Brecheen v. Brecheen

384 So.3d 567

Clayton O. BRECHEEN, Appellant/Cross-Appellee

v.Mallory BRECHEEN, Appellee/Cross-Appellant

NO. 2022-CA-00190-COA

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

04/23/2024

LINCOLN COUNTY CHANCERY COURT, HON. JAYE A. BRADLEY, JUDGE

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: JARED FRANK EVANS

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: ELISE BERRY MUNN

BEFORE BARNES, C.J., GREENLEE AND McCARTY, JJ.

McCARTY, J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. A woman filed for divorce from her husband on the ground of habitual cruel and inhuman treatment, including spousal domestic abuse. They eventually agreed to a divorce. Due to his history of family violence, the chancery court restricted the husband’s visitation with the couple’s child. It further ordered the husband to pay child support and classified his severance package as marital property, splitting it evenly between the two parties.

¶2. The husband appealed. The wife cross-appealed, claiming the chancery court erred by allowing the husband to claim the child for taxes every other year. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶3. Clayton and Mallory met and began dating in December 2017. At the time, Clayton was 34 and Mallory was 25 years old. Eight months later, in August 2018, the couple married and lived together in Lincoln County, Mallory had a son from a previous relationship, and the couple added a baby boy of their own in January 2019.

¶4. Mallory began working for Trustmark National Bank as a teller in the beginning of the couple’s relationship. She has remained in that position throughout the entirety of the proceedings below. Clayton currently works in the roofing industry and is part owner of a roofing business. Prior to that, he worked in the oilfields for 15 years, which required him to be gone for two weeks at a time.

¶5. But the relationship was far from picture-perfect. Mallory would later testify that she was concerned about "little things while [they] were dating" in terms of Clayton’s anger, but she had shrugged them off. But on their honeymoon, she felt "scared for [her] life." Mallory recalled how Clayton had gotten "really drunk" and "grabbed me by my hair and punched me." She was pregnant with their son Adam ¹ at the time.

¶6. And according to Mallory, the physical abuse only escalated after the honeymoon. She further testified about another incident in which Clayton "barged in" the bathroom while she was trying to seek shelter during an argument and "threw [her] up against the cabinet" one week before Adam’s birth. Additionally, several photographs depicting Mallory’s injuries were admitted into evidence.

¶7. Mallory’s supervisor at Trustmark, Kandis Wilkinson, corroborated much of Mallory’s testimony regarding the physical abuse by Clayton. Kandis testified that she began to grow concerned in January 2019 when she noticed "bruising that [Mallory] had on her arms, legs, [and] around her neck." Kandis further disclosed that Mallory confided in her many times about the abuse by texting her pictures and calling her "between January and June after each incident."

¶8. But the abuse Mallory suffered in private burst into public one day in June 2019. Mallory, her mother, and her father all shared testimony about what happened that day. Mallory testified the couple had gotten into an argument that evening, and things escalated. Fearful, she called her parents who arrived at the couple’s house shortly thereafter. She recounted that Clayton was "angry" and "raging." She further stated:

And he said, you’re not leaving with my baby. And I went and put him back. And Clay got him and pretty much said, you’re not taking [Adam]. And he was shaking him, probably not meaning to just shake him, but just shook him. And I talked to him. He finally put him back in the bassinet.

¶9. Rhonda Hemphill, Mallory’s mother, testified that when she and her husband arrived at the couple’s house she could "hear Clay screaming." She stated that when she walked into the bedroom, Clayton was leaning over Adam’s bassinet screaming, though she had "no idea what he was saying." After attempting to reason with him, Mrs. Hemphill disclosed that Clayton "picked me up by my arms and literally threw me across his bed." She testified that "his eyes were raging" and that she had "never seen anybody out of control like he was."

¶10. Then, Mallory’s father, Stuart Hemphill, testified. Disclosing that "it happened very fast," he stated:

I said, have you lost your mind? What are you doing? Don’t put hands on my wife. And at that point he turned towards me. His eyes were as big as saucers. He was in his boxers. You know, it was awful. And his attention turned towards me. Rhonda got up and ran out of the room. He grabbed me and threw me up against the wall. And the wall he threw me up against was right next to the door. So I took off out the door.

After arriving at the car, Mr. Hemphill testified that his wife "was on the phone with 911."

¶11. The following morning, Mallory filed criminal domestic abuse charges against Clayton in the Lincoln County Justice Court.

¶12. In the end, Mallory left Clayton only ten months after they married.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶13. A month after the separation, Mallory filed for divorce on the statutory ground of habitual cruel and inhuman treatment, including spousal domestic abuse. A temporary hearing was held in which the chancery court addressed custody. Mallory was awarded "temporary sole physical and legal custody" of Adam, and Clayton was awarded "supervised visitation." However, the court ordered that Clayton "shall not have unsupervised visitation until such time as he completes an anger management curriculum and a mental health professional certifies to the court that he is not a danger to the child."

¶14. Ultimately Mallory withdrew her fault ground, and the parties agreed to a divorce on the ground of irreconcilable differences. A trial was set to decide custody, child support, visitation, and equitable distribution.

¶15. At the start of the proceedings, Clayton was employed with Newpark Drilling Fluids. He testified that he had worked in the oil field for approximately fifteen years, making between $10,000 and $15,000 per month. But in August 2020, Clayton was laid off from his job with Newpark due to an economic downturn and received a severance package.

¶16. Clayton further disclosed that he began working with Apex Construction LLC about a month before his layoff from Newpark. Despite testifying that Apex shut down their Mississippi location, Clayton stated he was still "finishing up contracts that [he] had signed with them" as of July 2021. However, the paycheck stubs entered into evidence only showed his employment through March 2021. Unable to find work, he testified that he started his own business, Southern Comfort Roofing, in which he is a part owner. Clayton disclosed that he makes "roughly $4,000 a month before taxes" with Southern Comfort.

¶17. Both parties were required to file a Rule 8.05 financial statement.² Clayton filed two: his first in August 2019 and his second (updated) in August 2020. The second 8.05 represented that he made $1,500 per month.

The Chancery Court's Order

¶18. After conducting a thorough analysis, the chancery court found that "legal and physical custody should be awarded to Mallory," noting it reached its "decision after carefully considering the domestic violence that occurred" during the course of the couple’s short marriage.

¶19. Although Clayton was awarded visitation with Adam, the chancery court restricted it to supervised and "put[] in place contingencies" which allowed "the supervision to be terminated upon Clay’s fulfillments of certain requirements." The supervised restriction was to be lifted upon Clayton’s "successful completion of a six[-]month course at the Mississippi Center for Violence Prevention, Batterer’s Intervention Program." Clayton was also ordered to pursue the "resolution of the criminal charges [of domestic violence]." Upon written proof that both conditions were satisfied, the chancery court ordered, "the supervision requirement shall be lifted."

¶20. The chancery court then calculated Clayton’s monthly child support in accordance with the guidelines set forth in Mississippi Code Annotated section 43-19-101 (Rev. 2015). Because Adam is Clayton’s only child, the chancery court found Clayton was "obligated to pay 14% of his adjusted gross income as child support for the minor child." Finding Clayton’s paycheck stubs from Apex Construction to be the "best evidence of Clay’s gross income for child support purposes," the chancery court ordered him to pay "$723.34 per month."

¶21. Additionally, Mallory and Clayton were ordered to "share the right" in claiming Adam "on their income tax returns." Mallory would claim Adam "in odd years," and Clayton would claim Adam "in even years."

¶22. To determine an equitable distribution of the couple’s marital estate, the chancery court conducted another thorough analysis. Despite receiving a severance package from his employment at Newpark, the chancery court heard "no testimony as to the duration of Clay’s employment at Newpark nor as to the calculation of the severance package." Finding the funds from the severance package were marital property, the chancery court ordered the amount to "be split evenly between the parties."

¶23. We address additional facts as they become relevant.

DISCUSSION

¶24. On appeal, Clayton presents us with three assignments of error. Mallory filed a cross-appeal alleging the chancery court erred by allowing Clayton to claim Adam as a dependent for taxes every other year. We address each contention in turn.

I. The chancery court was within its discretion to restrict and place conditions on Clayton’s visitation.

[1] ¶25. Clayton argues that because he never directly harmed Adam, the chancery court abused its discretion by ordering not only that his visitation be restricted to supervised, but also in placing certain additional conditions on his visitation.

[2] ¶26. "This Court ‘will not...