Court Opinion

ID: 9735746
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 18:29:22.667762+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:27:01.230907
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE UNDERWOOD, dissenting: I believe the trial judge abused his discretion in denying the mother’s prejudgment motion to reopen the proofs and present additional evidence. The majority opinion notes the father’s illicit affairs, abduction of Danny, and threats to the potential witness, but does not mention several other matters which, if true, seem to me quite significant. It is asserted that the father has two children by a prior marriage, a daughter whom he has not seen in nine years and a son whom he has never seen; that he is under a court order to pay $100 weekly for their support; that since the hearing he has lost the employment he held at that time; and that he has instituted bankruptcy proceedings. Certainly proof of these facts would be persuasive on the questions of custody and the father’s ability to support the child. The dissenting appellate court justice believed the trial court’s award of custody to the father was contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence, a position with which I am inclined to agree. The mother denied or gave rational explanations for the occurrences recited by the majority in support of the result it reaches. For example, the absence of mittens was due to the fact that they were tom from the boy’s hands during the straggle at the time he was abducted by the father. The absence of more frequent contacts by the mother was due, she testified, to her attorney’s advice and her fear of the father, a fear shared by at least one of the father’s sexual partners. I believe the additional evidence the mother seeks to offer may well tip the scales more clearly in her favor. Consequently, I would reverse the circuit and appellate courts and remand the cause to the circuit court for reconsideration in the light of such additional evidence as may be presented. JUSTICE GOLDENHERSH joins in this dissent.