Preview:

SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA No. 98-C-1976

CARLAS ANN SEXTON FOLSE Versus DARRYL GERARD FOLSE

On Writ of Certiorari to the Court of Appeal, First Circuit, Parish of East Baton Rouge
KNOLL, Justice* This case involves a custody proceeding awarding the plaintiff mother sole custody of her two children, a daughter C.F., born December 6, 1990, and a son, K.F., born in 1988, on grounds that the father sexually abused C.F. The father's visitation rights were suspended until he could show that he had successfully completed a treatment program designed for sexual abusers. The correctness of the family court's ruling turns on whether the hearsay statements of C.F. were admissible since the minor child did not testify. The First Circuit Court of Appeal reversed the family court,1 finding C.F.'s hearsay statements were not admissible. For the following reasons, we reverse the court of appeal, finding that under the circumstances of this case, the relaxed evidentiary standards used to determine custody, as expressed in La.Code Evid. art. 1101, are applicable to custody determinations under the Post-Separation Family Violence Relief Act ("PSFVRA") embodied in La.R.S. 9:361-369.

*

Lemmon, J., not on panel. Rule IV, Part 2,

Download 98-C-1976 CARLAS ANN SEXTON FOLSE v. DARRYL GERARD FOLSE.pdf

Louisiana Law