O'Hara v. Schneider, 2017 ND 53

Schneider sought modification of O’Hara’s parenting time from unsupervised to supervised after he punched her during a custody exchange in May 2016, leading to an aggravated assault charge and a restraining order.
O’Hara and Schneider began dating in high school; their child was born in 2014, and the relationship became volatile with violent acts and controlling conduct.
O’Hara exhibited anger and violence, including threats with a handgun, kicking a dog, and guilty pleas for disorderly conduct in 2015 and 2016.
A December 2015 order gave Schneider primary residential responsibility; a May 2016 exchange was videotaped showing O’Hara punching Schneider, traumatizing the child.
The district court refused to hear pre-December 2015 violence testimony, treated domestic violence as between the parents rather than affecting the child, and denied the modification.
The court’s handling allegedly misapplied domestic violence presumptions and failed to make specific findings; this Court reverses and remands for proper findings and analysis.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the court erred by excluding pre-order domestic violence evidence	Schneider argues pre-order DV evidence is relevant	O’Hara opposes relitigating pre-order issues	Abuse of discretion; evidence must be considered on remand
Whether pre-judgment domestic violence evidence should be considered in modification	Pre-judgment DV remains relevant to next analysis	Evidence should not be re-litigated	District court misapplied law; must consider pre-judgment DV evidence on remand
Whether the district court made sufficient findings under the modification standard	Court failed to make specific findings on material change and best interests	Findings were adequate or unnecessary	Court erred; require explicit findings on both prongs
Whether the best interests analysis properly applied DV presumptions	Presumptions regarding DV should guide the analysis	Presumptions not properly invoked or rebutted	Court erred by not applying or addressing presumptions and related factors
Whether the court properly balanced the best interests factors with DV considerations	DV factors should predominate; not elevate relationship with both parents	All factors must be weighed collectively	Court erred by elevating parent-child relationship over statutory factors; remand for proper analysis

Wetch v. Wetch, 539 N.W.2d 309 (N.D. 1995) (trial court evidentiary discretion in domestic violence context)
Haag v. Haag, 875 N.W.2d 539 (N.D. 2016) (pre-judgment DV evidence must be considered when initial order lacked findings)
Bruner v. Hager, 534 N.W.2d 825 (N.D. 1995) (domestic violence facts must be considered in best interests)