Jamie Souza v. Michael Souza

Syllabus

The defendant father, Michael Souza, appealed from a Family Court order denying his motion for a new trial following a decision and order that denied his motion to change custody and awarded sole custody to the plaintiff. On appeal, the defendant claimed that the trial justice erred by overlooking and misconceiving evidence. He argued that the trial justice was clearly wrong when she determined that the defendant failed to carry his burden of demonstrating a substantial change in circumstances warranting the modification of placement of his two children. The defendant additionally took issue with the trial justice awarding sole custody to the plaintiff mother, Jamie Souza. After thoroughly reviewing the record, the Supreme Court held that the trial justice acted within her discretion when she determined that the defendant failed to show a substantial change in circumstances. The Court concluded that the trial justice carefully considered and weighed all the evidence before her in denying the defendant's motion to change custody. With respect to the award of sole custody in favor of the plaintiff, however, the Supreme Court held that the trial justice strayed beyond the bounds of her discretion because the two-part test required to modify custody was not applied. Accordingly, the Supreme Court affirmed in part and vacated in part the order of the Family Court and remanded the case to the Family Court for further proceedings on the issue of sole custody.