Steven Carlo Basolo, Appellant (defendant) v. Dulcinda Ann Basolo, Appellee (plaintiff)

Summary

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed an amended divorce decree that severely restricted Steven Basolo's visitation with his four-year-old daughter and required him to pay $4,000 of his ex-wife's attorney fees and seventy-five percent of the guardian ad litem's fee. The court held the initially restrictive but progressively expanding visitation schedule was supported by evidence of Basolo's wrongful abduction of the child from Wyoming, his dishonesty, his hate-filled communications aimed at the mother, and his non-compliance with court orders, all of which bore on the child's best interests and the stability of her placement. The district court's gender-preference comments were deemed regrettable but harmless error because Basolo did not contest custody and the evidence overwhelmingly supported the visitation order, and his challenges to the guardian ad litem's written report failed for want of plain error. The court affirmed while cautioning that courts must strive to maintain neutrality, detachment, and the appearance of same.