Marriage of Schmidtke CA3

BACKGROUND

Mother and father were divorced when their son was a toddler. Mother then moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and father remained in Truckee. The parents shared legal and physical custody of their son as recommended in a 40-page report from a psychologist appointed by the trial court to evaluate the best interests of the child. But when the son was approaching kindergarten age, mother requested primary physical custody. The trial court ordered a new evaluation by the same psychologist, including new assessments of the parents, their support systems and the relative merits of the schools in which the son might be enrolled. The psychologist’s new 30-page report recommended that shared legal custody continue but that the son live primarily with father and attend school in Truckee. The psychologist’s report mentioned a cell phone recording presented by father; the psychologist believed mother was emotionally abusive toward her son during the recorded call, but the psychologist concluded the abuse was not common. Before a scheduled custody hearing, mother moved in limine to preclude admission into evidence of the cell phone recording or any testimony about it. The trial…