Ramsey v. Ramsey

• Court: Indiana Appellate Court
• Writing for the Court: Robb
• Citation: Ramsey v. Ramsey, 863 N.E.2d 1232 (Ind. App. 2007)
• Decision Date: 11 April 2007
• Docket Number: No. 68A05-0608-CV-461.,68A05-0608-CV-461.
• Parties: Timothy RAMSEY, Appellant-Defendant, v. Brenda RAMSEY, Appellee-Plaintiff, and Karl and Cheryl Sodders, Appellees-Intervenors.

863 N.E.2d 1232

Timothy RAMSEY, Appellant-Defendant, v. Brenda RAMSEY, Appellee-Plaintiff, and Karl and Cheryl Sodders, Appellees-Intervenors.

No. 68A05-0608-CV-461.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

April 11, 2007.

Linda Stemmer, Husmann & Stemmer, Union City, IN, Attorney for Appellant.

OPINION

ROBB, Judge.

Case Summary and Issues

Timothy Ramsey appeals the trial court's grant of Cheryl and Karl Sodders's petition for grandparent visitation. On appeal, Ramsey raises several issues, but we find one dispositive: whether the trial court issued sufficient findings and conclusions along with its Order. Concluding that the trial court did not issue sufficient findings and conclusions to support an award of grandparent visitation, we reverse and remand. Because the remaining issues are likely to recur on remand, we also address Timothy's arguments of whether the trial court abused its discretion in awarding unsupervised visitation, and whether the trial court improperly failed to specify who would bear the cost of court-ordered counseling. We conclude that insufficient evidence exists to support an award of unsupervised visitation, and that the trial court's order indicates that the Sodderses are required to pay for the counseling and therapeutic visitation.

Facts and Procedural History

Timothy and Brenda Ramsey¹ were married in 1996. During their marriage, they had one child, L.R. Brenda has three children from a previous marriage, Caleb Lightner, Et.L., and Ev.L. Brenda filed a petition for dissolution of marriage in 2002, and shortly thereafter, Timothy filed a cross-petition for dissolution.

In early July 2003, Brenda removed L.R. from Indiana, without informing Timothy or the trial court. The Sodderses knew that Brenda was planning on leaving the state with L.R., and not only told no one, but also gave Brenda money to assist her departure. One Johonnas Aikie, also referred to as "the gatekeeper," was a central figure in the disappearance and re-location.² At some point, Caleb, Et.L., and Ev.L. joined Brenda, L.R., and Aikie. Et.L. and Ev.L. ran away from their father, Bill Lightner, roughly around the time that Lightner agreed to allow the Sodderses see his children. However, there is no evidence that the Sodderses played any role in the Lightner children's departure.

In October 2003, the Sodderses were joined as third-party defendants in the dissolution action, and on the same day filed a "Special Judicial Notice," in which they alleged, among other things: (1) Timothy and Lightner were operating a RICO enterprise; (2) Timothy and Lightner stole a four-wheeler from the Sodderses; (3) Timothy auctioned off equipment not belonging to him; (4) Timothy "stalked and harassed" the Sodderses' neighbor; (5) Timothy is "a known child molester," who was "trying to use public media to continue sexually molesting [L.R.]"; (6) Timothy cut a phone wire running to Brenda's "trust house"; (7) Timothy stole woodworking equipment from Brenda's "trust"; and (8) the case had been removed to federal court, and that therefore the state court had no jurisdiction to issue further orders. Appellant's Appendix at 48-49. Cheryl testified that Aikie had drafted this document, but that she and her husband had signed and filed it. Timothy subsequently filed a complaint against the Sodderses alleging libel. In response to this complaint, a threatening letter, apparently drafted by Aikie, but signed by Karl, was sent to Timothy's attorney. Among other things, the letter referred to the suit as "bogus," and told Timothy's attorney, "You have ten days to back out. Otherwise, Timmy will lose big time.... So if you want to push this phony libel suit, GET AFTER IT! Then watch what happens next.... And the whole community is watching you to see if you will turn and do what is right, or if you are going to go down the tubes with him." Appellant's Exhibit 3.

In November 2003, the trial court issued a Writ of Assistance instructing the Sheriff to assist a Receiver and Timothy enter the Sodderses' property to retrieve Timothy's belongings. The Sodderses either removed, or arranged for the removal of, these belongings before Timothy could retrieve them. In February 2004, the trial court found the Sodderses in contempt for violating the trial court's orders. As a result of these findings of contempt, Karl spent fifty-seven days in jail and twenty-one days on house arrest, and Cheryl spent seventy-one days incarcerated or hospitalized. At the immediate hearing, Cheryl repeatedly denied having lied to the court, but admitted that she had withheld information from the court regarding the removal of Timothy's property.³

For roughly two years, Timothy was unable to speak to or see L.R., and was unaware of her whereabouts. During this time, Timothy put up signs asking for assistance in locating his daughter. Cheryl testified that she and others physically removed these signs because they felt the signs were a form of harassment. Within the first year of L.R.'s absence, the Sodderses spoke to L.R. roughly five times, and spoke with Aikie weekly. It does not appear that the Sodderses ever told Timothy that they were in contact with his daughter, or that they knew she was alive.

In 2004, while Brenda and L.R.'s whereabouts were unknown, the trial court granted Timothy and Brenda a dissolution and awarded custody of L.R. to Timothy. Timothy finally located L.R. in Colorado in June 2005, at which point L.R. returned to Timothy's home. Since this return, Timothy still fears that L.R. will once again be taken from him, and has restricted L.R.'s contact with those he feels were involved in her disappearance. Relevant to this appeal, he has not allowed the Sodderses visitation with L.R.

Timothy expressed two principle concerns with visitation: that L.R. will be abducted again, and that the Sodderses will say things to L.R. about Timothy condemning him as a person and father. To support these fears, he noted the Sodderses' role in L.R.'s disappearance, and testified that Brenda would often say bad things about Lightner in front of Et.L. and Ev.L. while Cheryl was present, and that Cheryl was supportive of Brenda. He also noted the document that the Sodderses filed with the court accusing him of operating a RICO enterprise and molesting L.R. As Timothy's counsel pointed out, Cheryl testified that she still believes that Timothy molested and abused L.R. in the past, and that she does not fear for L.R.'s safety now because she believes Timothy's new wife is protecting L.R. See Tr. at 119, 230. Cheryl also indicated that she feels Timothy should not have attempted to obtain custody of L.R. after Brenda removed L.R. from Indiana. See Tr. at 121 (responding to the question "Tim should not [have tried] to get custody of [L.R.], why?" Cheryl answered, "Why should he have, we don't have any reason for him to have tried that. It happened while she was gone that is the only reason it happened.").

Timothy has indicated that he would like L.R. to see the Sodderses at some point. He testified that "I will never keep [L.R.] from her brothers or [her] mother or [her] grandparents, but not right now. . . . I have to have trust." Id. at 164. Timothy testified that in order to have trust, the Sodderses would need to apologize to him for helping Brenda abscond with L.R. and for making accusations of molestation against him.

Dr. Susan Spencer, a psychologist who had been working with L.R. and Timothy, also agreed that it would be beneficial for L.R. to eventually be reunited with her grandparents. However, she testified that "I am not so sure [visitation with the grandparents] is important at this point. I think grandparents have a very definite role in the child's life and at some time there should be a reunification. But only after it has been determined that [it] can be in the child's best interest and not do any further harm to her." Id. at 47. She also testified that if visitation were to occur, "it would need to be done in a controlled environment where a therapist could hear what is being said and [the Sodderses] have to understand clearly that they would not be allowed to say anything negative or derogatory about [Timothy]." Id. at 76. She also gave her opinion that it would be in L.R.'s best interests to wait until she had finished her current school year, at the time a period of roughly seven months, to begin any sort of reunification process with any family members. Finally, she gave her opinion that at that time, grandparent visitation was not in L.R.'s best interests.

Cheryl testified that she was no longer in contact with Aikie or Brenda, that she and her husband would not make any attempt to assist a removal of L.R. from Indiana, and that she would do everything she could to protect L.R. She testified that she believes visitation would be best for L.R., and that she and her husband would not do anything to undermine Timothy's relationship with L.R.

On June 28, 2006,⁴ the trial court issued an Order on Verified Petition for Visitation, along with findings and conclusions.⁵ The trial court made the following conclusions:

1. That since the return of [L.R.] to [Timothy], [Timothy] has acted in the best interest of [L.R.] by not permitting [the Sodderses] to visit with [L.R.] through this difficult period in [L.R.'s] life.

2. That by restricting [L.R.'s] contact with some family members, [Timothy] has helped [L.R.] begin to achieve a sense of stability.

3. That [Timothy's] decisions as to [L.R.'s] contact with other family members must be given special weight by the Court.

4. That despite the special weight that must be accorded [Timothy's] decisions, it would now be in the best interest of [L.R.] to have contact with [the Sodderses].

5. That the initial contact between [the Sodderses] and [L.R.] should take place in a therapeutic setting.

6. That [the Sodderses] should have an initial visit with the therapist prior to the visit with [L.R.], in order to...