Spitz v. Iowa Dist. Court for Mitchell Cnty.

• Decision Date: 24 June 2016
• Docket Number: No. 14–1808.,14–1808.
• Citation: 881 N.W.2d 456
• Parties: Erika L. SPITZ f/k/a Erika L. Gentz, Plaintiff, v. IOWA DISTRICT COURT FOR MITCHELL COUNTY, Defendant.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

881 N.W.2d 456

Erika L. SPITZ f/k/a Erika L. Gentz, Plaintiff,

v.IOWA DISTRICT COURT FOR MITCHELL COUNTY, Defendant.

No. 14–1808.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

June 24, 2016.

Jaclyn M. Zimmerman of Harrison & Dietz–Kilen, P.L.C., Des Moines, for plaintiff.

Scott A. Michels (until withdrawal) of Gourley, Rehkemper & Lindholm, P.L.C., West Des Moines, for defendant.

Bradley A. Gentz, pro se.

ZAGER

, Justice.

This case presents several questions of Fourteenth Amendment due process in the context of civil contempt. After two former spouses were both found in contempt for willfully violating provisions of the dissolution decree, they were given an opportunity to avoid jail by purging their respective contempts. Each claimed the other did not meet the conditions for purging contempt so a subsequent hearing was held. The ex-spouses appeared pro se, and the district court limited the time for the hearing. At the conclusion of the hearing, the district court found that neither spouse had purged their contempt and ordered each to serve time in jail.

The ex-spouse who had been found in contempt for denying visitation with the children to the other ex-spouse sought a writ of certiorari. She argued the Fourteenth Amendment was violated (1) when she was allowed to proceed without counsel or a valid waiver of the right to counsel, (2) when the district court imposed a time limitation on the hearing, and (3) when the district court did not allow the children to testify. The court of appeals rejected her arguments and aned the writ.

On further review, we conclude she was not entitled to the right to counsel under the United States Constitution at the hearing to determine whether she had purged her civil contempt. We also conclude, under the specific facts and circumstances of this case, neither the time limitation nor the refusal to allow the children to testify resulted in a denial of due process.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

Erika Spitz (formerly Erika Gentz) and Bradley Gentz were divorced pursuant to a stipulation and decree of dissolution of marriage entered on November 21, 2011. Erika and Bradley are the parents of three children. At the time of their divorce, all three children were minors. The stipulation, incorporated by the district court into its decree, provided for joint legal custody of the children with primary physical custody awarded to Erika. Specific visitation rights were provided to Bradley. The stipulation also provided for child support payable by Bradley and for an allocation between the parties for the costs of uncovered medical expenses for the children. Both parties were represented by counsel during the initial divorce proceedings.

Unfortunately, the decree of dissolution was not the end of these parties' involvement with the court system. On March 27, 2013, Bradley filed a pro se application to have Erika held in contempt for denying visitation. On April 18, Erika, who was still represented by counsel, filed an application of her own to have Bradley held in contempt for failing to pay his share of medical bills. A hearing on both applications was held on May 14, at which Erika appeared with her counsel and Bradley appeared pro se. The hearing was not completed due to other matters on the court's calendar. However, based on the parties' agreement, the district court did order “counseling for the purposes of building the relationship between [Bradley] and their three daughters, and facilitating visitation between [Bradley] and the girls.” The hearing was completed on August 12. Again, Erika was represented by counsel and Bradley appeared pro se. The district court did not rule immediately.

On August 20, Bradley filed another pro se application for contempt, alleging that Erika was willfully refusing to cooperate in scheduling appointments with the counselor appointed by the district court.

On September 25, the district court issued a detailed ruling based on the evidence it had received on May 14 and August 12. Among other things, the district court found the following:

Although Bradley has made several attempts to pick up the girls from her home for purposes of visitation, Erika has not required or even encouraged any of them to go on a single visit with their father. In fact, Erika routinely calls the police to remove Bradley from her property when he does show up to get their daughters. Erika acknowledges that Bradley has not had regular visitation with any of their daughters since March 2012. Erika knows that Bradley is entitled to regular visitation with the girls under the Decree. However, Erika claims that the girls are afraid of Bradley and do not want to have visitation, so she has not required them to go with their father.

While it appears that [two of the girls] now may feel uncomfortable in the presence of Bradley, there is absolutely nothing in the record to suggest these feelings are justified. Erika offered no evidence to show that Bradley presents any threat or risk of harm to any of their daughters. She admitted that Bradley has never hit or physically abused her or any of the girls.

Erika did not describe a single event or situation that would explain why the girls supposedly do not feel safe or comfortable around Bradley.

The district court went on to find that there was “no good reason for Erika to ignore and disobey the visitation provisions of the Decree” and that Erika's failure to allow visitation after March 2012 was “willful, intentional, and contrary to a known duty imposed on her under the Decree.”

Turning to Bradley, the district court rejected his argument that he did not have an obligation to reimburse Erika for a share of orthodontia expenses for one of the daughters because Erika did not consult with him before the braces were installed. The district court found both Erika and Bradley in contempt.

The district court ordered Erika to serve twenty days in jail, but gave her an opportunity to purge the contempt by providing visitation in October and paying the counseling service's fees. In a similar vein, the district court ordered Bradley to serve five days in jail, but gave him the opportunity to purge the contempt by paying $2975.45 within thirty days. This represented his unpaid share of medical expenses for 2012 and 2013. The district court stated that it would assume both contempts had been purged unless otherwise notified.

On October 1, the district court held a further hearing—this time on Bradley's August 20 application. At this hearing, both parties appeared pro se. On October 15, the district court dismissed the August 20 application. The district court criticized both parties, suggesting that both of them appeared to be more interested in scoring points against each other than in the well-being of their daughters.

Between November 2013 and March 2014, Bradley had only three visits with the two minor children.¹ Bradley was denied visitation and the children expressed frustration with the visitation arrangement. Between November 2013 and March 2014, Erika and Bradley discussed whether they could agree to reduce Bradley's visitation with the children in exchange for reducing the amount of child support he paid each month. With the help of Erika's attorney, they drafted a potential agreement whereby Bradley would give up his parental rights in exchange for lowering his child support payments to $100 per child per month until age eighteen, and a one-time payment of $1500 for any and all future medical expenses. Because of ongoing disagreements between the parties and concerns whether the district court would enforce such an agreement, no modification occurred regarding parental rights or visitation. The original schedule for visitation contained in the November 2011 stipulation and decree remained in effect.

On March 16, 2014, Erika's counsel moved to withdraw. Counsel explained that there was currently no pending activity in the case but Bradley had requested that a formal withdrawal be entered. Erika's counsel added that he had written to her in January that he would no longer be involved in the case. A formal order of withdrawal was entered March 27.

On March 27, Bradley filed a pro se affidavit to start a new contempt proceeding against Erika. In his affidavit, Bradley alleged that Erika violated the September 2013 contempt order and she continued to violate the original visitation schedule. The next day, Erika responded by filing a pro se affidavit to start contempt proceedings against Bradley. Erika alleged that Bradley had failed to pay his portion of uncovered medical expenses for one of the children.

A hearing on the dueling contempt actions came before the district court on May 27. Neither party was represented by counsel at this hearing. On June 3, the district court issued its order finding both Erika and Bradley in contempt of court under Iowa Code section 598.23 (2013)

.² The district court found Erika in contempt for failing to provide visitation as required by the stipulation and decree and sentenced her to thirty days in jail. Mittimus on the jail sentence was withheld to give Erika the opportunity to purge the contempt. In order to purge the contempt, Erika was required to follow a graduated visitation schedule ordered by the district court. Specifically, the district court ordered visitation for the months of June and July that would take place in the office of a social worker, counselor, or clergy member selected by Erika. Beginning August 1, visitation was to resume pursuant to the original stipulation and decree. The district court also ordered Erika to file a statement detailing the efforts she took to achieve the court-ordered visitation and purge the contempt, specifically noting the dates when visitation occurred. The district court also found Bradley in contempt for failing to pay $2019.45 in uncovered medical expenses. Bradley had sixty days to pay his share of the unreimbursed medical expenses in order to purge his contempt. Neither Erika nor Bradley...