Facts:
This is an appeal from a
denial of relief by a single justice to order a judge in the Probate and Family
Court to make a ruling on a complaint for contempt or, alternatively, assign a
different judge to hear the contempt complaint. The father of twins shares
joint legal custody with the mother, who has sole physical custody of the
children, and filed a complaint for modification. The judge in that case, in
the Probate and Family Court, issued a judgment ordering the parties to comply
with a stipulated visitation schedule. After that the father filed a complaint
for contempt, alleging that the mother refused to allow the children to visit
with him. The mother, on the other
hand, claimed that the children themselves resisted visitation with their
father. After a hearing, the judge issued an order in which he found that
contempt had not been proved by clear and convincing evidence, and he referred
the matter to the Probate and Family Court's family service clinic for
evaluation and recommendations. The judge did not enter a final judgment on the
complaint for contempt, but did later state on the record that he would do so
to permit the father to appeal. After unsuccessfully trying to have the judge
recused, the father filed this petition.
Issue: Whether the father deserves extraordinary
relief in this situation.
No. The father still had
an alternate remedy available to him. Specifically, a motion in the trial court
for entry of final judgment on his complaint for contempt. Due to the fact that
the father has the right to appeal to the Appeals Court in the ordinary course,
therefore he has not shown why this would not be an adequate remedy. The single
justice neither erred nor abused his discretion by denying extraordinary
relief. Judgment affirmed. (CH)
