Opinion
10017
09-26-2019
In re NICHOLAS G.A., Petitioner–Respondent, v. LILLIAN A., Respondent–Appellant.
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, New York (David W. Brown of counsel), for appellant. Kenneth M. Tuccillo, Hastings on Hudson, for respondent.
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, New York (David W. Brown of counsel), for appellant.
Kenneth M. Tuccillo, Hastings on Hudson, for respondent.
Friedman, J.P., Sweeny, Richter, Mazzarelli, Webber, JJ.
Order, Family Court, New York County (Carol Goldstein, J.), entered on or about January 17, 2019, which, after a fact-finding hearing, found that respondent sister had violated an order of protection in favor of petitioner brother by committing family offenses of harassment in the first and second degrees and menacing in the second degree, extended the order of protection for one year, and modified it to exclude the sister from their shared residence, unanimously modified, on the law, to strike the exclusion provision of the extended order of protection, and otherwise affirmed, without costs.
The Family Court's determination regarding the credibility of witnesses must be given great weight on appeal unless it is clearly unsupported by the record, because the court has the best vantage point for evaluating the credibility of the witnesses (see Matter of Irene O. , 38 N.Y.2d 776, 777, 381 N.Y.S.2d 865, 345 N.E.2d 337 [1975] ; Matter of Victoria P. [Victor P.] , 121 A.D.3d 1006, 1006, 994 N.Y.S.2d 409 [1st Dept. 2014] ; Matter of Everett C. v. Oneida P. , 61 A.D.3d 489, 878 N.Y.S.2d 301 [1st Dept. 2009] ). We find no basis to alter Family Court's determination.
While a one-year extension of the order of protection is appropriate to prevent a recurrence of the sister's behavior, under all the circumstances, good cause has not been shown to warrant an order excluding the sister from the apartment ( Family Court Act § 842 ; see Matter of Ironelys A. v. Jose A. , 140 A.D.3d 473, 474, 31 N.Y.S.3d 878 [1st Dept. 2016], lv dismissed 28 N.Y.3d 953, 38 N.Y.S.3d 521, 60 N.E.3d 417 [2016] ; see also Matter of Carmen L. v. Rafael R. , 163 A.D.3d 436, 437, 76 N.Y.S.3d 560 [1st Dept. 2018] ).