Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Family Court Restraining Order topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Court hears disputed evidence in Boyd v. Boyd; restraining-order hearing continued
Summary
In a hearing over the extension of an ex parte restraining order and concurrent custody issues, the court heard testimony about photographs on a child’s iPad, text-message threads the parties described as drug-related, and psychological evaluations; multiple exhibits were marked and the matter was continued for further proceedings.
The chancery court took testimony and received evidence in Boyd v. Boyd as it considered whether to extend an existing ex parte restraining order that restricts the mother’s contact with the child and addresses custody arrangements.
Presiding judge and counsel framed the hearing as both an evidentiary matter on the restraining order and a fact-finding opportunity relevant to an eventual parenting plan. The judge stated the existing restraining order limited the mother’s time with the child to after-school weekdays until 7 p.m., certain alternate weekends from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and eliminated overnight visits. The court reviewed a guardian ad litem report that had been filed under seal and instructed witnesses to comply with the rule excluding non-testifying witnesses from the courtroom.
On direct examination the mother’s witness testified about a 2022 photograph showing marks on the child’s body that she said she took to a doctor; that photograph and several psychological reports were marked as exhibits. The witness denied taking a separate set of lewd photographs and videos found on an iPad, saying those items were stored in a locked area of a Snapchat account and were not intended for the child. The court accepted several exhibits for the record while sustaining hearsay objections to certain out-of-court statements; the judge admitted some text threads as statements of a party opponent and excluded others as inadmissible hearsay.
Counsel also introduced multiple text-message threads the parties characterized as evidence of legal CBD/THC purchases and, in other messages, references to microdosing or drug use. The mother’s testimony repeatedly asserted that the substances in question were legal CBD/THC products and that she and others had them tested; opposing counsel emphasized messages referring to mushrooms and microdosing in support of concerns about parental substance use.
Terri Lynn Cottrell, the child’s paternal grandmother, testified that she had found pornographic images and other material on the child’s iPad, that she had shown certain photographs to the child and asked whether the child recognized them, and that the child identified a photo and described being struck with a spatula and a hanger. She described the child’s behavior as having been better when the child lived with grandparents previously, and described current living and caregiving arrangements at her home.
Throughout evidence presentation the court clarified which documents were being marked and why some were excluded under hearsay rules; the judge ordered routine drug screens for both parties as a condition of the record and permitted collection of multiple exhibits as a single collective exhibit. Because of scheduling conflicts and the need to review certain materials and take additional witness testimony, the court continued the hearing to resume at 09:00 on Friday and left the temporary restraining order and the court’s other interim directives in effect until the continued hearing.
Next steps: the hearing will resume on the date the court set to complete testimonial and documentary proofs and to rule on the restraining-order extension and any parenting-plan directions.
