in the best interests of Adam that visitation be terminated is supported by substantial and competent evidence. Crawford failed to carry her burden of proving otherwise. The magistrate court's decision terminating Crawford's visitation rights cannot be said to be an abuse of discretion. The ultimate determination as to whether visitation should be granted is committed to the sound discretion of the trial court. The magistrate court acted within the outer boundaries of its discretion and consistently with the applicable legal standards because its decision was guided by the principles announced in Troxel. Briefly, the Troxel Court was confronted with a Washington statute that allowed any person to petition a court for visitation rights at any time, and authorized the court to grant such visitation rights whenever visitation may serve the best interests of the child. Wash. Rev.Code Ann. § 26.10.160(3). After concluding a parent's right to control the upbringing of his or her child was fundamental, a divided Court struck down this breathtakingly broad statute as applied to the fit parent challenging the statute. Troxel, 530 U.S. at 67, 120 S.Ct. at 2061. Specifically, the Court determined (1) there is a presumption that a fit parent acts in the best interests of his or her child; (2) a judge must accord special weight to a fit parent's decision; and (3) a court may not infringe on the fundamental right of parents to make child rearing decisions simply because [it] believes a `better' decision could be made. Id. at 68, 71-73, 120 S.Ct. at 2061-2063. Here, the magistrate court properly weighed Crawford's visitation rights against Leavitt's fundamental right to direct Adam's upbringing. The parties stipulated Leavitt was a fit parent. The magistrate court recognized Leavitt's fundamental right and afforded Leavitt the presumption that a fit parent acts in a child's best interests. In analyzing Adam's best interests, we note that after the first appeal the magistrate court was directed by the district court to apply the factors set forth in I.C. § 32-717. This direction from the district court was in error, as I.C. § 32-717 applies to custody disputes between equal and competing fundamental interests, with one limited exception when a grandparent seeks custody where the child is actually residing with a grandparent in a stable relationship. I.C. § 32-717(3). The best interest factors of I.C. § 32-717(1) are not applicable to the best interest determination required by I.C. § 32-719 in a dispute between a parent and grandparents over visitation. The magistrate court's decision was not affected by the directive from the district court, however, as the magistrate court concluded visitation was not in Adam's best interests even without applying the I.C. § 32-717 factors. The decision to deny Crawford visitation rights was clearly within the realm of choices available to the magistrate court and that court acted consistently with the applicable legal standards. Finally, under these circumstances, the magistrate court's decision was based on the exercise of reason. The magistrate court observed the relationship between Leavitt and Crawford had degenerated into a highly adversarial one that affected the stability of Adam's life. The magistrate court noted Adam's behavior had improved since Crawford's visitation was terminated. When combined with the magistrate court's other findings, it is clear the magistrate court reached its decision to terminate Crawford's visitation rights based on an exercise of reason.