from style v styleThe Arkansas Courtroom of Appeals dominated Wednesday in an opinion by Decide Kenneth Hixon, joined by Justices Stephanie Porter Barrett and Wendy Shortens Wooden:
In a closing order, the trial court docket ordered that Angela’s twin sister, Andrea, should not be alone with the kids or talk with them in any means besides as licensed by the order. The trial court docket discovered that Andrea “posed a transparent menace to the emotional well-being of the kids based mostly on early findings based mostly on her testimony in open court docket.” The trial court docket ordered that if Andrea wished to go to the kids, the visitation The occasion might be overseen by somebody chosen by Jamie….
Testimony on the trial revealed that Andrea exhibited worrying conduct, together with praying in entrance of her kids for a chaotic spirit to descend upon one among Jamie’s sisters and her household. Andrea additionally believes that Jamie’s sister is a witch and controls Andrea’s thoughts, which Andrea additionally tells the kids.
There was additionally testimony that whereas Angela was working [dermatology] On the clinic, Andrea places a Walmart bag on her head and says she has to put on it to avoid intercourse witches. The Arkansas Medical Board banned Andrea from the clinic due to her conduct there. Lastly, kids’s litigation attorneys who had been very accustomed to the case beneficial that the kids haven’t any contact with Andrea except supervised by somebody aside from a relative.
Whereas we agree with the precept {that a} father or mother’s visitation rights can’t be abridged due to his or her spiritual beliefs, we observe that Andrea just isn’t the father or mother of those kids, and we additional conclude that the trial court docket’s choice to restrict the kids’s contact was not motivated by spiritual issues , however out of spiritual issues. We maintain that, based mostly on this document, the trial court docket didn’t clearly err find that restricted contact with Andrea was in the most effective pursuits of the kids.
Bart W. Calhoun (McDaniel Wolff PLLC) represents the daddy.