Court Opinion

ID: 9901115
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-21 13:06:03.392143+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:21:26.448897
License: Public Domain

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF NORTH CAROLINA

                                   No. COA22-952

                                Filed 21 November 2023

Rowan County, No. 17 CVD 1308

MELANIE ANN EVANS, Plaintiff,

             v.

RAY ALLEN MYERS, Defendant,

             v.

ALLEN AND CHRISTINE MYERS, Intervenors.

      Appeal by Plaintiff from order entered 19 May 2022 by Judge Charlie Brown

in Rowan County District Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 18 October 2023.

      Barton & Doomy         Law    Firm,   PLLC,    by   Matthew    J.   Barton,   for
      Plaintiff-Appellant.

      No brief for Defendant.

      Connell & Gelb PLLC, by Michelle D. Connell, for Intervenors-Appellees.

      COLLINS, Judge.

      Plaintiff Melanie Evans appeals from the trial court’s order granting Christine

and Allen Myers legal and physical custody of her minor child and awarding her

extremely limited visitation. Plaintiff argues that the trial court erred by awarding

Intervenors custody of the minor child and by restricting Plaintiff’s visitation to two

days a year. The trial court did not err by awarding Intervenors custody of the minor
                                          EVANS V. MYERS

                                          Opinion of the Court

child because the findings of fact are supported by clear and convincing evidence and

the findings of fact support the conclusions of law. However, the trial court erred by

denying Plaintiff reasonable visitation absent a finding that Plaintiff is an unfit

person to visit the child or that visitation with Plaintiff is not in the best interest of

the child. Accordingly, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand to the trial

court for further proceedings.

                                     I.      Background

      Plaintiff Melanie Evans and Defendant Ray Myers were in a relationship from

June 2009 until March 2017 but were never married.1 The parties share one minor

child, Callie, 2 who was born on 18 April 2013.

      Plaintiff filed a complaint for child custody in January 2017. The trial court

entered a consent order on 14 September 2017, which stated that “the parties are

hereby granted joint legal and physical custody of the minor child . . . with the parties

exercising week on, week off visitation,” and that “[t]he parties shall enroll the minor

child into Rowan-Salisbury Schools in the school closest to Plaintiff’s home, unless

otherwise agreed upon by the parties.” Plaintiff filed a motion for a show cause order

on 28 December 2018, alleging that Defendant failed to abide by the consent order

because “the child is suppose to go to a Rowan school closest to Plaintiff but Plaintiff

resides in Cabarrus County now & request the child be in that school district.”

      1 Defendant is not a party to this appeal.
      2 We use a pseudonym to protect the identity of the minor child.

                                                 -2-
                                   EVANS V. MYERS

                                  Opinion of the Court

      Christine and Allen Myers (“Intervenors”), who are the paternal grandparents

of Callie, filed a motion to intervene and modify custody, alleging that there had been

a substantial change of circumstances since the entry of the consent order, and that

“it would be in the best interest of the minor child to award both temporary and

permanent sole legal custody and primary physical custody of the minor child to the

Intervenors and secondary physical custody, with appropriate visitation to the

Plaintiff & Defendant.”        Intervenors specifically alleged that “[w]hen the

Plaintiff-mother has custody of the minor child, the child is not transported to school

in Rowan County and thereby misses school every other week”; that “Plaintiff and

Defendant have been served with truancy papers related to the child’s repeated and

extended absences from school”; and that “[t]he minor child has expressed fear and

‘hate’ for her mother, and has exhibited symptoms consistent with emotional distress,

including screaming ‘don’t hit me’ in the middle of the night, wetting her pants, and

worrying about not getting enough to eat at her mothers.”

      After a bench trial on 21 May 2019, the trial court entered a custody order on

13 June 2019, ordering that:

             1. Intervenors, Allen and Christine Myers, shall have legal
             and physical custody of the minor child . . . .
             2. Defendant shall have visitation with the minor child as
             mutually agreed and as follows:
                    a. Up to two consecutive weeks at the close of school
                    for the summer with thirty days prior written notice
                    to Intervenors of the two weeks Defendant wants to
                    exercise his visitation; and

                                         -3-
                                    EVANS V. MYERS

                                    Opinion of the Court

                     b. After the child has spent two consecutive weeks
                     during the summer with Intervenors following
                     Defendant’s first two consecutive week period,
                     Defendant shall have the child for up to fourteen
                     days (two weeks) after Intervenors two weeks in the
                     summer as long as it does not conflict with the
                     resumption of school for the minor child.
             3. Plaintiff shall have visitation with the minor child the
             first weekend of Defendant’s first two-week period of
             visitation during the summer. Plaintiff’s weekend shall be
             from Friday at 6:00 p.m. until Sunday at 6:00 p.m.

      Plaintiff and Defendant appealed.          On appeal, this Court held that “the

grandparents alleged sufficient facts to confer standing to seek custody[,]” but that

“the trial court’s findings of fact are insufficient to support the court’s conclusion that

the parents forfeited their constitutionally protected status as parents.” Evans v.

Myers, 281 N.C. App. 627, 867 S.E.2d 424 (2022) (unpublished). Accordingly, this

Court vacated the trial court’s order and remanded to the trial court to “enter a new

order on the existing record or conduct any further proceedings the court deems

necessary in the interests of justice.” Id. The trial court on remand entered a new

order on the existing record with additional findings of fact but left the custody award

and visitation schedule unchanged. Plaintiff appealed.

                                  II.   Discussion

A. Custody Award

      Plaintiff argues that the trial court erred by awarding Intervenors legal and

physical custody of Callie because the findings of fact are not supported by clear and

convincing evidence, and the findings of fact do not support the conclusions of law.

                                           -4-
                                   EVANS V. MYERS

                                   Opinion of the Court

      “A parent has an interest in the companionship, custody, care, and control of

his or her children that is protected by the United States Constitution.” Best v.

Gallup, 215 N.C. App. 483, 485, 715 S.E.2d 597, 599 (2011). “A parent loses this

paramount interest if he or she is found to be unfit or acts inconsistently with his or

her constitutionally protected status.” Boseman v. Jarrell, 364 N.C. 537, 549, 704

S.E.2d 494, 503 (2010) (quotation marks and citation omitted). “[T]here is no bright

line beyond which a parent’s conduct meets this standard.” Id. (citation omitted).

The analysis of whether a biological parent’s conduct is inconsistent with the parent’s

protected status is a “fact-sensitive inquiry” and such a determination must be made

on a case-by-case basis. Id. at 550, 704 S.E.2d at 503.

      “[A] trial court’s determination that a parent’s conduct is inconsistent with his

or her constitutionally protected status must be supported by clear and convincing

evidence.” Adams v. Tessener, 354 N.C. 57, 63, 550 S.E.2d 499, 503 (2001) (citation

omitted). “In a custody proceeding, the trial court’s findings of fact are conclusive on

appeal if there is evidence to support them, even though the evidence might sustain

findings to the contrary.” Owenby v. Young, 357 N.C. 142, 147, 579 S.E.2d 264, 268

(2003) (citations omitted).   Unchallenged findings of fact are binding on appeal.

Peters v. Pennington, 210 N.C. App. 1, 13, 707 S.E.2d 724, 733 (2011). We review the

trial court’s conclusions of law de novo. Hall v. Hall, 188 N.C. App. 527, 530, 655

S.E.2d 901, 904 (2008).

                                          -5-
                                    EVANS V. MYERS

                                    Opinion of the Court

   1. Findings of Fact

      Plaintiff specifically challenges findings of fact 18, 23, 24, 26, 37, 39, 40, 46, 47,

58, 60, 63, 64, 84, and 85. We address each finding in turn.

      a. Findings of Fact 18, 23, 24, 26, 37, 39, 40

             18. On or about October 26, 2018, Defendant-Father
             informed Plaintiff-Mother of the child’s enrollment [at
             Morgan Elementary School in Rowan County].
             ....
             23. Plaintiff-Mother had access to another vehicle during
             the relevant time period that the child was absent and
             tardy while in her care.
             24. Plaintiff-Mother continued to travel to and from her
             work at Amazon during the relevant time period that the
             child was absent and tardy while in her care. In particular,
             Plaintiff-Mother generally began work at 7:00 a.m. and
             would have lost two hours of work to transport the child to
             and from school.
             ....
             26. Plaintiff-Mother had the ability and means to take the
             child to school during the relevant time period that the
             child was absent and tardy while in her care but willfully
             elected not to do so.
             ....
             37. Defendant-Father’s election to take no action on the
             large number of absences and tardies was a substantial
             factor to the decline of the child’s academic performance.
             ....
             39. Plaintiff-Mother and Defendant-Father each failed to
             exercise reasonable and appropriate measures to ensure
             the child’s regular attendance in school.
             40. The large number of absences and tardies was a
             substantial factor in the decline of the child’s academic
             performance. In particular, the child was required to play

                                           -6-
                                   EVANS V. MYERS

                                   Opinion of the Court

             catch-up in her studies due to the same.

      Finding of fact 18 is supported by Defendant’s testimony that he informed

Plaintiff “the day of” that he enrolled Callie in school, which was 26 October 2018.

Furthermore, finding of fact 23 is supported by Defendant’s testimony that “[Plaintiff]

had access to a vehicle[,]” and by Plaintiff’s testimony that she has had a vehicle

“since February.” Finding of fact 24 is supported by Defendant’s testimony that

“[Plaintiff] had access to a vehicle[,]” and by Plaintiff’s testimony that she has had a

vehicle “since February” and that “[she] ha[s] to be at work by 7:00, and it’s really

difficult to change [her] schedule at Amazon, and -- so [she] lose[s] two hours of work

to accommodate for [Callie] to get there on time.” Finding of fact 26 is supported by

the same testimony and is further supported by the following testimony:

             [DEFENSE COUNSEL]: And since you discovered she was
             enrolled in school in November, do you know how many
             absences she’s had from that date until the present?
             [PLAINTIFF]: Well, we do it every other week. Oh, boy.
             At least 20 days.
             [DEFENSE COUNSEL]: So it’s -- it’s fair to say that on
             the weeks that you have [Callie], you don’t take her to
             school?
             [PLAINTIFF]: No, because he was in contempt of court.
             [DEFENSE COUNSEL]: That’s --
             [PLAINTIFF]: Our papers --
             [DEFENSE COUNSEL]            -- “no,” you didn’t take her to
             school?
             [PLAINTIFF]: I know.
             [DEFENSE COUNSEL]: -- is that the answer? Okay.

                                          -7-
                                   EVANS V. MYERS

                                   Opinion of the Court

             [PLAINTIFF]: Because our papers that he signed said that
             our -- he was in contempt of court because she is supposed
             to be enrolled in a school closest to me, not him.

      Finding of fact 37 is supported by Callie’s paternal grandmother’s testimony:

             [INTERVENORS’ COUNSEL]: Are you concerned about
             the fact that [Defendant] did nothing to make sure that the
             child went to school even on [Plaintiff’s] time? Are you
             concerned about that?
             [CHRISTINE MYERS]:            Well I’m concerned that
             [Defendant] didn’t step in and immediately -- I don’t know
             what the legal recourse would be. File for full custody. I -- I
             said to him, time and again, “Ray, what are you waiting
             for? This can’t go on, you know, please do something.” And
             I don’t know what the hesitation was, but I wish he had
             immediately acted upon that.

Finding of fact 39 is supported by Defendant’s testimony that “[Plaintiff] had access

to a vehicle”; by Plaintiff’s testimony that she has had a vehicle “since February” and

that she did not take Callie to school because “[she] ha[s] to be at work by 7:00, and

it’s really difficult to change [her] schedule at Amazon, and -- so [she] lose[s] two

hours of work to accommodate for [Callie] to get there on time”; and by Callie’s

paternal grandmother’s testimony that “[Defendant] didn’t step in” to make sure that

Callie went to school when she was with Plaintiff. Finally, finding of fact 40 is

supported by Callie’s paternal grandmother’s testimony that “[Callie’s] missed so

much school. I’m sure she’s missing, you know, valuable teaching time; and it’s

broken up, so she’s there for a week, and then she misses the next week, so she’s

behind and has to catch up.”

      Accordingly, findings of fact 18, 23, 24, 26, 37, 39, and 40 are supported by clear

                                          -8-
                                   EVANS V. MYERS

                                  Opinion of the Court

and convincing evidence.

      b. Findings of Fact 46, 47, 58, 60

             46. At the time of the hearing, Plaintiff-Mother willfully
             elected to not provide bedding for the child’s bed or a pillow
             case for her pillow without justification.
             47. The child asked Intervenor-Step-Grandmother what
             bedding was after seeing the same on the child’s bed when
             staying with Intervenors.        The home conditions of
             Plaintiff-Mother and Defendant-Father are unsafe and
             unsuitable for the child’s age, amounting to unfitness and
             causing substantial harm to the child.
             ....
             58. On October 1, 2018, Plaintiff-Mother willfully elected
             to transport the child to play at a park at night, a known
             risk for injury or other danger. Intervenors’ Exhibit No. 17
             is incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth.
             ....
             60. However, in December 2018, Plaintiff-Mother had
             access to snow boots for the child which had been gifted by
             Intervenors but willfully elected not to have her wear them.

Findings of fact 46 and 47 are supported by Plaintiff’s Facebook post showing Callie

lying in a bed without sheets or a pillowcase, and by Callie’s paternal grandmother’s

testimony that “when [Callie] was with [her], and [she] pulled the top sheet over

[Callie] and she was like, what’s this. This is a sheet, honey.” Furthermore, finding

of fact 58 is supported by Plaintiff’s Facebook post showing her, Callie, and another

child sitting in a car at night with the caption, “[T]he kids wanted to go to park at

this time of night before bed so I took them we got there they started thinking how

hard to play in the dark[.]” Finally, finding of fact 60 is supported by Plaintiff’s

                                           -9-
                                  EVANS V. MYERS

                                 Opinion of the Court

Facebook post showing Callie playing in the snow with bags on her feet and Callie’s

paternal grandmother’s testimony that Intervenors bought Callie winter boots.

      Accordingly, findings of fact 46, 47, 58, and 60 are supported by clear and

convincing evidence.

      c. Findings of Fact 63, 64, 84, 85

             63. The child has expressed to others that she hates and
             does not want to be with Plaintiff-Mother.
             64. [Plaintiff]-Mother’s actions and inactions described
             herein were contributing factors for the child’s expression
             to others.
             ....
             84. Cumulatively, the conduct of Plaintiff-Mother and
             Defendant-Father demonstrated that the child (1) did not
             receive proper care and support and (2) was exposed to
             substantial risks of harm.
             85.      Additionally, the actions and inactions of
             Plaintiff-Mother      and     Defendant-Father,     viewed
             cumulatively, and their past misconduct detrimentally
             impacted the present (as of the original hearing) and could
             impact the future of the child. Among other considerations,
             the academic performance and substantial risk of harm of
             the child all detrimentally impacted the child and could do
             so in the future.

      Findings of fact 63 and 64 are supported by Callie’s paternal grandmother’s

testimony that “[Defendant] has said [Callie] hates her mother. And that way didn’t

want to -- and that she didn’t want to go with her mother.” Finally, findings of fact

84 and 85 are supported by the same clear and convincing evidence that supported

the above findings of fact.

                                        - 10 -
                                  EVANS V. MYERS

                                  Opinion of the Court

      Accordingly, the trial court’s findings of fact are supported by clear and

convincing evidence.

   2. Conclusions of Law

      Plaintiff argues that the findings of fact do not support the trial court’s

conclusion of law that she acted inconsistently with her constitutionally protected

parental status.

      In addition to the supported findings detailed above, the trial court made the

following relevant and unchallenged findings:

             19. From on or about October 26, 2018, through May 21,
             2019, the child was enrolled at Morgan Elementary School.
             20. Since the child’s enrollment, she has been absent
             thirty-six (36) days and received thirteen (13) tardies.
             21. The majority of the child’s absences occurred while the
             child was in Plaintiff-Mother’s custody.
             ....
             28. Plaintiff-Mother willfully elected to not take the child
             to school during the relevant time period because she
             believed     Defendant-Father       had     violated     the
             then-controlling Order.
             ....
             30. At the time of the original hearing, Plaintiff-Mother
             [and] Defendant-Father had pending charges in Rowan
             County for School Attendance Law Violations relating to
             the child’s large number of absences.
             ....
             33. The child began school at Morgan Elementary in the
             second quarter of the 2018-2019 school year.
             34. The child’s grades continued to decline throughout that
             school year.

                                         - 11 -
                                       EVANS V. MYERS

                                      Opinion of the Court

                ....
                61. [Plaintiff]-Mother had a history of screaming [at] the
                child rather than utilizing appropriate punishment
                methods.

          The findings of fact support the trial court’s conclusions of law that:

                6.     By clear, cogent, and convincing evidence,
                Plaintiff-Mother and Defendant-Father are unfit to have
                care, custody, and control of the child.
                7.     By clear, cogent, and convincing evidence,
                Plaintiff-Mother and Defendant-Father have exhibited
                parental behavior inconsistent with the parental duties
                and responsibilities regarding the care of the child, waiving
                their constitutionally protected status and warranting
                placement of the child with Intervenors.
                8. It is in the best interest and welfare of the child for her
                custody to be placed with Intervenors.

          Accordingly, the trial court did not err by awarding Intervenors legal and

physical custody of Callie.

B. Visitation Schedule

          Plaintiff argues that the trial court abused its discretion by “restrict[ing]

[Plaintiff] to a conscience shocking two days a year of visitation.”

          “A noncustodial parent’s right of visitation is a natural and legal right which

should not be denied unless the parent has by conduct forfeited the right or unless

the exercise of the right would be detrimental to the best interest and welfare of the

child.”     Paynich v. Vestal, 269 N.C. App. 275, 278, 837 S.E.2d 433, 436 (2020)

(quotation marks and citations omitted). “In awarding visitation privileges[,] . . . the

best interest and welfare of the child is the paramount consideration.” Id. (quotation

                                             - 12 -
                                   EVANS V. MYERS

                                   Opinion of the Court

marks and citation omitted). In determining matters involving a parent’s visitation

rights, the trial court is granted “wide discretionary power.” Swicegood v. Swicegood,

270 N.C. 278, 282, 154 S.E.2d 324, 327 (1967). “However, a trial court’s discretionary

authority is not unfettered.” Paynich, 269 N.C. App. at 278, 837 S.E.2d at 436

(quotation marks and citation omitted). N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-13.5(i) provides:

             In any case in which an award of child custody is made in
             a district court, the trial judge, prior to denying a parent
             the right of reasonable visitation, shall make a written
             finding of fact that the parent being denied visitation rights
             is an unfit person to visit the child or that such visitation
             rights are not in the best interest of the child.

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-13.5(i) (2021). “The statutory language is straightforward and

unambiguous and requires that if a trial court does not grant reasonable visitation to

a parent, its order must include a finding either that the parent is ‘an unfit person to

visit the child’ or that visitation with the parent is ‘not in the best interest of the

child.’” Respess v. Respess, 232 N.C. App. 611, 616, 754 S.E.2d 691, 696 (2014). Where

visitation is severely restricted, there must be some finding of fact, supported by

competent evidence in the record, warranting such restriction. Johnson v. Johnson,

45 N.C. App. 644, 647, 263 S.E.2d 822, 824 (1980).

      Here, the trial court’s order provides, “Plaintiff-Mother shall have visitation

with the child the first weekend of Defendant-Father’s first two-week period of

visitation during the summer. Plaintiff-Mother’s weekend shall be from Friday at

6:00 p.m. until Sunday at 6:00 p.m.” The trial court denied Plaintiff the right of

                                          - 13 -
                                    EVANS V. MYERS

                                   Opinion of the Court

reasonable visitation by restricting her visitation to two days a year absent a finding

that she was “an unfit person to visit the child or that such visitation rights are not

in the best interest of the child.” N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-13.5(i). Accordingly, we reverse

in part and remand to the trial court.

                                III.     Conclusion

      We affirm the portion of the trial court’s order awarding Intervenors custody

of Callie because the findings of fact are supported by clear and convincing evidence,

and the findings of fact support the conclusions of law. However, the trial court erred

by denying Plaintiff reasonable visitation absent a finding that Plaintiff is an unfit

person to visit the child or that visitation with Plaintiff is not in the best interest of

the child. We therefore reverse in part and remand to the trial court for further

proceedings.

      AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED AND REMANDED IN PART.

      Judges GORE and FLOOD concur.

                                          - 14 -