S.C. v. J.R.W.

• Decision Date: 02 December 1994
• Citation: 667 So.2d 84
• Parties: S.C. v. J.R.W. AV92000128.
• Court: Alabama Court of Civil Appeals

Page 84

667 So.2d 84 S.C.
v.
J.R.W. AV92000128. Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama. Dec. 2, 1994.
Rehearing Denied Jan. 6, 1995.

Page 85

Appeal from Houston Circuit Court, No. DR-83-770; Denny Holloway, Judge.

S.C., pro se.

Deborah S. Seagle of Smith & Seagle, Dothan, for appellee.

After Remand from the Supreme Court

ROBERTSON, Presiding Judge.

The prior judgment of this court has been reversed and the cause remanded by the Supreme Court of Alabama. Ex parte J.R.W., 667 So.2d 74 (Ala.1994).

The factual procedural background of this case is set out in S.C. v. J.R.W., 667 So.2d 72 (Ala.Civ.App.1993), and in Ex parte J.R.W., supra, and need not be repeated entirely here.

Following an ore tenus proceeding, that was not attended by S.C., on October 2, 1992, the trial court entered an order on October 7, 1992, holding S.C. "in contempt of court for his willful refusal to produce [K.B.W.] for [visitation from July 20, 1992, through August 19, 1992]. The trial court sentenced S.C. "to hard labor for Houston County, Alabama, for five days and ... fined [him] $100 and costs." The trial court also ordered that J.R.W.'s "attorney be awarded the sum of $1500 as a reasonable attorneys fee...."

Our supreme court held that the trial court had personal jurisdiction over S.C. and that the Texas protective order did not provide a defense to the contempt proceeding. Id. "The contentions of the parties do not concern the correctness of any factual finding on which the circuit court based its judgment of contempt; rather, the issues raised [before the supreme court] are legal." Id. at 77. Consequently, on remand we must now address whether there was sufficient evidence produced in the October 2, 1992, rule nisi hearing to prove that S.C. was guilty of contempt.

Contempt is divided into four classes: (1) direct, (2) indirect or constructive, (3) criminal, and (4) civil. Rule 33.1, Ala.R.Crim.P. Direct contempt is, among other things, "disorderly or insolent behavior ... committed in open court, in the presence of the judge, which disturbs the court's business...." Rule 33.1(a), Ala.R.Crim.P. See Rule 70A(a)(2)(A), Ala.R.Civ.P. (Interim). Indirect or constructive contempt is "any criminal or civil contempt other than a direct contempt." Rule 33.1(b), Ala.R.Crim.P. See Rule 70A(a)(2)(B), Ala.R.Civ.P. (Interim). Criminal contempt is "(1) Misconduct ... which obstructs the administration of justice and which is committed either in the court's presence or so near thereto as to interrupt, disturb, or hinder its proceedings, or (2) Willful

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disobedience [of] or resistance ... to a court's lawful writ, subpoena, process, order, rule, decree, or command, where the dominant purpose of the contempt is to punish the contemnor." Rule 33.1(c),...