Herndon v. Herndon, COA15-28-2

• Decision Date: 30 December 2016
• Docket Number: No. COA15-28-2,COA15-28-2
• Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals
• Parties: STEVEN CRAIG HERNDON, Plaintiff, v. ALISON KINGREY HERNDON, Defendant.

STEVEN CRAIG HERNDON, Plaintiff,
v.
ALISON KINGREY HERNDON, Defendant.

No. COA15-28-2

COURT OF APPEALS OF NORTH CAROLINA

December 30, 2016

An unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals does not constitute controlling legal authority. Citation is disfavored, but may be permitted in accordance with the provisions of Rule 30(e)(3) of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure.

Durham County, No. 14 CVD 3144

Appeal by defendant from order entered 10 September 2014 by Judge Doretta L. Walker in Durham County District Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 19 May 2015 with opinion filed 6 October 2015. On remand from the Supreme Court by opinion filed 10 June 2016.

Foil Law Offices, by N. Joanne Foil and Laura E. Windley, for plaintiff-appellee.

Tharrington Smith, LLP, by Jill Schnabel Jackson and Evan B. Horwitz, for defendant-appellant.

DIETZ, Judge.

Defendant Alison Herndon appeals from a domestic violence protective order entered at the request of her husband, Steven Herndon. The trial court found that Ms. Herndon was putting sleep-inducing drugs in her husband's food and then sneaking out to conduct an affair. The drugs incapacitated Mr. Herndon and led to a number of health issues, including rapid weight loss and morning vomiting.

Page 2

On appeal, Ms. Herndon challenges the admission of texts and other information from her cellphone, which she alleges Mr. Herndon obtained by breaking through the phone's security features without her permission. As explained below, we hold that any error in the admission of this evidence was harmless because, even setting that evidence aside, there is ample competent evidence supporting the trial court's findings of fact. Those findings, in turn, support the trial court's conclusion that Ms. Herndon engaged in acts of domestic violence. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's domestic violence protective order.

Facts and Procedural History

Plaintiff Steven Herndon and Defendant Alison Herndon are husband and wife and the parents of four minor children. On 21 May 2014, Mr. Herndon sought a domestic violence protective order against Ms. Herndon, alleging that she had caused or attempted to cause bodily injury to him and to their children. Specifically, Mr. Herndon alleged that his wife was putting sleep-inducing drugs in his food so that she could slip out of the house and meet a lover. Mr. Herndon alleged that the drugs made him ill and that, while he was incapacitated and his wife was out of the house...