Zeman v. Stanford
| Decision Date | 10 May 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 2000-CA-00757-SCT.,2000-CA-00757-SCT. |
| Citation | 789 So.2d 798 |
| Parties | Jonathan Blake ZEMAN v. Carl and Jean STANFORD. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
H.R. Garner, Hernando, Attorney for Appellant.
Ronald L. Taylor, Southaven, Attorney for Appellee.
Before PITTMAN, C.J., MILLS and COBB, JJ.
¶ 1. Jonathan Blake Zeman ("Jonathan") and Lesa Stanford Zeman ("Lesa") were divorced by decree dated May 3, 1999. Sole custody of the two children born of their marriage, Jonathan Blake Zeman, II ("Blake"), age 7, and Lesa Brooke Zeman ("Brooke"), age 10, was granted to Jonathan. Lesa was granted regular visitation, but such visitation was restricted after Lesa was subsequently incarcerated in Arkansas.
¶ 2. Carl and Jean Stanford are the maternal grandparents of Blake and Brooke. The Stanfords filed a Petition for Grandparents' Visitation Rights on November 29, 1999, in the Chancery Court of DeSoto County, Mississippi. Jonathan filed a motion to be awarded attorney's fees under Miss.Code Ann. § 93-16-3(4) (1994) on January 12, 2000. Jonathan then filed his Answer and Defenses and Counter-Petition, alleging that Miss.Code Ann. § 93-16-3(1) (1994) was unconstitutional, that the Stanfords had no standing to bring the action, and that such visitation disrupted the family life of the children. The Stanfords filed their Answer to Counter-Petition on February 8, 2000, denying lack of standing or that their visitation with the children was disruptive.
¶ 3. The cause was tried before Chancellor Percy L. Lynchard, Jr., on April 4, 2000. The Chancellor held that the Stanfords were entitled to visitation and that such visitation would be in the best interests of the children, if such visitation was granted based on the parameters set forth in Martin v. Coop, 693 So.2d 912 (Miss. 1997). On April 18, 2000, the Chancellor entered an order granting the Stanfords visitation rights. Jonathan then filed his Motion for Reconsideration and/or New Trial. The Chancellor entered an Order denying Jonathan's motion, and this appeal was timely filed.
¶ 4. Carl and Jean Stanford have had a relationship with Blake and Brooke since the children's birth. The children had routinely eaten Sunday dinners, spent Christmases, and celebrated their cousins' birthdays at the Stanford home prior to the divorce. The curtailment of such activities was a factor in prompting the Stanfords to file their petition seeking visitation rights. Jean Stanford, a schoolteacher at Sacred Heart school, taught Brooke when Brooke was in the second grade. After the divorce, Lesa would bring the children to the Stanfords' home since she was living with the Stanfords at that time. After Lesa was incarcerated in Arkansas on three counts of attempted capital murder and related charges, her visitation with the children was restricted considerably.
¶ 5. Thereafter, the Stanfords continued to visit with the children regularly. Jonathan permitted visitation usually one weekend per month, which included overnight visitation. In the fall of 1999, the Stanfords' relationship with Jonathan began to deteriorate. The Stanfords were not denied visitation, but they testified that attempting to visit the children became a "constant hassle," and that Jonathan failed to return their phone calls and attempted to "dictate" the terms of the visitation.
¶ 6. Jonathan became upset when he learned that the children had been communicating with their mother by letter and by telephone while at the Stanfords' home. There is conflicting testimony regarding this issue. In his brief before this Court, Jonathan claims that he asked the Stanfords to discontinue allowing any letters or phone calls between the children and their mother, but that they refused. Jonathan states that he told Jean that all letters, mail, and phone calls to and from the children should come through him, since he felt some of the calls and letters were very disruptive to the children. Jonathan testified that he told the Stanfords he did not want letters from Lesa to be given to the children until he first had a chance to read them.
¶ 7. The Stanfords, however, testified that before allowing the children to speak to their mother by telephone and write letters to her, they first obtained permission from Jonathan. Jean Stanford testified that Jonathan never told her not to allow the children to write or communicate by telephone with their mother, and that if he had, she would have complied.
¶ 8. Jonathan's testimony at trial acknowledged that the Stanfords complied with his wishes and that his displeasure stemmed from the fact that letters from Lesa began "flowing" through the children's maternal aunt. He testified that "we had talked about that and about stopping [passing letters to the children at school] and that stopped, and then [letters] started flowing through [the maternal aunt] bringing them." Further, the record reflects the following exchange:
¶ 9. In early December of 1999, Jonathan married his present wife, Regina. Regina and her three children from a prior marriage moved in with Jonathan and his two children. Soon after, Jonathan permitted Blake and Brooke to visit with the Stanfords during the day on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1999. The children normally spent Christmas Eve night with their grandparents and great-grandparents, and Jean became very upset when Jonathan picked the children up later in the afternoon that day. Jonathan testified that the holiday situation was different now since he had remarried and had other family members to visit.
¶ 10. The Stanfords filed a Petition for Grandparents' Visitation Rights on November 29, 1999. They testified that they did not wish to interfere with the way Jonathan rears his children, but that they wish to maintain a normal relationship with the children. After being served with the summons and petition on January 6, 2000, Jonathan stopped all visitation until the cause came for trial on April 4, 2000. In his counter petition, Jonathan requested that the Stanfords be enjoined from visiting, coming about or around him or his children unless specifically invited by him and under the circumstances and conditions of visitation with the grandchildren as dictated by him and him alone. Jonathan then filed a motion for attorney's fees pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 93-16-3(4) (1994).
¶ 11. On April 18, the trial court entered an Order Granting Grandparents' Visitation Rights based on the fact that a viable relationship had been established between the Stanfords and the children and that it would be in the best interest of the children to allow the Stanfords visitation rights. After his Motion for Reconsideration And/Or New Trial was denied, Jonathan filed the present appeal, raising the following issues:
¶ 12. A limited standard of review is employed by this Court in reviewing decisions of a chancellor. Reddell v. Reddell, 696 So.2d 287, 288 (Miss.1997) (citing Carrow v. Carrow, 642 So.2d 901, 904 (Miss.1994)). The findings of a chancellor will not be disturbed on review unless the chancellor abused his discretion, was manifestly wrong, or made a finding which was clearly erroneous. Bank of Miss. v. Hollingsworth, 609 So.2d 422, 424 (Miss.1992) (citing Smith v. Dorsey, 599 So.2d 529 (Miss.1992); Bowers Window & Door Co. v. Dearman, 549 So.2d 1309 (Miss.1989)). For questions of law, the standard of review is de novo. Consolidated Pipe & Supply Co. v. Colter, 735 So.2d 958, 961 (Miss.1999) (citing Harrison County v. City of Gulfport, 557 So.2d 780, 784 (Miss.1990)).
¶ 13. The Mississippi Legislature enacted the Grandparents' Visitation Rights Statutes, Miss.Code Ann. §§ 93-16-1 to -7(1994), to facilitate visitation rights to grandparents in certain circumstances. At issue is whether the chancellor should have applied § 93-16-3(1) or (2). The statute provides in pertinent part:
Miss.Code Ann. § 93-16-3 (1994) (emphasis added).
¶ 14. Jonathan...
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