Celia S. v. Hugo H.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Celia and Hugo maintained a romantic relationship for many years, but never married. They have two children: Christian, age 12, and Jayleen, age 6. According to Celia, several acts of domestic violence marred their relationship and eventually led to their separation. In February 2014, Celia and Hugo stipulated to joint legal and physical custody of their children with a “50/50 timeshare” under which the children alternated weeks with each parent. The trial court entered the stipulation as an order. In January 2015, Celia invited Hugo to her apartment to have dinner with her and the children. While Celia prepared dinner in the kitchen, Christian did his homework at the dining room table and Jayleen took a nap on the living room couch. Hugo also sat at the dining room table waiting for Christian to finish his homework. According to Celia, Hugo was watching loud videos on his cell phone that disrupted Christian. Hugo denies this, and instead testified he simply was playing on his phone without disturbing anyone. When Christian asked Celia for help with his math homework, she came to the dining room table and set up her laptop computer to look up how to…