Morrow v. Salas CA3

Filed 12/9/21 Morrow v. Salas CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Nevada) ----

JULIE MORROW, C093162

Plaintiff and Appellant, (Super. Ct. No. TFL166489)

v.

VICTOR ZEVALLOS SALAS,

Defendant and Respondent.

After the trial court determined that appellant Julie Morrow (Mother) made false allegations that respondent Victor Zevallos Salas (Father) had sexually abused their minor children, it modified the custody arrangement, but maintained the parents’ joint legal and physical custody of the children. To “restore . . . her good name as a competent parent,” Mother appeals, asking us to remand the matter to the trial court and instruct it to remove from its written ruling characterizations of Mother’s allegations against Father as “false.” As articulated, Mother’s nominal interest does not satisfy the standing

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requirement that she be sufficiently aggrieved by the ruling on appeal. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal. BACKGROUND In May 2018, a judgment of dissolution of marriage was granted, awarding the parties joint legal and physical custody of their young sons. In September 2019, Mother asked the trial court to modify the custody order, accusing Father of sexual misconduct towards their children. After a four-day evidentiary hearing concluded in July 2020, the parties submitted closing argument briefs to the trial court. Mother explained that, while she “fear[ed] Father may have acted improperly,” she “hope[d] she [was] wrong,” and “concede[d] that the evidence presented at trial was not sufficient to prove Father sexually abused” the children. In a September 2020 ruling, the trial court found that Mother made “false allegations that [Father] had sexually abused both minor children.” The trial court modified the custody arrangement, but maintained parents’ joint legal and physical custody of their children. Mother filed a timely notice of appeal. DISCUSSION Mother does not ask us to reverse the trial court’s order of joint physical and legal custody, or the trial court’s change to the custody arrangement. Rather, she asks us to “restore . . . a measure of her good name as a competent parent by remanding . . . with instructions” to the trial court to remove references in its written order to her allegations against Father as “false.” Mother contends the trial court’s findings in that regard were “not supported by substantial evidence.” Conceding on appeal, as she did below, that “the evidence does not prove Father abused the children,” Mother maintains the evidence nevertheless “supports the conclusion that [she] acted honestly in an effort to protect her children.”