Stamper v. Knox

• Decision Date: 20 March 2008
• Docket Number: No. 01-06-00875-CV.,01-06-00875-CV.
• Citation: 254 S.W.3d 537
• Parties: Michelle STAMPER, f/k/a Michelle Knox, Appellant, v. Stanley Keith KNOX, Appellee.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

254 S.W.3d 537

Michelle STAMPER, f/k/a Michelle Knox, Appellant, v. Stanley Keith KNOX, Appellee.

No. 01-06-00875-CV.

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

March 20, 2008.

Thomas H. Burton III, Justice for Children, Houston, TX, for Appellant.

Stanley K. Knox, Santa Fe, TX, for Appellee.

Panel consists of Justices NUCHIA, JENNINGS, and KEYES.

OPINION

EVELYN V. KEYES, Justice.

Appellant, Michelle Stamper, formerly known as Michelle Knox, appeals the trial court's order finding that appellee, Stanley Keith Knox, was not the biological father of K.R.K. but that Stamper was equitably estopped from denying Knox's parentage. In two issues, Stamper contends that (1) Knox did not prove through clear and convincing evidence that he should be adjudicated K.R.K.'s father on equitable grounds and that (2) the trial court abused its discretion by refusing to consider K.R.K.'s best interest when determining whether Knox should be adjudicated as K.R.K.'s father on equitable grounds.

We reverse and render.

Background

Stamper and Knox were married in June 1998. In October 1998, Stamper had a brief sexual relationship with Jason Christopher Taylor, and she was also having sexual relations with Knox. K.R.K. was born on June 20, 1999. At the time of K.R.K.'s birth, Stamper and Knox were still married, and both believed K.R.K. was Knox's child. In September 2001, Knox filed a petition for divorce seeking custody of K.R.K., and Stamper and Knox ceased living together as husband and wife. The trial court issued a standard temporary custody order naming Stamper and Knox joint managing conservators of K.R.K. with standard rights of possession.

Shortly after he petitioned for divorce, Knox received an anonymous phone call informing him that K.R.K. might not be his child. He had genetic testing conducted which revealed that he was not K.R.K.'s biological father, and he informed Stamper of that fact through his attorney. Stamper and Taylor then had another genetic test conducted which confirmed that Taylor was K.R.K.'s biological father. Although Taylor initially petitioned to establish himself as K.R.K.'s father and signed an admission of paternity, he later signed an affidavit of relinquishment of parental rights in June 2002 and filed a motion for nonsuit.

In August 2002, K.R.K. made an outcry of sexual abuse to Stamper, naming Knox as the abuser. Stamper filed a motion for additional temporary orders asking the trial court to deny Knox access to K.R.K. In support of her motion, Stamper offered the supporting affidavit of a social worker who had worked with K.R.K. and had heard K.R.K.'s claims of abuse, as well as evidence from medical professionals. A pre-trial conference was held on October 24, 2003. During the conference, the trial ordered a psychological evaluation of the parties. In March 2004, the court-ordered psychological evaluation of Stamper, Knox and K.R.K. was completed. The examiner, Mary Alvarez, Ph.D., found that K.R.K.'s behaviors and allegations were consistent with the abuse K.R.K. had alleged because K.R.K.'s allegations had been consistent over time and were accompanied by other behaviors that were uncharacteristic for her but were not surprising for victims of abuse. Alvarez found it unlikely that K.R.K. was making up the allegations of abuse or that Stamper had "coached" K.R.K. into accusing Knox. Alvarez also found that Knox's evaluation results were "extremely concerning because [he] meets the psychodiagnostic criteria to be considered a psychopath (i.e., sociopath)." Alvarez characterized this as a "severe personality disorder and behavioral disorder" with a poor long-term prognosis. Alvarez also reported that Knox showed indications of suffering from bipolar disorder. She concluded that there was significant evidence to support her recommendation that K.R.K. have only supervised contact with Knox and that "[d]ue to the extreme degree of Mr. Knox's psychopathology, the only safe place for [K.R.K.] to have any contact with Mr. Knox is at a structured supervisory facility that employs individuals capable of high levels of supervision, who are familiar with psychopathic individuals."

Stamper and K.R.K. subsequently moved to Harris County, Texas, where Stamper sought a protective order against Knox. In March 2006, the 311th Judicial District Court of Harris County (the Houston court) issued a protective order in favor of Stamper and K.R.K. The Houston court found that Knox had committed family violence and that family violence was likely to occur in the future so that a protective order was in the best interest of Stamper and K.R.K. and necessary for their welfare and safety. The Houston court's order prohibited Knox from having contact with K.R.K. The Houston court eventually extended the order to remain in force until 2009. The evidence in support of the protective order showed that Knox had sexually abused K.R.K. This evidence included a medical exam conducted in July 2002, as well as the affidavit of Jana Kixmiller, LCSW, a counselor and Vice President of Children and Family Services for LifeSpring Mental Health Services in Jeffersonville, Indiana, who had seen K.R.K. in 11 therapy sessions from March through June 2003. The affidavit stated, "[K.R.K.] has expressed during therapy sessions that she does not feel `safe' with her `daddy,'" and it detailed K.R.K.'s allegations of sexual abuse by Knox. The evidence also showed that Dr. David McCormick, Professor of Pediatrics at University of Texas Medical Branch, stated, "Please be informed that [K.R.K.] has significant behavioral regression after she visits her father."

On June 14, 2006, the trial court for the paternity issue (the Galveston court) held a hearing on K.R.K.'s paternity. Stamper testified to the events surrounding K.R.K.'s conception and birth and her discovery that K.R.K. was not Knox's child. She also testified that she had never intentionally deceived either Knox or Taylor about K.R.K.'s paternity. She testified that she and Taylor had noticed a resemblance between K.R.K. and Taylor's son from another relationship, but she did not actually consider the possibility that K.R.K. could be Taylor's daughter.

At the hearing, Stamper made multiple attempts to introduce testimony and other evidence that would address the element of K.R.K.'s best interest in the paternity issue. Stamper testified about K.R.K.'s well-being and the current degree of contact between K.R.K. and Knox. The trial court sustained Knox's first objection to relevancy of this testimony, and, on Knox's second objection to relevancy, stated, "I'll allow it. I don't want to go far afield, but I'll allow some." Stamper then testified regarding her personal knowledge of K.R.K.'s physical and mental health. She testified that K.R.K. was suffering from fecal incontinence, was mutilating her hands and feet, and was suffering from anxiety. Stamper testified that the anxiety was most pronounced prior to Knox's visits and phone calls with K.R.K. Stamper testified that K.R.K. was fearful of the phone calls with Knox, and that the anxiety and fear she exhibited were unusual for K.R.K., who did not usually seem to be anxious or fearful around adults. As Stamper testified about her desire to move with K.R.K. to be near family in Indiana, counsel for Knox objected, and the trial court questioned the relevancy of Stamper's testimony. When Stamper's counsel explained that he was trying to establish K.R.K.'s best interest, the trial court responded, "That's for next week. I want you to focus on paternity issues. Next week is for all the other."

Stamper also asked the trial court to take judicial notice of the March 2006 protective order issued by the Houston Court, along with the accompanying evidence in support of the order. Stamper's attorney stated, "[I] would like to enter a certified copy of the protective order and ask that the court take judicial notice under Rule 201 unless anyone has an objection." After objections from counsel for Knox, the trial court stated, "I don't see how it's applicable. Do you have any further witnesses?" Knox also testified at the hearing. He testified that he was present at K.R.K.'s birth, although he was serving a sentence for intoxication manslaughter at the time. He was released for 30 days in order to be with Stamper when K.R.K. was born. He went back to prison for 42 days, starting when K.R.K. was 12 days old. Knox testified that he was completely sure that he was K.R.K.'s father until he received the anonymous phone call. Knox stated that Stamper had led him to believe that he was K.R.K.'s father. After Knox heard rumors that Stamper and Taylor had spent some time together while he was out of town, he confronted Stamper and Taylor, and they assured him that their relationship had been purely platonic. Knox testified that Stamper had never said anything to indicate that K.R.K. might not be his daughter or that she had ever had sexual relations with Taylor.

The trial court also heard testimony about Knox's criminal background. Knox testified that he had been convicted of felony intoxicated manslaughter, that he had several drug convictions in the early 1990s, and that he had been in jail on other offenses until approximately 60 days before the hearing. Stamper's attorney also attempted to question Knox about any evidence he had that a relationship between Knox and K.R.K. was in K.R.K.'s best interest. However, the trial court interjected "I don't see how that's relevant to the issue of paternity. That certainly may be relevant to the issue of custody, but it's not relevant today. So I want to move on." On June 16, 2006, the trial court issued an order establishing K.R.K.'s paternity. The trial court found that Knox was not K.R.K.'s biological father, but held that Stamper was equitably estopped from denying Knox's parentage. The order adjudicated Knox as K.R.K.'s father and dismissed Taylor from the suit. The trial court did...