Court Opinion

ID: 9676015
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 05:12:18.770949+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:42.640678
License: Public Domain

Lyle Brown, Justice, concurring in part and dissenting in part. I agree with the majority opinion insofar as it reverses the case. However, I disagree with that part of the opinion which vests custody of the child in Kale Payne. This does not mean I would presently award custody to Rev. E. Leroy Jones. I think the ability and desire of Rev. Jones to have custody should be further explored and made a matter of record. He did not testify at the trial. The father has a two-bedroom trailer and resides at a trailer park in Kansas City. He resides there with his wife and child and proposes to take young Dean there to live. The record before us is very limited with respect to the total environment in which the child will be placed. This is true whether custody be granted to Rev. Jones or to the father. There were two hearings before the trial court. The first one was continued by the presiding judge for the stated purpose of calling upon the child welfare division of the state welfare department for assistance. It may well be that valuable information was furnished the trial judge, but it is not in the record. . From the present state of the record we must choose between a father whose past habits are not commensurate with a wholesome atmosphere for the child, and a third party about whom we know very little. If the trial court is in the same predicament — short of his judgment of the demeanor of the witnesses — then I contend the record needs to be more fully developed. If the trial court has information which is not in the record then the cause should be reopened in order that the record can be completed.