Court Opinion

ID: 9769767
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 15:01:58.066881+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:44:55.903032
License: Public Domain

Judith Rogers, Judge, dissenting. This is an appeal from a decree awarding custody of the parties’ ten-year-old son to his father. I register this dissent mainly because the majority has committed a most grievous error in judgment by affirming the chancellor’s ruling that evidence that the father sexually abused his stepdaughter is not relevant to a determination of whether he is a fit and proper person to have custody of the child. The testimony deemed irrelevant by the chancellor and this court is that of Nicki McDonald. Ms. McDonald is appellant’s twenty-six-year-old daughter from a former marriage, who had lived in the household with appellee since she was a small child, as the parties married when she was a year old. She said that, when she was in the ninth or tenth grade, appellee came into her bedroom several times a week and touched her inappropriately. The abuse stopped after a confrontation, and she said that appellee admonished her not to tell anyone and convinced her that no one would believe her. Therefore, she kept the abuse a secret. “Relevant evidence” means evidence having any tendency to make the existence of a fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. Ark. R. Evid. 401. A fact that is of consequence in this case was whether appellee was a fit and proper person to have custody of the child. We have recognized that evidence bearing on a parent’s moral character is relevant in deciding the issue of custody. Stone v. Steed, 54 Ark. App. 11, 923 S.W.2d 282 (1996); James v. James, 29 Ark. App. 226, 780 S.W.2d 346 (1989). It requires no stretch of the imagination to realize that evidence of sexual abuse of a child speaks volumes about that person’s moral character. In James v. James, 29 Ark. App. 226, 780 S.W.2d 346 (1989), we reversed a chancellor’s ruling excluding evidence on grounds of relevancy that a prospective custodial parent had fraudulently embezzled funds from his deceased father’s estate. We held that this behavior was indicative of the parent’s moral character and was thus relevant to the issue of parental custody and the issue of the best interest of the child. More recently, in Stone v. Steed, 54 Ark. App. 11, 923 S.W.2d 282 (1996), we affirmed a chancellor’s ruling permitting evidence of crimes committed by third persons who were brought into the presence of the child by a prospective custodial parent. The offenses included possession of a controlled substance, harassment, and possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. We harkened back to our decision in James v. James, supra, and held that, since evidence of a parent’s moral character is relevant in a custody proceeding, the evidence in question was relevant as a reflection on the parent’s “morality in allowing persons of questionable reputation and character to be around the child.” I submit that the behavior evidenced in this case is far more serious than that of fraud or embezzlement. And, if evidence that a parent’s acquaintances have committed crimes is considered a poor reflection on that parent’s moral character, then there is no sound reason to conclude that the evidence in this case is irrelevant. Aside from the moral implications of the evidence discussed in James v. James and Stone v. Steed, evidence of a parent’s conduct and activities is routinely admitted in custody cases as a means for chancellors to acquaint themselves with the parties in order to decide the placement of custody. Church activities, or the lack thereof, criminal records, drinking habits, drug usage, adulterous affairs, the use of foul language, etc., are all considered relevant topics in a custody case, as having a tendency to show the kind of person a parent is. No reasonable person, even one unschooled in the law, would argue that evidence of sexual abuse is not relevant. Nevertheless, the majority stubbornly refuses to count this evidence among that which is generally considered relevant in determining the best interest of the child. To affirm, the majority accepts the chancellor’s reasoning that the evidence was not relevant because the abuse involved a young girl, whereas the child in question is a young boy. That distinction misses the point entirely. The evidence was not offered to show that the child was necessarily in danger of being abused. It was offered as evidence bearing on the issue of appel-lee’s moral character and his fitness to have custody of the child. It cannot be said that this evidence was not probative of appellee’s basic moral fiber and character. It would be ludicrous to conclude otherwise. The majority further holds that the evidence was not relevant because there had been no “proper investigation” of the allegation. I suppose this means that evidence of this kind is not considered relevant unless it has been reported to the proper authorities and investigated by them. In other words, acts that have remained clothed in secrecy are not relevant. To plainly state the majority’s holding is but to expose the fallacy of its reasoning. The issue here is one of simple relevancy. The chancellor unequivocally ruled that he did not consider this evidence relevant to any issue before him; he thus did more than attach little weight to the evidence as the majority obliquely suggests. Significantly, the chancellor did not find that the testimony was not worthy of belief. Yet to affirm this ruling, the majority has erected artificial barriers for the admission of this evidence. Such a result represents a perversion of the definition of relevant evidence and a blatant disregard of our case law holding that evidence of a parent’s moral character is relevant in a custody case. This decision is thus as offensive as it is wrong. Issues that touch upon the welfare of children should merit particular consideration on appellate review. As I indicated in my dissenting opinion in Jones v. Jones, 51 Ark. App. 24, 907 S.W.2d 745 (1995), rev’d on review, 326 Ark. 481, 931 S.W.2d 767 (1996), we who sit on this court should not hesitate to reverse in the face of manifest error. When a chancellor refuses to consider evidence that is relevant to the vital issue of a parent’s character, his values, and his sense of morality, it is our responsibility to take corrective action to disabuse the chancellor of his mistake in judgment. The chancellor in this case clearly abused his discretion in failing to consider this evidence as relevant. His ruling should not have the approbation of this court. While I would reverse and remand on this issue alone without discussing the other arguments on appeal, this court’s affirmance compels me to comment on the remaining issues raised. I also find fault with the chancellor’s comparison of appellant’s use of prescription medication to appellee’s use of an illegal substance. Persons who take medications prescribed by their doctors do so for reasons of health, while persons who use illegal, controlled substances do so for recreational purposes. Obviously, there is a vast difference between the two. And in this case, the medications prescribed for appellant were for the treatment of severe and frequent migraine headaches, which appellee did not dispute, and anxiety associated with her monthly menstrual cycle, as well as stress brought about by the deterioration of the parties’ relationship. These medications were prescribed under the direction and control of a physician in quantities deemed necessary by him for the treatment of those conditions. And, the chancellor did not find that she abused any of these medications. Appellee, on the other hand, admitted that he had smoked marijuana for twenty years. Introduced into evidence was a book of appellee’s called The Marijuana Growers Guide, which suggests that appellee did more than smoke this illegal substance. There was evidence that appellee’s use of this substance influenced the parties’ elder son, who also smoked marijuana and who had even stolen appellee’s marijuana from the shed where appellee kept it hidden. The young boy in question also testified that he had been around his father “every now and then when he acted kind of funny, acted drunk.” Therefore, I question the chancellor’s ruling holding appellant blameworthy for the use of prescribed medications, while downplaying appellee’s daily use of marijuana. The court reasoned that he could not control appellant’s behavior, but that he could control appellee’s usage of drugs. In the end, however, the chancellor did nothing to check appel-lee’s use of marijuana, since drug testing was not made part of the decree. The decree provided only that the court reserved the right to order drug testing in the future. I also cannot disagree with appellant’s argument that the chancellor considered evidence that was not introduced. It is clear that the chancellor was impressed with appellee’s testimony that he had been tested for drugs, as if the results were negative. However, the results of those tests were not admitted into evidence. It goes without saying that a court is not to consider evidence outside of the record. See Sanders v. Putman, 315 Ark. 251, 866 S.W.2d 827 (1993). Moreover, if the results were favorable to appellee, I wonder why no effort at all was made to lay a foundation for their admission? The failure to produce evidence within the party’s control raises the presumption that, if produced, it would operate against him, and every intendment will be in favor of the opposite party. Arkansas Hwy. Comm’n. v. Phillips, 252 Ark. 206, 478 S.W.2d 27 (1972); Rutherford v. Casey, 190 Ark. 79, 77 S.W.2d 58 (1934). Although we lend great deference to a chancellor’s judgment in custody cases, and for good reason, that does not mean that we must affirm when the record is fraught with errors so fundamental as to constitute an abuse of discretion. I respectfully dissent.