Appellant father filed an action for change of custody in August 1981, alleging a substantial change in conditions affecting the welfare of the minor child. The trial court referred the matter to the juvenile court for investigation and recommendations. The investigation was completed by November 1982, and the juvenile court probation officer recommended that custody be changed to the father. The parties filed letter briefs with the court in December. In June 1983, there having been no ruling by the trial court, the father obtained a rule nisi for a hearing in July to present new evidence. Two days before the scheduled hearing, in the course of a hearing on a motion to compel, the trial court cancelled the rule nisi hearing and declined to hear any new evidence. The court based its ruling on the need for a speedy resolution of the case. The court ruled in November 1983, denying the change of custody to the father.
On appeal the father contends the court erred in not allowing new evidence. He asserts that this evidence would have shown serious emotional and psychological deterioration of the child during the pen
We reverse the judgment of the trial court because of the court’s failure to receive evidence, and we remand the case for a hearing on the evidence which was disallowed and any other more recent evidence which may be relevant to the issue of this child’s condition. We therefore do not reach the issue of whether custody should have been given to the father.
Because of the need to act quickly in the interest of the child, we are deciding this case in an expedited manner even though this appeal was only recently filed and argued. This court’s term will soon end. We do not normally decide cases during the last fifteen days of a term. OCGA § 15-2-4. However, as we held in
Fuller v. State,
Judgment reversed.