Perez v. Williams

• Decision Date: 27 August 2015
• Docket Number: NO. 01–14–00504–CV,01–14–00504–CV
• Citation: 474 S.W.3d 408
• Parties: Sandra Perez, Appellant v. Brian Williams, Appellee
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

474 S.W.3d 408

Sandra Perez, Appellant

v.Brian Williams, Appellee

NO. 01–14–00504–CV

Court of Appeals of Texas, Houston (1st Dist.).

Opinion issued August 27, 2015

David T. Altenbern, Altenbern & Associates, P.L.L.C., Houston, TX, for appellant.

Janice L. Berg, Daniel J. Lemkuil, Houston, TX, for appellee.

Panel consists of Justices Keyes, Huddle, and Lloyd.

OPINION

Evelyn V. Keyes, Justice

Appellant, Sandra Perez, alleged that she had a common-law, or informal, marriage with appellee, Brian Williams. Perez and Williams also have a minor child, E.A.W., over whom both parents sought custody. The trial court ruled, via Williams's motion for summary judgment, that no informal marriage existed. Following a bench trial, the trial court named Perez and Williams joint managing conservators of E.A.W. and granted Williams the exclusive right to designate E.A.W.'s primary residence.

In seven issues, Perez argues that the trial court erred: (1) in granting Williams's motion for summary judgment determining that no informal marriage existed; (2) in denying her mid-trial motion to substitute legal counsel; (3) in refusing to take judicial notice of copies of court documents filed in judicial proceedings related to Williams's custody dispute over his three children from a previous relationship; (4) in refusing to award her a vehicle that she asserts was a gift from Williams; (5) in sustaining Williams's objection to four photographs that she sought to admit into evidence; (6) in sustaining Williams's objection to her questioning regarding whether he had seen a psychologist; and (7) in "failing to award [her] primary conservatorship rights" to E.A.W. or, alternatively, in failing to award her visitation pursuant to a standard possession order.

We affirm.

Background

Perez and Williams began living together in May 2010. At that time, Perez was still married to Miguel Perez, and Williams had divorced his ex-wife, Devinah Finn, in 2009. Both Perez and Williams had children from previous relationships. Perez's divorce from her previous husband became final on November 3, 2010. E.A.W., the child of Perez and Williams, was born on October 12, 2011.

On January 29, 2013, Williams filed his original petition in a Suit Affecting the Parent–Child Relationship ("SAPCR") seeking to be named sole managing conservator of E.A.W. and asking that Perez be ordered to pay child support to him.

On March 1, 2013, Perez filed her original answer and counter-petition for divorce, alleging that an informal marriage existed between Williams and herself and seeking a disproportionate division of the resulting community estate. She alleged that she and Williams "were married on or about June 2010 and have ceased to live together as man and wife" and that they were the parents of E.A.W. She also sought to be named E.A.W.'s sole managing conservator.

On October 7, 2013, Williams moved for partial traditional and no-evidence summary judgment asserting that no genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether he should be adjudicated the father of E.A.W. Williams also asserted traditional and no-evidence grounds for summary judgment on the issue of informal marriage.

On December 4, 2013, Perez filed her "Original Answer to Partial Traditional and No–Evidence Summary Judgment." She argued that both she and Williams were married to other people when they first started their relationship, they both divorced their respective spouses in 2010, they began cohabitating on May 3, 2010, and E.A.W. was born on October 12, 2011. Perez argued that a fact question existed as to whether the parties were informally married beginning in January 2011, after her divorce from Perez was finalized. She supported her response with her own affidavit, her 2010 divorce decree, E.A.W.'s birth certificate listing Williams as the father, a copy of a document in which Williams listed her as his "relative for contact purposes," copies of greeting cards calling her "wife," and photographs of her "wedding rings."

On December 5, 2013, the day after Perez filed her response, the trial court held the summary judgment hearing. On December 13, 2013, "[a]fter considering the motion and evidence submitted," the trial court granted Williams's motion for partial summary judgment. It adjudicated Williams to be E.A.W.'s father, stated that Williams and Perez "are found and declared not to be married," and dismissed the issues of marriage and division of community property from the suit.

The parties tried the remaining issues of conservatorship of E.A.W., visitation, and child support to the bench on February 6, 2014, and, following a continuance to address problems with the translator, on March 28, 2014. On February 6, 2014, Perez was represented by attorneys Mark Lipkin and Diane Perez. Williams, who was likewise represented by counsel, testified that he had three children with his ex-wife, Finn, and one child, E.A.W., with Perez. He had earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and worked as an investment banker until "early 2013" when he started his own oil-field service business so that he would have more time to spend with his family.

Williams testified that he had been E.A.W.'s primary caregiver, had taken her to her doctor's appointments, and had provided for her basic care and support. He stated that he had had exclusive care of E.A.W. since September 2013, when Perez moved out of his house, "but even for the year-and-a-half prior to that she was an absentee, inactive mother." Williams testified that Perez was "active during breastfeeding for a little bit and would be there, you know, a couple of hours during the evenings, but she would run off to work and come back late at night." He testified that he was the one who changed E.A.W.'s diapers, prepared her meals, and provided other care.

Regarding his relationship with Perez, Williams testified that he invited her and her two teenaged sons to move in with him in spring 2010. He testified that Perez's oldest child, who was eighteen at the time of the trial, had been physically violent toward him on multiple occasions and ultimately "had to leave the house" in the fall of 2012. Williams also stated that Perez had hit, pushed, or shoved him on "numerous occasions." He testified that he never sustained any injuries requiring hospitalization because he was much larger than Perez, but she was frequently violent. He testified specifically about an incident in December 2010 in which Perez "came at [him] with a knife" which resulted in a call to the police and in Perez being charged with deadly conduct. He also testified about an incident that occurred on Christmas Eve of 2012. Perez "became very violent in front of my three older kids, ... picked up a Christmas tree, threw it over. Started punching and punching me as I stood between her and [E.A.W.] as she was threatening to run out of the house with the baby." Williams stated that, at that point, he decided to ask Perez to leave his house and to file the underlying lawsuit. Williams testified that he had never hit Perez or hurt her. However, she had threatened to "make those allegations against him" and to "hurt herself and blame it on [Williams]" and had followed through on those threats.

Williams testified that he filed the present suit one month after the Christmas Eve incident, in January 2013. He also asked Perez to leave his home multiple times, but she kept returning periodically. He eventually changed the locks in September 2013. He also testified that he provided Perez with money to use toward a deposit on an apartment so that she would have somewhere else to go.

Regarding Perez's relationship with E.A.W., Williams testified that he believed Perez loved E.A.W. However, he had also observed Perez "smack the baby in the face" for being "too fussy" and because Perez believed the child had "to learn to respect [Perez]." He stated that Perez had threatened to take the baby to live in the Dominican Republic, where Perez was born and where she still had family members residing. He also testified about an occasion when Perez became violent with one of her sons from her previous relationship, and he introduced an audio recording supporting his testimony.

Williams also testified regarding Perez's employment. Williams purchased a hair salon for Perez, and she operated it from "early 2010" on for the next several years. Perez told Williams that she "rent[ed] out rooms in the back where people would provide massages and sexual services" and that she "was selling stolen items, clothing and other items in a little boutique she built in one of the massage rooms." He also testified that Perez had indicated that drug deals had occurred at her salon on two occasions. Williams introduced copies of internet advertisements for massage services and "adult entertainment" showing Perez in revealing clothing. Williams testified that he discovered the advertisements in May 2013 by searching phone numbers from Perez's cell phone after he became "increasingly concerned by [Perez's] behavior and complete absence from [E.A.W.'s] life...." The trial court also admitted Perez's "entertainer license" issued by "HPD Vice Division," which Perez had told Williams she needed to work in adult entertainment. Williams testified that he knew Perez was involved on the "periphery" of sexually-oriented business, but he did not know that she herself was involved in it until after he filed the underlying suit.

Perez testified at trial that her relationship with Williams started out well, but problems began to arise around the time she got pregnant with E.A.W. Perez stated that Williams "never wanted the child" and encouraged her to get an abortion. Perez also testified regarding her employment. She stated that she still owned the salon and that she knew at one point a "young lady ... was doing massages to lose weight" at her salon, which Perez believed was illegal because the woman did not have a license. Perez testified that she asked the woman to...