In re Interest of E.K., a minor v. Hinds County Youth Ct.
| Docket Number: | 2008-CA-00671-SCT | |
| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 11-12-2009 Opinion Author: Dickinson, J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Civil Contempt - Recusal of judge Judge(s) Concurring: Waller, C.J., Carlson, P.J., Randolph and Lamar, JJ.; Pierce, J., Concurs in Part. Dissenting Author : Kitchens, J., with separate written opinion. Dissent Joined By : Graves, P.J., and Chandler, J.; Pierce, J. Joins In Part. Procedural History: Bench Trial Nature of the Case: CIVIL - OTHER |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 04-04-2008 Appealed from: Hinds County Youth Court Judge: William Louis Skinner, II Disposition: The trial court ordered P.K. to be placed in custody, charged with contempt, and jailed for 48 hours. Case Number: 22,827 |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | IN THE INTEREST OF E.K., A MINOR:
P.K. |
LISA M. ROSS |
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| Appellee: | HINDS COUNTY YOUTH COURT | BRENT HAZZARD, S. MALCOLM O. HARRISON |
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Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Civil Contempt - Recusal of judge |
| Summary of the Facts: | The Mississippi Department of Human Services in Hinds County received two reports involving a thirteen-year-old boy, E.K. In the first, E.K. was accused of having sexually molested a three-year-old girl, and in the second, E.K. alleged he was the victim of statutory rape at the hands of L.S., the three-year-old girl’s mother. The judge ordered E.K. to submit to an interview with the Child Advocacy Center, and the trial judge ordered L.S. to have no contact with E.K. or his mother, P.K. On the day the CAC interview was scheduled, P.K. accompanied E.K. to the interview. P.K. and E.K. eventually left the CAC without having the interview. The judge verbally ordered the DHS agent assigned to the case to remove E.K. from his mother’s custody. The sheriff’s department picked up E.K. from P.K., after which the DHS agent learned that E.K. had been instructed by his mother not to talk to her. A contempt-of-court order was eventually entered against P.K., and legal and physical custody of E.K. was placed with DHS. P.K. appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | The matter at issue was a civil contempt matter, the purpose of which was to ensure that E.K. underwent the CAC interview without interference from his mother. Although the trial court orally ordered P.K. to spend forty-eight hours in jail, the contempt order required that P.K. be held “until the completion of the scheduled interview by the [CAC] and until [DHS] can complete its investigation further in these premises.” The written order further stated that P.K. could be released if the interview could not be completed within a forty-eight-hour period, but that she would be “ordered not to further interfere with the ongoing investigation or face further sanctions.” One may be jailed or fined for civil contempt. P.K. argues that the judge should have allowed another judge to preside over the contempt matter. However, nothing in the record leads to the conclusion that it was unlikely that the judge maintained the detachment necessary for making an unbiased and fair decision. There is no manifest error in this case. |
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