Joe Allen Pennington v. Sonya Rene Pennington

This is the second appeal from the Trial Court's altering the custodial arrangement of the parties' minor child. In the first trial, the Trial Court excluded testimony of the child's stepfather, on the grounds that the mother had not properly noticed the Court and party that the stepfather was a witness. On the first appeal, this Court remanded this case to the Trial Court and directed that the stepfather's testimony be allowed. On remand, the stepfather testified at length, but it was revealed during his examination that he had read the entire evidentiary transcript of the first trial. The Trial Court then ruled that the stepfather's testimony should be stricken, but went ahead and considered his testimony and essentially determined that his testimony did not alter the weight of the evidence as found in the first trial, and affirmed the Court's original award of granting custody to the father. On appeal, we affirm.