Richards v. Fiore
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Pursuant to a divorce decree, Plaintiff was awarded sole custody of her and Defendant's daughter, as well as all personal property in her possession, with a few exceptions, including a pair of diamond earrings. Later, Plaintiff filed a motion for the return of missing property and a federal question motion alleging a constitutional valuation due to a court clerk's failure to docket his earlier motion for an evaluation of his daughter. At a hearing, Plaintiff turned over the diamond earrings that were purportedly awarded to Defendant in the divorce decree, and the hearing justice then dismissed the two motions. Defendant subsequently asserted that Plaintiff had given him the wrong earrings. A hearing justice approved the proposed order dismissing Defendant's motion for return of missing property with prejudice. The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the family court, holding (1) the hearing justice properly denied Defendant's federal question motion, as Defendant did not appeal the entry of final judgment in his divorce and, thus, the Court lacked jurisdiction to hear custody and visitation issues in this case; and (2) the hearing justice did not err in dismissing Defendant's motion for the return of personal property with prejudice.
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