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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-1690CHRISTOPHER A. STEIMLING, Plaintiff KELLI FARRIS, Defendant : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA ._ CIVIL ACTION - LAW _. :O ~/~/~,q~o CIVIL TERM : IN CUSTODY COMPLAINT FOR CUSTODY AND NOW comes the Plaintiff, Christopher A. Steimling, by his attorneys, Irwin & McKnight, and presents the following Complaint for Custody. The Plaintiff, Christopher A. Steimling, is an adult individual with an address of P. O. Box 1233, Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania 17013. The Defendant, Kelli Farris, is an adult individual with an address of 214 Tow Path Rod, Duncannon, Pennsylvania, 17020. The parties are the natural parents of one (1) child, namely, Kaityln Georgianna Foultz, born August 18, 1999. The Plaintiff has shared legal custody of the minor child and primary physical custody. See the Order of Court dated October 8, 2003, signed by Judge C. Joseph Rehkamp, attached hereto and marked as Exhibit "A". The Plaimiff lost his job as an electrician on March 25, 2003, at B&B ComNet-Spectron, Inc. in Wellsville, Pennsylvania. The Plaintiff is eligible for unemployment compensation and is awaiting benefits. The Plaintiff has a job available in Alabama. The Plaintiff's new address is 15730 North Scottsville Road, West Blockton, Alabama, 35184. The Plaintiff is willing to provide temporary custody to the Defendant during the summer months for four (4) weeks from June 15, 2004 to July 15, 2004. Transportation of the minor child during summer custody will be shared by the parties as they agree. 10. The best interests and permanent welfare of the minor child requires that the Court grant the Plaintiff's request as set forth above. WHEREFORE, Plaintiff, Christopher A. Steimiing, respectfully requests an Order of Court which implements the above conditions. Date: April 19, 2004 By: Respectfully submitted, IRWIN & McKNI~T //~ Mar~fis A. McKnight, III, ~quire C~lisle, Pennsylv~ia 17013-3222 (717) 249-2353 Supreme Cou~ I. D. No. 25476 EXHIBIT "A" CHRIS A. STEIMLING V. KELLI FARRIS :IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS :OF THE 41sT JUDICIAL DISTRICT :OF PENNSYLVANIA :PERRY COUNTY BRANCH :NO. 2000-173 ORDER AND NOW, October 8, 2003, this Court having received certifications of judgments entered against Kelli Farris from district justices, which have been flied in this case and upon review of all of the evidence and testimony entered in this ease, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED AND DIRECTED that Mom and Dad shall share legal custody and primary physical custody of the subject child, Kaitlyn Georgianna Fouitz, is awarded to Dad, Chris A. Steimling, subject to temporary custody and visitations rights in Mom, Kelli Farris, every other weekend as provided in the October 1, 2003 order and at other times as agreed to by the parties, with the exchange place being the BiLo in Shermans Dale on Friday and the Walmart in Carlisle on Sunday. The faxed certifications of judgments marked P-6, P-7 and P-8 are hereby made a part of the record in this case. BY THE COURT: ~F/eather Paterno, Esq. Rebecea~2grdoline, Esq. File -~ C. JOSE~P ~ fl~DGE Fi ED &TBU E COP'? DEPUTY PROTHONOTARY VERIFICATION The foregoing Complaint for Custody is based upon information which has been gathered by counsel and myself in the preparation of this action. I have head the statements made in this document and they are true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information and belief. I understand that false statements herein made are subject to the penalties of 18 Pa. C.S.A. Section 4904, relating to unsworn falsification to authorities. (L m/msfo ,i ER A. Sm IN( Date: April 19, 2004 CHRISTOPHER A. STEIMLING PLAINTIFF V. KELLI FARRIS DEFENDANT iN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA : 04-1690 CIVIL ACTION LAW : : IN CUSTODY ORDER OF COURT AND NOW, Monday, April 19, 2004 , upon consideration of the attached Complaint, it is hereby directed that parties and their respective counsel appear before Jacqueline M. Verney, Esq. , the conciliator, at 4thFloor, Cumberland County Courthouse, Carlisle on Wednesday, April21,2004 at 8:30 AM for a Pre-Hearing Custody Conference. At such conference, an effort will be made to resolve the issues in dispute; or if this cannot be accomplished, to define and narrow the issues to be heard by the court, and to enter into a temporary order. All children age five or older may also be vresent at the conference. Failure to avpear at the conference may provide grounds for entry of a temporary or permanent order. The court hereby directs the parties to furnish any and all existing Protection from Abuse orders, Special Relief orders, and Custody orders to the conciliator 48 hours I~rior to scheduled hearing. FOR THE COURT, By: /s/ ]acqueline M. Verney, Esq. Custody Conciliator rahc The Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County is required by law to comply with the Americans with Disabilites Act of 1990. For information about accessible facilities and reasonable accommodations available to disabled individuals having business before the court, please contact our office. All arrangements must be made at least 72 hours prior to any hearing or business before the court. You must attend the scheduled conference or hearing. YOU SHOULD TAKE THIS PAPER TO YOUR ATTORNEY AT ONCE. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE AN ATTORNEY OR CANNOT AFFORD ONE, GO TO OR TELEPHONE THE OFFICE SET FORTH BELOW TO FIND OUT WHERE YOU CAN GET LEGAL HELP. Cumberland County Bar Association 32 South Bedford Street Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013 Telephone (717) 24%3166 CHRISTOPHER STEIMLING, Plaintiff VS. KELLI FARRIS, Defendant IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA CIVIL .ACTION - LAW No. 04-1690 CIVIL TERM IN CUSTODY ORDER AND NOW, this _~_ 3t~ day of ~.~'____, 2004, upon consideration of the Petition for Special Relief filed by Kelli Farris, it is hereby Ordered: ~- v .... v../o,,~at cosrocty oI me minor Cllll(1 In _r_^_. r .~ ,, ,~.uu v. IVI. until 3unOay at 0:UU F.M. . The are forbidden to remove the minor child from the Commonwealth parties of Pennsylvania until further hearing. 5. : on this Petition is scheduled for the ~ A hearing q ,~__~_,at~ :~ [0m. in Courtroom No. ~ County Courthouse. day of of the Cumberland CHRISTOPHER STEIMLING, Plaintiff VS. KELLI FARRIS, Defendant 1N THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA CIVIL ACTION - LAW No. 04-1690 CIVIL TERM IN CUSTODY ORDER AND NOW, this ~ ~ day of ~ ,2004, upon consideration of the Petition to Proceed In Forma Pauperis filed with this office, it is hereby ORDERED AND DECREED that the Petitioner, Kelli Farris, is allowed to proceed to the conclusion of this matter without paying the costs thereofi Prothonot~y CHRISTOPHER STEIMLING, Plaintiff VS. KELLI FARRIS, Defendant IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA CIVIL ACTION - LAW No. 04-1690 CIVIL, TERM IN CUSTODY PETITION TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS TO THE PROTHONOTARY: Kindly allow Kelli Farris, Petitioner, to proceed in forma pauperis. I, Rebecca Ardoline, attorney for the party proceeding in forma pauperis, certify that I believe the party is unable to pay the costs and that I am providing free legal service to the party. Rebecca L. Ardoline Attorney for Petitioner MidPenn Legal Services 3 W. Monument Square, Ste. 203 Lewistown, PA 17044 (71'7) 248-3099 CHRISTOPHER A. STEIMLING,: IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF Plaintiff : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA : V. : CIVIL ACTION - LAW : KELLI FARRIS, : NO. 2004-1690 CIVIL TERM Defendant : : IN CUSTODY ORDER OF COURT AND NOW, this ~} day of ,2004, upon consideration of the attached Custody Conciliation Report, it is ordered and directed as follows: 1. A Hearing is scheduled in Court Room No. ~ , of the Cumberland County Cou~rt House, on the lt>(O~ day of ~ ,2004 at I ' 50 o'clock, ~P. M., at which t~me tes---~i'rnony will be t~k~. For purposes oftl~i} Heating, the Father shall be deemed to be the moving party and shall proceed initially with testimony. Counsel for each party shall file with the Court and opposing counsel a Memorandum setting forth each party's position on custody, a list of witnesses who will be expected to testify at the Hearing and a summary of the amicipated testimony of each witness. These Memoranda shall be filed at least ten days prior to the Hearing date. 2. Pending further Order of Court or agreement of the parties, the October 8, 2003 Order of Court of The Honorable C. Joseph Rehkamp shall remain in full force and effect. Even if Father relocates outside of Pennsylvania, he shall continue to make the Child available for Mother's alternating weekend periods of physical custody and shall be responsible for transportation of the Child as set forth in the October 8, 2003 Order of Court. 3. The parties may modify this Order by mutual agreement. In the absence of mutual consent, the terms of this Order shall control. cc: Marcus A. McKnight, III, Esquire, counsel for Father Rebecca Ardoline, Esquire, Mid Penn Legal Services, counsel for Mother CHRISTOPHER A. STEIMLING,: IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF Plaintiff : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA : V. : CIVIL ACTION - LAW : KELLI FARRIS, : NO. 2004-1690 CIVIL TERM Defendant : : IN CUSTODY PRIOR JUDGE: None CUSTODY CONCILIATION SUMMARY REPORT IN ACCORDANCE WITH CUMBERLAND COUNTY RULE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE 1915.3-8, the undersigned Custody Conciliator submits the following report: 1. The pertinent information concerning the Child who is the subject of this litigation is as follows: NAME DATE OF BIRTH CURRENTLY IN CUSTODY OF Kaltlyn Georgianna Foultz August 18, 1999 Father 2. A Conciliation Conference was held April 22, 2004 with the following individuals in attendance: The Father, Christopher A. Steimling, with his counsel, Marcus A. McKnight, III, Esquire, and the Mother, Kelli Farris, with her counsel, Rebecca Ardoline, Esquire, Mid Penn Legal Services, by telephone. 3. The Honorable C. Joseph Rehkamp, of Perry County Court of Common Pleas entered an Order dated October 8, 2003 providing for shared legal custody with Father having primary physical custody and Mother having alternating weekends. 4. Father's position on custody is as follows: Father recently lost his job due to the company filing Bankruptcy. He indicates that he has filed for unemploymem compensation benefits and is awaiting a determination of eligibility. Father advises that he has located a job in Alabama, where his current wife's family lives. He wishes to relocate to Alabama and take the Child with him. Father seeks shared legal and primary physical custody of the Child and offers to maximize Mother's periods of custody with the Child during school vacations. 5. Mother's position on custody is as follows: Mother opposes Father's relocation arguing that all of the Child's relatives live in this. area, and that Father has not sought reemployment in this area. She seeks shared legal and primary physical custody of the Child if Father relocates to Alabama. She is conceme, d that if Father moves prior to a court hearing that he will not return the Child. Father assured the participants at the Conciliation Conference that if he moves to Alabama prior to a court hearing he will continue to make the alternating weekend exchanges to Mother 6. The Conciliator recommends an Order in the form as attached scheduling a Hearing and continuing the prior Order of Court. It is expected that the Hearing will require one-half day. Date J(a'cquOine M. Verney, Esquire Custody Conciliator CHRISTOPHER A. STEIMLING, Plaintiff KELLI FARRIS, Defendant IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 04-1690 CIVIL TERM IN CUSTODY AND NOW, agreement of the parties, ORDER OF COURT this 29th day of April, 2004, by Father shall remain with the child in Pennsylvania pending hearing before Judge Bayley on this matter at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, May 10, 2004. Pending said hearing, Judge Rehkamp's Order shall remain in full force and effect. the Edward E. Guido, J. Marcus McKnight, III, Esquire Irwin & McKnight 60 West Pomfret Street Carlisle, PA 17013-3222 For the Plaintiff Rebecca L. Ardoline, Esquire MidPenn Legal Services 3 West Monument Square, Suite Lewistown, PA 17044 For the Defendant 203 srs A. LNO.,OO Ab¥1C¢4OHiO~d 3Hi JO CHRISTOPHER A. STEIMLING, PLAINTIFF : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF · ' CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA KELLI FARRIS, DEFENDANT : 04-1690 CIVIL TERM ORDER OF COURT AND NOW, this J t~ day of May, 2004, following a hearing on the merits, the petition of Christopher A. Steimling to move Kaitlyn Georgianna Foultz, born August 18, 1999, to Alabama, IS DENIED. ,"~arcus McKnight, Ill, Esquire For Christopher A. Steimling ~Mebecca L. Ardoline, Esquire idPenn Legal Services 3 West Monument Square, Suite 203 Lewistown, PA 17044 For Kelli Foltz (Farris) By the Court, - Edgar B.. Ba:~ley, J. ~ 05- t-0 :sal CHRISTOPHER STEIMLING, PLAINTIFF : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF : CUMBERLANIt~ COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA KELLI FOULTZ, FORMERLY FARRIS, DEFENDANT : 04-1690 CIVIL TERM IN RE: OPINION IN SUPPORT OF CUSTODY ORDER DATED MAY 14, 2004 Bayley, J., May 21, 2004:- Christopher Steimling, age 40, and Kelli Foultz, formedy Farris, age 31, are the parents of Kaitlyn Georgianna Foultz, age 4, born August 18, 1999. The parents were never married. The father rents a home in Carlisle, Cumberland County, where he lives with his wife Sonya, their seventeen-month-old daughter Grace, and Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn is the subject of a custody order entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Perry County on October 8, 2003. The mother and father were awarded shared legal custody. Primary physical custody was awarded to the father. The mother was awarded temporary physical custody "every other weekend as provided in the October 1, 2003, order and at other times as agreed to by the parties, with the exchange being the BiLo in Shermans Dale on Friday and the Wal-Mart in Cadisle on Sunday.'" On April 19, 2004, the father filed a complaint in Cumberland County seeking permission to move Kaitlyn to West Blocton, Alabama. A hearing on the merits was conducted on May 10, 2004. On May 14, 2004, an order was entered that "[t]he petition of Christopher Steimling to move Kaitlyn Georgianna Foultz, born August 18, The pick up on Fridays is at 6:00 p.m., and the return on Sundays is at 7:00 p.m. 04-1690 CIVIL TERM 1999, to Alabama, IS DENIED." This opinion is filed in support of that order. When Kaitlyn was born the father contested patemiity. For the first fifteen months of her life Kaitlyn lived with her mother and her father never saw her. After the mother filed for child support the father sought and obtained periods of temporary physical custody which lasted until he was awarded primary physical custody on October 8, 2003. Kaitlyn will begin kindergarten next fall. The father has worked as an electrician since 1982. For the last five years he was a non-union electrician for Spectrum Electrical Service in Lewisberry, Pennsylvania. He was earning $15.23 per hour. He was fired on March 25, 2004.2 He is drawing unemployment for twenty-six weeks and as of ~lhe date of the hearing had received four payments. Despite his skills he has made no serious effort to obtain new employment. Sonya Steimling, age 35, married the father on April 14, 2001. This is her third marriage. She works part-time every other weekend as a clerk at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant in Carlisle. Her family including her mother, father, grandparents, a sister and brother and their children live in the area of West Blocton, Alabama, which is between Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. West Blocton is about a twelve hour drive from Carlisle. Sonya Steimling testified that she wants to move to Alabama to be near her 2 He testified that he made a complaint to the Departmen,t of Labor for what he felt was his employer's wrongfully taking some money out of his earnings checks. He believes that is what prompted his termination. -2- 04-1690 CIVIL TERM family.3 She, the father and Kaitlyn have visited there twice although not since he lost his job. She and the father testified that Kaitlyn liked playing with her Alabama cousins. They testified that they had thought about moving to Alabama before he lost his job. He testified that at this time losing his job is the reason he wants to move to Alabama. He testified that his wife's parents have located a job for him as an electrician in Tuscaloosa, at $17.00 per hour. He has talked to a manager of the company who believes that he will be offered a job but the owner of the company, who will have the final say, has not yet made an offer. The father testified that his wife's parents have also found a home for them to live in West Blocton. While he has seen pictures of it he and his wife have not gone to Alabama to see it. Sonya Steimling testified that she will be able to transfer her employment to a Cracker Barrel in Alabama. She intends to work more hours thero than she does now because her family can provide babysitting. The father testified that he would be willing for Kaitlyn to spend "pretty much the whole summer and Christmas holidays" with the mother, and th;at he "could work out the transportation with her." He states that there is little communication between them. The mother is on two years probation in Perry County for passing bad checks.4 She was living in Shermans Dale before she moved to the home of her boyfriend Mark Beaver, age 30, in Duncannon in November, 2003. They later moved into a larger four 3 The father's relatives live in North Carolina. 4 The mother testified that the father spent time in prison for a felony, which he did not rebut. -3- 04-1690 CIVIL TERM bedroom home, also in Duncannon, which they needed when all of their children visit. The home is on a private lane which is convenient and safe for the children to play outside. The mother previously lived with two other men siince Kaitlyn was born. Mark Beaver is employed at a Petro Iron Skillet Restaurant. Th(; mother is a waitress at an Eat-N-Park in Carlisle. Until last October, when all of its employees were laid off, the mother worked for an internet provider, Earth Link, in Harrisburg. She then worked at the Petro Iron Skillet Restaurant where Mark Beaver works. Their romantic involvement required that one of them leave which she did. She then worked at the Camp Hill Diner. She has moved to an Eat-N-Park in Carlisle for higher earnings. She has worked as a waitress since she was a teenager except for the time she spent at Earth Link. The mother is subject to a support order of $65 per week for Kaitlyn which includes arrears. The mother put a child up for adoption eight years ago. She has a daughter Elizabeth, thirteen years old, who lives with her father. The mother has temporary physical custody of Elizabeth every other weekend. Mark Beaver has a nine-year-old son, Christopher, who he has temporary physical custody of every other weekend. Kaitlyn, Elizabeth, and Christopher are all with the mother and Mark Beaver every other weekend. The mother has not missed a period of her temporary physical custody of Kaitlyn, although she and the father have adjusted some of the weekends. The mother's parents live on a farm in nearby Honey Grove, Juanita County. Kaitlyn and her mother often visit her grandparents and they often come to their home. The grandparents are supportive of their daughter and are an integral part of Kaitlyn's life. 04-1690 CIVIL TERM The mother has a brother eight years older than her, another brother four years older, and a sister two years older. They all live in Cumberland County. Both of her brothers have two children. Kaitlyn sees all of them. In Gruber v. Gruber, 400 Pa. Super. 174 (1990), the Superior Court of Pennsylvania set forth three factors for consideration in determining whether a custodial parent should be permitted to relocate children to another state outside the geographical area of the non-custodial parent: the potential advantages of the proposed move and the likelihood that the move would substantially improve the quality of life for the custodial parent and the children and is not the result of a momentary whim on the part of the custodial parent; the integrity of the motives of both the custodial and non-custodial parent in either seeking the move or seeking to prevent it; the availability of realistic, substitute visitation arrangements which will adequately foster an ongoing relationship between the child and the non-custodial parent. In the case subjudice, the father is now the custodial parent. In Beers v. Beers, 710 A.2d 1206 (Pa. Super. 1998), the Superior Court set forth that it has consistently held that Gruber "refines upon, but does not alter the basic and determinative inquiry as to the direction in which the best interests of the child lie." As to the first Gruber factor, the Superior Court stated in Anderson v. McVay, 743 A.2d 472 (Pa. Super. 1999): A court need not consider only economic benefits when determining whether relocation substantially improves the quality of life of -5- 04-1690 CIVIL TERM the parent .... Rather, "when the move will significantly improve the general quality of life for the custodial parent, indirect benefits flow to the children with whom they reside." This is because "the best interests of the child are more closely aligned with the interest and quality of life of the custodial parent .... "iT]here is no need.., to show an independent benefit, apart from that of [the moving party], flowing to the children because of the relocation. See Zalenko v. White, 701 A.2d 227,229 (Pa. Super. 1997). (Other citations omitted.) In the case sub judice, the real motive for the father seeking to move Kaitlyn to Alabama is to placate the desire of his wife of three years to return to where her family lives. He has no family in Alabama and has only been there twice. His stated desire to move is not a result of the thought out plan designed to significantly improve the quality of life for himself and his daughter. The catalyst, as he a(;knowledged, is having been fired less than two months ago by an employer for whom he worked for the last five years. While he was awarded unemployment compensation, and is in the early stages of receiving it, he has made no substantial effort to obtai~ new employment in this region. There is no credible evidence that such employment utilizing his skills is not available. In fact, the evidence is to the contrary. If the father is actually offered the job in Alabama that has been sought by his wife's parents, for which he apparently will receive a couple dollars more per hour than he was earning here, there is nothing about it or the circumstances of living in Alabama that will generally or substantially improve the quality of his life or that of Kaitlyn. The mother has had her ups and downs. It appears that financial difficulties -6- 04-1690 CIVIL TERM contributed to the Perry County Court removing her as Kaitlyn's primary custodian.5 She has, however shown that she can maintain steady employment. The father suggests that her various changes in employment reflect instability. We disagree. It is hardly unusual for waitpersons to frequently change jobs for better earnings, hours and working conditions. While the mother's relationship with IVlark Beaver has not been long-term, she is in a more stable situation than she was a,t the time she lost primary physical custody of Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn's mother was her only custodian for her first year and three months. She was her primary custodian for the next three years six months. The father has only been her primary custodian for the last seven months. The mother is committed to Kaitlyn. She exercises all of her primary physical custody. This little girl and her mother, who has always been an integral part of her life, have a close, loving relationship. Kaitlyn is very close to her maternal grandparents. She sees her sister every other weekend and sees other members of her mother's family who all live in Cumberland County. The mother's heartfelt motives in opposing the father moving Kaitlyn to Alabama are genuine. We believe that such a move would adversely alter her relationship with her daughter. The father and mother are of modest means. Given the distance to Alabama it is unrealistic that regular contact could be maintained. Time spent with Kaitlyn during the summer and at Christmas would not, on the facts 5 The custody order of October 8, 2003, contains the statement that: "The faxed certifications of judgments [against the mother] marked 1:)-6, P-7 and P-8 are hereby made a part of the record in this case." -7- 04-1690 CIVIL TERM presented here, constitute a suitable substitute arrangement for maintaining the strong loving relationship between Kaitiyn and her mother. Furthermore, all of Kaitlyn's important contact with her maternal relatives, especially her grandparents and sister, would be limited. Accordingly, the order of May 14, 2004, denying the petition of the father to move Kaitlyn to Alabama, was on balance in the best int/e~re~t~tlyn. Date Edgar B. I~ayley, J.'" Marcus A. McKnight, III, Esquire For Christopher Steimling Rebecca L. Ardoline, Esquire MidPenn Legal Services 3 West Monument Square, Suite 203 Lewistown, PA 17044 For Kelli Foultz (Farris) :sal -8- Heather L. Paterno, Esquire I.D. #87506 GOLDBERG KATZM AN, P.C. 320 Market Steer p. O. Box 1268 Hanlsburg, PA 17108-1268 (717) 234-4161 Counsel. e.~or Plaintiff IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS -CHRISTOPHER A. STEIMLING, Plaintiff KELLI FARRIS, Defendant CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA NO. 04-1690 CIVIL ACTION - LAW IN CUSTODY pRAECIPE FOR ENTRY OF APPE3diANCE. TO THE CLERK: Please enter the appearance of Heather L. Patemo, Esquiire and Goldberg Katzman, P.C. as counsel for the Plaintiff, CHRISTOPHER A. STEIMLING, m the above referenced action Respge~lly suburitted ~/Attomey I.D. #8~1506 320 Market Stree~t P.O. Box 1268 Harrisburg, PA 17108-1268 (717) 234-4161 (717) 234-6808 ,(facsimile) Date: June L' 2004 Attorney for Plaintiff CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I HEREBY CERTIFY that on the ~e"day of June, 2004, I served a true and correct copy of the foregoing document upon the following parties: by depositing a copy of same in the United States Mail, First Class, Postage Prepaid at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, as follows: Rebecca L. Ardoline, Esquire MidPenn Legal Services 3 West Monument Square, Suite 20.-t Lewistown, PA 17044 Marcus A. McKnight, III., Esquire Irwin & McKnight West Pomfret Professional Building 60 West Pomfret Street Carlisle, PA ~3222 f~/~leattaer LPPatemo ttomey I D #87506 ~/Attorney I.£. Attorney for Plaintiff CHRISTOPHER A. STEIMLING, Plaintiff IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA V. ~ : NO. 04-1690 KELLI FARRIS, : Defendant CIVIL ACTION - LAW IN CUSTODY PRAECIPE TO WITHDRAW APP~;ARANCE TO THE PROTHONOTARy OF CUMBERLAND COUNTy, PENNSYLVANIA: Kindly withdraw the appearance of Marcus A. McKnight, III, Esquire, in behalf of the Plaintiff, Christopher A. Steimling, in the above-captioned matter. Date: June __/.~. 2004 Respectf~ly subm~tt/9~,// __m~_ ~n ~i~t -~ West P~o~ssic~ding 60 West Pomfiet S~eet C~lisle, PA 17013 -3222 Goldb®rg Katzman, P.C. Heather L Patemo, Esquire ID.f~7506 Attorneys for Plaintiff 320 Market Street Strawberry Square P. O, Box 1268 Harfisbuq~, PA 17108-1268 (717) 234-4161 CHRISTOPHER A. STEIMLING IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS KELLI FARRIS, Plaintiff, Defendant. CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 04-1690 CIVIL TERM NOTICE OF APPEAL Notice is hereby given that Christopher A. Steimling, Plaintiff above-named, hereby appeals to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania from the Order entered in this matter on the 14t~ day of May, 2004. This Order has been entered in the docket as evidenced by the attached copy of the docket entry. Date:_ GOLDBERG IG~.TZMAN, P.C. Heather ~.'~ttemo, t~squire -- I.D. #87506 320 Market Street P.O. Box 1268 Harrisburg,. PA 17108-1268 (717) 234-4161 Counsel for Plaintiff PYS511 Cumberland County Prothonotarv,s Office Page .. Civil Ca~e Print ' ~ 2004-01690 STEIMLING CHRISTOPHER A (rs) FARRIS KELLI Reference No..: Time ......... : Ju~gmeh%Case Type ...... :: COMPLAINT0-0CUSTODY Filed ........ : 4/19/2004 4:09 · Execution Date 0/00/0000 Judge Assigned: Jury Trial .... Disposed Desc.: Disposed Date. 0/00/0000 ............ Case Comments ............. Higher Crt 1.: Higher Crt 2.: General Index Attorney Info STEIMLING CHRISTOPHER A PLAINTIFF MCKNIGHT MARCUS A III P 0 BOX 1233 CARLISLE PA 17013 FARRIS KELLI DEFENDANT ARDOLINE REBECCA L 214 ROW PATH ROD DUNCANNON PA 17020 Date Entries , ............. FIRST ENTRY .............. 4/19/2004 COMPLAINT - CUSTODY 4/19/2004 6~-6~-6A~-[-6~6-~2{~26~-[-~-~-~-~6~6-~i~ ........ PARTIES & THEIR RESPECTIVE COUNSEL APPEAR BEFORE JACQUELINE M ~O~ T~Ec~CILIATOR AT 4TH FLOOR CUMBERLAND COUNTY ISLE ON WEDNESDAY APRIL 21, 2004 @ 8:30 A M FOR A PRE-HEARING CUSTODY CONFERENCE - FOR THE COURT - JACQUELINE M VERNEY ESQ CUSTOD CONCILIATOR 4/23/2004 .............................. PETITION TO PROCEED IN FORMA ~U~:~-~-~-~L~-~-~£ .... PROCEDURE 1915.13 AND PETITION FOR MODIFICATION OF A CUSTODY ORDER PETITION FOR MODIFICATION OF A CUSTODY ORDER DEFT PARTIES ARE FORBIDDEN TO REMOVE THE MINOR CHILD FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF PA UNTIL FURTHER HEARING - A HEARING ON THIS PETITION IS SCHEDULED FOR 4/29/04 AT~3:00 PM IN CR 5 OF THE CUMBERLAND COUNTY COURTHOUSE - BY TH}~ COURT EDWARD E GUIDO J COPIES MAILED .................................................................... 4/23/2004 ORDER - DATED 4/23/04 - IN RE PETIITON TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS - IT IS HEREBY ORDERED AND DECREED THAT THE PETITIONER KELLI FARRIS IS ALLOWED TO PROCEED TO THE CONCLUSION OF THIS MATTER WITHOUT PAYING COSTS THEREOF -. BY THE COURT EDWARD E GUIDO J COPIES MAILED 4/29/2004 ............................................... ~UDS~ ~ATI~NH~ENCE SUM_F~..~RY REPORT ~-~-$~-~6~-- COUNTY C06RT~OUS~ ON 5/1~I~S~H~U~D I~. CR 2 OF THE CUMBERLAND BAYLEY J COPIES MAILED/ u/u~ ~¢ m:3u ~m - ~ THE COURT EDGAR B FATHER SHALL REMAIN WITH THE CHILD IN' PA PENDING HEARING BEFORE J BAYLEY ON THIS MATTER AT 1:30 PM ON 5/10 04 PENDING SAID H JUDGE REHKAMP'S ORDER SHALL REMAIN IN' FU~L FORCE AND EFFEc~A~I~ THE COURT EDWARD E GUIDO J COPIES MAILED 5/3/04 ~L~T~N8~8~I~O~A~AS~I~TO ~V~ KAITLYN GEORGIANNA ......... ~ S~ THE COURT EDGAR B BAYLEY J COPIES ~4AILED 5/14/04 ~ ~ - EDGAR B BAYLEY J COPIES MAILED 5/24/04 .............. LAST ENTRY .............. * Escrow Information , BYS511 Cumberland County Prothonotary's Office Page 2 Civil Case Print 2004-01690 STEIMLING CHRISTOPHER A (vs) FARRIS KELLI Reference No..: Filed ........ : 4/19/2004 Ju~gmeh%Case TvTDe ...... ..... :: COMPLAINT ~0CUSTODY Time ......... : 4:09 · Execution Date 0/00/0000 Judge Assigned: Disposed Desc.: Jury Trial .... Disposed Date. 0/00/0000 ............ Case Comments ............. Hiqher Crt 1.: . Hi~her Crt 2.: Fees & Debits Beg Bal Pymts/Adj End Bal * CUSTODY AGMT 85.00 85.00 .00 TAX ON AGMT .50 .50 .00 SETTLEMENT 5.00 5.00 .00 AUTOMATION FEE 5.00 5.00 .00 JCP FEE 10.00 10.00 .00 CUSTODY FEE 4.00 4.00 .00 CUSTODY FEE-CO 1.00 1.00 .00 * End of Case Information . CERTIFICATE OF SER¥IC__~_.E I hereby certify that I am this day serving a copy of the foregoing documents upon the person(s) and in the manner indicated below, which service satisfies the requirements of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure, by depositing a copy of same in the United States mail, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with first-class postage prepaid as follows: Honorable Edgar B. Bayley Cumberland County Courthouse One Courthouse Square Carlisle, PA 17013 Rebecca L. Ardoline, Esquire MidPenn Legal Services 3 West Monument Square, Suite 203 Lewistown, PA 17044 Pamela Sheaffer Official Court Reporter Cumberland County Courthouse One Courthouse Square Carl/s/e, PA 17013 Taryn N. Dixon Court Administrator Cumberland County Courthouse One Courthouse Square Carlisle, PA 17013 Date:~q~~~ Counsel for Plaintiff (717) 234-4161 CHRISTOPHER A. SI'EIMLING Plaintiff, : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA KELLI FARRIS, 04-1690 CIVIL TEPdVI Defendant. REQUEST FOR TRANSCRIPT A Notice of Appeal having been filed in this matter, the official court reporter is hereby ordered to produce, certify and file the transcript in this matter in conformity with Rule 1922 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure. GOLD~,~ KATZMAN, P.C. Heather ~Paterno, Esquire I.D. #875t~,/ 320 Marl~0e~ Street P.O. Box 1268: Harrisburg, PA 17108-1268 (717) 234-4161 CounselforPlaintiff Date: CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that I am this day serving a copy of the foregoing documents upon the person(s) and in the manner indicated below, which service satisfies the requirements of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure, by depositing a copy of s~nne in the United States mail, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with first-class postage prepaid as follows: Honorable Edgar B. Bayley Cumberland County Courthouse One Courthouse Square Carlisle, PA 17013 Rebecca L. Ardoline, Esquire MidPenn Legal Services 3 West Monument Square, Suite 2(}3 Lewistown, PA 17044 Pamela Sheaffer Official Court Reporter Cumberland County Courthouse One Courthouse Square Carlisle, PA 17013 Date: t I Taryn N. Dixon Court Administrator Cumberland County Courthouse One Courthouse Square Carlisle, PA 17013 GOLDBE~/~/K~TZMAN, ~C.~ B~/h'l'e~ther L.r'~ater~o, Esquire { / I.D. #87506 v Counsel for Plaintiff CHRISTOPHER A. STEIMLING,: Plaintiff : KELLI FARRIS, : Defendant : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA CIVIL ACTION - LAW NO. 04-1690 CIVIL TERM IN RE: TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS CUSTODY Proceedings held before the HONORABLE EDGAR B. BAYLEY, J., Cumberland County Courthouse, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on May 10, 2004, in Courtroom Nu~er Two. APPEARANCES: MARCUS A. MCKNIGHT, Esquire For Plaintiff REBECCA ARDOLINE, Esquire For Defendant INDEX TO WITNESSES FOR THE PLAINTIFF DIRECT CROSS 1. Kathy A. Morrow 5 12 2. Christopher A. Steimling 14 25 3. Sonya L. Steimling 36 39 FOR THE DEFENDANT 1. Kelli Ann Foultz 41 60 2. Helen Marie Foultz 74 77 REDIRECT RECROSS 31 33 69 72 2 FOR THE INDEX TO EXHIBITS PLAINTIFF MARKED Order appointing Kate Morrow as attorney for child Letter from Spectron, Inc., to Mr. Steimling 3. Copy of support payments 4. Sentence by Judge Rehkamp FOR THE DEFENDANT 1. Monster job search results 2. Listing of electrician jobs 4 16 23 65 30 58 ADMITTED 41 41 41 8O 60 6O 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 May 10, 2004, 1:46 p.m. Carlisle, Pennsylvania (Whereupon, Plaintiff's Exhibit No. 1 was marked previous to hearing.) MR. MCKNIGHT: May it please the Court, we're the moving party in this custody case, Steimling versus Farris. The plaintiff wishes to relocate to Alabama. Exhibit 1 is Plaintiff's Exhibit 1, Your Honor, and I'll mark it that for purposes of identification. It's an order appointing Kate Morrow as attorney for the child. This is an order that was issued in Perry County. Kate Morrow is on the line, and she'll first witness. This is by way of background, Your be our Honor. Services. proceed? THE COURT: Ail right. Ma'am, what is your name? MS. ARDOLINE: Rebecca Ardoline from Mid Penn Legal I'm in the Lewistown office, Your Honor. THE COURT: Pleasure to have you here. Ready to MS. ARDOLINE: Yes, we are, Your Honor. As a preliminary matter, I would ask for an offer of proof as to Ms. Morrow's testimony in this matter. It's my understanding she hasn't been involved with this case for a period of a couple of years. THE COURT: Offer. MR. MCKNIGHT: The offer, Your Honor, is that she 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 will give valuable background about the case, and she was in the courtroom and heard the testimony for the hearing that resulted in custody being awarded to my client, and that would have been in October of 2003. THE COURT: Well, we will go ahead. If you have any individual objections, just let me know. Ma'am, what is your name, please? with a K, THE WITNESS: Yes, Your Honor, my name is Kathy, middle initial A, last name Morrow, M-o-r-r-o-w. THE COURT: Fine. Raise your right hand. My stenographer will swear you in. THE WITNESS: trouble hearing you. THE COURT: If you raise your right hand, my stenographer will swear you in. Whereupon, KATHY A. MORROW, having been duly sworn, testified as follows: DIRECT EXAMINATION I'm sorry', Your Honor, I'm having BY MR. MCKNIGHT: Q You've business A already stated your name. address? My name is Kathy A. Morrow. physical address is 217 South Carlisle Pennsylvania. The mailing address What is your Business address, the Street, New Bloomfield, is Post Office Box 250 in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 New Bloomfield. Q Now, Ms. Morrow, I've entered as Exhibit 1 for the Plaintiff the order of court dated June 6, 2000, which appointed you as attorney for the child. Do you recall that appointment? A Yes, I do. Q And did you have contact after the appointment with the child and with the parties in this case? A Yes, I did. Q Can you describe for the judge in general the child and then the parties? A Your Honor, at the time that I was appointed to represent the child, she was six months old. I had an opportunity to meet with the mother who had the child with her. At that time the mother also had a fiance, and he and his family were also present during my initial meeting with the mother. I had an opportunity after that to meet with the father and his paramour who is now his wife. Those are my initial meetings with them. Q Now, what involvement did you have in this case after the initial meeting? A I was involved quite a bit, Your Honor. This was rather contentious matter between mom and dad, as many custody cases are. In this particular case, father had denied paternity for awhile. However, once paternity was established, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 he chose to file a custody action and seek primary custody of his daughter. Based on his actions, I was involved with the family and also met with counsel for both parents on numerous occasions to try to work out a visitation schedule between the father and the child which would result in father having a more traditional every other weekend contact with the child. Q Now, was the mother's position that she was opposed to contact with the father? A Yes, she was. Q And did she have a reason for that? A Mother was very concerned that father was going to harm the child, although there had never been any evidence presented. Part of her concern was based on his denial of paternity initially. Mother had made allegations that father had attempted to cause a miscarriage by punching or kicking her. There were allegations like that going back and forth between the parties. Q Now, ultimately was father given a regular visitation schedule? A Q A my office and initially -- well, The first contact between father Yes, he was. And how did that proceed? What happened was the father and the fiance met at let me backtrack a little bit. and his daughter took place, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 if I remember correctly, at the Car2isle public library. Mother had a friend who was willing to facilitate the visitation and supervise the visitation, and these visits started very gradually between mother, child, mother's friend, and father. I don't recall exactly how long those initial visits were, but they took place at the public library. The first visit was a rocky one. The child was still a baby, started crying, and rather than allowing father to try to calm the child down mother stepped in and took the child. They had several visits at the library. MS. ARDOLINE: Excuse me, Your Honor. Go ahead. THE COURT: MS. ARDOLINE: Morrow's testifying that were made. THE COURT: THE WITNESS: visits. THE COURT: Hold on. There's been an objection. I'm not clear as to whether Ms. from her personal knowledge or from report~ Were you there, ma'am? I was not present during those You object? MS. ARDOLINE: I object. THE COURT: Sustained. BY MR. MCKNIGHT: Q Based on your own information, how did things proceed after that? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A Okay. And I do have a specific visit that I can address, Mr. McKnight. On March 6tlh, 2001, I met with Chris Steimling, Sonya, who is now Steimling, Melinda, who is Chris's daughter, and Kaitlyn. This visit took place at my office at approximately 5:45 in the afternoon. Kelli was to have the child at my office by 6:00. She was 20 minutes late. The child was very clingy as she had just vomited over herself. Kaitlyn showed reluctance to leave her mother, and Kelli kept comforting her. However, at one point Sonya stepped up, stuck her arms out and asked the child to come to her, where the child did go to her. The Steimlings and the two children stayed at my office and then -- I'm looking at notes that I made from that meeting, Your Honor. Kelli left wLthout saying anything to Chris, but I reminded her that they would have Kaitlyn at the East End Deli at 7:30 that evening. Kaitlyn cried for 45 seconds and then was fine. Chris and Sonya had brought a change of clothing for Kaitlyn, and they proceeded to wash the child off and change her into clean clothing. Tihey stayed in my office unti[ approximately 6:35, at which time they left and I had no other contact with them. Q How did things proceed, after that point in 20017 A Well, this is my understanding, and I'm basing my comments, Your Honor, on the fact that there were other 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 hearings in this case and I was present during those hearings. Visits between the child and the father were comfortable, although relations between the mother and the father continued to be very, very rocky and very difficult. Q was there a time then when father gained primary custody of the child? A I had no contact with the family after 2001. I received a telephone call from Dirk Berry who had represented dad in 2003 telling me that there was to be a hearing, that mother had been in and out of jail. She had had difficulty maintaining housing, and that the father was thinking of seeking primary custody. That was in January of 2003. The next thing I became aware of was a hearing which was scheduled in June of -- I'm sorry, October of 2003. Q Did you attend that hearing? A Yes, I did. Q And what was the result of that hearing? A The result of that hearing was that father had primary physical custody of the child. Q Over the course of time that you've had contact with these parties, how would you describe the father? A My initial contact with father was not smooth. Father was very reluctant to talk with me. He had discontinued most of his communication with me, and father was denying paternity on the one hand yet saying if he were the father he 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 wanted primary physical custody. After I went to father's home, because there were allegations that he did not have ad.equate housing for the child, I would say my relationship with the father went a little more smoothly. He would enter into discussions with me, would call me when he had questions and concerns. How about his wife, the stepmother of this Q was a very, child? I never had any problems with the stepmother. She very positive influence in the child's relationshi The child, as a matter of fact, bonded more with the father. easily to the stepmother rather than to the father. Q How about the mother? A My contacts with the mother were uneasy also. She was very concerned that she was golng to lose her child. She was very angry that father was attempting to have a role in the child's life after he had denied paternity. She was difficult to work with, and although I did meet with her and spoke with her on several occasions, most of my communications were through her attorney, who at that point it was Carey Witte (phonetic) with at that point Central Pennsylvania Legal Services. Q Now, you understand the father is planning to relocate to Alabama? A Yes. Q Are you aware of that? 11 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 BY MR. Q the child, Alabama? A question, I've not Yes. I had a phone call from father -- Next question. A THE COURT: You are aware of it. MCKNIGHT: Knowing the family and being involved on behalf of do you have any concerns about the father going to The one thing I was -- before I can answer that Mr. McKnight, I've not seen the child since 2001, and really had much contact with either parent since that time other than being present at hearings in October of 2003. Having said that, my contacts with the family in the past indicated that father had a good relationship with the child, that the stepmother had a very good relationship with the child. You know, I don't know what situation he's going into in Alabama, but I felt comfortable enough with the stepmother and with father's ability to care for the child that I don't have a concern about that provided that the child continues to have a relationship with her mother. MR. MCKNIGHT: Thank you very much. Those are all of the questions I have. THE COURT: Cross-examine. MS. ARDOLINE: Thank you, Your Honor. CROSS EXAMINATION BY MS. ARDOLINE: Q Good afternoon, Attorney Morrow? 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A mother's would be? A Hi. How are you? Good. How are you? I'm okay. I just have a couple questions. In terms of relationship with the child, are you aware of how that Like I said, Ms. Ardoline, I have not seen either parent interact with the child since 2001. I do know that mother -- and I need to correct myself. The October 8th order said mother and father would have shared legal custody, primary physical to dad. Q Right. And you're not aware of how visits have gone since dad has had primary custody, right? A Correct. Q And you haven't been involved? A Correct. MS. ARDOLINE: That's all I have for you. THE COURT: You are excused. MS. ARDOLINE: Thank you. MR. MCKNIGHT: Thank you. THE WITNESS: Thank you. THE COURT: Next. MR. MCKNIGHT: Call Mr'. Christopher Steimling to the stand. 13 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 BY MR. Whereupon, CHRISTOPHER A. STEIMLING, having been duly sworn, testified as follows: DIRECT EXAMINATION MCKNIGHT: Q State your full name for the record. A Christopher Allen Steimling. Q And where do you reside? A At the moment 63 East ]Penn Street, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Q And who do you reside there with? A My wife, Sonya; my daughter, Grace; daughter, Kaitlyn. Q And Kaitlyn's the subject of this hearing, correct? A Yes. Q How old is Kaitlyn riglht now? A Four. Q And what's her birthday? A August 18th. Q And what year was she iborn? A '99. Q And you are now married to Sonya, A Yes. Q And what date were you married to Sonya? and my other is that is that correct? 14 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 in A April 14th. Q Of what year? A '01. Q 2001. What do you do for a living, sir? A I'm an electrician. Q And where have you been employed as the past few years? A Lewisberry. Q A an electrician I worked for Spectron Electrical Services out of Q you do? A How long did you work for them? Almost five years. What was the nature of your employment? What did I was a foreman electrician, responsible for starting, completing jobs, keeping people -- the employees working on site. Q Did there come a time when you ran into a problem with your employer Spectron, Inc.? A Yes. Q When was that? A Several months back I had found out that they -- I know it was either December or January they had taken monies out of my paycheck illegally. When I confronted them about it, I had to go to Department of Labor, Wage and Hour and file a complaint. 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 So you filed a complaint with Wage and Hour. What Q happened to your employment then? A It was stopped. I was dismissed. Q And when did that occur? A That occurred March 25th of this year. (Whereupon, Plaintiff's Exhibit No. 2 was marked for identification.) BY MR. MCKNIGHT: Q I'll show you a copy of a letter that we'll mark as Plaintiff's Exhibit 2. Can you identify that for us? A Yes. It's a letter that my ex-boss showed me moments before I was released from the company. Q And it basically says that he was, I guess, paying you some money back, is that right? A Paying money back that was kept illegally from my paycheck and paying me for my vacation accrued up until that point. MS. ARDOLINE: I'm going to object to this letter as hearsay, Your Honor. THE COURT: Overruled. BY MR. MCKNIGHT: Q Now, when he said that you were fired, how did he put it to you? A Well, when I read the letter, I was reading the amounts that had been in question by the Department of Labor. 16 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 And when I saw that my vacation time was on there, I asked him why, and he said because as of today you're no longer needed. And I said, why? And he said I don't have to give you a reason. Q Did he ever indicate anything further about whether you would be able to find work as an electrician? A When I questioned him as to why he had not given a reason, he stated in not so many terms that -- MS. ARDOLINE: Objection, hearsay. THE COURT: Overruled. I will accept it. THE WITNESS: He stated that I would not work in this town again. BY MR. MCKNIGHT: Q Now, what kind of power does your boss have to do that sort of thing? A I was trained through an apprenticeship training program four years, so many hours a week, and he was on -- they were a member of that -- of the IEC, the Independent Electrical Contractors Corporation. As a member, there are approximately 16 to 24 other members also in there that trade people, trade secrets, trade jobs. It's basically a pool of people and information so that we needed to be done. 2004, can help each other complete what's Q Now, you received this notice then March 25th, is that correct? 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2O 21 22 23 24 25 A Yes, sir. Q What did you do then? A After being transported home and unloading all my tools at the house, I immediately filed for unemployment. Q Now, do you have any prospects for work in this area? A A Q A Q A Q there? In Pennsylvania? Yes. Not at the present time. Now, Yes, And do you have work there? Yes, sir. What sort of work do you have waiting do you have an opportunity to move to Alabama? sir. for you A A company called A and B Electric in Tuscaloosa have proposed -- they didn't hire me over the phone, but he feels strongly that given the position I would be making $17.00 an hour. Q What was your hourly rate here in Pennsylvania? A $15.23. Q So that if you take this job in Alabama you would be earning more money, is that correct? A Yes, sir. THE COURT: Seventeen what? 18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Honor. BY MR. THE WITNESS: Seventeen approximately an hour, Your MCKNIGHT: Q Do you have any contacts or any assurances that this job is waiting for you? A The owner of the company is friends or acquaintances with my wife's father, and he set up the initial calls. I spoke with the owner of the company. He assures me that the position is available, but he is in the process of stepping down. I have to be hired by his son who is now running the company. Information has been passed through. The last I heard the son was in Michigan and wasn't back to the office yet. Q Now, I take it that your wife's family lives in this area where you would be moving to? A Yes, sir. Q And how extensive is her family down there? A Her grandparents, her mother, her mother's sister, Sonya's aunt, her brother and his wife and children, her cousin and -- her cousin Gidget, husband and child, her cousin Chad, wife and children, and her father lives 20, 25 minutes away. Q And what position does her father hold in the community? A He is the Hale County Coroner and working with the law enforcement. He also holds other little hats that change 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 from time to time. Q A Carlisle. Q there? A NOW, Yes, What does she do? She's a retail clerk at the Cracker Barrel does your wife work currently in this area? sir. in And if she moved to Alabama, would she have a job Yes, sir. They've already -- from what I their that she has understand, they've already called down and sent recommendation for her to remain in the position down there. Q Alabama? A Q A A Q So she could have a jolb with Cracker Barrel down in Yes, sir. Do you have a place to live down there? Yes, sir. How old is your second child? Seventeen months. Does the place where you would be residing down have sufficient bedrooms for your wife and two daughters? I haven't seen it yet, but I'm told it has three there A bedrooms. Q A And that would be sufficient for your needs? Yes. 2O 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q Now, you were awarded custody of your daughter Kaitlyn last year by Judge Rehkamp, is that correct? A Yes, sir. Q And when you received notice that you had lost your job and that you were considering ]moving to another location, were you in a position to hire private counsel? A No, sir. Q So what did you do? A I called Legal Services on the phone trying to find out some information as to how to apply, et cetera. Q And you did apply then for counsel through them? A They said that I would have to apply and they would grant me counsel. Then they said they weren't sure, and then they said that I couldn't have counsel. They sent me to the Dickinson Family Law who sent me to the Pennsylvania Bar. Q permission of the court And eventually ended up with me somehow? Three weeks later, yes, sir. So then we filed for this petition to seek to have you move, is that correct? A the child. Yes, sir. THE COURT: Well, you seek the permission to move MR. MCKNIGHT: That's right. Right. THE WITNESS: Thank you, Your Honor. 21 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 BY MR. MCKNIGHT: Q Now, since you've been awarded custody of the child last October, has the child regularly seen her mother? A Yes, sir. Q And how often were those times? A Every other weekend. Q And were there any problems with the periods of time that your daughter spent with her mother? A The schedule was originally from 6:00 p.m. Friday until 7:00 p.m. on Sunday. There was some fluctuation with it due to being late for pick up or arrival and other times when mother was unable to see the child. Q Now, during this period of time that you've had custody of Kaitlyn, has the mother changed address to the best of your knowledge? A Three times that I know of. Q And did she inform you of each time she was changing her address? A No. Q How did you find out she was somewhere else? A Through medical records that I had gotten of Kaitlyn's from Holy Spirit Hospital that showed her different addresses and from -- Kaitlyn's sister's father had told me of her new address. Q Well, you never -- is your communication with the 22 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 mother still very difficult? A Very. Q During this period of time, have you reason to believe that she's had economic difficulties, the mother? A Yes. Q How do you know that? A When I was granted custody, there were several judgments against her that were brought up in question, and the amount of child support I am to receive has been negligible at best. Q A arrearages, How much are you to receive in child support? Sixty-five dollars a week. That includes sir. (Whereupon, Plaintiff's Exhibit No. 3 was marked for identification.) BY MR. MCKNIGHT: Q I'll show you Plaintiff's Exhibit marked for purposes of identification as number 3. Is that a copy of all the support payments made this year from the certified copy from the Domestic Relations Office? A That's the total of all payments that have been made since October. There were no payments made last year, sir. I questioned that when I picked up the copy. Q What kind of relationship do you have with Kaitlyn? A A very close one. 23 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q Why do you think the proposed move to Alabama would benefit Kaitlyn? A Where we are now there are no children of her age in the neighborhood, and down there where we would be living her brother has four children, Haley, Haley, Hanna and Hummer (phonetic), that when we have visited Alabama on numerous occasions Kaitlyn adores playing with them, and they just accepted her as a member of the family and since -- Q How often -- A Go ahead. Q How often has Kaitlyn been to Alabama? A At least twice that I can remember. There may have been more. I'm not certain. Q Now, do you in any way want to impede or harm the relationship between Kaitlyn and her mother? A No, sir. Q What are you proposing in terms of time that Kaitlyn could spend with her mother if you relocate to Alabama? A I offered her pretty much the whole summer and Christmas holidays as were needed. Q So if you could work out the transportation with her, summer? A Christmas holiday she could have Kaitlyn and most of the Certainly. Now, would you have made this move if you hadn't 24 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 lost your job of five years? A We had talked about it happening in the future but it hadn't been on -- it wasn't a definite. Q And why do you think that economically your daughter will do better in Alabama than she would be now in your current situation? A Sonya's job would be paying approximately the same amount while we're down there, and of course my position would be increased. And being that the cost of living is already lower, that would be a bigger increase as an actual income, that and here I'm renting an apartment. Down there we've already got our home set up. Q Would you be renting or buying a home? A Buying. MR. MCKNIGHT: Those are all of the questions I have at this time. THE COURT: Cross-examine. MS. ARDOLINE: Thank you, Your Honor. CROSS EXAMINATION BY MS. ARDOLINE: Q Mr. Steimling, you have not seen the home that you would be moving into in Alabama, is that correct? A summer and Christmas holidays. I have seen a picture of it on videotape. You stated that you offered Ms. Farris the whole Isn't it true that your 25 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 petition custody to the defendant during the weeks, is that correct, that's what states the plaintiff is willing to provide temporary summer months for four you originally offered? A occasions? A Q We restated the offer when the conciliator was A here, ma'am. Q Isn't it, in fact, the fact that it was the conciliator who suggested that four weeks was too short and offered the longer period of time? It may have been, yes. And Kaitlyn has been to Alabama twice? To my knowledge, yes. And met those relatives down there on those Yes. And those relatives axe Sonya's, Steimling's relatives, is that correct? A your wife, Mrs. Yes. You don't have relatives in Alabama? No. My relatives are in North Carolina. You said you don't have any prospects for work in Pennsylvania. in Pennsylvania? A I have gone to the Isn't it true that you haven't applied for work director of the Independent Electrical Contractors Company or group. I have called her being that she has conferred with me over the past four or some 26 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 years, something. Q and she has tried looking for me and has yet to find Nobody seems to be hiring. Now, the Independent Electrical Contractors, is this employers? A Q A unemployment? A Q like a union, a group of workers, or is it a group of It's a group of employers. And have you gone to the unemployment center and looked at job postings there? Yes. And have you applied for any of those jobs? I have applied for three. Have you heard yet whether you're going to get your Yes, I have gotten my unemployment. You didn't get an offer letter or anything this A and B Electric in Alabama, correct? A The son who is now running the Michigan, and he has been unable my last report. Q And you you've had contact with his father, A from company has been in to return to the office as of actually haven't had contact with the son, correct? That is correct. And you -- this has all happened since March 25th? Yes, ma'am. You didn't advise Ms. Farris that you were planning 27 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 on moving yourself, did you, you didn't tell her yourself? A Before March 25th, Sonya and I had been speaking with Kaitlyn because Kaitlyn heard, us talking about Alabama, and Kaitlyn had said about going to school with Stewart's children. So when she went to Kelli's what she expressed to Kelli. Kelli called my house, was going on. I didn't hear the phone wife. When I returned home from work, for the weekend, that's asked information about what call between her and my I left a message for Miss Farris that if she wanted to talk about it she could call me or we could talk about it Sunday when we picked up Kaitlyn. Q And this was approximately a month before you actually filed the petition to move, A I don't recall the time that early, yes, ma'am. Q isn't it? frame. It could have been So you were talking with Kaitlyn or at least in earshot of Kaitlyn about moving to Alabama prior to losing your job, is that right? A Like I said earlier, it was something we spoke about but it wasn't definite. So losing your job was not really the impetus for Q moving? A Q Excuse me? Losing your job is not really the reason that you're moving to Alabama? 28 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A At this point in time, yes, it is. Q Didn't you tell Ms. Farris that you had quit your job because you heard the company was going under? A No, I did not. MS. ARDOLINE: Your Hcnor, may witness? THE COURT: Yes. BY MS. ARDOLINE: Q look at it, search results. Are A I approach the I'm handing you an exhibit. If you could take a it's marked Defense 1. It's titled Monster job you familiar with Monster job search? Um-hum. That's an on-line job search place, right? Um-hum. And can you tell from here what the related job titles on the top are that were searched for this job result? MR. MCKNIGHT: Objection, Your Honor. Again, this is something I haven't been given notice are things that are hearsay. THE COURT: Well, off the internet, MR. MCKNIGHT: Yes. THE COURT: Overruled. Go ahead. electrician, of, and clearly these right? MS. ARDOLINE: Thank you. THE WITNESS: It says electrician, industrial maintenance electrician, electrical technician, 29 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 gentleman electrician, electrical maintenance technician, more. BY MS. ARDOLINE: Q And you testified that your training is an electrician? A Yes, I'm a journeyman electrician. Q And can you tell how many jobs are listed here on these results? A Not without counting them, but there's several pages. There's got to be at least two dozen, maybe three dozen. Q results in your job search for local jobs? A No. I don't have a computer. Q Have you gone to the job center locally and used their computer for an internet job search? A I had gone to the job center and looked at what positions they had available on the board. I didn't get into the computer. It was difficult allotting a certain amount of time when a precocious four year old is in tow. MS. ARDOLINE: I would ask if I could have that marked defense one and entered. (Whereupon, Defendant's Exhibit No. 1 was marked for identification.) THE COURT: Twenty-five. Have you looked at Monster job search This was not a union position where you worked? 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THE WITNESS: quote, unquote, in Tuscaloosa in the electric has and nonunion halves. THE COURT: Have you ever been here? THE WITNESS: No, sir. THE COURT: Go ahead. BY MS. ARDOLINE: Q So, Mr. Steimling, to ask you, jobs in Maryland? A No, I did not. Q In North Carolina where your family is? A My mother lives with my sister, and, no, I apply for any positions there. Q And to be clear, where is this electronics organization? Do they only function in Pennsylvania? A The IEC? Q A No, sir, it was not. The new shop, both union a member of a union did you apply for did not Right. No, actually they have offices across the country. MS. ARDOLINE: That's all the questions I have. THE COURT: Any redirect? MR. MCKNIGHT: Yes. REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. MCKNIGHT: Q The exhibit, Defendant's No. 1, would you take a 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 look at that. A Yes, sir. Q It appears that this -- the exhibit are not specific to this region, A Philadelphia, Lehigh Valley, actually give a home office or an address as be based out of, no, sir. Q There are only several that look like they've -- we're looking at the U.S. Harrisburg area, is correct? A Q jobs indicated on this is that correct? Allentown. It doesn't to where it would that Yes, sir. There is only three of them. And they appear something about a naval reserve. Do you know what that means? Is that perhaps what they're talking about, naval reserve jobs? A Oh, I'm sure that's what it Q So even if you accepted one certainly would require a relocation, is that correct? A With the naval reserve, I'm sure it would require my relocation as well as my reenlistment, sir. Q Were you able to communicate effectively with the mother about your relocation plans? A No. Q Why not? A She had not called me back as to give a time or place for a discussion, and then on Sunday when we picked up is. of these jobs, it most 32 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Kaitlyn, Kaitlyn was crying. I asked the mother what was wrong, and she just shouted at me, she's upset, and for lack of a better term, just handed over Kaitlyn and walked away. Q So, again, the communication has been very difficult with the mother, is that correct? A Yes. Q Have you found out since the 25th of March that the company Spectron, Inc., is in financial trouble? A Yes, sir. Q How do you know? A They have filed bankruptcy Chapter 11. I kept in contact with a couple of the employees for a couple weeks just to make sure there weren't any back stabbings in the process, and they informed me of such. MR. MCKNIGHT: Those are all of the questions I have. THE COURT: Anything else? MS. ARDOLINE: Just briefly, Your Honor. BY MS. ARDOLINE: Q A Q A Q RECROSS EXAMINATION You can't reenlist in the Navy, can you? I don't know. I haven't tried. In fact, you were dishonorably discharged, Excuse me? correct? Your discharge was dishonorable or less than 33 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 honorable, A honorable. Q isn't that correct? Less than honorable. They call it other than It was not dishonorable. And isn't it true when Kaitlyn first said something to her mother about that you told her it was moved or not? A I after Kaitlyn had with my wife. about moving and Ms. Farris told you concern none of her business whether you never said that. told her I was not privy to the conversation I told her that when she called she Q Is it possible your wife told her it was none of her business? A I would doubt that my wife would say to her it's none of her business concerning the move. She probably asked another question that my wife told her it was none of her That's all I have. your unemployment run out now, I've only received four weeks of payment, Your business about. MS. ARDOLINE: BY THE COURT: Q When does effectively now? A it granted 26. Honor. for, Q Four weeks received. And how many is do you know? A It's for the full gamut, I'm assuming, 34 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 you talked to a representative A Of the IEC. Q Now, you told me that you talked to the owner -- Yes. Did you apply for a specific job from any company that is part of that organization? A No, sir, I did not. Q You told me you applied for three other jobs. A Yes. Q Where? A I know two of them were maintenance electricians, and I don't remember the third one through the Career Source Job Center, whatever it's called. Q Are there other electrical contractors in this Central Pennsylvania area that con. ceivably you could apply to for work? A Q field? A Conceivably, yes, sir. How many years of experience do you have in the I was an electrician in the Navy from '82 to '88, so from pretty much '82 up to present. THE COURT: You may step down. THE WITNESS: Thank you. MR. MCKNIGHT: Call Sonya Steimling to the stand. 35 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 BY MR. Q please. A Q A Q A Q A Q A Q Whereupon, SONYA L. STEIMLING, having been duly sworn, testified as DIRECT EXamINATION MCKNIGHT: Would you state your full name follows: for the record, Sonya Leanne Steimling. And you're married to Mr. Steimling? Yes, sir. And the date of the marriage again? 2001, April 14th. Speak up so we can hear you. I'm sorry. And you are employed where? At Cracker Barrel. So there are two children living at home, a 17 month old and a 4 year old, A Q is that correct? Yes. What kind of relationship do you have with your stepdaughter? A We have a very good relationship. She's always gotten along since the beginning, and she still calls me mom. Q Are you involved at all in the transfer of custody between her natural mother and your family? 36 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A Yes, Q Now, from the mother A Yes, Q where she A sir, most of the time I'm always there. do you have occasion to receive phone calls if your husband isn't there? sir. Do you recall a phone call around the end of March called asking questions about Alabama? Right. She had called and was a little snippy and she had asked about -- she said Kaitlyn was talking about moving to Alabama, and I told her, yes, that she was talking about it, and she was pretty excited because she was going to get to go to school with my nieces, and nephews. And I think there was something that she had asked me about, and I told her it wasn't, any of her business, but it had nothing to do with Kaitlyn moving. I had told her that I had no idea when it would be at the time because I didn't. I told her we had been talking about it, but there was no certain date. Q A Alabama? This was before your husband lost his job? Yes, sir. Now, do you have employment opportunities down for recommendation. And all they're doing show up now, and I have the job. in A Yes, sir. I've been working with Cracker Barrel five years, and they called dewn there and gave me a good is waiting for me to 37 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q Would the job pay more or less than what you're receiving now? A I would keep the same pay because I had kept my status with Cracker Barrel. I work every other weekend now because of baby-sitting, but if we move to Alabama I'll have my family to baby-sit for me, so I'll be able to work more there. Again, what part of Alabama are you going to? Bibb County. It's in between Birmingham and Q A Tuscaloosa. Q And we've heard your father's a coroner of that county, is that correct? A He's a coroner of Hale County. It's about 30 minutes away from Bibb County. Q And does he have any other positions or jobs other than that position? A He was also a sheriff Q current owner of this A Yes, sir. Q A guy. deputy. Is that position elected? The coroner position, yes, sir, it is. And he has a relationship with the father of the electrical company, is that correct? And what sort of relationship does he have? His wife's daughter-in-law are cousins with the MR. MCKNIGHT: Those are all of the questions I 38 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 have. BY MS. MS. ARDOLINE: Briefly, Your Honor. CROSS EXAMINATION ARDOLINE: Q Mrs. might be, her four-year-old child that the child was Alabama, wouldn't you think? A She's always snippy. Q And as you say, losing his job, correct? A Q moving to Alabama and going to school with nephews or whoever would be down there? A Kaitlyn was talking about it. Thank you. Steimling, it's understandable that Ms. as you say, a little snippy if she just heard from going to move to She's never not snippy. that was prior to your husband A tiny prior, yes, ma'am. And you had already been talking to Kaitlyn about your nieces and We pretty much was Farris talking between us because at the last visit that she had with them on our vacation she was excited. She actually didn't want Did you And how long was that vacation? It was a week. How did you get there on that vacation? to leave. Q A Q drive? A Q We drove. How do you ordinarily get back and forth to 39 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Alabama? A BY THE COURT: A Q A A Honor. rest. We always drive. MS. ARDOLINE: That's all the questions How old are you, ma'am? I am 35. I'll be 36 in August. First marriage? This is my third marriage. You have other children? No, sir. THE COURT: Sir, how old are you? MR. STEIMLING: I'll be 40 this September, THE COURT: You may step down. MR. MCKNIGHT: That's all we have, Your THE COURT: Go ahead. MS. ARDOLINE: At this time, like to move that father's petition for dismissed, as he has not met the burden set regarding the first factor showing that the the child's best interest. I have. Your Honor. We Your Honor, I would relocation be forth in Gruber relocation is in THE COURT: I want to hear all of the MS. ARDOLINE: would call Kelli Farris. evidence. In that case then, Your Honor, I 4O 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. MCKNIGHT: Your Honor, I would ask for the moving of my exhibits that have been identified. THE COURT: Admitted. Come on up. Whereupon, KELLI ANN FOULTZ, having been duly sworn, testified as follows: DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. ARDOLINE: Q Will you state your full name, please. A My full name is Kelli Ann Foultz. Q And that's a name change since this case took effect, is that correct? A Yes. Previously I was still using my married name. I have recently changed back to my maiden name. Q And what is your current address? A 214 Towpath Road, Duncannon, Pennsylvania, 17020. Q And you're Kaitlyn's mother? A Yes. Q And Kaitlyn is four? A Four and a half. She'll be five in August. Q And we heard Mr. Steimling testify as to the current custody schedule. Is that accurate, you have every other weekend? A Yes. Q And how has that been going? Have you missed any 41 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 visits? A occasions Have you been seeing her? I've missed no visits. There have been a couple of where I've called him and I'd say, hey, you know, I have to work this time or that time, can we, you know, work on the time, and he's been, you know -- he's done that, just as when I had custody if whenever he had issues I would adjust the time for him, and, you know, Q And you've been A Yes. Q Now, history of this A So Q got started. A it's give and take. able to do that? you heard Attorney Morrow testify as to the relationship. Was that accurate? far as? In terms of conflict between you, the way the case Yeah, it is. He had originally -- Mr. Steimling had originally claimed that I refused to allow him to see Kaitlyn and that I did everything possible to prevent him from having contact with her for the first 15 months. However, he made no attempt to see her or contact her until after I sued him for support. At that point he then came after -- you know, sued for what he expected to be full custody. Q And I believe that we've heard that he originally denied paternity as well? A Yes. He denied paternity for quite awhile, and even in the custody matter he was denying that this was his 42 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2O 21 22 23 24 25 child. He was denying paternity even though we had the paternity results there but then saying that he -- if it was his child that he wanted to be -- that he wanted to be the primary -- preferably the sole custodian. Q And up until last October, where did Kaitlyn live or who did Kaitlyn live with? A She lived with me. Q Now, we heard testimony that you've had a couple different addresses recently. Is that true? A Actually so far -- reoently, so far as in the last nine months since Kaitlyn's been with them? Q Sure. A Yeah. I had moved from Shermansdale in with my boyfriend, and then because we needed a larger place we then moved and relocated to just about three or four miles away, still within Duncannon just outside of town though, to a place that's much bigger and has a huge yard with it. Q Why did you need a bigger place? Why did you choose to relocate? A Because of my two daughters as well as his son. has a son that he sees every other weekend, and we wanted enough room for the kids to be able to be -- obviously have bedrooms for them as well as having enough room for them to play outside. We also have two medium-sized dogs, and we just actually got a third medium-sized dog for the kids. He 43 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q new? A However, And how many bedrooms does the house have? Bedrooms, it has four. And how is the house, in good shape, is it old, No. The house has been there for quite awhile. the person -- the gentleman that owns it, it's actually his son that manages it for him. The gentleman that actually owns it is an older gentleman. His son handles everything, everything regarding the rental of the property, person that the roof is and his son is a realtor. His son has a maintenance comes out and makes sure everything's -- you know, good. The place is in excel].ent condition. It's got a very large deck on the back. It's off of a private lane as well so that the kids can, you know, run and play and they don't have to worry about being hit by a car. It's not on a Main Street. It's back off of a -- it's actually a dirt lane you have to go back to get to it. Q And Kaitlyn has visited you there, correct? A Oh, yeah. Kaitlyn has a great time whenever she's over there. She plays with the dogs and stuff. Q And in addition to the sister that Mr. and Mrs. Steimling have, you have another -- you have a daughter that's Kaitlyn's other sister, correct? A Yes. 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2O 21 22 23 24 25 Q A she's 13 help out. well. What's her name? Her name is Elizabeth Marie Does Yes. Foultz. she visit you? She's over every other weekend, and because she likes to go visit grandma and pop on the farm and She's, like, attached to the hip to my father as THE COURT: You lost me a minute. You have a daughter Elizabeth. How old is she? THE WITNESS: THE COURT: THE WITNESS: THE COURT: THE WITNESS: THE COURT: THE WITNESS: Thirteen. Thirteen years old? Right. Who lives with you? No, she does not. She visits me. Every other weekend? Right. And she'll come over for part of the weekend, and then because she's older she likes to be at the farm and help out at the farm with my father and my mom. So she will go to the farm sometimes for part of the weekend. BY MS. ARDOLINE: Q A names? Q And does she come on the same weekends? Yes. And you mentioned your parents. What are their 45 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A Edgar James Foultz, Jr., and Helen Marie Foultz. And where do they live? They live in Honey Grove, Pennsylvania, which is Juniata County just Q A Q A this wrong. inside the Juniata line. From Perry? Yes. And how long have Oh, my goodness. I think 11 years, they lived there? They're going to kill me if I get 12 years maybe. I know they had purchased it, but they had done some renovations to it before they moved in. So I think they've owned it for about 13, 14 years, but I believe they moved up there 11 or 12 years ago. Q A occasionally to visit with my parents, Has Kaitlyn been there as well? Yeah. Kaitlyn goes up with me. She'll go up but because it's a farm there's a lot of work to do. goes up with me -- whenever she does go up with me. So most of the time whenever she she goes up to visit at the farm, Also, my parents come down so much. They're at our place a lot. They come down for dinner usually at least once a week. Q How is Kaitlyn's relationship with her grandparents? A She's very, very close with both of my parents. You know, she -- in fact, most of the time when I pick her up on Friday evenings she wants to talk to ma maw. She wants to 46 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 know if ma maw is coming down, know, if grandma's going to come down take her up to see any of the horseys; about 57, I think, miniature horses. and she wants to know if, you if grandma's going to because my parents have And many times on our way back, because it's an hour drive from Carlisle to our house, almost an hour, she'll call my parents on the cell phone. Well, I'll call my parents on the cell phone, and she'll talk to my parents, my mom mostly, on the cell phone. Q And you mentioned that you lived with a fiance. What's his name? A His name is Mark Beaver. Q And how long have you lived with him? A I moved in with him originally in November at our other apartment right on the square in Duncannon and then, as I said, we looked for -- you know, contacted his landlord and spoke landlord did some looking for us, house became available. In fact, the keys, and that was Has Kaitlyn met Mark? we looked for a place, and we with his landlord. And his and as it turns out, this the day we looked at it he February 4th that we got the gave us keys. Q A Oh, yeah. She adores Mark to no end. And that's one of the first things when she's over for the weekend if he has to work on a Saturday she will -- or if he is at work 47 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Mark, She's Q his son? Friday night late for some reason or even Sunday mornings, the first thing she does when she sees him is she runs over to him and gives him a big hug and a big kiss and, you know, says, hi, hi, Mark, and constantly tells him that she loves him. very -- she's really endeared herself to him. And I think you mentioned he has a son. How old is A His son is nine. Q And he visits as well? A Yeah. Ail the kids are there on the same weekend and it's -- it makes it very nice for us because we are able then to do things as a family, you know, if we choose to, or if for some reason his son -- his son's in little league and stuff like that too, so sometimes his son has to be back a little early for a game or for whatever reason, for sports or anything like that. But Kaitlyn -- he and Kaitlyn play all the time. They just -- whenever they're there -- he actually got upset one time because he knew Kaitlyn wasn't going to be over at the same time that he was going to be there, and Kaitlyn's the same way. She wants to know when Christopher's going to come over. Q And how about you, how do you get along with Kaitlyn? A I get along very well with Kaitlyn. I mean, I was all Kaitlyn had for the first 15 months of her life basically. 48 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 I was the only biological parent she had anyway. extremely close to me as well as my family. wants to be with her mommy. She, you know, angel. If take the dogs walk the dogs SO she's You know, she is mommy's little I'm going outside to do something, even when I out, she wants to be right there with me helping out. When we got the third dog, she went along to get the third dog, and she looked at the third dog and got to play with her and everything. Q What other kinds of things do you do together? A Well, we -- for Easter, the Easter bunny, so to speak, brought her a fishing rod, and because the Juniata river is right at the end of our yard we take -- you know, right at the end of the yard we are able to go fishing. She learned how to cast and she -- we, you know, go fishing, and we go for nice long -- we can go for nice long walks because we've got all fields back there, and there's bunnies and squirrels and everything. We also have a volleyball net in our yard. As I said, it's a big yard. We go out and we'll play badminton. We can't play volleyball because she's not quite big enough for that. We also go out and we'll plant flowers. She likes to help plant flowers. She likes to help rake. There was some places off of our patio below our deck where it needed to be 49 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 raked out, and she wanted to help. She wants to help rake out. She just wants to -- anything that I do she wants to be right there with me and doing everything that I do. And how about does Kaitlyn go to school? No. From what I understand, she's enrolled in a day care here in Carlisle. I think it's the Tender Years. I'm not really sure what the name of the day care is, but she is enrolled supposedly in a day care in Carlisle. Previously she was enrolled at the day care in --- at Perry County Day Care at the Duncannon office directly across from Sheetz off Route 11. Q And that was when you had custody? A Yes. THE COURT: When will she be going to kindergarten, do you know? THE WITNESS: This fall. THE COURT: Go ahead. BY MS. ARDOLINE: Q To get into about the relocation, when did you first hear anything about moving to Alabama? A It was my first visitation in -- I apologize. It was my last visitation in March that Kaitlyn came over and she spoke to me about it. Q And at that point had you heard anything from Mr. Steimling about relocation? A Nothing. 50 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q A Sonya, and Did you contact him about that? I called the house, and I got a hold of his wife, I just -- I asked her, I said, you know, Kaitlyn tells me that there's are you guys planning on moving? And she talked about it, and it may happen in the talk about moving to Alabama. I said, said, well, we've future. I said, well, what do you mean may happen in the future? I said, is this something that's going to happen? Are you planning to move? She said, J_t's none of your business. You'll get court papers when it happens. Q Now, in terms of then any further conversations, did you have any conversations between that time and April 19th when the papers were filed? A The only other conversation I had was just prior to April 19th -- my visitation just prior to April 19th whenever I dropped Kaitlyn off on Sunday. Chris called me -- or Chris gave me his new cell phone number -- I apologize. When I dropped Kaitlyn off, Chris gave me his new cell phone number. I said, well, I was kind of wondering because your old cell phone I'm no longer with Spectron. well, where are you working? is disconnected. He said, And I said, okay. He said, I'm not. quit at Spectron because they were going bankrupt, to get out before everything collapsed. And he said, do you work next Friday? yeah, And I said, And he said, I and I wanted I said, no. 51 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 I said, you know, I don't think so anyway. I don't know. I haven't seen the schedule for next weekend yet. I said, why? He said, would you like Kaitlyn for next weekend? I said, well, said, you know, sure, if you guys have something going on. well, it's just that the following time that you get Kaitlyn we'll be moving to Alabama. And that would have been what weekend, Q recall? A tell you the exact date. you. Honestly, without looking at a calendar, If I had a calendar, I if you He I couldn't could tell Q Would it have been the weekend of April 28th? Does that sound about right? A Yes. Q And then did you receive notification then that there was a court date set to talk about the relocation issue? A I received papers. Actually, it was stuffed in my car. I was never actually served with papers. The way I found out about the hearing is I received a phone -- I'm sorry, a voicemail on my cell phone. From whom? A From Attorney McKnight's office that stated that the hearing was not for the 20th it was for the 21st and that it was a misprint on the papers. It was after that I went out to my car and I actually found the papers. 52 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q conference, A I was there. Q And then you appeared at the conciliation correct? Yeah. I did what I needed to do to make sure that And subsequent to that then did you through my office file a petition for special relief of modification? A Yes, I did. Q And what were you A I was asking that me, primary physical custody. Q For what? A leave the hundreds of miles away, and she has no family there. She asking for in that petition? custody be transferred back to Because he was leaving the state. He wanted to state and take Kaitlyn to a place where she is has -- I mean, the only people she would have there are his wife's family but certainly -- and[, you know, certainly she has no blood family there. She has become -- because it was just she and I basically for the first 15 months, she became very very close to my family, and my family is a great support system for me. Q Who besides your parents and Beth is your family when you say that? A I actually come from a pretty big family. grandmother who I feel will not be with us very long. years old, and she's I have a She's 95 in the Church of God Home right here in 53 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Carlisle. I have both of my parents. I have a sister who's two years older than me. I have a brother who is four years older than me, and then I have another brother who is eight years older than. I am. Both of my brothers each have two children that live with them. Q Does Kaitlyn know these people, know all these people? A Yes, she does know them. Q How often would she interact with her cousins? A It depends. Most of the time whenever my parents are going down to see one of my two brothers they will -- you know, if Kaitlyn's over now, they'll take Kaitlyn with them. My mother has called Chris, and sometimes whenever she's picked Kaitlyn up for the day she has taken Kaitlyn either to visit my grandmother or to visit one of my two brothers and their kids. Q Where do your brothers live? A My one brother lives in Millersburg. My other brother lives in Plainfield, and my sister lives in West Fairview, though she has been staying at my parents' house for a little while now. Q Do you think that Kaitlyn knows where Alabama is? THE COURT: Four and a half, who knows. She will find out if she moves down there. THE WITNESS: Well, you know, there's no possible way she can have a concept of how far Alabama is. My thirteen 54 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 year old -- THE COURT: Next question. THE WITNESS: -- wouldn't have a concept. BY MS. ARDOLINE: Q How do you think -- well, how do you think moving to Alabama would affect your relationship with Kaitlyn if Kaitlyn moved to Alabama? A It would seriously seriously hinder our relationship. Her entire support staff is here. Her entire family is here so far as -- well, my family is here. You know, she -- as it stands, Kaitlyn is very, very upset and sobbing and crying, you know, whenever I take her back to her father. She does -- she tells me she doesn't want to be with her dad. She doesn't want to go back to daddy's. Q Is that a regular thing or just since this relocation came up? A It's been every time with the exception -- I can remember two instances where she d[idn't break down and cry so hard, but even then she whined. It's been every time since he's begun seeing her when she was 15 months old. Q If you were to get custody of Kaitlyn and the Judge were to determine that Mr. Steimling could move but Kaitlyn couldn't, what would you -- THE COURT: Well, Mr. Steimling can move anytime he wants. The issue here is the child only. 55 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 BY MS. Q A ARDOLINE: What would you propose as a visitation schedule? Well, certainly I don't want to hinder Chris's contact with Kaitlyn, but I also understand that Alabama is a long way away. It's going to be really hard to maintain an every other weekend visitation schedule but certainly just four weeks -- as he had proposed, four weeks in the summer isn't adequate either. So what we had proposed is every third weekend of the month. That weekend -- the one exception would be June where Father's Day weekend falls -- wherever that weekend falls would be his weekend automatically. weekend or the fourth weekend or the really sure where Father's Day falls, If it would be the second third weekend, I'm not but that way he would automatically have Father's Day as well he would have, we are proposing, two weeks vacation in the summer which he could take either together or separately. And the only thing that I had asked on that is that there would be every other year that she be home for her birthday on her birthday day, and also that one of the two weeks, because school breaks for two weeks between Christmas and New Year's, that he would be allowed to have -- that he would have one of those two weeks every other year being the week where Christmas falls so he would have her wake up with him every other Christmas morning. 56 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q And what would you do about transportation? A As far as transportation, obviously it's a long drive. It's very, very hard on a child to drive that long for that many hours, not to mention if! Mr. Steimling had to work all day and then drive home it's also very dangerous, not to mention road conditions, so on and so forth. It was my position that we would fly her back and forth, that I would purchase a round-trip airline ticket for Kaitlyn as well as myself. I would fly to Alabama, and Mr. Steimling would meet me at the airport. That way we would have a safe exchange. That way she's stewardess or somebody that we don't Then on the return trip, in the hands of a know. obviously he would have the return plane ticket for Kaitlyn, and he would purchase his own ticket to fly back to Pennsylvania with Kaitlyn, and, again, we would exchange at the airport. That way it gives him more quality time with her rather than spending a day in the car and being completely worn out and wiped out the next day. Q And would you be able to afford to share these costs? A I would ask that he would reimburse me half of Kaitlyn's ticket, round-trip ticket, which now you can get tickets pretty cheap, you know, if you go onto Priceline.com, Orbitz.com, you can get them relatively inexpensively, and it also depends on when you fly. 57 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 I would assume the cost for my entire ticket. I would expect that he would assume the cost for his entire ticket and that we would split the cost of Kaitlyn's ticket. Certainly being that he would be making more money, I can't see how that would be an issue MS. ARDOLINE: THE COURT: BY MS. ARDOLINE: for him. May I approach again, Yes. Q Your Honor? I'm going to show you what was previously marked A Okay. Q And just for clarification purposes, did you run this search on Monster.com? Yes, I did. We have a home computer and I went out A and ran it. Q A And what parameters did you set? The only thing I set is I put in for a broad search by electrician within the State of Pennsylvania, which does occasionally, may I add, pull positions from Hagerstown, Maryland, and positions across the border of Maryland because it is so close to Pennsylvania. Q And I'm going to show you something that's been marked Defense 2 now at this point. Can you identify what that is? A Yes. This is a listing of positions that I 58 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2O 21 22 23 24 25 actually pulled off of PAT and Career Link. that? Q Is that the official job center -- That's the official job center website. And what were the parameters that you put in on A Electrician. And what it does is it allows you to list three different job types under your personal. That's why it has my name on here. What I did is I put in electrician, and I listed five years because I was not aware he had six years other experience. I listed five years and I pulled, I believe, 65 jobs out of here. Q How many jobs are on Defense 2? A I only printed one through 30, the first 22 of which were posted within the last seven days. Q Meaning when did you run the search? A I ran the search -- there's a date on the bottom of May 7th, 2004, and that would mean. that the first 22 jobs listed with a new icon beside them means that they were posted within the last seven days. Q And just do you recall where -- I mean, were these jobs all in Pennsylvania? A With the exception of, I believe, one or two that were in -- just right at the line of Maryland, West Minster, Maryland, I believe it was, but otherwise they were all in Pennsylvania, different locations throughout Pennsylvania but 59 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 certainly a lot closer than Alabama. Q If Mr. or to Pittsburgh, think? A Steimling were to move, say, to Philadelphia how would that affect the custody do you It wouldn't. We would still be able to maintain the every other weekend visitation and because it would be -- granted it's a two hour drive each way, but if we met in the middle, say Reading, obviously we would still be able to do That's all the questions I have. exhibits, Your Honor. that. MS. ARDOLINE: move the entry of defense THE COURT: Admitted. MS. ARDOLINE: Thank you. THE COURT: Cross. BY MR. MCKNIGHT: been a CROSS EXAMINATION Q Is it Miss Foultz now is your current name? A Yes. Q Since Kaitlyn was born four years ago there have lot of changes in your life, haven't there? I'm not sure what you mean. Well, let's get specific. Boyfriends. with you when she was born, Chad was is that A the boyfriend who was right? A Um-hum. I 60 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q And then Dan or Don? MS. ARDOLINE: Your Honor, I'm going to how far back we need to go with this history. THE COURT: Go ahead. BY MR. MCKNIGHT: Then you were with Don, Q next? A Q is that correct, Don was a very close friend of mine, And did you accuse him of something like that? A He did, in fact, steal my car. There report filed with the Pennsylvania State Troopers. Q room from. Q A result. Q Kaitlyn, is A Q boyfriends during the Then who was next? Mark. What about Nick? yes. stealing your object to who was car or is a police Nick was never my boyfriend. Nick I subletted a Nick was never a boyfriend of mine. And you have accused Nick of assaulting you? Yes. I was in a domestic violence shelter as a Now, during those times, you had custody of that correct? Yes. So that she's been exposed to a number of first four years of her life? 61 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A boyfriends. Q A Q No, she hasn't. She's been exposed to two Has Mark ever struck you? No. Now, since custody changed last October, how many different addresses have you had? MS. ARDOLINE: Objection, she answered that. THE COURT: I thought she answered, but go ahead. Where were you living at the time of the custody? THE WITNESS: Shermansdale. THE COURT: And then you moved to where? THE WITNESS: the square of Duncannon. THE COURT: Then your current place? THE WITNESS: BY MR. MCKNIGHT: Q Now, period, different A I moved in with Mark in -- right on I moved because we needed more room. how many jobs have you had in that same jobs? Three. And where were those jobs? I'm currently -- well, they were with -- Starting in October, where were you working? In October? Yes. I would have to think back. I was with EarthLink. 62 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 there. Q A Q And what happened to that job? A Same as what happened with everybody else down They terminated us. They moved everything overseas. Where did you work then? After EarthLink, I went to the Petro Iron Skillet, and after that I was at Camp Hill Diner. Q The Camp Hill Diner, when did that work A That started in January. Q Now, you've talked about -- start? THE COURT: Is that where you are now? THE WITNESS: No. Because they cut hours, I moved to Eat'n Park, more money. THE COURT: Now Eat'n Carlisle. BY MR. Park? THE WITNESS: Yes. THE COURT: Where is that? THE WITNESS: Right down on the Harrisburg Pike in MCKNIGHT: Q When did you start that job? A I started that job in the middle of March. Q Now, you've only been able to make four support payments over that period of time, is that correct? A They take the money directly out of my check. Q You haven't made any other payments other than that? 63 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A It's wage attached. But you have changed ~obs all those times? But it's wage attached. So you have the money to make your regular weekly payments but you don't make them? A It's wage attached. They take out what they are legally allowed to take out of my check. I'm a server. I get paid a very small wage. They take out what they are able to take out. And because my hours had been cut at Camp Hill Diner, I was not making very much money before I made the decision to go to Eat'n Park. I d[id go to Domestic Relations and I asked for -- THE COURT: You answered the question. Next question. BY MR. MCKNIGHT: Q In addition to that, you've had difficulty with passing bad checks, isn't that correct? A In the past. I don't have a checking account, have not had a checking account for over a year. Q But you've done time in jail for passing bad checks? A As Mr. Steimling has done time in jail for a felony. you THE COURT: Ma'am, you were not asked that. Have spent time in jail for bad checks? 64 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THE WITNESS: Yes. THE COURT: When was the last time? THE WITNESS: Last year. THE COURT: When? THE WITNESS: I'm trying to think even when it was. I don't remember right off the top of my head. BY MR. MCKNIGHT: Q Now, you were just sentenced last month in Perry County for bad check charges, isn't that correct? A That was a plea bargain because there is an identity theft that has also taken place in addition with the auto theft that is reported to the Pennsylvania State Police. However, because the checks have my name on them and they went through my account, I was held responsible. THE COURT: Ma'am, it is such a simple question. Were you sentenced last month in Perry County for bad checks? THE WITNESS: Yes. (Whereupon, Plaintiff's Exhibit No. 4 was marked for identification.) BY MR. MCKNIGHT: Q I'll show you Plaintiff's Exhibit No. 4. Is that a certified copy of the sentence by Judge Rehkamp? A Yes. And you were counts, is that correct? found -- you pled guilty to two 65 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q A for adoption. A Yes. Q And you are on two years probation? A Yes. Q Now, you have talked about another daughter that you have. How many times -- how many times have you been pregnant over the course of your life? MS. ARDOLINE: Objection, relevance. THE COURT: Sustained. BY MR. MCKNIGHT: How many other children do you have? I have Elizabeth, and I have one that I had placed THE COURT: How many years ago was THE WITNESS: Sabrina is eight now. BY MR. MCKNIGHT: Q So Sabrina was placed for adoption. that you visit with is? A Elizabeth. Q And the father is Brian Funk, is A Yes. Q And he was awarded custody of -- awarded custody by this court last April of the child, correct? A Yes. Q Now, that, ma'am? And the child that correct? actually was is that you've not had a very good relationship with 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the plaintiff in this case, that correct? A Q the father of your daughter, is That's correct. As a matter of fact, every time you speak to each other A Q it's not very good, is it? That's not true. Did you have a discussion about seeing Kaitlyn on Mother's Day? A Yes, I did. Q And didn't he offer you time with Kaitlyn but you wanted something else? A What I had asked for is to pick her up at 3:00 p.m. and drop her off at 10:00 a.m. this morning. He said that was absolutely unacceptable, and he o~fered me from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Being there's an hour d. rive, that would have allowed me two hours of quality time with Kaitlyn. Because of how she reacts when I take her back with Her father and she cries, it was too short a time to upset her in that way. Q So you didn't take him up on that? A No, for Kaitlyn's benefit. Q And that was -- was that a pleasant conversation or a difficult one? A Well, whenever he turned to his wife and asked her -- THE COURT: Wait. Wait. They did not reach an 67 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 agreement. I know the answer to that. BY MR. MCKNIGHT: Next question. Skillet, BY MR. Q A Yes. Q His last name? A Beaver. Q Mark Beaver. When did you move A In November. THE COURT: What does he do THE WITNESS: the restaurant MCKNIGHT: Did you work there for awhile? Q You and your current boyfriend, Mark -- in with Mark? for a living? He is the general manager at the Iron I was at, the Petro. I worked there for approximately a month, and because of conflict of interest and there were problems with the other servers and so on and so forth, I left the Iron Skillet and went directly to the Camp Hill Diner. Those are all of the questions I MR. MCKNIGHT: THE COURT: MS. Any redirect? ARDOLINE: Briefly, Your Honor. ma'am? have. THE COURT: THE WITNESS: THE COURT: THE WITNESS: How old are you, I'm 31. How old is Mark? Mark is 30. 68 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THE COURT: Go ahead. REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. ARDOLINE: Q So back to the job situation, Ms. Farris. laid off from EarthLink as part of an overall layoff, correct? A Q You were is that As was everybody. And the reason you left relationship with Mr. Beaver was causing problems with the other folks? Petro was because your to Camp Hill -- there because you weren't gettinc A Right. Q And then you went A Diner. Q And then you left enough hours? Exactly. How long in between these A unemployed? A Q jobs have you been A week tops. Is your history in waitressing? Is that what you have typically done? A Customer service, restaurant. I've been involved in both of those fields, because I honestly believe they go hand in hand, since I was 15, about 16 years. At one point, with the exception as with EarthLink obviously, it wasn't a 69 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 restaurant. Q And now as regards to passing bad checks, you indicated you spent some time in jail last year. Do you recall how long it was that you were in jail? A Less than a week. '03 Q or around thereabouts? A Around there, yeah. Q So over a year ago? A Right. Q And the situation And would that have been maybe back in January of in Perry County, I believe you Can started to say that that stemmed out of an identity theft. you explain that situation? A Yes. When my vehicle was stolen by Don, he also stole my purse with my checkbook and everything else in it. There were monies that were taken from my account without my knowledge that were, you know, items that were purchased. I had reported it At this point we're him. Q A said, I account, I to the State Police. They have it on record. just waiting to catch him, to catch up with How are you doing Pretty well, pretty well. don't have a checking account. financially now? We are -- you know, as I I don't want a checking and I pay what bills I have to pay with my tip money. use money orders should I need to, and then of course, you 70 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 know, other Q you handle that? A We do split expenses. because I make considerably less dollar amount bills. items get paid through. Mark's account. Are you and Mr. Beaver splitting expenses or how do It's not exactly 50/50 than him. But he asked that I -- whenever we first talked about moving in together we set a for me to give him a month to go towards the When we moved into the bigger place, we had to realign that because obviously it cost us more per month being it was a bigger place. So I give him a set amount every month, and then we pay the bills out of that. Since his recent promotion to general manager we to start looking into, savings and so forth, so have -- you know, we are actually able you know, building some other areas of forth like that better. on and so Q A Q A How would you describe your relationship currently? With Mark? Um-hum. As with any relationship, we have disagreements. We have arguments. That's with any relationship. Anybody who tells you that they don't have arguments isn't being completely honest, but we work through them and we talk through them. Sometimes we just go our separate ways, and we both think about it and come back and we talk about, it later. 71 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THE COURT: Is your relationship going along okay? THE WITNESS: Yeah, the relationship is very well. THE COURT: Next question. BY MR. MS. ARDOLINE: THE COURT: Mr. MR. MCKNIGHT: RECROSS MCKNIGHT: Q judgments entered against you. A Q you? A Actually, I think that's all I have. McKnight. Just a follow-up. EXAMINATION Q When you lost your jobs or separated from your employment, did you get unemployment? A No, because I wasn't out of work long enough. I had no need for it. As a result of previous bad checks, you had various Have you paid those off? Yes. You paid off all of the judgments that are against Ail the judgments to the best of my knowledge with the exception of the restitution with the two years probation which I make payments on for that. Q And how much do you owe on that? A I don't know the exact dollar amount right off the top of my head. Approximately. A Nine hundred and some dollars. It's set up on a 72 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 payment plan over two years. Q If you're doing better financially, why haven't you been able to catch up A As I said, check. Q on your back support? the support is taken directly out of my So you won't make any additional payments other custody changes MR. have. than what's taken out of your pay? A I'm not making any adjustments to anything regarding child support or anything else until we get through this hearing, until we get through these hearings at this point. I'm making very few changes at this point until we get through these custody proceedings because ultimately if the so will the support. MCKNIGHT: Those are all of the questions I THE COURT: THE WITNESS: THE COURT: MS. ARDOLINE: THE COURT: I You may step down. Thank you. Do you have any further witnesses? Yes, Your Honor, one. am going to take a break, a ten minute break. Foultz. Reconvene at (Whereupon, THE COURT: MS. 3:30. a brief recess was taken.) Next witness. ARDOLINE: At this time I would call Helen 73 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 BY MS. Whereupon, HELEN MARIE FOULTZ, having been duly sworn, testified as DIRECT EXAMINATION ARDOLINE: Q Ma'am, will A Helen Marie THE COURT: little louder. BY MS. ARDOLINE: follows: you please state your full name. Foultz. Lean into that a little bit and talk a Q A Kaitlyn? A And your address? RR-1, Box 435, Honey Grove, Pennsylvania. And I believe we heard that's up in Juniata County? Yes. And you have a farm there? Yes. A working farm? Yes. And you are Ms. Farris' mother? Correct. And obviously Kaitlyn's grandmother, right? Right. How would you describe! your relationship with It's great. She's a sweetheart, and we get along 74 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q her aunt? A very well. She loves to come up and see us. Q About how often do you see her? A Every other weekend. When Kelli has her, I try to get down to see her. And on occasion I'll call Chris and Sonya and see if I can take her for the day, and they allow that. Q And they allow that. So you have a good relationship with Mr. Steimling and his wife? A Yes. Q Are there other -- well, who lives with you? A My husband, Edgar, and[ my older daughter now. She had had an accident, and she's been recuperating at our house. And what's her name? Kathleen Foultz. How does Kaitlyn get along with your husband and Oh, Kathy's like a second mother to her. Q And how about other relatives? Kaitlyn and her sister Beth together? A A old thinks along fine. to her. great. Her and pop get along real great, and Have you ever seen Yes, very often. How do they get along? Pretty well, as much as -- you know, the 13 year the little one's a pain in the neck, but they get Elizabeth helps out a lot with Kaitlyn and reads 75 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q And I believe you have four kids? A Yes. Q A Q mother is, A you know, from my count of what Kelli had said Q How is Kaitlyn as -- is she well have any behavior problems that you know of? A When she's with her mother? her, her And they are all pretty local? Well, Millersburg and Plainfield. How do you think Kaitlyn's relationship with her with Kelli? Every time I've seen them together it's been okay, it's been fine. behaved? Does she Q Um-hum, or with you. A When she's with me, I don't have a problem with but like my children, when she's with her mother she gives some trouble sometimes but not often. Q Does Kelli handle that okay? For the most part. How do you think it would affect Kaitlyn if she moved down to Alabama? A Well, she would miss all of her family. here. I don't know how well she would adjust, but miss all of us I know. MS. ARDOLINE: That's all the questions I have you. We're all she would for 76 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 BY MR. Q Kelli? A possible, but THE COURT: MCKNIGHT: Do you keep Mr. McKnight. CROSS EXAMINATION in regular touch with your daughter, I try to stay out of her business as much as I do talk to her frequently. So it's fair to say she has moved a few times, Q is that correct? A Yes. Q And she didn't tell us about her apartment in Loysville. Did you know she was living in Loysville? A Yes. She moved in there and right after that moved in with Mark. So she never really lived in that apartment. We helped her move in. She rented it for several months and never really lived in it. Because she developed a relationship with Mark, is Q that right? A Q Yes. Is it fair to say there have been times when you and Kelli have had your differences? A Oh, definitely. Q And was there a time -- I think you previous hearing -- would sometimes use in the past testified in a a custody hearing in Perry County that she Kaitlyn as a weapon against you, 77 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2O 21 22 23 24 25 withholding Kaitlyn? A Yes, she did. Q And you've said there are times when you've witnessed issues of discipline between Kelli and Kaitlyn that you disagree with? A You mean recently or anytime? Q Anytime. MS. ARDOLINE: I'm going to object to the characterization. I believe what she said -- THE COURT: Tell me when first. First of all, have there been times when you have disagreed, and if so, when with her disciplining of Kaitlyn? THE WITNESS: Yes, there have been times I've disagreed. generally? until maybe it. THE COURT: When, to the best of your knowledge THE WITNESS: Well, from the time she was a baby she was two or so, and then I kind of stayed out of THE COURT: Go ahead. Next question. BY MR. MCKNIGHT: Q Now, although you have regular contact with her, she has changed jobs a good bit, is that correct? A Yes. MS. ARDOLINE: I'm going to object. 78 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THE COURT: waitress. She is not a lawyer. is a tough way to make a buck. MR. MCKNIGHT: Well, THE COURT: Yeah, BY MR. MCKNIGHT: I know her job history. She is a They usually move around. some lawyers move around. that's right. It Q would have a chance to see A Q If Kaitlyn were up here during the summertime, you is that correct? Kaitlyn, I would hope so, yes. And you've indicated for the record that your relationship with my client, Chris; Steimling, has been very good. A Yes, I think so. Q And that when you call him up and if you ask for tries to accommodate you, is that correct? Yes. Then there would be no reason to believe that would time he A Q I wouldn't change in the future? A Well, if he moved away it would because to pick her up and take her for the day. up here for blocks of time, over Yeah. -- he would have no objection to you seeing certainly be able Q But if she were Christmas -- A Q Kaitlyn? 79 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2O 21 22 23 24 25 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 A have. I don't think he would. MR. MCKNIGHT: Those are all of the questions I THE COURT: You may step down. THE WITNESS: Thank you. THE COURT: Anything further? MS. ARDOLINE: Defense rests, Your Honor. THE COURT: Anything else? MR. MCKNIGHT: Nothing, Your Honor. THE COURT: Do I have all exhibits admitted? MS. ARDOLINE: THE COURT: I MR. MCKNIGHT: I believe so. know I have Mr. McKnight's. Well, I know there's Exhibit 4 that was think. identified with the defendant. That needs to be admitted I THE COURT: Ail exhibits are admitted. Argument, off the record. (Whereupon, argument was held off the record.) THE COURT: I understand it. Counsel, well presented by both parties. I will give it some thought. I won't take a long time to do it, but it may be a few days before I get at it. I will do what I think is best given the law and what the facts of this case are. Court is adjourned. (Whereupon, the hearing was concluded at 3:46 p.m.) 80 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 1 2 3 4 5 CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the proceedings are contained fully and accurately in the notes taken by me on the above cause and that this is a Correct transcript of same. Official Court Reporter The foregoing record of the proceedings on the hearing of the within matter is t~/~by approved and directed to be filed. ~~ ~inth Judicial District 81 CHRISTOPHER STEIMLING, Plaintiff VS. KELLI FARRIS, Defendant IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA CIVIL ACTION - LAW No. 04-1690 CIVIL TERM 1N CUSTODY PETITION FOR MODIFICATION OF A CUSTODY ORDER 1. The Petitioner is Kelli Foultz (formerly Farris), an adult individual currently residing at 214 Towpath Road, Duncannon, Perry County, Pennsylvania 17020. 2. The Respondent is Christopher Steimling, an adult individual whose address is P.O. Box 1233, Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, 17013. 3. The parties are the parents of a minor child, Kaitlyn Georgianna Foultz, age 4. 4. On May 14, 2004, this Court entered an order, a true and correct copy of which is attached, which denied Father's petition to relocate to Alabama with the minor child. Father has primary physical custody of the minor child, subject to periods of partial physical custody for Mother, pursuant to an Order of the Perry County Court of Common Pleas, also attached. 5. Since entry of the order denying relocation, Father's wife and their daughter have relocated to West Blockton, Alabama. 6. Father has given up his previous residence and is believed to be residing in Dauphin County with a family friend, Sue Neufer, although Father will not provide Mother with a physical address for himself or the minor chi[Id. 7. Mother believes that the home in which Father resides is shared with 3 adults and 3 children, and that Father and the minor child must share a bedroom. 8. At a support conference on July 20, 2004, Father claimed that he is not working locally and acknowledged that his family has relocated to Alabama. 9. Father has filed a Petition for Protection from Abuse on behalf of the minor child against Mother. Mother has not seen the entire petition yet and is uncertain of the allegations against her, but denies that she poses any risk o:f harm to the minor child. A temporary PFA was not granted, and hearing on the matter is scheduled for August 6, 2004, in Dauphin County Court of Cormnon Pleas. 10. Mother believes that Father is currently unable ~Io provide a stable home for the child due to his living arrangements. 11. Mother believes that Father is attempting to use court processes to thwart Mother's relationship with the minor child. 12. Father's presently unsettled situation, along with the fact that his wife and other daughter have relocated to Alabama, and Father's attempts to keep the child from Mother make Mother fearful that he still harbors intentions of relocating to Alabama with the child. WHEREFORE, the Petitioner respectfully requests your Honorable Court to enter an Order granting Petitioner Mother primary physical custody of the minor child, Kaitlyn Georgianna Foultz. Respe~Xfully Submitted: MIDPENN LEGAL SERVICES By Rebecca L. Ardoline Attomey for Plaintiff 3 W. Monument Square, Suite 203 Lewistown, PA 17044 (717) 248-3099 Supreme Court ID # 79662 I verify that the statements made in this Petition are true and correct. I understand that false statements herein are made subject to the penalties of 19 Pa. C.S. Section 4904 relating to unsworn falsification to authorities. Date Kelli ~u~tz (Farris) " CHRISTOPHER A. STEIMLING, PLAINTIFF V. KELLI FARRIS, DEFENDANT AND NOW, this : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF · CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA · 04-16!)0 CIVIL TERM ORDER OF CC)URT day of May, 2004, following a hearing on the merits, the petition of Christopher A. Steimling to move Kaitlyn Georgianna Foultz, born August 18, 1999, to Alabama, IS DENIED. BiV the Court, Edgar B. Ba~ley, J. ~ Marcus McKnight, Ill, Esquire For Christopher A. Steimling Rebecca L. Ardoline, Esquire MidPenn Legal Services 3 West Monument Square, Suite 203 Lewistown, PA 17044 For Kelli Foltz (Farris) :sal CHRIS A. STEIMLING V. KELLI FARRIS :IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS :OF THE 41sT JUDICIAL DISTRICT :OF PENNSYLVANIA :PERRY COUNTY BRANCH :NO. 2000-.173 ORDER AND NOW, October 8, 2003, this Court having received certifications of judgments entered against Kelli Farris from district justices, which have been filed in this case and upon review of all of the evidence and testimony entered in this case, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED AND DIRECTED that Mom and Dad shall share legal custody and primary physical custody of the subject child, Kaitlyn Georgianna Foultz, is awarded to Dad, Chris A. Steimling, subject to temporary custody and ivisitations rights in Mom, Kelli Farris, every other weekend as provided in the October 1, Z003 order and at other times as agreed to by the parties, with the exchange place being the BiLo in Shermans Dale on Friday and the Waimart in Carlisle on Sunday. The faxed certifications of judgments marked P-6, P-7 and P-8 are hereby made a ~art of the record in this case. BY THE COURT: e: Heather .P-a. ternl~ Esq,_ ._Rebecca/Xrdoli~, Es~ File C. JOS~;~DGE CHRISTOPHER STEIMLING : PLAINTIFF : KELLI FARRIS : DEFENDANT IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 04-1690 CIVIL ACTION LAW IN CUSTODY ORDER OF COURT AND NOW, Thursday, August 19, 2004 , upon consideration of the attached Complaint, it is hereby directed that parties and their respective counsel appear before Ja¢~eline M. Verney, Esq. , the conciliator, at 4th Floor, Cumberland County Courthouse, Carlisle on Tuesday, September 14, 2004 at 10:30 AM for a Pre-Hearing Custody Conference. At such conference, an effort will be made to resolve the issues in dispute; or if this cannot be accomplished, to define and narrow the issues to be heard by the court, and to enter into a temporary order. All children age five or older may also be present at the conference. Failure to apl>ear at the conference may provide grounds for entry of a temporary or permanent order. The court hereby directs the parties to furnish any and all ex~stin; Protection from Abuse orders, Special Relief orders, and Custody orders to the conciliator 48 hours prior to scheduled hearing. FOR THE COURT, By: /s/ _[acqueline M. Verney, Esq. Custody Conciliator mhc The Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County is required by law to comply with the Americans with Disabilites Act of 1990. For information about accessible facilities and reasonable accommodations available to disabled individuals having business before the court, please contact our office. All arrangements must be made at least 72 hours prior to any hearing or business before the court. You must attend the scheduled conference or hearing. YOU SHOULD TAKE THIS PAPER TO YOUR ATTORNEY AT ONCE. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE AN ATTORNEY OR CANNOT AFFORD ONE, GO TO OR TELEPHONE THE OFFICE SET FORTH BELOW TO FIND OUT WHERE YOU CAN GET LEGAL HELP. Cumberland County Bar Association 32 South Bedford Street Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013 Telephone (717) 249-3166 Heather L. Paterno, Esquire ID #25454 GOLDBERG KATZMAN, PC. 320 Market Street P. O Box 1268 Harrisburg, PA 17108-1268 (717) 234~416l; (717) 234 4161 (facsimile) Counsel for De/endan! CHRISTOPHER A. STEIMLING, 1N THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS Plaintiff KELLI FARRIS, Defendant CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA NO. 04-1690 CIVIL TERM CIVIL ACTION - LAW IN CUSTODY PETITION AND RULE TO SHOW CAUSE WHY COUNSEI, ,SHOULD NOT BE PERMITTED TO WITHDP~tW APPEARANCE AND TERMINATE REPRESENTATION 1. Petitioners are GOLDBERG KATZMAN, P.C., a~ad HEATHER L. PATERNO, ESQUIRE, counsel of record for CHRISTOPHER A. STEIMLING (hereinafter referred to as "Respondent"), Plaintiff in the above-captioned custody action. 2. Respondent is Christopher A. Steimling, PlaintiffJin the above-referenced case. 3. Respondent has substantially failed to fulfill an obligation to Petitioners regarding Petitioners' services, notwithstanding an agreement Petitioners and Respondent had reached regarding payment. 4. Withdrawal of Petitioners' appearance in this matter on behalf of Respondent can be accomplished without any material adverse affect on his interests. 5. At the present time, there is a Pre-Hearing Custody Conference scheduled for Tuesday, September 14, 2004, at 10:30 a.m., before Custody Conciliator, Jacqueline M. Vemey, Esquire. 6. Respondent has been informed in writing of Petitioners' inability to provide further legal services in his behalf. WHEREFORE, Petitioners respectfully request that this Honorable Court grant them leave to withdraw their appearance on behalf of Christopher A. Steimling, Plaintiff in the above- captioned action, and terminate their representation of Christopher A. Steimling. Date: August Re spec, ff~u~ubr aitt ed, /~ ~qEB~HER .~l'Eb,~), ESQUIRE /S~6reme Court ID #87506 ~}'20 Market Street P.O. Box 1268 Harrisburg, PA 17108-1268 (717) 234-4161 2 VERIFICATION I verify that the statements contained in the foregoing PETITION AND RULE TO SHOW CAUSE WHY COUNSEL SHOULD NOT BE PERMITTED TO WITHDRAW APPEARANCE AND TERMINATE REPRESENTATION are tree and correct to the best of my knowledge, information and belief. I understand that false statements contained herein are made subject to the penalties of 18 Pa.C.S. Section 4904/~ng to unswom falsification to authorities. (d~dr~L. P~"~rn~;, Esquire CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE On this c~,_~~ day of August, 2004, I certify that a copy of the foregoing PETITION AND RULE TO SHOW CAUSE WHY COUNSEL SHOULD, NOT BE PERMITTED TO WITHDRAW APPEARANCE AND TERMINATE REPRESENTATION was served upon the following by placing the same in the United States mail, first class, postage prepaid, addressed as follows: Rebecca L. Ardoline, Esquire: MidPenn Legal Services 3 West Monument Square, Suite 203 Lewistown, PA 17044 Attorney for Defendant /Ulqe~her L. l~ta~ern° S~ffpreme Court ID #87506 Plaintiff ' URT OF COM~ : CUMBERLAND r~c,T ~, ..... L'_ -.~,~,-'.o v ,-~,t~c~:, i~ENNSYLVANiA : NO. 04-1690 CIVIL TERM KELLI FARRIS, : Defendant : CIVIL ACTION _ LAW : IN CUSTODY RULE AND NOW, this~y of~~.,~004, upon consideration of the within Petition, a Rule is hereby issued on Plaintiff, Christopher A. Steimling, to show cause, if any he has, why the relief sought in said Petition should not be granted. RULE RETURNABLE ~ days from service thereof. CHRISTOPHER STEIMLING, Plaintiff V. KELLI FOULTZ (FARRIS), Defendant : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA : : CIVIL ACTION - LAW : : NO. 2004-1690 CIVIL TERM : : IN CUSTODY ORDER OF COURT AND NOW, this '7~ day of ~ ,2004, upon consideration of the attached Custody Concilia~on Report, it is ordered and directed as follows: 1 A Hearing is sc,heduled in Co oom No ~ff-t · ).lzrt.~, · rr -: _. _he Cum County Coufft House, on the ~ day of' \ .) ~tln-~._~ 2004, at t o'clock, ~_. M., at which time testimony will b~e taken. For ]p~rposes of this-Heating, the Mother shall he deemed to be the moving party and shall proceed initially with testimony· Counsel for each party shall file with the Court and opposing counsel a Memorandum setting forth each party's position on custody, a list of witnesses who will be expected to testify at the Hearing and a summary of the anticipated testimony of each witness. These Memoranda shall be filed at least ten days prior to the Hearing date. 2. Pending further Order of Court or agreement of the parties, the following shall remain in effect: 3. The Order of October 8, 2003 of the Honorable C. Joseph Rehkamp is hereby vacated. 4. The Father, Christopher Steimling, and the Mother, Kelli Foultz (Farris), shall have shared legal custody of Kaitlyn Georgianna Foultz, born August 18, 1999. Each parent shall have an equal right, to be exercised jointly with the other parent, to make all major non-emergency decisions affecting the child's general well-being including, but not limited to, all decisions regarding her health, education and religion. Father shall advise Mother of the name of the child's school and the child's extracurricular activity schedule. 5. Father shall have primary physical custody of the child. 6. Mother shall have the following periods of partial physical custody: A. Altemating weekends from Friday at 6:00 p.m. to Sunday at 7:00 p.m. When Mother's weekend coincides with a Monday holiday or day off from school, Mother's weekend shall be extended to Monday at 7:00 p.m. B. In the summer, alternating weeks with the exchange day being Sundays at 7:00 p.m. Mother's week shall begin the first Sunday after school recesses. C. Such other times as set forth hereinafter or as the parties agree. 7. The Thanksgiving holiday shall be divided into two Blocks. Block A shall run from Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. to Friday at 7:00 p.m. and Block B shall run from Friday at 7:00 p.m. to Monday at 7:00 p.m. Mother shall hawe Block A in even numbered years and Block B in odd numbered years. Father :shall have Block A in odd numbered years and Block B in even numbered years. 8. The Christmas holiday shall be divided into two Blocks. Block A shall run from the day school recesses for the holiday to December 26 at 12:00 noon and Block B shall run from December 26 at 12:00 noon to January 1 at 12:00 noon. Father shall always have Block A and Mother shall always have Block B 9. Mother shall always have physical custody of the child on Mother's Day from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Father shall always have physical custody of the child on Father's Day from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. 10. Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day shall be alternated by the parties from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. with Mother having Memorial Day in 2005. 11. The parties shall altemate the child's birthday fi~om 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. with Mother having physical custody in odd numbered years and Father having physical custody in even numbered years. 12. Transportation shall be shared such that the parties shall exchange custody of the child at R/S Food Surplus in Marysville, Pennsylvania. 13. The parties shall always provide current addresses and telephone numbers to each other. 14. The parties shall have reasonable, but liberal telephone contact with the child. 15. Neither party shall do or say anything nor permi[t a third party to do or say anything that may estrange the child from the other parent, injt~e the opinion of the child as to the other parent, or hamper the free and natural development of the child's love and respect for the other parent. 16. The parties may modify this Order by mutual agreement. In the absence of mutual consent, the terms of this Order shall control. EdgarB: Bayley, ~, cc'~e~, cca L Ardoline, Esquire, counsel for Mother ,/John Broujos, Esquire, counsel for Father ] CHRISTOPHER STEIMLING, Plaintiff V. KELLI FOULTZ (FARRIS), Defendant : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA : : CIVIL ACTION - LAW : : NO. 2004-1690 CIVIL TERM : : IN CUSTODY PRIOR JUDGE: EDGAR B. BAYLEY, J. CUSTODY CONCILIATION SUMMARY REPORT IN ACCORDANCE WITH CUMBERLAND COUNTY RULE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE 1915.3-8, the undersigned Custody Conciliator submits the following report: 1. The pertinent information concerning the Child[ who is the subject of this litigation is as follows: NAME DATE OF BIRTH CURRENTLY IN CUSTODY OF Kaitlyn Georgianna Foultz August 18, 1999 Father 2. A Conciliation Conference was held September 14, 2004 with the following individuals in attendance: The Mother, Kelli Foultz (Farris), with her counsel, Rebecca L. Ardoline, Esquire, MidPenn Legal Services and the Father, Christopher Steimling, with his counsel, John H. Broujos, Esquire. 3. The Court previously emered an Order on May 14, 2004 denying Father's request to relocate with the child to Alabama. The parties was subject to an Order of Court dated October 8, 2003 of the Honorable C. Joseph Rehkarnp of Perry County, wherein the parties share legal custody and Father has primary physical custody with Mother having partial physical custody on an alternating weekend basis. Following the Order of Court dated May 14, 2004, denying Father's request to relocate, Father's wife and other child relocated to Alabama. Father moved to Harrisburg. Mother continues to reside in Perry Coumy. Mother filed this Petition to Modify that is presently before the Court. 4. Mother's position on custody is as follows: Mother seeks shared legal and primary physical custody, with Father having an alternating weekend schedule. Mother asserts that Father is living in a four-bedroom house with two other adults and two other children. She believes that the sleeping arrangements are not appropriate as Father and child are sleeping in the same bedroom. Father is still unemployed. 5. Father's position on custody is as follows: Father seeks to maintain the status quo, shared legal custody and primary physical custody with Mother having an alternating weekend schedule. Father maintains that the living arrangement is appropriate, that the child just started kindergarten and is in good health. 6. The Conciliator recommends an Order in the fi)rm as attached scheduling a Hearing and granting the parents shared legal custody, maintaining the status quo, but delineating the holiday schedule and week on/week off in the summer. It is expected that the Hearing will require one half day. Date {~acql~line M. Vemey, Esquire Custody Conciliator CHRISTOPHER A. STEIMLING, PLAINTIFF : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA KELLI FOULTZ (FARRIS), DEFENDANT : 04-1690 CIVIL TERM ORDER OF COURT day of October, 2004, the hearing currently AND NOW, this scheduled for December 6, 2004, is cancelled and rescheduled to Thursday, December 16, 2004, at 9:00 a.m., in Courtroom Number 2, Cumberland County Courthouse, Carlisle. All other provisions of this court's order of September 21,2004, shall remain in full force and effect. By the.CoQ~', j Edgar B. Bayley, J, '~ ~'J'ohn H. Broujos, Esquire For Christopher A. Steimling ~,/~Rebecca L. Ardoline, Esquire MidPenn Legal Services 3 West Monument Square, Suite 203 Lewistown, PA 17044 For Kelli Foultz (Farris) :sal CHRISTOPHER STEIMLING, Plaintiff VS. KELLI FARRIS, Defendant IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA CIVIL ACTION - LAW No. 04-1690 CIVIL TERM IN CUSTODY MOTION FOR CONTINUANCE AND NOW comes the Defendant, by and through her attorneys, MidPenn Legal Services, and petitions the Court as follows: 1. Upon the Petition of Defendant for Modification of a Custody Order, the instant matter is scheduled for hearing on December 16, 2004. 2. Defendant began a new job on December 6, 2004, following a period of unemployment, and has learned that she must attend seven weeks of training, during which she will be unable to miss work. 3. Plaintiff is currently pro se, and Counsel for Defendant has telephoned him to determine whether he would agree to a continuance, but has received no response to messages left. Counsel for Defendant has written to Plaintiff to request a continuance but it is uncertain whether there will be a timely reply. 4. This matter has not been previously continued. WHEREFORE, Defendant moves this Honorable Court to continue this matter until the date of January 24, 2005, or later. Respectfully Submitted, MIDPENN LEGAL SERVICES Attorney for Defendant Rebecca L. Ardoline 2054 E. College Avenue State College, PA 16801 (814) 238-4958 Attorney ID # 79662 CHRISTOPHER STEIMLING, Plaintiff VS. KELLI FARRIS, Defendant : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA : NO. 04-1690 CIVIL TERM : : IN CUSTODY CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, Jessica Diamondstone, Esquire, of MidPenn Legal Services, attorneys for the Defendant, Kelli A. Farris, hereby certify that I have served a copy of the foregoing Motion for Continuance on the following date and in the manner indicated below: U.S. First Class Mail, Postaee Pre-Paid Christopher Steimling 15730 N. Scottsville Rd. West Blockton, AL 35184 Date: MidPenn Legal Services, Inc. /Rebecca L. Ardoline, Esquire MidPenn Legal Services 3 West Monument Square, Suite 203 Lewistown, PA 17044 CHRISTOPHER STEIMLING, Plaintiff VS. KELLI FARRIS, Defendant IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA CIVIL ACTION - LAW No. 04-1690 CIVIL TERM IN CUSTODY PETITION TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS TO THEPROTHONOTARY: Kindly allow Kelli Farris, Petitioner, to proceed in forma pauperis. I, Rebecca Ardoline, attorney for the party proceeding in forma pauperis, certify that I believe the party is unable to pay the costs and that I am providing free legal service to the party. Attorney for Petitioner MidPenn Legal Services 3 W. Monument Square, Ste. 203 Lewistown, PA 17044 (717) 248-3099 CHRISTOPHER STEIMLING, Plaintiff VS. KELLI FARRIS, Defendant 1N THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA CIVIL ACTION - LAW No. 04-1690 CIVIL TERM IN CUSTODY MOTION FOR CONTINUANCE AND NOW comes the Defendant, by and through her attorneys, MidPenn Legal Services, and petitions the Court as follows: 1. Upon the Petition of Defendant for Modification of a Custody Order, the instant matter is scheduled for hearing on December 16, 2004. 2. Defendant began a new job on December 6, 2004, following a period of unemployment, and has learned that she must attend seven weeks of training, during which she will be unable to miss work. 3. Plaintiff is currently pro se, and Counsel for Defendant has telephoned him to determine whether he would agree to a continuance, but has received no response to messages left. Counsel for Defendant has written to Plaintiff to request a continuance but it is uncertain whether there will be a timely reply. 4. This matter has not been previously continued. WHEREFORE, Defendant moves this Honorable Court to continue this matter until the date of January 24, 2005, or later. Respectfully Submitted, MIDPENN LEGAL SERVICES //Attorney for Delenaam Rebecca L. Ardoline 2054 E. College Avenue State College, PA 16801 (814) 238-4958 Attorney ID # 79662 CHRISTOPHER STEIMLING, Plaintiff VS. KELLI FARRIS, Defendant IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA NO. 04-1690 CIVIL TERM IN CUSTODY CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, Jessica Diamondstone, Esquire, of MidPenn Legal Services, attorneys for the Defendant, Kelli A. Farris, hereby certify that I have served a copy of the foregoing Motion for Continuance on the following date and in the manner indicated below: U.S. First Class Mail, Postaee Pre-Paid Christopher Steimling 15730 N. Scottsville Rd. West Blockton, AL 35184 Date: /.2. MidPenn Legal Services, Inc. /."Rebecca L. Ardoline, Esquire MidPenn Legal Services 3 West Monument Square, Suite 203 Lewistown, PA 17044 CHRISTOPHER STEIMLING, Plaintiff vs. KELLI FARRIS, Defendant AND NOW this o tol-a-ay of Y" FEB 08 2225 r IN TIIE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY,PENNSYLV~A CIVIL ACTION - LAW No. 04..1690 CIVIL TERM IN CUSTODY 2005, upon Motion of the Defendant, hearing in the above matter is hereby CONTINUED pending further Motion from either party. BY THE COURT: { J. I 17:!I t..''- I' (] '~~ .! '--__J