Ellison v. Platts
| Decision Date | 20 June 1939 |
| Docket Number | 44839. |
| Citation | 286 N.W. 413,226 Iowa 1211 |
| Parties | ELLISON v. PLATTS et al. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Appeal from District Court, Hardin County; Sherwood A. Clock, Judge.
Action in habeas corpus by infant child, Sharon Lee Ellison, through her mother and next friend, Lela Nardicchio, against Earl Platts and wife, Bessie Platts, who were charged with unlawfully depriving said child of her liberty and from the custody of her mother. The trial court found that the care custody and control of said child should be and remain in the defendants, and annulled the writ, dismissed plaintiff's petition and rendered judgment against plaintiff for costs. Plaintiff has appealed.
Affirmed.
In determining custody of child, paramount consideration is best interests of child.
Bateson & Ryan, of Eldora, for appellant.
Lundy Butler & Lundy, of Eldora, for appellees.
This case involves the question of the custody of a twenty-month old child, the contest being between the young mother and the mother's aunt and uncle with whom the child has resided and been cared for since her birth out of wedlock. Cases of this character tear at the heart strings of all normal human beings and are recognized as perhaps the most difficult and baffling to the courts of all the matters with which they have to deal. Because of the inherent sentimentality of the human heart, courts, necessarily composed of men endowed with ordinary attributes, have found it imperative to brace and steel themselves against these almost overpowering influences, where a mother's love for her baby is involved, and, at every stage of the proceeding, keep an eye single to the best interests of the child, always realizing of course, that at best it is only problematical, being entirely infuturo. It is a known fact, incapable of disputation, that not infrequently from most unpromising environments and surroundings have emerged men and women of great worth and accomplishments, leaders in church and state far outrivaling many of their more favored compeers brought up in so-called best homes and environments. To have been born poor, to have known what it is to want, to have been forced, from sheer necessity, to struggle and fight for existence, to have learned frugality and industry in the " school of hard knocks" and to have had, with all, the love of mother-these have, perhaps, been the most potent elements comprising the fulcrum in the lives of countless numbers of successful men and women composing the backbone of this great country; hence, to determine in each particular case what is for the best interests of a little child is a most trying and dubious question.
The defendants alleged in their answer to the petition, in substance, three defenses: (1) That Lela, the mother of Sharon Lee Ellison, on or about the first day of December, 1936, orally agreed to surrender the custody and possession of said child unto the defendants and that they accepted such surrender, custody and care of such child and relying thereon have continuously cared for said child; (2) that the mother, on or about the month of May, 1937, willfully and wrongfully abandoned said child at the farm of the defendants and refused to look after said child, removing herself to Waterloo, Iowa, and, although she was repeatedly invited to return and make her home with them, she refused to do so and abandoned said child to the care, custody and control of the defendants, which abandonment continued to the commencement of this action; (3) that said Lela and her husband have not established a permanent and proper home for the development of a child of such tender years and that the progress, both social and mental, of such child will be greatly impaired should the court remove its custody unto the said Lela and her husband and especially alleging that said home of the said Lela and her husband is inadequate and improper in that the habits of Lela and Joe are immoral in that they are addicted to the use of intoxicating liquors and indulging in the frequent use of profane language. All of said defenses are specifically denied in a reply filed in said case.
There was a trial to the court and, after hearing the evidence, the trial court entered judgment against the petitioner in which judgment the learned trial court made the following pronouncement:
" This proceeding is brought by habeas corpus to recover the custody of the child, Sharon Lee Ellison, a child born unto the said Lela Ellison (Now...
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