Matter of Ring v. Ring, 2003-10642.

• Decision Date: 07 February 2005
• Docket Number: 2003-10642.
• Citation: 2005 NY Slip Op 01024,15 A.D.3d 406,790 N.Y.S.2d 51
• Parties: In the Matter of ALBA LUCIA RING, Respondent-Appellant, v. JOHN D. RING, Appellant-Respondent.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

15 A.D.3d 406

790 N.Y.S.2d 51

2005 NY Slip Op 01024

In the Matter of ALBA LUCIA RING, Respondent-Appellant, v. JOHN D. RING, Appellant-Respondent.

2003-10642.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Second Department.

February 7, 2005.

In two related family offense proceedings pursuant to Family Court Act article 8, and a related child custody proceeding pursuant to Family Court Act article 6, the father appeals, as limited by his brief, from so much of an order of the Family Court, Queens County (DePhillips, J.), dated October 29, 2003, as, after a hearing, in effect, awarded joint legal custody of the subject child to the parties, physical custody of the child to the mother, and directed the father to stay away from the child while under the influence of marijuana, and the mother cross-appeals, as limited by her brief, from so much of the same order, as granted joint legal custody of the subject child to the parties, gave the father primary responsibility for major medical and financial issues regarding the child, and dismissed the family offense petition brought by her against the father as academic.

Ordered that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed and cross-appealed from, without costs or disbursements.

Both parties sought sole custody of their son Nicholas James Ring, born January 4, 1998, who is the sole issue of the parties' 11-year marriage. The father filed a family offense petition in October 2001 alleging that the mother physically abused him and Nicholas, and the Family Court issued an ex parte temporary order of protection against the mother. Shortly thereafter, the mother filed both a family offense cross petition against the father alleging an ongoing history of physical and emotional abuse by him and a petition for sole custody of Nicholas. The Family Court issued a temporary order of protection against the father and held a joint hearing on all three petitions.

During the pendency of the two-year fact-finding hearing, which included approximately 40 appearances, the Family Court, inter alia, heard extensive testimony from the parties and their relatives, and reviewed reports prepared by approximately eight different therapists. Multiple temporary orders of visitation were issued during the pendency of the proceedings. The last such order issued in May 2002, awarding the mother and father five consecutive days of visitation on alternating weeks, was in effect until the order dated October 29, 2003...