Readers respond to divorce column

By By Suzanne Monk / managing editor
August 31, 2003
Every time I review the ruling in an appeal from the Mississippi Court of Appeals or the Mississippi Supreme Court in a local divorce case, the phone rings off the hook.
The columns never identify the people involved because it's not my intent to expose their unhappiness to the public view. I assign aliases, "John" and "Mary," and then talk about the kinds of issues that arose on appeal.
Those who call invariably remark that they wish I would cover chancery court more because it's the court most likely to touch the largest number of ordinary, non-criminal people. And, as I remarked last week, men tend to feel they get the short end of the stick in a divorce so the calls are mostly from men.
And their sisters, mothers, etc.
But, there was one dissenting voice this time.
Local attorney
Meridian attorney Leigh Ann Key questioned my choice of example in last week's column about a child custody appeal.
The column concerned a 1994 divorce in which the father won custody of a young daughter. Six years later, the mother asked Chancery Judge Sarah Springer to modify the arrangements and award custody to her.
Key represented the mother in this new hearing.
Judge Springer ruled in favor of the mother. The father appealed to the Mississippi Court of Appeals, which reversed Judge Springer's decision in terse language earlier this month.
Key had two areas of concern:
1) she felt Judge Springer, who saw and heard the witnesses, had made a good decision; and 2) the mother was "pro se" during her ex-husband's appeal to the COA, which means she had no lawyer and represented herself.
That being so, Key felt the mother's point of view was probably not represented because she had no one to advocate for her.
Without getting into the merits of the case, and presuming to second-guess the appeal court, I can only say that's true, as far as it goes.
It is also true that the appeal reached the COA in four volumes. It included one volume of motions and arguments, called "pleadings," three volumes of hearing transcripts, as well as the judge's ruling and her explanation of why she decided the matter the way she did which in this case, largely mirrored the mother's point of view.
But, if I had it to do over again, I probably would not have chosen an appeal where one of the parties was "pro se."
Quick takes
Not over yet: It's not uncommon for the losing party in an appeal to file a motion for rehearing, which is just what it sounds like. The mother in last week's column has a new lawyer. On Thursday, he began the process of asking the Court of Appeals to reconsider its ruling.
Re-indictment: In April, a witness in a home invasion trial caused a minor courtroom sensation when he refused to testify. Tracy Darnell Moore and Lee Amerson had been indicted for armed robbery and kidnapping in a late-night attack at Meridian businessman Ralph Morgan's house.
Moore made a deal with the district's attorney's office for a lighter sentence in exchange for his testimony against Amerson.
But, when the day came, he said he didn't remember anything. The jury found Amerson not guilty.
Since Moore didn't keep up his end of the bargain, District Attorney Bilbo Mitchell voided the plea agreement and set about reinstating the indictments against him. That process was completed during the latest grand jury, and Moore has been re-indicted for kidnapping and armed robbery.
I doubt the DA will look favorably on a deal this time, and both crimes carry possible life sentences.
Comcast update: C.D. "Bubba" Newell's new trial has been rescheduled again. Newell was one of four defendants accused of defrauding Comcast of more than $2.6 million in a money-laundering scheme between January 1994 and August 1996.
Their trial took place in U.S. District Court in April 2001.
Newell was convicted of all counts against him, and was sentenced to 57 months, but his conviction was reversed by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. His new trial had been set for Sept. 8, but has now been delayed until Dec. 8.
Meanwhile, two other convicted defendants are serving their sentences.
David Van Colvin, the "man in the middle" of the conspiracy alleged by federal prosecutors, was sentenced to 29 months. He is in a federal prison in Miami, due to be released May 30, 2004.
Kim Gianakos was acquitted of the conspiracy counts against her, but convicted of a single count of mail fraud. She also appealed, but lost. She is serving her 18-month sentence in a federal prison in Bryan, Texas. Her release date is June 7, 2004.
Final feel-good: Members of the Meridian Civil Service Commission heard the story of an honest firefighter at their last meeting.
The firefighter had been at a party that got a little loud. When the police arrived, he realized there were underage drinkers present, and went and hid. The police saw his vehicle, but didn't see him.
He got away with it.
Later on, it began to work on his conscience and he went and told Fire Chief Bunky Partridge he was there. Don't imagine that he escaped punishment. He took his licks, but probably sleeps better.