Tara Ann Lattanzio

The respondent brought an urgent motion alleging the applicant overheld their child, denied parenting time, and kept the child out of daycare, further alleging the applicant is a drug dealer living in a hotel with the child.

The court found the matter urgent for triage purposes due to the potentially dangerous situation.

Despite severe judicial resource limitations in the Central South Region, the court scheduled an urgent case conference and a subsequent motion hearing, emphasizing the need for immediate judicial intervention to protect the child's health and safety.

The applicant, Daniel L. Thornhill, brought an urgent motion during the COVID-19 pandemic seeking primary residence of the children and specific access arrangements.

He raised concerns about the respondent, Rena Schmidt, allowing a new partner and his son to move into her home without providing information on public health precautions, particularly given one child's pre-existing health vulnerabilities.

The court found the motion urgent due to these specific concerns, but did not grant the substantive relief immediately.

Instead, it directed the parties to a settlement conference, followed by a motion hearing if no agreement is reached on interim parenting arrangements.

The respondent father, Shefik Jakupi, sought leave to appeal an interim order for child support and costs issued by Justice Campbell.

The original order required the father to pay interim child support of $1,321 per month for the daughter, retroactive to October 1, 2016, based on an imputed income of $158,000, and costs of $2,800.

The court dismissed the father's motion for leave to appeal, finding that the strict two-part test under Rule 62.02(4) of the Rules of Civil Procedure was not met.

The court concluded that it was not desirable to grant leave and that the proposed appeal did not raise matters of such importance that leave should be granted, as the underlying order was fact-specific and involved the exercise of judicial discretion.