Taylor-Couchman v. Dewitt-Couchman
| Decision Date | 15 June 2021 |
| Docket Number | No. A-20-061.,A-20-061. |
| Citation | 29 Neb.App. 950,964 N.W.2d 320 |
| Parties | Ross TAYLOR-COUCHMAN, appellee, v. Jessica DEWITT-COUCHMAN, appellant. |
| Court | Nebraska Court of Appeals |
Jeffrey A. Wagner, Omaha, and Kyle J. Flentje, Ogallala, of Wagner, Meehan & Watson, L.L.P., for appellant.
Kelly T. Shattuck, of Vacanti Shattuck, Omaha, for appellee.
Jessica DeWitt-Couchman (Jessica) appeals the custody and child support provisions of the decree dissolving her marriage to Ross Taylor-Couchman (Ross). She contends that the district court erred in various findings relating to its determination permitting Ross to remove the parties’ minor child to California and in ordering Jessica to pay child support. For the reasons set forth herein, we affirm.
Jessica and Ross met in 2009 while attending Arizona State University. In the summer of 2012, Ross entered a U.S. Air Force delayed-entry program, which allowed him to defer basic training until after the parties’ marriage in February 2013. Ross entered Air Force basic training from March to May. After Ross completed basic training, he was stationed in Monterey, California, where Jessica joined him.
The parties lived in Monterey until October 2014, when Ross was stationed at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas, for intelligence training related to his linguist job. During the period of time that Ross was in San Angelo, Jessica lived with her parents in Nebraska. Once Ross completed his training in San Angelo, he and Jessica moved to Maryland, where he was stationed at Fort George G. Meade. The parties’ daughter, Penelope Sue Couchman (Penny), was born in 2015.
In January 2018, while still residing in Maryland, the parties began experiencing marital difficulties. On January 27, the parties went on a "date night" during which Ross discovered that Jessica had an online dating application, Tinder, on her phone. Although Jessica initially attempted to deny having the application on her phone, she eventually admitted having the application and showed Ross that she had been communicating with approximately 10 men. Jessica told Ross that she "had Tinder in the past and had deleted it, and that she had just been using it to get compliments." The parties argued about Jessica's use of the Tinder application and returned to their home. During that evening, Ross and Jessica had a conversation, which he described as follows:
This conversation was about us filing for a divorce and what would happen, what the implications of that would be. [Jessica] said that she was planning on going to Nebraska to be a teacher. And that she wanted to file a legal separation. I had stated in the past that I wanted a divorce if we were going to split. She said that it didn't matter if she was an alcoholic, it didn't matter if she had endangered Penny, it didn't matter about her mental health issues, that because I was in the military, the Court would not award me custody.
Ross further asked Jessica if she would admit to being on mental health medication and "bipolar medication," to which question he said she replied, "yep." He also asked her if she would admit "to endangering Penny by putting her in a car without a car seat," and he testified that Jessica responded "yep."
Ross testified that after this conversation, Jessica decided that she wanted to take Penny to stay with a friend who lived approximately 45 minutes away. Ross objected because it was late in the evening; Penny was sleeping; and, during the course of the evening, Jessica had consumed at least two beers before the parties left their home and then consumed one beer and a "flight of beers" consisting of five small glasses (or samples) of different beers while the parties were out on their "date." Ross eventually called the police, who advised Jessica that she should have her friend pick her up. After this incident, Jessica stayed in a hotel with her mother for a week, during which time Ross cared for Penny. When Jessica returned to the parties’ home, Ross stayed in a rented room for 2 weeks. During this time, the parties attended marriage counseling and reconciled.
In late March 2018, Ross was scheduled to attend 2 months of officer training school (OTS) in Alabama. During the time period that Ross was attending OTS, the parties decided that Jessica and Penny would stay in Nebraska with Jessica's parents. On March 16, the parties left Maryland and drove cross country on their way to Nebraska. During a portion of the drive in Iowa while Jessica was driving, Ross asked her if she could change the music they were listening to. She handed Ross her phone and told him to "put on [their] wedding playlist."
Ross then "saw in her text messages that she was having a romantic conversation with a man ... [a]nd from that point, [they] began to argue because [he] was upset that [his] wife was communicating with this man." Although Ross could not understand the other man's portion of the conversation because it was in Spanish, he knew that the conversation was romantic in nature "[b]ecause they were sending heart emojis and [he] could understand [Jessica's] parts of the conversation [which were in English]." Ross admitted that he "yelled at [Jessica]" and "called her some names," but stated that Penny was asleep and that he "was just hurt that the day [he] was getting ready to leave [for OTS], [his] wife was telling another [man] that she couldn't wait to [video call] him later and that [Ross] was getting on a plane soon."
After Jessica stopped the car, Ross dropped Jessica's phone from the passenger window into the grass outside the car. When Jessica left the driver's seat of the car to retrieve her phone, Ross, who was upset, got into the driver's seat of the car and "pulled [the car] forward approximate[ly] 100 feet to try and process what had just happened." Jessica got in the car, and the parties continued the drive to Omaha, Nebraska.
Once the parties arrived in Omaha, they continued to argue. The parties eventually got a hotel room for the night, but argued, and Jessica contended that Ross would not let her leave the hotel room and that he eventually shut the door on her leg. Ross stated that he was standing by the door and "tried to block it." The police were called several times over a 2-day period, but no citations were issued. Further, Jessica admitted that at trial, she testified regarding allegations which she had never previously mentioned to the police or included in any prior affidavits or statements.
Ross left Omaha and attended OTS in Alabama, which began on March 28, 2018. Ross testified that during his time at OTS, he had access to his computer, "so some messaging was able to occur or e-mails with pictures, but the bulk of [the] communication" between Jessica, Ross, and Penny "was via cards and letters." Ross further stated that Jessica asked him not to discuss her behavior and to limit their conversations to Penny and finances, but admitted that their communications were amicable.
On the night of April 17, 2018, which was Ross’ birthday, he tried to call Jessica eight times. Jessica texted Ross "to stop trying to contact her." However, the following morning on April 18, Jessica allowed Ross to talk to Penny. One day later, on April 19, Jessica filed a domestic abuse protection order against Ross, alleging, among other things, that Ross continued to call her after she texted him to stop, that she was frightened of Ross, and that she did not want to have any further communication with him. A harassment protection order was entered in May 2018 in lieu of Jessica's requested domestic abuse protection order.
On April 22, 2018, 3 days after filing the application for a protection order against Ross, Jessica purchased an airline ticket, which Jessica admitted that she used to visit her boyfriend in Maryland. Ross was unaware that Jessica was flying to Maryland and later found out that Jessica allowed a third party to care for Penny while Jessica was out of state.
On May 8, 2018, Ross filed a complaint for legal separation, requesting, among other things, custody of Penny subject to Jessica's rights of reasonable visitation and permission to move with Penny to Texas. Jessica filed an answer and "counter complaint" that was subsequently amended to request, among other things, dissolution of the parties’ marriage.
Shortly after the filing of the complaint for dissolution, Ross graduated from OTS on May 24, 2018, and was relocated to Texas. Jessica and Penny remained in Nebraska with Jessica's parents.
In June 2018, the court entered a temporary order granting the parties temporary joint legal and physical custody of Penny and setting a visitation schedule that provided for the parties to have a 2-week-on, 2-week-off visitation schedule with Ross’ parenting time taking place in Texas. In the temporary order, the court further noted "it did not find domestic abuse under the domestic abuse protection order as indicated by its dismissal and the entry ... of a harassment protection order." Further, the court noted that "there [was] no credible evidence that either parent [was] a danger to the minor child, ... and it is evident that each parent loves her." The court further noted:
[Jessica] had accused [Ross] of trying to take the minor child to the exclusion of herself. Yet, given the current situation, she has managed to accomplish that end temporarily for herself and is now requesting that the Court allow that to continue. The Court declines to do so as it is not in the best interest of the child. The evidence presented to the Court established that the parties are very unhappy with each other. As such, until the protection order is modified or dismissed, the Court finds that the parties will need to exchange the minor child through a third party. In addition, while the protection order ... remains in place, the parent that is not exercising parenting time will be unable to...
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