Court Opinion

ID: 9365994
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-01-25 17:05:16.154693+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:15:48.639129
License: Public Domain

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                                          vA..iuloruJ                                      01/24/2023

            IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA                               Case Number: DA 22-0725

                                        DA 22-0725

 IN RE THE PARENTING OF M.M.:
                                                                         FILED
                                                                          JAN 2 4 2C23
 ELISE M. GUEST,                                                       Bowen C3 reenwor,a
                                                                     C. rk of Supreme Court
                                                                        State (If montaria

             Petitioner and Appellee,
                                                                     ORDER
       v.

 PAUL R. MANNELIN,

             Respondent and Appellant.

       Appellant Paul R. Mannelin, via counsel, moves pursuant to M. R. App. P. 22(2)(a)
for relief from an Order of the Fourth Judicial District Court, Missoula County, denying
his Motion to Stay Pending Appeal. Mannelin alleges that if the judgment is not stayed
until this appeal is resolved, the child M.M., who is subject to the incorporated parenting
plan, will be irreparably harmed because the plan drastically reduces Mannelin's parenting
time with the child. Appellee Elise M. Guest objects to Mannelin's motion for stay, arguing
this Court should allow the District Court's denial of stay to stand because Mannelin has
not demonstrated the requisite good cause for this Court to provide relief from the District
Court's Order.
       From Mannelin's motion and Guest's response in opposition, the Court understands
that in this case, the parties previously had no formal parenting plan in place for M.M.'s
care. However, Mannelin alleges their informal agreement resulted in hirn having rnore
parenting time than the formal parenting plan ordered by the District Court. In his motion
for relief, he argues that the District Court made erroneous findings of fact and conclusions
of law, its order infringes on his rights, and it made arbitrary rulings. In response, Guest
asserts that Mannelin mischaracterizes several of the District Court rulings, including the
amount of parenting time he has under the plan as ordered by the court.'
       M. R. App. P. 22(2)(a) provides that a motion for relief under this Rule must, among
other factors, demonstrate good cause for the relief requested. M. R. App. P. 22(3) allows
this Court, in the interests of justice, to grant, modify, or deny the relief requested. "Good
cause" is generally defined as a legally sufficient reason and referred to as the burden
placed on a litigant to show why a request should be granted. Brookins v. Mote, 2012 MT
283, ¶ 29, 367 Mont. 193, 292 P.3d 347 (citations omitted).             We have considered
Mannelin's arguments.       We are not convinced that the interests of justice require
overturning the decision of the District Court, nor has Mannelin demonstrated good cause
to do so.
       Therefore, IT IS ORDERED that the M. R. App. P. 22(2)(a) motion of Appellant
Paul R. Mannelin for relief from the District Court's order is DENIED.
       The Clerk is directed to provide copies of this order to all counsel of record.
       DATED this 011"ay of January, 2023.

                                                                  Chief Justice

                                                   &,c

                                                                     Justices

        I Although Mannelin submitted numerous exhibits with his motion for relief, he neglected
to include the District Court's Final Parenting Plan which is the subject of his motion to stay.
M. R. App. P. 22(2)(a)(ii) requires a party to include copies of the relevant documents from the
record with a motion for relief.
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