Lloyd v. Loeffler, Civ. A. No. 80-C-450.

• Decision Date: 07 May 1982
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 80-C-450.
• Citation: 539 F. Supp. 998
• Parties: Kenneth LLOYD, Plaintiff, v. Irma LOEFFLER, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Wisconsin

539 F. Supp. 998

Kenneth LLOYD, Plaintiff, v. Irma LOEFFLER, et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 80-C-450.

United States District Court, E. D. Wisconsin.

May 7, 1982.

Timothy J. Strattner, Podell, Ugent & Cross, Milwaukee, Wis. and Carole S. Gailor, Fairfax, Va., for plaintiff.

Lawrence Haskin, Cathlina & Haskin, South Milwaukee, Wis. and Richard J. Podell, Milwaukee, Wis., for defendants Iram and Alfin F. Loeffler.

FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW, AND ORDER

REYNOLDS, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff Kenneth Lloyd brought this action against the defendants alleging that they tortiously interfered with his custody of his daughter Carol Caren Lloyd, and that they conspired to prevent him from regaining the custody of his daughter. Defendant Bonnie Loeffler, a/k/a Bonnie Loeffler McMahan, is the child's natural mother and is married to defendant Earl Ray McMahan. Defendants Irma Loeffler and Alvin F. Loeffler are the mother and father of Bonnie Loeffler McMahan. This court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332.

A court trial began in this action on March 22, 1982. At the completion of the trial on March 24, 1982, the Court announced from the bench its decision that the defendants were liable to the plaintiff. The Court stated that the amount of damages and the detailed findings of fact and conclusions of law would follow.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. At the time of the filing and service of the plaintiff's complaint, defendants Irma Loeffler and Alvin Loeffler were citizens and bona fide residents and domiciliaries of the State of Wisconsin, and further are currently residing at 1513 Menomonee Avenue, South Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

2. At the time of filing of the complaint, plaintiff Kenneth Lloyd was a citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia, specifically residing at 7521 Republic Court, Apt. 303, Alexandria, Virginia.

3. Bonnie Loeffler, a/k/a Bonnie Loeffler McMahan (hereinafter referred to as Bonnie McMahan) and Earl Ray McMahan (hereinafter referred to as Earl McMahan) were bona fide residents and domiciliaries of the State of Maryland and specifically of Oxon Hill, Maryland, until August 1979.

4. The amount in controversy exceeds $10,000.00, exclusive of interest and costs.

5. On April 12, 1978, the minor child, Carol Caren Lloyd, nee Carol Renee Loeffler (hereinafter Carol Caren Lloyd) was born.

6. Defendant Bonnie McMahan is the natural mother of the minor child, Carol Caren Lloyd.

7. Plaintiff Kenneth Lloyd is the natural father of the minor child, Carol Caren Lloyd.

8. Defendants Irma Loeffler and Alvin Loeffler are the natural parents of the defendant Bonnie L. McMahan and the maternal grandparents of Carol Caren Lloyd.

9. Defendant Earl McMahan is the husband of Bonnie McMahan but is no relation to the minor child, Carol Caren Lloyd.

10. Carol Caren Lloyd was conceived out of wedlock, and at no time were the plaintiff Kenneth Lloyd and the defendant Bonnie McMahan married to one another.

11. On March 25, 1978, prior to the birth of Carol Caren Lloyd, the plaintiff Kenneth Lloyd filed a petition for declaratory and injunctive relief and a petition for custody in the Circuit Court of Prince Georges County, Maryland, Equity No. 4080, naming as respondent the defendant Bonnie Loeffler.

12. From approximately three weeks before the birth of Carol Caren Lloyd and until April 14, 1978, plaintiff Kenneth Lloyd was unable to find defendant Bonnie McMahan.

13. From her birth until April 25, 1979, Carol Caren Lloyd resided with her mother, Bonnie McMahan.

14. On April 24 and 25, 1979, the issue of custody of Carol Caren Lloyd was heard in the Circuit Court of Prince Georges County, Maryland, before the Honorable Audrey Melbourne.

15. On April 24, 1979, at trial of the issue of the custody of the child Carol Caren Lloyd in the Circuit Court of Prince Georges County, Maryland, the parties Bonnie Loeffler McMahan and Kenneth Lloyd were present in person with witnesses called by each of them to testify on his or her behalf.

16. Subsequent to the entry of record of the final order of the Honorable Audrey Melbourne of the Prince Georges County Circuit Court on May 2, 1979, no superseding custody order or modification of the final order of May 2, 1979, has been entered of record with notice to the plaintiff Kenneth Lloyd in any state of the United States.

17. On April 25, 1979, the Court rendered its decision awarding custody of Carol Caren Lloyd to the plaintiff Kenneth Lloyd with visitation rights to Bonnie McMahan and changing the name of the child from Carol Renee Loeffler to Carol Caren Lloyd.

18. On April 25, 1979, the maternal grandmother and co-defendant, Irma Loeffler, was present in the aforementioned court when the decision was rendered and had actual knowledge that the plaintiff had been granted sole custody of the child, Carol Caren Lloyd.

19. On April 25, 1979, the maternal grandfather and co-defendant, Alvin Loeffler, was informed of the Court's decision concerning the award of sole custody of Carol Caren Lloyd to Kenneth Lloyd.

20. On June 21, 1979, Bonnie McMahan informed Kenneth Lloyd that she would commence her summer visitation with the minor child on July 20, 1979; and further, that she would take the child to the home of the maternal grandparents, co-defendants Irma and Alvin Loeffler, in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and that she would return the child to the father on August 5, 1979.

21. On July 20, 1979, Bonnie McMahan and Earl McMahan were given the minor child from the care of the father's babysitter in Alexandria, Virginia, and arrived sometime near the end of July 1979 at the home of the child's maternal grandparents, Irma and Alvin Loeffler, in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

22. During the period of the visit, the mother and defendant, Bonnie McMahan, together with her husband and co-defendant, Earl McMahan, informed the grandparents, Irma and Alvin Loeffler, that they, Bonnie and Earl McMahan, had no intention of returning the minor child, Carol Caren Lloyd, to the legal custody of the plaintiff Kenneth Lloyd, and both Irma and Alvin Loeffler knew that such was their daughter's and her husband's intention, and that this was contrary to and in violation of the aforesaid custody order.

23. Irma and Alvin Loeffler, on or about July 25, 1979, were told by Bonnie and Earl McMahan that the proposed conduct of Bonnie and Earl McMahan, i.e., failing to return the minor child, Carol Caren Lloyd, to the legal custody of Kenneth Lloyd, was contempt of the court's order of custody.

24. After Irma and Alvin Loeffler were told by Bonnie and Earl McMahan that Bonnie and Earl McMahan had no intention of returning Carol Caren Lloyd to the legal custody of Kenneth Lloyd, but before the departure of Bonnie and Earl McMahan with the minor child from the home of the defendants Irma and Alvin Loeffler, two joint checking accounts were opened at the St. Francis State Bank in St. Francis, Wisconsin.

25. Irma Loeffler and Bonnie McMahan were co-signatories on Account # XXXXX, and Irma Loeffler and Earl McMahan were co-signatories on Account # XXXXX of the above-mentioned checking accounts.

26. Defendants Irma Loeffler and Alvin Loeffler understood that these accounts were opened to permit Bonnie McMahan and Earl McMahan to receive their retirement funds without disclosing their location and the location of the child, Carol Caren Lloyd.

27. On July 27 and 28, 1979, defendants Irma and Alvin Loeffler purchased the 1973 green Chevrolet Nova owned by Bonnie McMahan for the approximate sum of $1,150.00 and subsequently sold the car to an unnamed third party.

28. Defendants Irma Loeffler and Alvin Loeffler understood that the Nova was to be sold in this manner to hinder any efforts to locate Carol Caren Lloyd.

29. On or about August 1, 1979, Bonnie and Earl McMahan and the minor child, Carol Caren Lloyd, left the residence of Irma and Alvin Loeffler.

30. On August 6, 1979, the Honorable Audrey Melbourne of the Prince Georges County Circuit Court of Prince Georges County, Maryland, issued a contempt citation in Equity No. E-4080 against the defendant Bonnie McMahan for failure to return the child, Carol Caren Lloyd, to the custody of the plaintiff Kenneth Lloyd.

31. Since August 5, 1979, the plaintiff Kenneth Lloyd has not seen the child, Carol Caren Lloyd, nor has Carol Caren Lloyd been returned to his physical or legal custody.

32. In the fall of 1979, Bonnie and Earl McMahan and the minor child, Carol Caren Lloyd, returned to the residence of Irma and Alvin Loeffler and remained there at least one day, or a part thereof.

33. On approximately December 17, 1979, the defendant Irma Loeffler deposited into the aforementioned joint checking accounts a total of $8,367.68 in retirement funds from the Central Nomis Office, former employer of Bonnie and Earl McMahan.

34. Sometime after the retirement funds had been deposited, Irma Loeffler talked with Bonnie McMahan by telephone and informed her of the funds' arrival. Bonnie McMahan mailed a letter to the Loefflers, instructing the Loefflers as to how to send the retirement funds to the McMahans. The letter contained a self-addressed envelope with a small piece of cardboard taped over the address.

35. Irma Loeffler obtained a money order in the amount of the retirement funds. This money order was mailed by Alvin Loeffler in the envelope provided by Bonnie McMahan. Alvin Loeffler did not remove the cardboard covering the address on the envelope until immediately before depositing the envelope in the mail slot. Neither Irma Loeffler nor Alvin Loeffler ever looked at the address on the envelope.

36. Irma Loeffler and Alvin Loeffler understood that transferring the funds in this manner was designed to hinder any efforts to locate Carol Caren Lloyd.

37. Irma and Alvin Loeffler made Christmas gifts to Bonnie and Earl McMahan in December 1979 in the amount of approximately $150.00.

38. On or about April 14, 1980, Bonnie and Earl McMahan, along with the...