McAlpine v. Pacarro
Annotate this CaseA mother appealed the superior court’s denial of an evidentiary hearing for her motion to modify child custody. In October 2009 Kalindi filed a motion seeking to modify "interim" custody and visitation, to establish "final child custody orders," and to determine the rule of law regarding the effect of Shaun’s prior domestic violence on the custody decision. Kalindi sought sole legal and primary physical custody of their children and requested an evidentiary hearing. The superior court denied her motion without a hearing, stating that an August 2008 hearing had resulted in a "final order" and concluding that Kalindi was "barred by the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel from attempting to re-litigate legal and factual matters that existed prior to the August 22, 2008 hearing," including "factual issues that were known or should have been known to" her at the hearing. Kalindi appealed the May 2010 order; her primary argument was that the superior court erred by denying her a custody modification hearing to present evidence of Shaun’s history of domestic violence. Because the Kalindi was entitled to an evidentiary hearing in this case, the Supreme Court remanded for further proceedings.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.