In re Marriage of Harkenrider
| Decision Date | 13 October 2015 |
| Docket Number | 46424-1-II |
| Court | Washington Court of Appeals |
| Parties | In the Matter of the Marriage of TERESA HARKENRIDER, Respondent, and CHRISTOPHER WODJA, Appellant. |
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
Christopher Wodja appeals from a superior court's dismissal of his petition to modify the parenting plan entered following a dissolution action between himself and his former wife Teresa Harkenrider. The superior court dismissed Wodja's petition after it found inadequate cause to proceed to a modification hearing. Wodja appeals, arguing that (1) there was no basis to revise the court commissioner's finding of adequate cause, (2) the superior court abused its discretion by failing to adhere to the statutory procedure for determining adequate cause, (3) the superior court abused its discretion by relying on a report from the appointed guardian ad litem (GAL) to make its decision regarding adequate cause, (4) the superior court effectively terminated Wodja's parental rights in violation of his constitutional right to due process, and (5) the superior court abused its discretion by awarding Harkenrider attorney fees and GAL costs. We hold that the superior court did not abuse its discretion in any respect and affirm.
Wodja and Harkenrider were married in 2004 and had two children before they divorced in December 2011. After a lengthy trial the trial court entered a parenting plan. The parenting plan granted Harkenrider primary residential custody of the children and denied Wodja all residential time at least until he completed one year of psychotherapy and an anger management treatment course.
On February 7, 2012, Judge Kathryn Nelson entered corrected findings of fact supporting the dissolution. These findings stated that Wodja's involvement would be adverse to the children's best interest because Wodja's behavior had created "extreme distress" and had caused emotional damage. Clerk's Papers (CP) at 26. The court found that Wodja subjected his children to "constant conflict " making repeated negative remarks about Harkenrider to his children, including suggesting that she did not love them. CP at 26. The court also cited Wodja's intransigence throughout the case, including a misleading phone call to police about his family and a frivolous contempt motion, and added that he increased the cost of litigation by lying about Harkenrider's alcohol consumption. The court concluded that this intransigence offset any award of attorney fees based on need and ability to pay.
With regard to Wodja's need for treatment, the court found persuasive the recommendation of one of Wodja's expert psychologists that Wodja not have contact with his children until such time as it could be determined that Wodja had corrected his parental deficiencies that were the result of his psychological disorders. The trial court was concerned that Wodja had failed to disclose a number of criminal incidents that were sexual in nature, including allegations of attempted rape, assault, kidnapping, and drugging of women. In the trial court's view, it was more likely than not that Wodja had a sexual deviancy.
Ultimately Paula van Pul and Diane Shepard became Wodja's psychotherapy and anger management treatment providers respectively. On August 3, 2012, Wodja filed a motion for visitation in which he argued that he had complied with all court-ordered requirements. Harkenrider opposed the motion and on September 12, 2012, Judge Nelson entered an order denying Wodja's motion and finding that there had not yet been a substantial change of circumstances that gave the court adequate cause to modify the parenting plan. The trial court found "very little change in Mr. Wodja's ability to manage his anger or change his focus and beliefs about issues involving the children and the proper parenting of them." CP at 68. But the court did express renewed hope that further counseling may help Wodja demonstrate the kind of change in circumstances that could support a petition to modify the parenting plan. Included in this order denying visitation was a list of factors that, if established, would prompt the court to reconsider the visitation issue.
In September 2013, Wodja filed a petition to modify the parenting plan. Along with his petition, Wodja included a proposed parenting plan that provided for contact between Wodja and his children. The proposed plan contemplated various "stages" of increasing contact, beginning with telephone and Skype video contact, and concluding with physical visitation following reconciliation counseling.
The trial court scheduled a hearing before a superior court commissioner to provide Wodja an opportunity to demonstrate that he had established adequate cause to proceed to a modification hearing. Before the February 2014 hearing, Wodja filed a supplemental declaration in which he discussed the progress that he made through his counseling and treatment efforts. Based on these facts, in conjunction with supporting letters from Wodja's treatment providers, the commissioner found adequate cause to proceed to a modification hearing.
Harkenrider then moved for revision of the adequate cause finding. In the meantime, Judge James Orlando had assumed jurisdiction over the case. Unpersuaded that Wodja had established adequate cause to proceed, Judge Orlando granted Harkenrider's motion, revising the commissioner's ruling and denying Wodja's motion for adequate cause.
Retaining jurisdiction, the court entered an order appointing Sheri Nakashima to serve as GAL and instructed Nakashima to speak with van Pul and Shepard regarding Wodja's treatment. The court also directed Nakashima to speak to the person (CT) who had provided counseling services to Wodja's children[1] and, ultimately, to inform the trial court as to whether reconciliation counseling would be in the children's best interests. The trial court instructed the parties to return to the court for a new adequate cause hearing once Nakashima submitted her report.
As ordered, Nakashima interviewed van Pul and Shepard. According to van Pul, she and Wodja mutually decided to end treatment at the end of the one-year period. During that time, van Pul noted that Wodja was at times "aggressive and obnoxious" when he did not get his way and that such an attitude is not conducive to a parent-child relationship. CP at 282. Van Pul explained that although Wodja was initially resistant, he "did quite well in the [therapeutic] process" and made a "substantial amount of progress." CP at 283.
Discussing her recommendation to lift the no-contact order, van Pul described her belief that children benefit from contact with both parents and that once therapy ended in May 2013, van Pul's treatment goals had been met. In van Pul's view, Wodja did not pose a risk to the children and she did not believe that Wodja would intentionally engage in harmful conduct.
Shepard recalled having engaged in six two-hour anger management sessions with Wodja. According to Shepard, Wodja's primary issue was narcissistic behavior, which was a concern because such behavior makes it difficult for "[Wodja] to see outside of himself." CP at 286. Shepard described Wodja as cooperative and remarked about his ability to articulate the ways in which he applied the skills he learned. Shepard believed that there was no need for Wodja to continue his anger management treatment, but she opined that Wodja should continue with counseling that focused on his personality disorders.
Nakashima also conducted two interviews with CT. CT described her initial meetings with the children, who, in CT's view, were "hyper-vigilant." CP at 288. The children displayed post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and the younger child reported a number of disturbing incidents that she experienced in Wodja's presence. Wodja's daughter, who CT described as "fragile, " reported to CT that Wodja had once held a gun to her head. CP at 289. The youngest child had also been drawing images of naked people in a journal, which featured anatomically correct depictions of adult male genitals.
CT stated that one child expressed a desire to avoid contact with Wodja while the other sometimes does and sometimes does not want contact. According to Nakashima, CT was adamant that reunification counseling would not serve the best interests of the children at the time of the interview or in the "forseeable future." CP at 291.
Summarizing her conclusions, Nakashima recognized that Wodja had made progress per his treatment providers, but noted that there had been no recent declarations from objective sources by which she could ascertain whether the treatment objectives had been implemented long term. Nakashima found CT's recommendations compelling. Based primarily on CT's interview, Nakashima informed the court that she did not recommend reunification counseling at the time of her report.
Following the submission of Nakashima's report, the trial court conducted a new adequate cause hearing. In light of Nakashima's report, Wodja urged the court to continue the adequate cause determination so that he could return to van Pul to resume therapy treatment. But the trial court declined to do so, finding, based primarily on Nakashima's interview with CT that contact with Wodja was not in the children's best interest. Accordingly, the court ruled that Wodja had not established adequate cause to proceed and dismissed Wodja's modification petition.
Wodja then filed a motion for reconsideration. The trial court denied Wodja's motion and granted Harkenrider's simultaneous request for attorney fees based on what it deemed vexacious litigation and "what [the trial court] believe[d] to be an unnecessary motion for reconsideration." Report of Proceedings (RP) (May 23 2014) ...
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