Hendershott v. Westphal

Heidi Hendershott (plaintiff) and Jesse Westphal (defendant) married in 1999 had two children. Westphal was prone to angry outbursts. By his own admission, Westphal was a controlling and manipulative person despite his efforts not to be, and he expected Hendershott, as his wife, to do whatever he said. Around 2007, Hendershott obtained a protective order against Jesse and subsequently filed a petition for marital dissolution. The court held hearings to determine an appropriate custody arrangement and parenting plan, while interim parenting plans were ordered. An issue for the court to decide was whether Hendershott had been physically or emotionally abused, as she alleged. A licensed psychologist, Dr. Silverman, found that Westphal was insensitive, had difficulty controlling his anger, and had traditional “male-dominated” expectations of his wife. Dr. Silverman could not conclude with certainty whether Hendershott had been abused. Hendershott certainly appeared to fear Westphal, having frequently called on police or private security guards to accompany her to child exchanges. Hendershott was found to lack self-confidence, and she suffered from stress and anxiety. Another psychologist noted many red flags in the parties’ relationship for abuse, including power and control issues. Westphal wrote an apologetic note to Hendershott in which he said that he did not want to be controlling, dominating, or abusive toward her but had nevertheless been that way. The trial court found Dr. Silverman to be credible and accepted his recommendations, which included a final parenting plan in which future disputes between the parties would be submitted to mediation but that any mediation would be structured in a way to avoid direct contact between the parties. A state statute (the statute) allowed trial courts to require mediation except in cases in which the court had a reason to suspect domestic violence between the parties. Hendershott appealed, arguing that the court was not authorized to include a mediation requirement in the final parenting plan.