Gardner v. Gardner
| Decision Date | 06 June 1927 |
| Docket Number | No. 163.,163. |
| Citation | 214 N.W. 133,239 Mich. 306 |
| Parties | GARDNER v. GARDNER. |
| Court | Michigan Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from Circuit Court, Ingham County, in Chancery; Charles B. Collingwood, Judge.
Divorce suit by Isaac Gardner against Ida Gardner, by Winnifred Smith, guardian ad litem. Decree for plaintiff, and defendant appeals. Modified and rendered.
Argued before the Entire Bench, except SNOW, J.Jackson, Fitzgerald & Dalm, of Kalamazoo (Joseph W. Planck, of Lansing, of counsel), for appellant.
Hayden, Ballard & Hubbard, of Lansing (L. B. Gardner, of Lansing, of counsel), for appellee.
This is an appeal from a decree of the Ingham circuit court, in which the plaintiff was granted an absolute divorce from the defendant.
The parties were married March 13, 1920. Following their marriage, they lived in Seattle and Bremerton, Wash., until October, 1921, when they moved to Kalamazoo, Mich. They stayed at the home of the defendant's parents in Kalamazoo for a while, and then moved to Lansing, where they lived with the plaintiff's father until September, 1923. Later they purchased a home on Hillsdale street in Lansing, where they lived until their separation about April 7, 1926. They have one child, Leonard, still living, born on the 9th of April, 1923.
The bill alleges that the defendant was guilty of extreme cruelty, in that she constantly accused the plaintiff of flirting and consorting with other women; that she had a violent temper, and on many occasions attacked the plaintiff, scratched his face, threw dishes at him, and once hit him with a stove poker, and at another time with a shovel. It is alleged that this conduct on the part of the defendant continued until further marital relations with her became unbearable.
The defendant filed an answer, in which she denied the allegations of cruelty recited in the bill, and asked to have it dismissed.
The bill was filed on April 10, 1926. The answer was filed on May 4, 1926. Before the cause was heard, and on October 13, 1926, the defendant was adjudged insane and committed to the Kalamazoo State Hospital; whereupon Winnifred Smith, a sister of the defendant, was appointed guardian ad litem, and filed a supplemental answer.
On the hearing, the circuit judge found that the allegations of cruelty were established by the evidence, and entered a decree for the plaintiff. The defendant has appealed.
We think there was sufficient evidence to support the finding of the court that the defendant was guilty of extreme cruelty, as alleged by the plaintiff. Neither of the parties were witnesses. The defendant, because of her mental disability, was unable to testify, and the plaintiff was prohibited by the statute from doing so as to all matters equally within her knowledge. But there was other undisputed evidence which satisfactorily established the charges of cruelty. The only question which requires consideration is whether the defendant was insane at the time she committed these acts of cruelty.
‘The broad rule has been laid down that a spouse who is insane cannot be guilty of conduct that will constitute a cause for divorce in favor of the other, for the reason that he or she is incapable of intentionally doing or committing an act that will constitute a ground for divorce.’ 9 R. C. L. p. 324, § 99.
‘While a divorce will not be granted for acts committed during insanity, a divorce may be obtained for acts happening prior thereto, notwithstanding the subsequent insanity.’ 2 Schouler, Marriage and Divorce, p. 1880, § 1679.
‘Mental irresponsibility, however, is not available as a defense to cruelty if the defendant was capable of fully comprehending and understanding the wrongs he was committing.’ 9 R. C. L. p. 334, § 113.
In the case before us, the defendant first manifested symptoms of insanity in August, 1925. At that time she came under observation and treatment of Dr. McNair of Kalamazoo. He testified that she was then insane, that the form of her insanity ws dementia precox, a progressive type of insanity manifesting itself chiefly in delusions. Dr. Yoder of the Kalamazoo State Hospital testified to her mental condition at the time of the hearing. He said that she was insane, that the form of her insanity was dementia precox, a progressive mental disease, probably incurable. The medical testimony leaves no doubt that she is afflicted with dementia precox, and that she has been so afflicted since August, 1925. It is a progressive disease, sometimes progressing slowly and in some cases rapidly. When it began with this defendant is a pure matter of speculation so far as medical science can determine. With one exception, the doctors did not undertake to say. So we must look elsewhere for information as to her mental condition during the years when the acts of cruelty to her husband were committed. The acts complained of began before the parties came to Michigan in October, 1921. In a letter to the plaintiff's father at Lansing, the defendant comments on her domestic difficulties, and says that the conditions were the same when they lived in Bremerton, Wash. We quote a portion of this letter, which was written on the 13th of December, 1921:
‘Ike and I will never get along. He insists on speaking to women he doesn't know when he meets them. He does this on the streets, in department stores, on the road, when he drives the machine, or anywhere. He absolutely refuses to quit it. If I should flirt, he would think that was terrible, but his doing it is a different matter. I am tired of living with a man who makes himself ‘common’ with every woman he meets. If I say anything to Ike when he flirts, he denies it, says I am seeing things and am a fool, then walks on and flirts with the next woman he meets.
‘His familiarity with other women and his abuse of me have almost separated us several times. My people say that if I accept such treatment now that I am back in Michigan it is my own fault as no Fullerton is obliged to.
‘If I came to Lansing and Ike continued being so free with women and continues humiliating me I would never remain. I've had my hell. It is time I enjoyed a little peace. Then I would have no position that would be worth while. Is that fair to me?
‘I offer Ike his freedom if he wishes it. Then he can do as he pleases as regards other women, but he cannot live with me and continue as he has been doing in...
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...impulsiveness and lack of control [Kruse v. Kruse, 179 Md. 657, 22 A.2d 475, 478(3)], mental irresponsibility [Gardner v. Gardner, 239 Mich. 306, 214 N.W. 133, 134(3)], psychoneurosis [Bailey v. Bailey, 115 N.J.Eq. 565, 171 A. 797, 799(1)], a manic-depressive condition [Mather v. Mather, 14......
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