Lowell Harris v. Priscilla Evans

Syllabus

In these consolidated appeals, the defendant mother, Priscilla Evans, appealed from two judgments of the Family Court. First, the defendant appealed from a decision and order of the Family Court granting joint custody of the minor child to her and the plaintiff father, Lowell Harris, with physical placement of their child with the defendant. The defendant argued that the trial justice committed reversible error when she (1) relied on a Veterans' Administration Hospital report in her decision, because it was never admitted into evidence (2) awarded plaintiff unsupervised visitation and (3) made several alleged erroneous findings of fact. The defendant also appealed from a decision and order of the Family Court finding her in contempt of the Family Court's prior order. The Supreme Court held that the trial justice did not err in awarding joint custody of the minor child to the plaintiff and the defendant. The Supreme Court concluded that the trial justice's reference to the VA report, however slight, was at best harmless error given the abundant testimony and additional evidence that the trial justice relied upon in reaching her conclusions. The Court further held that the trial justice did not overlook or misconceive material evidence because she was entitled to weigh the evidence as she deemed fit and was justified in accepting or rejecting the evidence before her. The Supreme Court further held that the trial justice did not err in finding the defendant in contempt of the Family Court's prior visitation order. The Court deferred to the trial justice's finding that the defendant's testimony was not credible and concluded that the defendant's conduct fell squarely within the realm of contempt and clearly reflected the defendant's lack of credibility and willful disregard of the Family Court's order. The Court further concluded that the trial justice did not exceed the scope of the remand order because she did not plow new legal ground or tackle issues that were not s