The mother brought a motion to determine the primary residence of the parties' two children and for the penalty phase of a contempt finding against the father.
The father had previously been found in contempt for failing to release the children for access, and he brought a preliminary motion requesting the judge recuse himself due to reasonable apprehension of bias arising from adverse credibility findings in the contempt decision.
The court dismissed the recusal motion, holding that prior adverse credibility findings do not inherently create a reasonable apprehension of bias.
On the contempt penalty, the court ordered the father to pay $3,000 in costs on a full recovery basis due to his bad faith.
Regarding primary residence, the court found it in the children's best interests to reside with the mother pending final resolution, citing the father's history of thwarting access and concerns about his ability to promote a positive environment.
