S.CT.Civ. No.: 2008-016

Kelvin Dennie ("Dennie") and Arlene Swanston ("Swanston") are the father and mother of a son, Israel, who was born in 1995. Dennie and Swanston have been engaged in an ongoing dispute over the custody of Israel, and, in the instant action, Dennie petitioned the trial court to modify the child custody provisions of a consent decree he agreed to with Swanston. Following an evidentiary hearing, the trial court denied the petition. Dennie moved for reconsideration, arguing among other points, that the trial court erred at the hearing in admitting a report from the Department of Human Services ("DHS") because he was not given a copy of the report prior to the hearing and because the preparer of the report was not available for cross-examination at the hearing. The trial court denied Dennie's motion for reconsideration, and this appeal ensued. Because we agree with Dennie that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion for reconsideration, the court's decision will be reversed and the matter remanded for a new hearing.