Drug use, parental custody, divorce, physical abuse

Kathy Marie Trusty appeals decision of Montgomery Circuit Court, granting primary custody of her 7-year-old son to the boy's father during the school year.

Montgomery Circuit Court ruled in favor of the father, Steve Allen Newton, in large part due to the physical abuse inflicted on the boy by the mother's live-in boyfriend.

Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama reversed the decision and remanded the case to the lower court for further proceedings. The appeals court cited the father's admission to using drugs and other factors as reasons he failed to prove that a change in custody would materially promote the child's best interests and welfare.