Court Opinion

ID: 9763998
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 03:06:33.954898+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:52.213277
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Mr. Justice Musmanno:
The ship of matrimony in this case began its marital journey on tranquil and promising waters. The further it sailed the happier seemed' to be the bridal *127couple which was blessed with children and ever-increasing prosperity. After a quarter of a century of voyaging with fair winds and clear skies, the ship ran into storms and controversy which so damaged it that it had to put into the drydoeks of the courts, where it now awaits whatever repair the law can bring to a disabled craft.
The cause of the disabling storms was not an unfamiliar one. As the husband acquired greater wealth and affluence on the seas of mundane affairs, he apparently grew restless with confinement on his own vessel and looked across the waters to other attractions. In this case, his secretary. His attentions to the secretary were not limited to the amenities of a cordial employer-employee relationship. They went further; it is suggested, much further. The bride of now 29 years remonstrated; the remonstrances went unheeded; she called for the lifeboat and rowed away.
She brought an action of divorce a.m.e.t., charging indignities and adultery. She lost her case and the order dismissing the complaint was affirmed by the Superior Court (198 Pa. Superior Ct. 26).
The husband now filed a suit for divorce against the wife and he also lost the suit. His complaint was dismissed and the dismissal was upheld by the Superior Court in 202 Pa. Superior Ct. 176.
The husband brought a second suit, this being the third divorce action between the parties. A master was appointed to take testimony and he recommended divorce. The Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County granted divorce a.v.m., and the wife appealed to the Superior Court which affirmed the decree of divorce on a divided court. Through the processes of allocatur the case is now before us.
The plaintiff, Eugene W. Zimmerman charges his wife, Eleanor Zimmerman, with malicious and wilful desertion, persisted in for a period of two years. It *128is fundamental law in Pennsylvania that in desertion cases the plaintiff has the burden of proof in establishing the wilfulness and maliciousness of the deserting party and that the burden of proof, by merely establishing withdrawal, does not shift to the defendant to prove consent to the withdrawal: “It is necessary for the plaintiff, in order to establish desertion, to show that the withdrawal from the domicile was both wilful and malicious and was persisted in for the required statutory period without reasonable cause; then if defendant produces testimony showing consent of the plaintiff to the withdrawal this evidence may or may not overcome the plaintiff’s evidence of wilfulness and maliciousness in the mind of the fact-finder.” (Jablonski v. Jablonski, 397 Pa. 452)
With regard to the reasonableness of Mrs. Zimmerman’s withdrawal from the conjugal home; it is to be noted that the Superior Court, when refusing divorce to the contesting parties, said that “Mr. Zimmerman and his secretary had committed certain acts that certainly were improper.”
Before the two year statutory period of desertion had expired, Mrs. Zimmerman endeavored to effect a reconciliation with her husband. She went to her daughter, Mrs. Rosalie Johnson, living in Rolla, Missouri and asked her to call Mr. Zimmerman, in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, submitting her offer to return to their marital domicile. Mrs. Johnson made the call. What Mr. Zimmerman said to his daughter in answer to the request for reconciliation between husband and wife later became a matter of controverted testimony. It seems that Mrs. Johnson may have had a change of heart as to her parental loyalties, first siding with her mother and then with her father.
Mrs. Zimmerman testified that Mrs. Johnson said Mr. Zimmerman said he did not think he could take his wife back but indicated he would talk to his *129daughter again when he returned from a short trip he was then about to undertake. It is significant, however, in determining credibility between Mrs. Zimmerman and her daughter, Mrs. Johnson, as to what Mr. Zimmerman said in that telltale long distance conversation, that, Mrs. Johnson, after another conversation with her father, wrote her mother stating: “Daddy called yesterday evening. He said he gave it a lot of thought but just didn’t see any reason for going back together now. He said too much has been said and done and that you would both be miserable under the circumstances.”
Mr. Zimmerman himself, when asked about his wife’s request to resume living with him, said: “I did not leave the house, and I did not pursue it, it was in her place to do the pursuing.”
Mrs. Zimmerman did pursue her effort to move into her husband’s house again, even if some doubt can rise from the testimony as to whether she could love him again. The law, however, does not attempt, nor could it successfully do so, to peel the heart to discover the fruit of sentiment within. If an injured spouse is willing to resume the responsibilities, duties and liabilities which go with living under the same roof with one’s conjugal partner, in addition, is willing to forgive the past, and is also eager to serve that person to the utmost in devotion and care, the law will not close the door in the face of the person knocking for admittance, even though the history of what previously transpired might suggest that the wound of the original hurt had not healed.
It appears to me, after perusal, study and reflection over the transcript, that Mrs. Zimmerman sincerely made an effort to take her place at the side of Mr. Zimmerman with dignity and propriety, determined to respect and care for him as it is expected a devoted wife will.
*130After failing in her effort to win Mir. Zimmerman back through the intervention of her daughter, Mrs. Zimmerman went to her husband’s place of business, which was also his residence, and tried to see him. The clerk at the office of the Holiday Motel informed her that Mr. Zimmerman was not in his apartment. She returned several hours later and again was informed Mr. Zimmerman was not available. She left a note for Mr. Zimmerman. Several days later the clerk returned the note to Mrs. Zimmerman by certified mail, stating that Mr. Zimmerman was away on a trip and there was no knowledge as to when he would return.
.. Mr. Zimmerman testified that he learned that his wife had made an effort to see him and said: “I was somewhat shocked to know that she had appeared.” He also learned about the note which had been left by his wife, but he did not inquire the reasons for its being returned to her, he did not ask about the circumstances of the note’s return, and above all showed no interest in ascertaining what his wife’s note contained. One cannot help conclude from Mr. Zimmerman’s testimony that he had taken down the antennae which might catch any message of reconciliation being telecast to him by his wife.
While the hypothetically innocent party of an alleged desertion is not required to send out searching parties for the deserting spouse, that person may not burn all bridges, lift all drawbridges, and cut all wires of communication and then complain that the absent party did not make known his or her desire to return.
A reading of the record persuades me to the conclusion that the plaintiff Eugene W. Zimmerman had no . desire to lower the gangplank to have Mrs. Zimmerman reboard his matrimonial ship. Indeed he kept the ship far enough away from shore to make communication with him difficult if not impossible.
*131The Majority Opinion cites many cases in support of the Majority’s decision. These cases are interesting and in many ways enlightening, but none of them offers a precise duplicate of the circumstances here involved. It is said a will has no twin brother. It might equally well be said that a contested divorce has no Siamese counterpart.
Applying the law to the facts, my independent review of the record compels me to the following conclusions: (1) The husband failed to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, wilful and malicious desertion on the part of his wife; (2) The burden of proof, therefore, did not shift to the wife, to prove consent to her withdrawal. Even so, the evidence supports the conclusion that the husband-plaintiff, by his actions, had no objections to his wife’s leaving and that it was in fact to his liking; (3) Even if the husband-plaintiff had met his burden of proving wilful and malicious desertion by the wife-defendant, the credible evidence supports the finding that during the two-year period she made bona fide offers of and attempts at reconciliation, all of which were ignored by the plaintiff; and (I) The record, including the husband’s own testimony, fails to support a finding that he was an innocent and injured spouse.
I, therefore, dissent from the Majority’s decision.