A new published case has come out from the Michigan Court of Appeals – Rodene Cassidy v Robert Cassidy, Jr., having been decided January 10, 2017 (Michigan Court of Appeals Docket Nos. 328004; 328024 and 333319). It details a salacious extramarital affair, which ends up costing the ex-husband big bucks. Heck, even his mistress gets the blame for part of the debt.
The story begins with the marriage of Rodene and Robert in 1997 (we will call him Bob for fun). Alas, the marriage was not meant to be as Bob started having an affair with Mary Hansen, with the two lovebirds conveniently working together. Rodene found out about Bob’s extracurricular activities in 2012 and promptly filed for divorce.
Turns out Robert was a very generous paramour, having given Hansen anywhere from $300,000-500,000 throughout the years to buy and remodel her house. Naturally, once this came to light, Rodene was none too pleased, given that the money was marital in nature. Throughout the life of the case, and after 15 (yes, 15) long days at trial, Genesee County Judge Behm determined that Bob and Mary “engaged in concerted activity and conspired to defraud [Rodene] of her rightful share in the marital estate.” As a result of this finding, Mary’s home was subject to a constructive trust, Bob was responsible for the entirety of the tax liability (shockingly, there was “significant under-reporting of income”), spousal support was awarded to Rodene, and, what really appeared to get to Bob – an award of just over $150,000 in attorney fees that he had to pay for his now ex-wife’s attorney.
At this point in my article, no one should be surprised to learn that Bob’s moral turpitude extended to his ability to follow court orders. He failed to pay his portion of the property settlement, spousal support, and attorney fees. It’s interesting to note that Mary was liable for part of the property settlement as well as she was added as a third party to the divorce case. By time the hearing rolled around to address his contempt, Bob had paid the spousal support, but not the rest.
As you would imagine, the court was pretty irritated with Bob by this point. Throughout the proceedings, he lied and misled the court and Rodene, which significantly drove up the costs of litigation. The lower court had warned Bob on multiple occasions that he could be jailed for his failure to follow orders, and the judge had finally had it – she sentenced him to 10 days in jail for nonpayment of attorney fees. If he paid the money owed before the 10 days in the pokey was up, he wouldn’t have to keep going.
Bob and Mary both appealed the rulings, but the focus of this article is Bob landing in jail over non-payment of his ex-wife’s attorney fees. Bob never contested that he was in contempt of court, but rather that his due process rights were violated, saying “he had no prior notice,” and that the “trial court’s written order for contempt contained harsher terms [than] what the trial court had verbally indicated at the hearing.”
Luckily for Rodene, the lower court meticulously analyzed the case and explained exactly why it did what it did. There were several times where Bob was warned of all of the possible sanctions for contempt, including jail, and he stated in court that he understood. To put it simply, the Court of Appeals wasn’t buying what Bob was selling.
The lower court’s ruling on all of the appealed issues was affirmed by the higher court. I can only imagine the look on Bob’s face when he reported to jail.
The story begins with the marriage of Rodene and Robert in 1997 (we will call him Bob for fun). Alas, the marriage was not meant to be as Bob started having an affair with Mary Hansen, with the two lovebirds conveniently working together. Rodene found out about Bob’s extracurricular activities in 2012 and promptly filed for divorce.
Turns out Robert was a very generous paramour, having given Hansen anywhere from $300,000-500,000 throughout the years to buy and remodel her house. Naturally, once this came to light, Rodene was none too pleased, given that the money was marital in nature. Throughout the life of the case, and after 15 (yes, 15) long days at trial, Genesee County Judge Behm determined that Bob and Mary “engaged in concerted activity and conspired to defraud [Rodene] of her rightful share in the marital estate.” As a result of this finding, Mary’s home was subject to a constructive trust, Bob was responsible for the entirety of the tax liability (shockingly, there was “significant under-reporting of income”), spousal support was awarded to Rodene, and, what really appeared to get to Bob – an award of just over $150,000 in attorney fees that he had to pay for his now ex-wife’s attorney.
At this point in my article, no one should be surprised to learn that Bob’s moral turpitude extended to his ability to follow court orders. He failed to pay his portion of the property settlement, spousal support, and attorney fees. It’s interesting to note that Mary was liable for part of the property settlement as well as she was added as a third party to the divorce case. By time the hearing rolled around to address his contempt, Bob had paid the spousal support, but not the rest.
As you would imagine, the court was pretty irritated with Bob by this point. Throughout the proceedings, he lied and misled the court and Rodene, which significantly drove up the costs of litigation. The lower court had warned Bob on multiple occasions that he could be jailed for his failure to follow orders, and the judge had finally had it – she sentenced him to 10 days in jail for nonpayment of attorney fees. If he paid the money owed before the 10 days in the pokey was up, he wouldn’t have to keep going.
Bob and Mary both appealed the rulings, but the focus of this article is Bob landing in jail over non-payment of his ex-wife’s attorney fees. Bob never contested that he was in contempt of court, but rather that his due process rights were violated, saying “he had no prior notice,” and that the “trial court’s written order for contempt contained harsher terms [than] what the trial court had verbally indicated at the hearing.”
Luckily for Rodene, the lower court meticulously analyzed the case and explained exactly why it did what it did. There were several times where Bob was warned of all of the possible sanctions for contempt, including jail, and he stated in court that he understood. To put it simply, the Court of Appeals wasn’t buying what Bob was selling.
The lower court’s ruling on all of the appealed issues was affirmed by the higher court. I can only imagine the look on Bob’s face when he reported to jail.
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