Goodin v. Department of Human Services, No. 1999-CP-01728-SCT.
| Decision Date | 14 December 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 1999-CP-01728-SCT. |
| Citation | 772 So.2d 1051 |
| Parties | John T. GOODIN v. DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, STATE OF MISSISSIPPI. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
John T. Goodin, Appellant, pro se.
Darrell Clayton Baughn, Clinton, Attorney for Appellee.
Before PRATHER, C.J., McRAE AND DIAZ, JJ.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
¶ 1. The Mississippi Department of Human Services ("DHS"), on behalf of Diana Goodin McKay ("McKay"), sought to enforce an Arizona child support order against John T. Goodin ("Goodin") in the Chancery Court of Winston County. The chancellor granted DHS' petition, and Goodin has appealed, asserting the following assignments of error:
In addition to these issues, DHS makes the following contention:
X. This Court should tax Goodin with the costs of this appeal and award statutory damages if it affirms the chancellor's decision.
¶ 2. Goodin and McKay married in Mississippi and later became residents of Arizona where they eventually divorced. Pursuant to the divorce, the Superior Court of Cochise County, Arizona, ordered Goodin to pay $776 in monthly child support for the two unemancipated children born of this marriage.
¶ 3. After the divorce, McKay and the two children returned to Mississippi to live. McKay remarried and obtained employment at Melody Homes where, according to Goodin, she receives a sizable income. Goodin also returned to Mississippi, enrolling in classes at East Central Community College ("ECCC") in Decatur, Mississippi, where he has been a full-time student since August 1998, and working in Starkville, Mississippi, in the summer of 1999.
¶ 4. Goodin, by his own admission, did not pay child support between February 1998 and July 31, 1999, although he did remit a portion of his earnings from the summer of 1999 to McKay. Because Goodin had not paid child support in that period, DHS, on behalf of McKay, sought to enforce the Arizona order in Mississippi, filing a Petition to Enforce and Give Full Faith and Credit to a Foreign Child Support Judgment ("Petition") in the Chancery Court of Winston County, Mississippi.
¶ 5. Following the filing of the Petition, Goodin appeared before Chancellor Edward Prisock, and with the assistance of counsel opposite, objected to the court's jurisdiction over him, objected to service of process, and requested a continuance in order to obtain representation. After warning Goodin that he would have to represent himself if he did not obtain counsel, the chancellor granted Goodin a one month continuance.1 When Goodin recturned for the September 15, 1999, hearing ("hearing"), he had not obtained counsel and was required to represent himself. At the hearing, Goodin raised four significant objections. First, Goodin again objected to the court's jurisdiction, stating that he was a resident of Arizona, not Mississippi. Second, Goodin claimed that, since the chancellor's law clerk had previously worked at DHS and had initiated the Petition, the chancellor should recuse himself. Third, Goodin contended that a motion for modification of his child support obligation was still pending in the courts of Arizona but provided no documentation for this argument. Finally, Goodin reciterated his previous position as to service of process, testifying that he had never been personally served, that service had been left with his mother at her home, and that he did not reside with her. Overruling Goodin's objections, the chancellor granted the Petition and entered an order for withholding, directing Goodin to continue to pay the $776 in monthly child support, to pay $75 per month toward his arrearages of $10,088, and to pay $1,000 within 20 days or be incarcerated. Aggrieved, Goodin has appealed.
¶ 6. This Court's scope of review of the findings of a chancellor in domestic relations matters is limited. Pearson v. Pearson, 761 So.2d 157, 162 (Miss.2000). The findings of the chancellor will be overturned on appeal only if "manifestly wrong, clearly erroneous, or if the chancellor applied an erroneous legal standard." Id. at 162. No finding will be disturbed or set aside if supported by "substantial, credible evidence." Id.
¶ 7. These standards apply even though Goodin represented himself at the hearing and has now appealed without the assistance of counsel. This Court has stated that "[e]ven when a litigant is pro se, a court is to apply the same procedural and evidentiary requirements upon him." Dethlefs v. Beau Maison Dev. Corp., 511 So.2d 112, 118 (Miss.1987). Nonetheless, appellate courts generally afford such litigants some degree of leeway on appeal. See Johnson v. State, 154 Miss. 512, 513, 122 So. 529 (1929); Kellar v. Mississippi Employment Sec. Comm'n, 756 So.2d 840, 842 (Miss.Ct.App.2000) (). As in Johnson and Kellar, this Court will review the record for any "self-evident" errors that need not be supported by citations.
¶ 8. Goodin contends that he is an Arizona resident as he still owns a house and is still a registered voter there and, therefore, is not subject to the jurisdiction of the Winston County Chancery Court. This Court, however, need not consider whether Goodin is a domiciliary as he was properly served process while physically present in Mississippi.
¶ 9. The United States Supreme Court has held that a nonresident of a State is subject to the jurisdiction of that State's courts if properly served process while physically present in that State. Burnham v. Superior Court, 495 U.S. 604, 628, 110 S.Ct. 2105, 2119, 109 L.Ed.2d 631, 650 (1990). One may properly serve process to a defendant in Mississippi by having the sheriff or his deputy physically deliver a copy of the summons and complaint to the defendant. Miss. R. Civ. P. 4(c)(2). Upon completion of physical service, the sheriff or deputy must file a "proof of service" form with the court. Miss. R. Civ. P. 4(f).
¶ 10. In the case sub judice, this Court finds Goodin personally subject to the jurisdiction of this State's courts under Burnham. DHS properly served Goodin a copy of the summons and complaint as is reflected in the "proof of service" form, signed by Winston County Deputy Sheriff Curtis Austin, indicating he personally served process to Goodin in Mississippi. While Goodin maintained at the hearing that he had not been properly served process by DHS, Goodin fails to raise that issue on appeal. This Court has long held that issues not properly raised on appeal are procedurally barred from consideration. See Glover v. Jackson St. Univ., 755 So.2d 395, 398 n. 1 (Miss.2000); Moore v. State, 676 So.2d 244, 245 (Miss. 1996). Even were Goodin's contention not procedurally barred, this Court finds substantial, credible evidence in the "proof of service" form to support the chancellor's finding that the trial court had jurisdiction over the parties and affirms the trial court's decision.
¶ 11. Goodin contends that the chancellor erred in requiring him to represent himself. This Court finds no merit in Goodin's argument for two reasons.
¶ 12. First, this Court has held that the rights to appointed counsel and to effective assistance of counsel do not apply in civil proceedings. DeMyers v. DeMyers, 742 So.2d 1157, 1162 (Miss.1999). The United States Supreme Court has ruled similarly, stating that counsel should be appointed only in cases in which, if the unrepresented party loses, he "may be deprived of his physical liberty." Lassiter v. Department of Soc. Servs., 452 U.S. 18, 26-27, 101 S.Ct. 2153, 2159, 68 L.Ed.2d 640, 649 (1981). In the case at hand, Goodin had no right to have counsel appointed as this was a civil proceeding. Goodin had the opportunity to obtain counsel but failed to do so.
¶ 13. Second, Mississippi's Constitution guarantees litigants in the courts of this State the right to represent themselves as they see fit. Miss. Const. art. 3, § 26. In the instant case, the chancellor warned Goodin that he would be required to represent himself if he did not locate counsel before the hearing and allowed Goodin one month in which to secure counsel. Goodin simply chose to ignore the chancellor's warning, as he was free to do. This Court finds no abuse of discretion by the chancellor as both the warning given and the length of time afforded Goodin were sufficient.
¶ 14. Goodin claims the chancellor erred in refusing to recuse himself in this matter since his law clerk, Martha Wallace, had earlier initiated the pending Petition while employed with DHS. Because Wallace did not participate in this matter while employed as the chancellor's law clerk, this Court finds no error in the chancellor's decision not to recuse himself.
¶ 15. Mississippi chancellors are presumed to be "qualified and unbiased." Walls v. Spell, 722 So.2d 566, 571 (Miss. 199...
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