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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 8-826 / 07-2174 Filed December 31, 2008

Upon the Petition of ANDRES RODRIGUEZ, Petitioner-Appellant,

And Concerning MARTHA ALICIA CANGAS SOLIS, Respondent-Appellee. ________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Arthur Gamble, Judge.

Father appeals the district court ruling establishing child custody and visitation. AFFIRMED.

Nichole Miras Mordini of Davis, Brown, Koehn, Shors & Roberts, P.C., Des Moines, for appellant.

Tina L. B. Fisher, Des Moines, for appellee.

Heard by Vaitheswaran P.J., and Potterfield, J., and Robinson, S.J. *
*Senior judge assigned by order pursuant to Iowa Code section 602.9206 (2007).

2 ROBINSON, S.J. Andres Rodriguez and Martha Solis are the parents of a daughter born in October 2002. Andres initiated this proceeding to establish custody, support, and visitation rights between the parents. The court granted joint legal custody and awarded physical care to Martha. Andres was awarded visitation and

ordered to pay child support. Andres appeals from the custody provisions of the court's ruling. Our review of the trial court's custody determination is de novo. See

Jacobson v. Gradlin, 490 N.W.2d 79, 80 (Iowa Ct. App. 1992). The primary and governing consideration in child custody cases is the best interests of the child. Iowa R. App. P. 6.14(6)(o). The district court made extensive findings of fact and credibility determinations; based on those findings, the court awarded physical care of the child to Martha. We give weight to the fact findings of the trial court, especially when considering the credibility of witnesses. Iowa R. App. P.

6.14(6)(g). After a thorough review of the record and giving proper deference to the trial court's findings, we adopt the district court's reasoning as our own. We affirm. AFFIRMED.



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