L.N. v. F.A.
| Decision Date | 23 June 2022 |
| Docket Number | 573-2021 |
| Parties | L.N. v. F.A. |
| Court | Court of Special Appeals of Maryland |
Circuit Court for Baltimore County Case No. C-03-FM-20-000824
Graeff, Arthur, Zarnoch, Robert A. (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned), JJ.
This appeal arises from a child custody dispute in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County. After a two-day trial, the court ordered shared physical custody and awarded sole legal custody to the father.
The mother has appealed. Because we perceive no error or abuse of discretion, we shall affirm.
Appellant L.N. ("Mother") and appellee F.A. ("Father") met in May 2018. On April 27, 2019, Mother gave birth to their child, I.[1] Father moved in with Mother and her two older children at some point before the birth of I. Father moved out temporarily in November 2019 and moved out permanently in January 2020, when the relationship ended.
In December 2019, Father called Child Protective Services (CPS) after Mother allegedly attempted to force one of his children from a previous marriage to eat her own vomit. Father said that CPS would take no action because the child had not received or required medical treatment.
On an unspecified date in January 2020, Father called CPS after I. required sutures to close a wound that she sustained while in Mother's care. The record contains nothing to indicate the outcome of the referral.
On February 3, 2020, Father applied for a statement of charges against Mother, alleging a prior domestic assault and telephone misuse. Mother was charged with both offenses, and a warrant was issued for her arrest.
On the same date, Father secured a temporary protective order against Mother. The District Court of Maryland for Baltimore County scheduled a final protective order hearing for February 10, 2020.
On the day of the hearing, Mother was arrested on the assault charge. She was released on personal recognizance the following day. The district court rescheduled the hearing on the final protective order for February 18, 2020, and granted Father temporary custody of I. pending the hearing.
On February 12, 2020, Father filed a petition for custody in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County. He requested that he be granted sole legal and physical custody of I.
On February 14, 2020, CPS received a report that, while in Father's care, I. "lacked formula and was being kept in unsafe/unsanitary conditions." According to a custody evaluation report ordered by the court, the referral was "screened 'out due to insufficient allegations against the father.'" To "screen out" a referral apparently means to deem it unworthy of further investigation.
On February 18, 2020, the district court issued a final protective order against Mother. Mother noted an appeal to the circuit court.
On February 21, 2020, Mother filed a counterclaim in the custody action, requesting that she be granted sole legal and physical custody of I.
On February 24, 2020, Mother told the police that Father had previously abused her two older children. According to the custody evaluation report, the children had "no visible injuries." "A copy of the report was forwarded to CACU," which presumably means the Crimes Against Children Unit of the Baltimore County Police Department. The record contains nothing to indicate that anyone took any further action.
On February 25, 2020, the circuit court entered an interim consent order, signed by the parties' respective counsel, in the custody case. The interim order provided for joint physical custody of I. pending trial, pursuant to a schedule in which each parent had physical custody during alternating weeks. The order further provided for the exchange of custody to take place at a police station in Baltimore County.
On March 4, 2020, CPS received a referral from Mother. Mother charged that I. had lost seven ounces of body weight while in Father's care and implied that Father had unsecured guns in his home. The referral was "screened out as the allegations did not meet the threshold for a CPS response."
On March 12, 2020, Mother filed a CPS report indicating that Father physically abused her two older children. The referral was "documented and screened out as the allegations did not meet the threshold for a current CPS response."
On March 17, 2020, the circuit court held an evidentiary hearing on Mother's de novo appeal from the final protective order. Both parties were represented by counsel.
The court found that Father was entitled to relief and issued a final protective order, effective for one year.
The court eventually placed the criminal charges against Mother on the stet docket. See Md. Rule 4-248(a) ().
On August 6, 2020, Mother was charged with a violation of the protective order; she received probation before judgment.
Before the trial in the custody case, the court ordered a custody evaluation. On September 29, 2020, the evaluator filed a report in which he recommended that Mother be granted primary physical and sole legal custody of I. and that Father have weekly overnight visitation. The evaluator based the recommendation on the following findings:
Although the report made note of the CPS referrals and the protective order, it did not include any corresponding findings. Because of the hostility between Father and Mother, the evaluator declined to recommend "co-parenting efforts." "Both parents," the evaluator noted, were "alleging physical and emotional abuse by the other."
The court held a two-day custody trial on June 10 and 11, 2021. Mother was represented by counsel. Father appeared as an unrepresented litigant. I. was two years old at the time of the trial.
At the outset of the trial, Father requested a postponement so that he could find a new lawyer. He explained that his attorney had withdrawn from the case the previous week. When Mother's counsel objected to the postponement on grounds that witnesses had been subpoenaed, Father explained that he has a learning disability and would be at a disadvantage without the benefit of counsel. The court denied the motion and proceeded with the trial.
Father stated his desire that the court continue the schedule of shared physical custody on an alternating-week basis until I. begins school. At that time, in Father's view, the parties could discuss which parent's neighborhood had better schools (apparently to make a decision about where I. should live). He requested joint legal custody.
Mother requested that she be granted primary physical and sole legal custody and that Father have overnight visitation once a week. Neither party requested child support from the other.
Father explained that the alternating-week physical custody arrangement had been in place since I. was eight or nine months old. Father believed that it was in I.'s best interest to continue with the same schedule because, he said I. "needs to see both parents" despite their disagreements with one another. Father explained that he was requesting joint legal custody because he believed that both parents should be equally involved in making decisions for I.
Father testified that Mother "has a temper" and that, "when she lets her temper get the best of her, she's dangerous." Father claimed to have observed Mother hitting her oldest child over the head with a closed fist. He said that Mother pushed the same child into a wall with enough force to crack the child's tooth.
According to Father, Mother hit him "quite a bit" during their relationship. He attributed her actions to "mood swings" during her pregnancy.
During an argument in November 2019, Father said, Mother repeatedly hit him on the head with a frying pan, resulting in a gash above his eye. Father introduced a photograph of his injury, taken on the day of the assault. Father did not seek medical treatment for the injury, but said that he had headaches for "a while." He did not report the assault because, he said, "no one listens to [men] when it comes down to being hit."
Father testified that following that incident he "lost all self[-]confidence." He removed his belongings from Mother's house and stayed with a friend. Shortly thereafter, however, Father reunited with Mother.
On December 25, 2019, Father was at Mother's apartment for Christmas dinner, along with his three children from a previous marriage. One of his children became ill and vomited. According to Father, Mother "got mad" and insisted that the child had to eat the vomit. Mother reportedly "lunge[d]" at the child, but Father intervened to protect her. Mother told Father to "get the F out." Father said that he would not leave his children with her, so Mother "kicked [them] all out" and would not let them come back inside.
Father called the mother of the three children, his ex-wife Ms. A who drove to Baltimore from her home in Pennsylvania to pick up the children.[2] Father and the children were outside in freezing temperatures from 11:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m., when Ms. A. arrived. After Ms. A. picked up the children, Father remained outside for another hour before Mother...
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