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FOR IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE

NEWS RELEASE #070

FROM: CLERK OF SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA

The Opinions handed down on the 19th day of October, 2010, are as follows:

BY VICTORY, J.: 2010-CJ-0754 BRADLEY GRIFFITH v. RESA LATIOLAIS (Parish of Lafayette) Retired Judge Philip Ciaccio, assigned as Justice ad hoc, sitting for Chief Justice Catherine D. Kimball. For the reasons stated herein, the judgment of the court of appeal is reversed to the extent it granted sole custody of Cole Griffith to Resa Latiolais. The trial court judgment awarding joint custody of Cole Griffith to Resa Latiolais and Bradley Griffith is reinstated. Resa Latiolais is designated as the domiciliary parent. In all other respects, the judgment of the court of appeal is affirmed. REVERSED IN PART; AFFIRMED IN PART. KNOLL, J., concurs and assigns reasons.

10/19/10

SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA
No. 10-CJ-0754 BRADLEY GRIFFITH VERSUS RESA LATIOLAIS ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT, PARISH OF LAFAYETTE VICTORY, J.* We granted this writ application to determine whether the court of appeal erred in reversing a trial court judgment which awarded joint custody to both parents with no domiciliary parent, and in granting sole custody to the mother. After considering the record and the applicable law, we reverse the judgment of the court of appeal and reinstate the trial court judgment awarding joint custody; however, we reverse the trial court judgment to the extent it failed to designate a domiciliary parent and designate the mother as the domiciliary parent. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY In this highly acrimonious custody battle, Bradley Griffith ("Brad") filed suit in October, 2005 against Resa Latiolais ("Resa"), the mother of his son, Cole Griffith ("Cole"), seeking sole custody of Cole. Cole was born on November 19, 2001 and lived with Resa from that time until the commencement of this litigation. Brad and Resa were not married. Brad visited Cole freely at Resa's home during this time, but Resa was his sole caretaker. Resa also has a daughter from a prior marriage, Lana Latiolais, who was 16 at the commencement of the litigation.

Retired Judge Philip C. Ciaccio, assigned as Justice ad hoc, sitting for Chief Justice Catherine D. Kimball. 1

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In September of 2005, Resa, Cole, Lana, and Greg Chappell, Resa's new boyfriend, evacuated together to escape Hurricane Rita. When they returned, Brad picked up Cole, who evidently told Brad that he, Resa, and Greg slept in the same bed during the evacuation and that Greg was hurting Resa. From this Brad inferred that Resa and Greg had sexual relations in Cole's presence. On October 5, 2005, Brad filed a petition seeking sole custody of Cole, alleging Resa had "lately not made choices which are in the child's best interest and has been hurtful to the child." Resa answered the petition denying the allegations. Further, she sought joint custody and to be named the domiciliary parent. Later in October of 2005, Lana left her mother's home and went to the home of a friend where she reported that she had previously been struck in the mouth by her mother and that on October 26, 2006, her mother struck her in the back. She also reported that her mother had whipped Cole with a wooden spoon as a means of discipline. Lana subsequently recanted these allegations and the Office of Child Services investigated these claims and found no child abuse had occurred. Although Brad filed no subsequent pleadings asserting any other grounds for sole custody, he later asserted that his reasons were that Resa had sexual relations with Greg in Cole's presence during the evacuation, that Resa and her father spanked Cole during Cole's third birthday party, and that Resa was abusive to Cole and Lana. On November 28, 2005, the trial court signed an "Order for Mental Health Evaluation" appointing Dr. Lyle LeCorgne, Ph.D., to perform a custody evaluation of the parents and Cole, as well as Lana, Greg Chapell, and Cindy Hebert, the mother of Brad's 15-year-old daughter, Paige. Dr. LeCorgne issued a written report containing his findings and recommendations on April 27, 2006, in which he made the following recommendations:

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1. On the basis of the present assessments, it is the opinion of this examiner that the best interests of Cole Griffith are served by Brad Griffith being declared the domiciliary parent and Cole living primarily with his father. Resa Latiolais shall be granted reasonable visitation consisting of alternating weekends, with a condition of supervision, and no overnight visits until such time that Resa Latiolais has engaged in individual psychotherapy with a qualified mental health professional. Upon the recommendation of that qualified mental health professional the condition of supervision is subject to be removed and the visitation gradually increased to include alternating weekends from Thursday through Monday mornings. It is also recommended that Cole Griffith and Lana Latiolais be referred for individual psychotherapy to assist each of them in reconciling their respective emotional distress. 2. Once the condition of supervision has been removed, summer visitation shall be divided equally between the parents, with Cole spending alternating weeks with each parent. Major holidays and vacations during the school year shall be alternated and evenly distributed according to a schedule that is mutually agreeable to the parties. 3. All of the parties in this matter shall facilitate, encourage, and support the child's natural loyalty to the other parent. No adult in this matter shall make any critical, denigrating, or derogatory comments about any of the other adults to Cole or in his presence. 4. Each of the parties shall enroll in and complete the Children Cope with Divorce classes sponsored by the Family Tree Parenting Center in Lafayette, Louisiana, if they have not already done so. 5. Each of the parties shall enroll in and complete the Cooperative parenting classes sponsored by the Family Tree Parenting Center in Lafayette, Louisiana, if they have not already done so. Resa Latiolais shall also enroll in and complete a course in anger management in a program deemed acceptable to the Court. On May 1, 2006, the trial court appointed Dr. Kenneth Bouillion to counsel the minor child, and ordered that Resa undergo individual counseling, which she began with Margot Hasha, LCSW, BCD. The trial court also ordered that Resa's custodial periods be supervised until Dr. LeCorgne was satisfied that she had progressed sufficiently in individual therapy to lift the supervision. The parties stipulated that Brad would participate in a psychological evaluation to be performed on the parties and the minor child by a mental health professions of Resa's choosing. This

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evaluation was performed by Drs. Owen Scott, Ph.D. and Mary Lou Kelley, Ph.D. Drs. Scott and Kelley issued a report on August 17, 2006, recommending the following: 1. That Cole alternate weeks between his mother and his father's homes from Friday to Friday. Also, we recommend that he spend four hours to one day during the week with the alternate parent and split or alternate holidays with each parent. 2. That Ms. Latiolais be the domiciliary parent and decision maker regarding schooling and medical concerns. She has a long history of being the primary caretaker who made these decisions and her therapist views her as a competent parent. However, Ms. Latiolais and Mr. Griffith should discuss and attempt to reach a decision in all significant matters involving Cole. 3. That Cole continue to attend Ms. Shannon's preschool given his positive adjustment to the environment. Also, that Cole attend the preschool every regular school day irrespective of the parent with whom he resides. 4. That Cole's parents meet monthly with Dr. Bouillion, Cole's therapist to discuss parenting issues. 5. That Cole's parents refrain from saying negative things about one another. In particular, we recommend that Mr. Griffith stop perpetuating accusations of Ms. Latiolais as a "batterer" or abuser. All concerns should be discussed with Ms. Latiolais present in meetings with Dr. Bouillion. At trial, the above experts testified regarding their findings and recommendations, as did numerous fact witnesses attesting to various faults, misdeeds, and attributes of the parties. As for the experts, Dr. LeCorgne testified consistent with his report that Brad should be named the domiciliary parent with the goal being shared custody, while Drs. Kelley and Scott testified that Resa should be the domiciliary parent. Dr. Scott explained their reasoning for this as follows: Well, we felt like that because of Brad's lack of belief in her, that it was going to be difficult for them to work together, and that his attitude towards her was more negative than her attitude towards him. And we felt like she would be better able to factor in Brad being involved as a father than he would be able to factor in Resa being involved as a mother. We felt like she would be more likely to make
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decisions that would be balanced in that regard that would not try to exclude him. Dr. LeCorgne testified he lifted the condition of supervised visitation in August of 2006. Dr. Bouillion testified as to the progress made by the parents, and testified while he thought Dr. LeCorgne's recommendation was reasonable, he was not going to make a recommendation about custody because he was Cole's therapist. He gave his opinion that both parents needed to continue co-parenting classes, that both were making good progress, and that both needed to continue to see him until the conflicts were resolved. Margot Hasha testified that on May 10, 2006, she wrote a letter to Dr. LeCorgne recommending that Resa be allowed unsupervised visitation based on the progress she was making in individual therapy. She testified that while Resa admitted to her that she hit Cole with a wooden spoon and had "struck Lana," she did not think Resa had an anger problem or was abusive to her children. Hasha testified that Resa had complied with everything the court had ordered, including 6 weeks of coparenting classes, and 8 weeks of anger management classes, and that she had no concerns about her ability to be a safe and effective parent. She recommended that Resa continue to see her once a month and that she continue co-parenting with Dr. Bouillion. The trial court described its findings about Brad's behavior as follows: The Court finds that the reason Brad instituted this instant action is because he was upset over the relationship between Resa and Mr. Chappell. Brad clearly desired to control Resa and her relationship with Mr. Chappell. Throughout this twelve (12) day trial, the Court observed Mr. Griffith to be calm and collected, never becoming angry or upset. The testimony of Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Deputy Ronald Robicheaux was very telling. On October 28, 2005, Deputy Robichaux received a "keep the peace" call to supervise an exchange of Cole between Resa and Brad. In his testimony, Deputy Robichaux indicated that Brad was "pretty irate" because Resa had another man with her. He described Brad as screaming, hollering, and aggressive, though not in a physical way, as well as being upset and irrational. Although Brad claimed that this was because Mr. Chappell was videotaping the exchange, Deputy
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Robichaux testified that he never saw a camera in Mr. Chappell's possession. ... While the Court finds the parties are fairly even on the remaining factors, they have both fallen woefully short in encouraging a close and continuing relationship between the minor child and the other parent. Though Brad has claimed to want a good working relationship with Resa, and even paid for co-parenting therapy, he has engaged in an intentional pattern of conduct designed to place her under severe stress and destabilize her life. Also, Brad has appeared to follow this Court's suggestions throughout this litigation while surreptitiously setting his own agenda. Further, Brad has shown a propensity to manipulate people, especially females, to fulfill his agenda of winning custody, while at the same time crushing Resa psychologically, financially, and criminally. At the conclusion of a hearing in this matter on January 19, 2006, this Court strongly suggested to Brad that he distance himself from Jan Huffman, and her daughter, Jessica Harbin. Both of these women had overly involved themselves in this situation by encouraging Lana to turn against her mother [in reporting abuse by Resa] and supporting Brad's quest for sole custody. The Court stated: I really think you need to be careful about Ms. Huffman. Make it very clear to her that she needs to, please, stay out of your business; you will stay our of hers. In discussing Ms. Huffman and her daughter, the Court stated: I don't know if they are troublemakers, or she saw something that she thought she saw, or what the deal is. But again, I don't think I would put a lot of stock in what Ms. Huffman and her daughter had to say about the situation from here on out, Mr. Griffith. You need to set some boundaries with them. There is a little too much going on with them. After reviewing the massive numbers of telephone communications and hours of telephone calls between Brad and Jan Huffman, and Brad and Jessica Harbin, as well as the timing of these calls, the Court has no doubt that Brad not only ignored this Court's strong suggestion, but actually used these women to attempt to get Resa in criminal trouble and cause her stress and anxiety as a tactic to win custody of Cole. Brad's testimony that these many hours of phone calls were to discuss politics in St. Landry Parish and matters other than this custody litigation is simply not credible. Jan Huffman and Jessica Harbin have harassed Resa with false criminal charges of stalking and a false allegation that Resa tried to run Jessica Harbin over with her van.
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These complaints resulted in police officers being dispatched to Resa's home while Cole was in her care. Also, the Court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that Brad encouraged Jan Huffman and Jessica Harbin to stalk Resa, and encouraged Jessica Harbin to make harassing telephone calls to her for which Ms. Harbin was criminally charged. ... Also, this Court made it clear to both parties, after consulting with Dr. LeCorgne and Dr. Bouillion that the child should remain at Learning Express Daycare and should attend three (3) days per week instead of two (2) days per week. Again, Brad ignored this Court's directive and sabotaged the situation by involving a private investigator, Robert Williamson, who appeared at the daycare with him on several occasions and who made inquiries concerning the owners of the daycare to Karl Breaux at Breaux's Minute Mart. This resulted in the child being dismissed from the daycare center by the owners, Bernadette and Dale Roberts. At the recommendation of Dr. Bouillion, the child was then placed in Ms. Shannon's Daycare and did very well there. Though the change in daycares may have actually benefitted the child, this does not excuse Brad's behavior in ignoring both the recommendations of Dr. LeCorgne and Dr. Bouillion, as well as the directive of the Court, in order to carry out his own agenda believing the Roberts were somehow favorable to Resa. Yet another adjustment Cole had to endure. The Court is also concerned about Brad's efforts to turn Lana against her mother in the course of this litigation. Again, he used the help of his cohorts, Jan Huffman and Jessica Harbin, to accomplish his mission. The Court finds it wholly inappropriate to have involved Lana Latiolais in this custody dispute by attempting to drive a wedge between her and her mother. The Court views this behavior as further evidence of Brad's pattern of manipulating women. The Court also notes that Brad attempted to pressure Juvenile Officer Alex Montgomery, III, to make a finding of child abuse against Resa. The Court finds that Brad went so far as to have then State Senator Donald Cravins contact Officer Montgomery in an effort to obtain the result he wanted

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