Griffin v. Bell

• Decision Date: 28 October 1968
• Citation: 215 So.2d 573
• Parties: James GRIFFIN and Mrs. Jacquelin Griffin v. Mrs. Tiny Adams BELL. .no. 45006.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 573

215 So.2d 573

James GRIFFIN and Mrs. Jacquelin Griffin v. Mrs. Tiny Adams BELL.

.no. 45006.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

Oct. 28, 1968.

Rehearing Denied Dec. 2, 1968.

John R. Countiss, III, Charles A. Brewer, Jackson, for appellants.

Barnett & Barnett, James Arden Barnett, Jackson, for appellee.

ROBERTSON, Justice:

The appellants, James Griffin and wife, Mrs. Jacquelin Griffin, appeal from a decree of the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi, awarding custody of a minor female child, April Lyn Adams, to her natural mother, Mrs. Tiny Adams Bell, after a full hearing on a petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by Mrs. Tiny Adams Bell.

The decree appealed from was rendered on June 21, 1967, but the change of custody therein provided for was stayed until December 27, 1967. In addition to the stay of execution, supersedeas was granted by the chancery court, and the physical custody of the minor child is still with the maternal aunt, Mrs. Jacquelin Griffin, and her husband, James Griffin.

The principal question is whether the Youth Court Division of the Hinds County Court acquired jurisdiction of the parties and the subject matter by virtue of an allegation in the petition filed that the minor child was a neglected child.

April Lyn Adams was born to Dwayne and Tiny Adams on November 3, 1959. A vear or so later, Mr. and Mrs. Adams were divorced in Texas, where they were living at the time, and for about one and one-half years, the natural father, Dwayne Adams, retained custody of his minor daughter, April Lyn Adams.

On May 26, 1965, at Big Spring, Texas, L. Dwayne Adams, the father, and Tiny Adams, the mother, entered into a custody agreement reciting, among other things:

'We agree that the best interest of the child, APRIL LYN ADAMS would be for her custody and control to be placed with her mother, TINY ADAMS. However, if the parties agree, in the future, to APRIL LYN ADAMS being with her father, L. D. ADAMS, then the custody and control of the child shall be in L. D. ADAMS without the need of further court action.'

Based on this custody agreement, a consent judgment was entered in the District Court of Howard County, Texas, awarding custody and control of the minor child, April Lyn Adams, to her natural mother, Tiny Adams. However, on September 1, 1964, Mrs. Tiny Adams, who had secured the child from her former husband, turned over physical custody of her child to her sister, Mrs. Jacquelin Griffin, and the child was brought from Texas as Mississippi by Mrs. Griffin.

Mrs. Tiny Adams secured her child from her sister, Mrs. Jacquelin Griffin, during the early part of September 1965 and entered her in the first grade of school in Jackson, Mississippi, Mrs. Adams having previously moved from Texas to Jackson. The child remained with her mother for about a week, and the mother was then persuaded by her sister, Mrs. Jacquelin Griffin, to return the physical custody of her child to the Griffins.

About the middle of January 1966, Mrs. Tiny Adams and her husband-to-be, Walter B. Bell, talked with her sister and her husband, Mrs. Jacquelin Griffin and James Griffin, about returning her minor child, April Adams, immediately upon the marriage of Mrs. Adams to Walter Bell. The Griffins did not want to return April Adams to her mother, Mrs. Tiny Adams, and requested her to let April remain with them at least until the school term was completed about June 1, 1966. Mrs. Tiny Adams and Walter Bell were married on February 19, 1966.

The Youth Court Judge of Hinds County, without notice to the natural parents, L. Dwayne Adams and Mrs. Tiny Adams Bell, on June 1, 1966, entered an emergency order which recited:

'This cause this date came on for hearing on an emergency basis in the interest of April Adams, a minor, of the age of six years and seven months, and the court having considered the report of the Youth Counselor in this cause and the report of the Mental Health Clinic, and the court finding that an emergency situation does exist in regard to April Adams, the court finding that it would be in the best interest of said child that her care and custody be awarded to her aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. James E. Griffin until this cause can be heard on its own merits.'

On June 1, 1966, Mrs. Jacquelin Griffin swore to a petition later filed in the youth court wherein she stated:

'April Adams * * * is a neglected child within the meaning of Chapter 207, of the Mississippi Laws of 1946, in that said child lacks the proper care, support and supervision from her own natural parents in that said child developed certain health problems while living with her father and no or inadequate medical attention was sought. The petitioner would advise the court that said child has been cared for solely by the petitioner and her husband since Sept. 1, 1964 except for a period of one week more or less during Sept. 1965. The petitioner would advise the court that Mental Health Clinic is now helping the petitioner in regard to said child and the clinic workers recommend that said child remain in the home of the petitioner and her husband.' (Emphasis added).

On June 14, 1966, a hearing was had on the petition filed in youth court, and custody was awarded to Mrs. Griffin on the basis of April Adams being a neglected child. L. Dwayne Adams and Mrs. Tiny Adams Bell appealed to the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County from the order of the Hinds County Youth Court, and the chancery court, on February 28, 1967, found:

'(B)ecause of the defective process issued to April Adams in this cause that said minor was not properly before the Court and that said cause should be reversed and remanded for a new trial on the basis of this defective process and for the further reason of finding whether the natural parents of said April Adams are ready, willing and able to give the psychiatric help needed by said child. There is nothing in the record from the lower Court to show that said parents were ready,...