Court Opinion

ID: 9655570
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 19:15:45.387242+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:20.097120
License: Public Domain

RAHMEYER, Judge,
concurring.
I concur. I write separately to show my dismay at a trial process that puts an eleven-year-old child in the role of deciding what is in his own best interest, First, I note that the trial judge awarded liberal periods of custody to Appellant (“Father”). Father was awarded alternating weekends and every Tuesday and Thursday from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. the following day, as well as alternating holidays and four weeks during the summer. Father’s basis for his motion for a new trial and this appeal is the testimony from his eleven-year-old son that he wanted to live with his father. The court appointed a guardian ad litem at the request of Father and held a second hearing at his request. As a result, the child was put on the stand a second time. A licensed professional counselor testified that the child loved both parents, but said he wanted to live with Father because Father is “lonely and needs him.” The therapist testified that the child “worries that Dad’s not happy, and things aren’t going well for him.” Father modeled poor parenting by showing disrespect for Mother and her new husband; he routinely calls the child’s stepfather “midget” and he struck the stepfather in front of the child. I concur that the trial court’s judgment is supported by substantial evidence, but I also believe the weight of the evidence would have supported a much less liberal custody plan given the inability of Father to encourage the child to have a meaningful relationship with both parents.