Mom Guilty of Criminal Contempt for Disparaging Dad in Front of Kids

Tennessee child custody case summary on contempt after divorce.

Sheridan Nichols (formerly Crockett) v. Richard David Crockett, Jr.

The parenting plan in this Washington County, Tennessee, case provided that both parents had the right to be free from unwarranted derogatory remarks by the other party in the presence of the child.  In 2015, the father had made a contempt motion alleging that the mother had changed the children’s school and therapist without consent.  During a deposition, the mother admitted to making several derogatory comments about the father.

The father alleged that the mother had described his mother as a drunk who died of alcoholism, that the father was ungrateful, that he was a hillbilly, and that his brother hadn’t graduated from high school.

After a hearing, the trial court found the mother to be in criminal contempt for making the derogatory comments in the presence of the children.  This was based upon the transcript of the deposition and her testimony in open court.  She was sentenced to 20 days in jail, with all but 24 hours suspended if she received counseling.

After the mother allegedly made another derogatory comment, the father made a second contempt motion.  This motion was denied, but the suspension of the sentence was revoked, and she was ordered to serve 48 hours in jail.  She was also ordered to pay the father’s attorney fees.  After some modifications of the order after trial, the mother appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

On appeal, the mother argued that she hadn’t been given sufficient notice of the essential facts constituting the contempt.  She also argued that the evidence did not support the conviction, and that the trial court had erred in awarding attorney fees.

The appeals court started by noting that the party facing criminal contempt must have explicit notice of the facts giving rise to the charge.

The court found that the father’s notice had provided specific details of the acts, including the date and location, and that he had given this notice two months before the contempt hearing.  She was even provided with an audio recording of the alleged incident.  And in her deposition, she testified that she recalled the conversation.

The mother also argued that the father had not given adequate notice of the number of counts of contempt with which she was charged.  But the court also rejected this argument.  It again noted that she had been given specific details two months before the hearing, and that this notice satisfied the requirement.

The court also found that the mother had adequate notice of the possible penalty for the criminal contempt, and that she was represented by an attorney at the time.  For these reasons, the court affirmed the contempt conviction.

The mother did fare better when it came to her appeal of the award of attorney fees.  The appeals court held that there was no statutory authority to impose attorney fees in a criminal contempt case.  For that reason, the court reversed the award of attorney fees.

No. E2016-00885-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sep. 13, 2017).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Child Custody Laws in Tennessee.

See also Tennessee Parenting Plans and Child Support Worksheets: Building a Constructive Future for Your Family featuring examples of parenting plans and child support worksheets from real cases available on Amazon.com.