Maurice J. Cusick v. Judith P. Cusick

Citations

• 210 A.3d 1199

Syllabus

The pro se plaintiff, Maurice J. Cusick, appealed from a Family Court postjudgment order in favor of his former wife, Judith P. Cusick, the defendant, requiring the plaintiff to submit to limited genetic testing for the benefit of the parties' minor children. On appeal, the plaintiff argued that by ordering him to submit to genetic testing, the hearing justice: (1) violated his right to privacy and to due process and (2) committed an abuse of discretion by relying on factual findings that overlooked and misconceived material evidence and were clearly wrong. The Supreme Court held that, because the plaintiff did not raise his right to privacy and due-process arguments before the hearing justice, he failed to preserve this argument for appeal and the exception to the \raise-or-waive\ rule for basic constitutional rights did not apply in this case. Next, the Court held that, because the plaintiff failed to raise any objection to the introduction of an expert's affidavit, the plaintiff waived the right to contest it on appeal. Lastly, the Court held that the hearing justice did not abuse his discretion in ordering the plaintiff to submit to limited genetic testing because the hearing justice made sufficient findings of fact properly balanced the plaintiff's interests with that of the children and concluded that, based on the evidence presented by the medical experts, genetic testing was in the best interest of the children. Accordingly, the Supreme Court affirmed the order of the Family Court.