Opinion
No. 1-1064 / 01-1218.
Filed February 6, 2002.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, PATRICK J. MADDEN, Judge.
Petitioner appeals the custody and visitation provisions of the parties' dissolution decree dissolving their marriage. AFFIRMED.
Douglas Scovil, Rock Island, Illinois, for appellant.
Steven Call, pro se, Davenport, for appellee.
Considered by SACKETT, C.J., and ZIMMER and VAITHESWARAN, JJ.
The marriage of petitioner Geneva J. Edmondson-Call and respondent Steven F. Call was dissolved on June 27, 2001. The parties were granted joint legal custody of their daughter, Kaminee, born in April of 2000. Geneva was given primary physical care and Steven was afforded reasonable visitation. Geneva contends on appeal that she should have sole custody and that Steven's visitation should be supervised. We affirm.
After hearing all evidence the district court concluded that the parties should have joint legal custody and that there was no valid reason to require that Steven's visitation be supervised.
We review de novo. Iowa R. App. P. 4. Prior cases have little precedential value, and we must base our decision primarily on the particular circumstances of the parties presently before us. In re Marriage of Weidner, 338 N.W.2d 351, 356 (Iowa 1983). We give weight to the trial court's findings of fact, but we are not bound by them. Iowa R. App. P. 14(f)(7).
Our statutory preference for joint custody over other custodial arrangements is well settled. Weidner, 338 N.W.2d at 359. Joint custody is preferred because it encourages both parents to share the rights, responsibilities and frequently joyful and meaningful experiences of raising children. Id.
Geneva sought to prove that Steven had a personality problem that rendered him unfit to be alone with his daughter. There was evidence at trial that in the past Steven has had an explosive nature.
The district court concluded after reviewing the evidence that there was no persuasive evidence Steven would endanger his daughter during unsupervised visits. The court noted at trial that Steven maintained good control of himself under extremely accusatorial and confrontational questioning by Geneva's attorney. The court also noted that Steven's conduct at trial was consistent with the opinion of his clinical social worker that Steven's explosive behavior no longer exists.
The district court heard the parties testify and viewed their demeanor. Giving the required deference to the factual finding of the district court, we affirm on both issues.
We award no appellate attorney fees. Costs on appeal are taxed to Geneva.
AFFIRMED.