Williams v. Williams

MUSSELL, J.

On July 29, 1954, plaintiff filed an action herein for separate maintenance. Defendant answered and also filed a cross-complaint in which he sought a divorce from plaintiff on the ground of extreme cruelty. Plaintiff then on December 9, 1954, filed an amended and supplemental complaint for divorce. In the first cause of action therein she alleged extreme cruelty in general terms and in the second cause of action alleged specifically that the defendant maliciously caused her to be committed as a psychopathic case in the detention ward of a general hospital. Both parties sought an award of the community property and custody of the children of the marriage. The trial court rendered a judgment granting a divorce to plaintiff on her amended and supplemental complaint and also granted a divorce to the defendant on his cross-complaint. Defendant appeals from the judgment

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rendered in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant. He contends, among other things, that the findings of fact fail to support the judgment and that the court erred in ordering an unequal division of the community property of the parties. Both of these contentions are meritorious and warrant a reversal of the judgment in favor of the plaintiff.

Plaintiff testified to many acts of physical violence and cruelty on the part of the defendant which were not corroborated by the testimony of other witnesses. She also testified that the defendant had her committed to a hospital as an insane person when she was not in fact insane. This testimony was corroborated in part by the testimony of a physician to the effect that she was received at the hospital and examined by him. However, the hospital records or the commitment papers were never received in evidence and the defendant testified that he had plaintiff sent to the hospital on the advice of physicians. The testimony shows that plaintiff was in the hospital two or three days and then released.

The court found that “It is true that the defendant has been guilty of cruelty toward the plaintiff” and that “It is true that defendant, on October 18, 1954, with malice, caused plaintiff to be committed to the Riverside General Hospital as a mentally ill person.” However, there is no finding that the defendant was guilty of extreme cruelty or that the acts or conduct of the defendant caused plaintiff either bodily injury or mental suffering. In