Dawson v. Snipes
| Docket Number | 1521-2022 |
| Decision Date | 30 June 2023 |
| Parties | TERRELL DAWSON v. BARBARA SNIPES |
| Court | Court of Special Appeals of Maryland |
Nazarian, Friedman, Eyler, Deborah S. (Senior Judge Specially Assigned), JJ.
This is a third-party custody dispute between Terrell Dawson (Father), the appellant, and Barbara Snipes (Grandmother), the appellee, regarding A.S.J. (Child), who presently is 13 years old.[1] On January 1, 2020, Laronda Albert (Mother), Grandmother's daughter and Child's mother, died. Soon thereafter, in the Circuit Court for Frederick County, Grandmother sued Father for sole physical and legal custody of Child. Father filed a counterclaim seeking the same. After an evidentiary hearing, the court found that exceptional circumstances existed and that it was in Child's best interest to be in Grandmother's custody, with visitation for Father.
Father appealed, posing five questions for review, which we have combined and rephrased for clarity:[2] I. Did the circuit court err or abuse its discretion in finding that exceptional circumstances existed and that it was in Child's best interests for Grandmother to have custody?
II. Did the circuit court err or abuse its discretion by refusing to allow Father to question Grandmother about her health?
For the following reasons, we shall affirm the judgment of the circuit court.
The merits hearing in this case took place on August 9 and 10 2022.[3]
Grandmother testified in her own case and called her mother (Great-Grandmother), sister, and two other grandchildren in her care. Father testified on his own behalf and called his wife, mother, grandmother, brother, and aunt. With the agreement of the parties and Child's Best Interest Attorney (BIA), the court interviewed Child privately, and the interview was recorded and transcribed. The following facts were adduced.
Grandmother lives in a four-bedroom house in Frederick with Child; Child's halfbrother (A.P.), who is 20 years old and has lived with Grandmother since 2003; and Granddaughter, Child's cousin, who is 18 years old. The latter two have graduated from high school. Grandmother's daughters - - Mother, and Granddaughter's mother - - died within a few weeks of each other in early 2020.
Child was born in October 2009, in Portsmouth, Virginia. At the time, Mother, Father, Grandmother, and Great-Grandmother were residing in that town. Mother and Father were not married. Before Child was born, they lived together for a while. They did not live together after Child was born. For the first three months of his life, Child and Mother lived with Great-Grandmother. They then moved in with Grandmother. Later, for a few months, Mother lived in a home of her own, with Child. That home was near Grandmother's house, and Grandmother bought clothes and food for Child and paid Mother's bills. Mother and Child then moved back in with Grandmother.
In late 2015, Grandmother moved to Frederick with Great-Grandmother and A.P. and Granddaughter, who were about 13 and 11, respectively. Around that same time, Mother became homeless and suffered a mental health crisis that caused her to be admitted to a hospital in Portsmouth. She turned Child's care over to Father. Child was attending pre-kindergarten. In June 2016, Mother was discharged from the hospital and retrieved Child from Father. She and Child moved to Frederick to live with Grandmother, who was living with Great-Grandmother. After a month, Mother left, without Child (or A.P.), and spent a year moving around to several different states. Grandmother found housing, and Child and A.P. moved with her to her own home. Eventually, Mother returned to Frederick and moved in with Grandmother.
According to Grandmother, Child would visit Father during the summer and at Christmas. At first, Father and his family would come to Frederick to get him. One time, when Mother was there, she treated Father and his family very poorly. After that, he refused to come to Frederick to get Child. At that point, Grandmother and Mother started transporting Child to Portsmouth to visit Father.
On January 1, 2020, Mother and Child were in Portsmouth for Child's Christmas visit with Father when Mother died suddenly from hypertension. According to Grandmother, after the funeral, she and Father discussed Child's living arrangements. Father agreed that if Grandmother would not seek child support, Child could live with her, and in June he would come to Frederick to get Child for his summer visit.
Grandmother testified that before Father arrived in Frederick on the appointed day in June, Child became upset and uncontrollable. Grandmother learned that Father had been telling Child that he was taking him to Virginia to live permanently and that he should not tell Grandmother. When Father arrived at Grandmother's house, Grandmother would not turn Child over to Father. He called the police. The police asked Child whether he wanted to stay with Grandmother or leave with Father. Child said he wanted to stay with Grandmother, which he did. Grandmother then filed suit for custody.
The court entered a pendente lite order permitting Father to visit Child in Frederick on one week's notice to Grandmother. In the year before trial, Father only exercised visitation in Frederick once. Grandmother testified that, until she filed suit, Father never sought custody of Child and never contacted her about seeing Child.
Much evidence was introduced about Child's extensive medical and mental health history. In April 2013, when Child was three years old, his pediatrician referred him to a psychotherapy center in Virginia. He was seen three times, after which the sessions were discontinued due to Child's "maladaptive" behavior that was so disruptive it interfered with other patients' counseling sessions. About four months later, Mother took Child to a children's hospital in Virginia because he was to start a preschool program and she was concerned about his behavior. He was described as "very hyperkinetic" with a "combined type" of attention deficit disorder. Medication was prescribed. In August 2017, Child was evaluated at the Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital, in Baltimore. He was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD), Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and two types of learning disorders, one in reading and the other in written expression. Child was prescribed several medications. He also was diagnosed with asthma.
In 2018, Child was seen five times by a psychiatrist. In a progress note, the psychiatrist reported that, according to Mother, when Child visited with Father, "[Father] takes [Child] off all medication as he does not believe in the treatment[.]" The note further stated that Mother and Father did not communicate except "through her mom talking to his mom." Grandmother testified that when Child would visit Father, Father would not give Child his medication. She knew that because Child would return to her care with the same amount of medication he had left with.
Beginning in April 2020, soon after Mother's death, Child was seen by Potomac Case Management Services. The assigned case manager testified at trial, explaining that he and Child would meet two to three times a month after school for between 15 minutes to three hours. He, Grandmother, and Child worked together to devise a plan of care and specific measurable educational and social goals for Child. He assisted in arranging mental health services for Child through Brook Lane Health Services. He and Grandmother had been advocating for Child's needs. In his opinion, Child "has really started to thrive and be able to identify kind of the things that he struggles with a lot and get the help and ask for the help which . . . he wants and needs." He emphasized that routine and consistency are very important for Child:
I have found that working along with the family and school, [Child] works very well with a rigid schedule. [Having an] autism diagnosis [requires] that things kind of need to be known and set in stone and change is very hard. And, even within the school, simply if he was supposed to be somewhere . . . and it changed last minute he . . . would have a hard time with handling those situations.
The case worker added that Child is very comfortable at Grandmother's home, where he has his own room and can close the door if he wants. He has friends in the neighborhood and a few in school. He described Child's relationship with A.P. and Granddaughter as "great," and said he has an excellent support system in Frederick. Child had missed a lot of school that last year, mostly due to side effects from medications. Child has new medications now, and the case manager anticipated that he will miss fewer days from school for that reason.
On August 2, 2022, Child underwent another psychiatric evaluation. Once again, he was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, requiring support in social communication and to control repetitive behaviors; ADHD, predominantly hyperactive/impulse presentation; severe DMDD; generalized anxiety disorder; and chronic adjustment disorder. Grandmother testified that "[l]ittle things upset [Child]." Both before and after Mother's death, Grandmother was the primary person to take Child to his doctor appointments. Medical reports showed that Grandmother either took Child herself or accompanied him to his doctor visits.
Child's academic history also was elicited. When Child attended pre-kindergarten in Portsmouth from late 2015 to June 2016 while living with Father, his report card showed either "progressing" or "satisfactor...
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