Marriage of Macaluso, In re, 82-148

• Citation: 110 Ill.App.3d 838,66 Ill.Dec. 478,443 N.E.2d 1
• Decision Date: 02 December 1982
• Docket Number: No. 82-148,82-148
• Parties: , 66 Ill.Dec. 478 In re the MARRIAGE OF Salvatore MACALUSO, Petitioner-Appellee, and Paola Macaluso, Respondent-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

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443 N.E.2d 1 110 Ill.App.3d 838, 66 Ill.Dec. 478 In re the MARRIAGE OF Salvatore MACALUSO, Petitioner-Appellee,
and
Paola Macaluso, Respondent-Appellant. No. 82-148. Appellate Court of Illinois,
Second District. Dec. 2, 1982.

[110 Ill.App.3d 839]

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[66 Ill.Dec. 479] Donat & Donat, Peter M. Donat, Batavia, for respondent-appellant.

Stephen M. Cooper, Geneva, Melvin E. Dunn, Ltd., Elburn, for petitioner-appellee.

HOPF, Justice:

Respondent, Paola Macaluso (Paola), appeals from an order of the trial court granting custody of Lisa Macaluso (Lisa), the minor child, to petitioner, Salvatore Macaluso (Sal), and from an order requiring Paola to pay $1,000 temporary attorney fees to Lisa's attorney for the prosecution of this appeal. Petitioner cross-appeals from an order of the trial court requiring him to pay $2,500 towards respondent's attorney fees.

In November of 1979, Paola took Lisa, aged five, to Italy to live with Paola's parents. The following month, Sal filed a petition for dissolution of marriage, and temporary custody was granted to him in December, 1979. Sal went to Italy in December and returned with Lisa to the United States. Paola returned to the United States in April of 1980 and made an unsuccessful attempt to gain custody of Lisa.

In September of 1980, apparently fearing that his wife would attempt to return to Italy with Lisa, Sal quit his employment as a police officer for the Carpentersville police department and left the jurisdiction. He took Lisa to Arizona along with a woman named Darlene Kitsinger and her two children. While in Arizona the group lived together as a family in a three-bedroom house and all of the children attended school. In the meantime, temporary custody of Lisa was awarded to Paola. In January of 1981 Sal returned to Illinois and Lisa was placed in the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services. An attorney was appointed to represent the child, and he supervised visitation by the parents until May of 1981.

On September 27, 1981, the court interviewed Lisa Macaluso in chambers with the attorneys for all parties present. Lisa stated that she was going to school in Wisconsin where she had playmates and that she liked it there. She said she had been "going around the world" with her father and that it was making her "seasick." Lisa [110 Ill.App.3d 840] said she wanted to stay in this country and in one place. She said that they treated her "like a pig" in Italy and that Paola made her "sit in a chair all day." She said she "kind of" loved her grandmother and grandfather in Italy but that she did not think that they loved her. Lisa said she did not like living in Arizona but that she missed Darlene's two sons. She did not miss Darlene because Darlene was "too big for her." Prior to the interview, Lisa met her mother in the hallway and told her to "get away" because she believed Paola

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[66 Ill.Dec. 480] wanted to grab her and take her to Italy. She said her mother was "not really the best Mommy that I have." She said that she got along with her father "easy," and that he never did anything to scare her. She said that her father drinks whiskey sometimes, but when he drinks he acts "like himself."

At the subsequent custody hearing, Paola Macaluso testified that she lived in a townhouse in Park Forest, Illinois, that she had been employed since December 15, 1980, and that she earned $750 a month net. She stated she worked six days a week, but if granted custody of Lisa she would work only five days a week if she remained in the United States. She testified, however, that she believed it would be best to return to Italy with Lisa to live with her family. Paola testified that there would be no problem with transportation for Lisa to visit her father since her family was wealthy and would provide funds. If, on the other hand, the court ordered her to keep Lisa in the United States, Paola testified that she would do so. She and Lisa would live in the rented townhouse in Park Forest which had two bedrooms and which was near schools. Paola testified that friends she had made through Al-Anon, an alcohol counseling service, would stay with Lisa while she worked. She did not know the last names of any of these friends, nor the names of any of her neighbors in Park Forest.

Paola testified that she believed her husband was an alcoholic. She recounted instances of his drinking which had allegedly culminated in violence, including one instance in which she went to the Elgin Crisis Center with Lisa but returned home with her husband the next day. On cross-examination she testified that Sal was a wonderful father but a terrible husband, and that Lisa and her father had a good relationship.

It was stipulated that Sal was employed part-time at a 7-11 store, but that he was scheduled to begin work for Illinois Pools Unlimited as soon as custody proceedings were completed. His gross salary would be $350 per week in the summer and $12,000 annually, plus commission, when the construction period ended. He had also applied to police departments for reemployment.

[110 Ill.App.3d 841] Sal testified that he had recently married Darlene Kitsinger and was living with her and her two young sons, ages six and eight, in a home that Darlene owned in Buffalo Grove. He testified that he drank socially and did not believe he had a...