State Supreme Court gives mother new chance to gain custody of kids

CARSON CITY -- A mother who was once a drug user is going to get another chance in Family Court in Las Vegas to gain custody of her three children from the father she says is a sloppy housekeeper and does not supervise the youngsters.

The Nevada Supreme Court Monday ruled Mary Lawrence should be permitted to present her case again to gain custody of her children from John Lawrence and move them to Colorado. The court said Family Court Judge Gerald Hardcastle failed to consider all the factors in the case.

The Lawrences were divorced in January 1994 in Las Vegas after nearly 13 years of marriage. Custody of the children was awarded to John Lawrence, a bus driver with the Clark County School District.

Mary Lawrence, who went through drug rehabilitation, has become a manager of a supermarket and owns a two-bedroom home in New Castle, Colo. Her parents own a large cattle ranch nearby.

Mary Lawrence presented evidence to Hardcastle that seven people live in a three-bedroom house in Las Vegas -- her three children, the father, a son from a prior marriage, his girlfriend and their baby. The Lawrence children, she said, suffer frequently from head lice. The house is messy and at one point, there was a mushroom growing in one of the bathrooms, according to court records.

In addition, she said, the father frequently delegates authority over the children to his 20-year-old son, who uses marijuana.

Hardcastle had ruled that as long as the custodial parent reasonably does his job, the parent should keep custody. He ruled the father was neither negligent nor abusive.

The Supreme Court said Hardcastle disregarded evidence that the son who did part of the supervising used drugs. The court said Hardcastle failed to take into account that there were changed circumstances from the time the initial custody was made. And it said the judge improperly discounted the testimony of the 14-year-old boy who wanted to be with his mother.

The court, in the decision signed by Justice Bill Maupin, Deborah Agosti and Nancy Becker, ordered Hardcastle to hold a new hearing and consider these issues.

In another case, the court modified the penalty of John T. Washington Jr., sentencing him to a minimum of 10 years in prison and fining him $200,000 on two drug trafficking convictions in Las Vegas.

From the time Washington was arrested in 1991 until he was sentenced in 1995, the Legislature changed the law to allow a reduced penalty. When Washington was sentenced in 1995, the penalty was two to 15 years plus a fine. Under the new law Washington could be eligible for parole in six years instead of 10, the high court noted.

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