In civil litigation, delays can seem almost inevitable. Because litigation happens in the real world and not a perfect one, the Rules of Civil Procedure allow a little flexibility. Within limits, parties are permitted to extend the various deadlines for pleadings, discovery, responses to motions, and other requirements (as a starting point, see Rule 6(b)). But sometimes parties can simply push the delays too far. For various reasons some plaintiffs just won’t advance the ball, and for their opponents, the light at the end of the litigation tunnel starts to fade. When a case languishes for too long without good reason, the court may take action, even to the point of dismissing the case or claim entirely for “failure to prosecute.” This authority is found in Rule 41(b) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, which says:
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Trial Court Jurisdiction Following Appeal
In Ponder v. Ponder, NC App (May 3, 2016), the trial court conducted a lengthy hearing on plaintiff’s motion to renew a DVPO. Realizing the order needed numerous findings of fact to resolve the issues litigated but wanting to give plaintiff immediate protection, the trial court entered a renewal order with no findings of fact on AOC Form CV-314 and informed the parties that a more detailed supplemental order would replace the form order as soon as the court had time to complete it. Following entry of the form order, defendant appealed. The trial court then entered the supplemental order with extensive findings of fact only to have the court of appeals hold that both the form and the supplemental orders were void ab initio. The form order was void for a lack of findings and the supplemental order was void because it was entered after appeal was taken.
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Children in DSS Custody Who Need Treatment in a PRTF: There’s a Disconnect
I recently finished a 2-day course for district court judges that focused on children with significant mental health needs. There were lots of questions about the admission and discharge process for a child who is in a county department’s (DSS) custody and who needs treatment in a psychiatric residential treatment facility (PRTF). It’s complicated because there are two separate but simultaneously occurring court actions:
- the abuse, neglect, or dependency (A/N/D) action that addresses a child’s custody, placement, and services; and
- the judicial review of a child’s voluntary admission to a secure psychiatric treatment facility that was made with the consent of the child’s legally responsible person.
The two actions involve different parties, courts, purposes, and laws, and they are often not coordinated even though they directly impact each other. Continue Reading
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Alimony: Cohabitation is All About Money After All
North Carolina law long has provided that court-ordered alimony terminates upon the death of either the supporting or dependent spouse and upon the remarriage of the dependent spouse. Since 1995, the law provides that even if the dependent spouse does not remarry, alimony also will terminate if the receiver engages in cohabitation. Our appellate courts have struggled to provide clear guidance regarding how to determine when a relationship amounts to cohabitation. Last December, in Setzler v. Setzler, 781 SE2d 64 (NC App., 2015), the court of appeals told us that the primary purpose of the cohabitation rule is to discourage “bad faith” decisions not to remarry and provided the clearest statement to date that cohabitation is proven by showing a relationship that provides economic benefits to the dependent spouse similar to those that would be provided by marriage.
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When Parental Discipline Goes Too Far, It’s Child Abuse
Before On the Civil Side existed, the story about NFL running back, Adrian Peterson, pleading no contest to a misdemeanor reckless assault charge for disciplining his 4-year old son with a switch was national news. I wrote about what I thought would happen to him here in NC for our Criminal Law Blog: Parental Discipline: When Is It Abuse and/or a Crime? Since I wrote that post, the NC Court of Appeals published its first opinions interpreting the definition of abuse as applied to a child protective case that says:
a child is abused when his or her parent, guardian, custodian, or caretaker uses or allows to be used cruel or grossly inappropriate procedures or devices to modify the child’s behavior.
In other words, a child is abused when parental discipline goes too far. How does a court determine whether a parent has gone too far? Continue Reading
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DVPO Can Be Set Aside When Victim is No Longer Afraid
On Tuesday of this week, the Court of Appeals in Pope v. Pope upheld a decision by a trial judge to set aside a DVPO pursuant to GS 1A-1, Rule 60(b)(5). The trial court concluded, and the court of appeals agreed, that evidence showing plaintiff clearly was no longer afraid of defendant established that “it was no longer equitable for the judgment to have prospective application.”
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Does NC Need a Teen Sexting Law?
A growing number of teens in NC and across the nation are facing criminal charges for sexting.
A few months ago, I wrote a blog post about a Fayetteville case involving two teens charged with felony child pornography for sending naked selfies to each other. The teens in that case, a boyfriend and girlfriend, ultimately pled guilty to misdemeanors (disseminating harmful material to minors) and their cases will be dismissed if they successfully complete a one-year term of probation under a deferred prosecution agreement. New sexting cases are reportedly being investigated in Wake County at two separate high schools, one of which may involve extortion. Based on my recent advising requests, other counties are also dealing with sexting issues in their schools. The offending students often end up with felony charges, at least initially, for behavior which one recent study suggests is a fairly common practice among U.S. teens. The question is how should the state respond?
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Child Support: Maintenance and Gifts Are Actual Income??
The NC Child Support Guidelines provide that the term gross income “includes income from any source” and the Court of Appeal s has held repeatedly that the term should be construed very broadly. See e.g. Spicer v. Spicer, 168 NC App 283 (2005)(even the pain and suffering component of a personal injury settlement is income) and Moore v. Onafowora, 208 NC App 674 (2010)(bonuses received on a regular basis are included as recurring income). Unlike many other states, the NC Guidelines even count nonrecurring and one-time lump sum payments as income.
In an unpublished opinion issued last week, the Court of Appeals reaffirmed a line of cases holding that gifts and ‘maintenance’ received from third parties also must be included as income. In Cumberland County v. Cheeks, May 3, 2016, the Court of Appeals held that BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) payments received by military personnel who do not live in government housing must be counted as income because the payments offset the living expenses of the service member.
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Jury Misconduct – Will the Judge Order a New Trial?
Anyone who has ever been a juror in a civil trial probably remembers the judge’s repeated instructions not to talk to anyone about the case prior to deliberations, to avoid communications with parties, witnesses, and attorneys, to report to the bailiff when anyone tries to talk to a juror about the case, to avoid media coverage of the trial, to refrain from doing independent investigation (nope, not even casual Googling), and to base the verdict only on the evidence. The whole point, of course, is to make the trial as fair as possible. But what if a juror goes astray? When can a losing party get relief based on the juror’s misdeeds?
Rule 59 of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure sets out nine categories of grounds for a new trial. Among them is Rule 59(a)(2), which in part allows a court to grant a new trial based on “misconduct of the jury.” Yesterday in Town of Beech Mountain v. Genesis Wildlife Sanctuary, Inc., the Court of Appeals assessed whether the trial judge should have ordered a new trial where, Continue Reading
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Does Summary Judgment Divorce Require a Hearing?
Absolute divorce trials seldom, if ever, involve any sort of courtroom drama. Most of the time, these ‘trials’ involve one party coming to court to testify for less than 5 minutes or the attorney of one party coming to court to hand up a summary judgment for the judge to sign. Most requests for divorce are not contested – in large part because there generally are no defenses to divorce other than the failure to live separate and apart for one year.
So it is no wonder that some districts have decided to take the process of entering summary judgment divorce out of the courtroom. To save valuable court time, some districts have decided to adopt the practice of having judges enter summary judgment divorces after reviewing the pleadings in chambers. Notices are sent to the non-moving party stating that the summary judgment will be entered by the court on a specific date or at some point during a specific week. No actual hearing is held in the courtroom on the motion for summary judgment.
Is this okay?