Powell v. Powell

Decision Date08 March 1984
Citation665 S.W.2d 312
PartiesDavid Karl POWELL, Movant, v. Rebecca Lynn POWELL (Now Santana), Respondent.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky
OPINION OF THE COURT

David and Rebecca Powell were divorced on June 17, 1977, and pursuant to agreement of the parties, Rebecca was given custody of their infant son, Jason, with visitation rights by David. Rebecca married Arturo Santana in November of 1980.

In January of 1981, David Powell filed a Motion for a Change of Custody which was heard on July 22, 1981. The trial court in its findings of facts stated:

6. That there was some drinking that went on in the home and upon one occasion Arturo Santana threatened to break the arms of his wife after they had married, unless she gave him the keys to the car. This apparently in the presence of the child.

7. That there was a person in the car with Arturo Santana by the name of Martinez and during the altercation Arturo Santana had with his wife, he attempted to intervene and they went outside and were arrested and were jailed for public drunkenness.

8. At some other time, Mrs. Santana (formerly Powell) was cited for drinking beer on a public highway, but apparently the charge was not tried.

10. That during the time that Jason was living with his mother a woman by the name of Jackie McKenzie came into the house of Mrs. Santana at the request of the said Eddie Rodriquez, to whom she was not married, and they lived together as husband and wife in that home with those children and with Mrs. Santana for a period of time.

12. Mrs. Santana had sex relations in the house where the children were at least twice with people other than her husband.

13. That at various times when the young man was allowed to visit with his father, he was found to be dirty, poorly clothed, hungry, and at one time they had run out of fuel and had to go to the grandmother's house, all of them, including Mrs. Santana's children, for a couple of weeks.

14. That having listened to all of these witnesses for an entire day, and taking into consideration every known fact, the Court finds that the overall influence in the home of the mother is harmful for a child of this young man's age and that said influence endangers seriously his physical, mental, and particularly his moral and emotional health, and that it is in the best interest of said child to be transferred to the custody of his father, the Petitioner in this case, David K. Powell.

There were also findings of fact that the new husband, the babysitter and most of the people who visited the home were of Puerto Rican descent.

The trial court ordered the custody of the son transferred to Mr. Powell, and the mother given reasonable visitation rights.

Mrs. Santana appealed, and the Court of Appeals stated that their power to set aside the findings of the trial court was limited by the "clearly erroneous" rule in CR 52.01. But the court found that the trial court made no findings of fact as mandated by KRS 403.270 and 403.340(2). They reviewed the facts of the case by the standards set forth in the statutes and reversed the judgment of the trial...

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2 cases
  • Crim v. Crim, 2013-CA-000799-ME
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Kentucky
    • 15 Agosto 2014
    ...child adversely, such that it relates to the best interests of the child. Krug v. Krug, Ky., 647 S.W.2d 790 (1983), and Powell v. Powell, Ky., 665 S.W.2d 312 (1984). Theevidence in this case was of the misconduct, not the effect on the child.Chalupa v. Chalupa, 830 S.W.2d 391, 392 (Ky. App.......
  • Chalupa v. Chalupa, s. 90-CA-001145-M
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Kentucky
    • 1 Mayo 1992
    ...child adversely, such that it relates to the best interests of the child. Krug v. Krug, Ky., 647 S.W.2d 790 (1983), and Powell v. Powell, Ky., 665 S.W.2d 312 (1984). The evidence in this case was of the misconduct, not the effect on the The second issue appellant raises concerns the trial c......

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