April Michelle McAdams v. Charles Alan McAdams
Case Details
- Judge(s)
- Judge Arnold B. Goldin
- Status
- Published
- Procedural Posture
- Appeal of trial court's directed verdict in family law modification proceeding
Related Laws
No specific laws identified for this ruling.
Outcome
Father's petition to modify parenting plan and designate himself as primary residential parent was dismissed. Trial court granted mother's motion for directed verdict, finding father failed to establish material change in circumstances. Appellate court affirmed, finding the evidentiary ruling harmless error.
Excerpt
This case involved a petition to modify the parties' parenting plan to change the primary residential parent. The father sought to be designated as the primary residential parent of his minor child, alleging, among other things, that the child's sibling was violent, that the mother had moved to a new county and enrolled the child in a new school, that he never received notice from the mother regarding the child's medical appointments, and that the mother intentionally interfered with his and the child's relationship. Because mother was not listed in father's response to mother's interrogatory—which specifically asked for a list of all potential trial witnesses—the trial court prohibited father's counsel from calling mother as a witness during father's case-in-chief. The trial court, however, allowed father to submit mother's deposition as an exhibit and also allowed father to call mother to testify as to events that had occurred since her deposition had been taken. At the close of father's proof, mother's counsel moved for a directed verdict, which the trial court granted, finding that none of the incidents relied upon by father constituted a material change in circumstances. Construing the trial court's order as if it were an order granting a motion for involuntary dismissal, and concluding that barring father from calling mother as a witness in his case-in-chief was harmless error by the trial court, we affirm.
What This Ruling Means
This summary was generated to explain the ruling in plain English and is not legal advice.
Similar Rulings
Plaintiff brought claims against Knox County and the County Clerk based on allegedly discriminatory employment practices. The trial court determined that Plaintiff committed serious discovery violations and imposed as a sanction the exclusion of certain evidence. With this evidence excluded, the trial court granted summary judgment to the Defendants. Plaintiff appeals, challenging the discovery sanction, the trial court's conclusion under the Tennessee Human Rights Act that the continuing violation doctrine did not apply, the trial court's conclusion that the Clerk was not individually liable, and the award of attorney's fees against the Plaintiff and her attorney. We affirm.
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