J.S. v. D.L.
J.S. v. D.L.
Opinion
{¶ 1} Appellant D.L. appeals from the decision of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division, granting J.S.'s petition for a domestic violence civil protection order. For the following reasons, we affirm.
Facts and Procedural History
{¶ 2} On June 21, 2017 J.S. filed for a domestic violence civil protection order ("CPO") under R.C. 3113.31 against appellant and on behalf of herself and her two minor children. The domestic relations court issued an ex parte CPO on the same date and set the matter for a full hearing on July 6, 2017. The record reflects that appellant was served with notice of the order and the hearing on June 24, 2017.
{¶ 3} Appellant did not appear at the full CPO hearing on July 6, 2017 which was conducted by a magistrate. On July 13, 2017 the trial court issued a CPO in favor of J.S. and her two minor children. On July 24, 2017 appellant filed objections to the trial court's adoption of the CPO pursuant to Civ.R. 65.1(F)(3)(d). Appellant conceded he was served with notice of the CPO hearing on Friday, June 23, 2017 but argued that he was unable to attend the hearing or seek a continuance because, on Tuesday, June 27, 2017, he was found to be in contempt of court and was remanded to the Cuyahoga County Jail for a period of ten days. Appellant further asserted that J.S. had falsified the allegations in support of the CPO against him.
{¶ 4} On October 20, 2017 the trial court issued a judgment entry overruling appellant's objections. The court took judicial notice of its own docket evidencing the fact that appellant was sentenced to ten days in jail on June 21, 2017 for a contempt of court charge in which he had neither purged the contempt nor appeared for the alternative community service sentence. The court noted that the full hearing on the CPO took place while appellant was in jail but found that appellant did not have a constitutional right to be present at the hearing. The court further noted that appellant failed to file a motion for a continuance of the hearing. Finally, the court noted that its review of appellant's challenge to factual determinations made by the magistrate at the hearing was precluded by appellant's failure to provide the court with a transcript of the proceedings as required by Civ.R. 65.1(F)(3)(d)(iv).
Law and Analysis
I. Appellant's Presence at the Full CPO Hearing
{¶ 5} In his first and second assignments of error, appellant argues that the trial court erred in conducting the full CPO hearing without his presence and that he was not provided adequate time to seek a continuance of the hearing or retain counsel. We address these assignments of error together.
{¶ 6} Appellant's argument that he had a constitutional right to attend the full CPO hearing is without merit. This court has previously rejected the argument that a trial court violates a respondent's due process rights by conducting a full hearing on a R.C. 3113.31 CPO outside the presence of the respondent.
Abriani v. Abriani
, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga Nos. 88597 and 88599,
{¶ 7} Similarly, we find no merit to appellant's argument that he was not provided adequate time to seek a continuance of the hearing or retain counsel. Appellant concedes that he was served on Friday, June 23, 2017. At no point did appellant seek a continuance of the CPO hearing pursuant to R.C. 3113.31(D)(2)(a)(iii) or (iv). There is no explanation in the record as to why appellant failed to file such a motion prior to being sentenced to jail for contempt on Tuesday, June 27, 2017 or why he did not raise the matter to the domestic relations court at that time. In Leflore , the appellant was personally served with a copy of the petition for the CPO while in jail. Leflore at ¶ 2. The Leflore court found that the respondent had an adequate opportunity to seek a continuance of the CPO hearing while in jail. Here, appellant had opportunities to seek a continuance before he was remanded to jail. We find no error on the part of the trial court in proceeding with the full hearing.
{¶ 8} Appellant's first and second assignments of error are overruled.
II. Challenges to the Testimony in Support of the CPO
{¶ 9} In his third assignment of error, appellant argues that the trial court erred in finding J.S.'s testimony in support of the CPO to be credible. Pursuant to Civ.R. 65.1(F)(3)(d)(iv), appellant was required to furnish the trial court with a transcript of the evidence submitted to the magistrate for review of appellant's objections. The record reflects that appellant failed to comply with the rule and the trial court noted in its judgment entry that it was, therefore, constrained to accept the magistrate's findings of fact and limit its review to the magistrate's legal conclusions.
{¶ 10} Case law pertaining to the duty to provide a transcript pursuant to Civ.R. 65.1(F)(3)(d)(iv) is sparse. However, in applying the analogous transcript requirement found in Civ.R. 53(D)(3)(b)(iii), this court has held that if the transcript is later submitted with the record on appeal, it may not be considered because the appellate court's review is limited to the evidence before the trial court.
In re A.K.
, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 105426,
{¶ 11} As appellant's arguments are limited to challenging the credibility of J.S.'s testimony at the CPO hearing we find them to be barred due to his failure to comply with Civ.R. 65.1(F)(3)(d)(iv).
{¶ 12} Appellant's third assignment of error is overruled.
{¶ 13} The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
EILEEN T. GALLAGHER, J., and FRANK D. CELEBREZZE, JR., J., CONCUR
Reference
- Full Case Name
- J.S., Plaintiff-Appellee v. D.L., Defendant-Appellant
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Domestic violence civil protection order, R.C. 3113.31, Civ.R. 65.1. Appellant, who was incarcerated at the time the full hearing on a domestic violence civil protection order against him was conducted, did not have a constitutional right to be present for the hearing. Appellant had adequate time to seek a continuance of the hearing or retain counsel. Appellant was prohibited from challenging factual findings made by the magistrate below because he failed to provide the domestic relations court with a transcript of the proceedings to support his objections.