NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557- 1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 17-P-399 Appeals Court THOMAS M. BONAPARTE vs. MICHELA DEVOTI. No. 17-P-399. Barnstable. January 9, 2018. - July 20, 2018. Present: Trainor, Hanlon, & Singh, JJ. Divorce and Separation, Relief from judgment. Due Process of Law, Fair trial. Evidence, Acceptance or rejection of testimony, Unavailable witness. Witness, Unavailability. Telephone. Complaint for divorce filed in the Barnstable Division of the Probate and Family Court Department on May 11, 2015. The case was heard by Arthur C. Ryley, J., and a motion for a new trial was considered by him. Michael J. Traft for the wife. Michael Fray Suarez for the husband. SINGH, J. Michela Devoti, the former wife (wife) of Thomas M. Bonaparte (husband), appeals from a divorce judgment entered in the Probate and Family Court. She also appeals from the order denying her motion for new trial. Her primary contention on appeal is that her motion to testify by telephone or video 2 should have been allowed when she was unable to personally appear at trial due to immigration issues. We agree and, with the exception of the portion of the judgment granting the divorce, we vacate the judgment and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. Background. The parties were married in Italy on October 2, 2005. At that time, the husband resided in New Jersey, and the wife, an Italian citizen, resided in Piacenza, Italy. In January of 2006, the wife gave birth to the parties' child in Italy. The parties agreed to continue living apart; however, the husband traveled to Italy periodically to visit the wife and the child. In the summer of 2006, the wife and the child visited the husband in New Jersey, at which time the parties discussed the possibility of relocating to Cape Cod. In March of 2009, the parties purchased a home located in Sandwich (marital home). One year later, in March of 2010, the wife and the child moved into the marital home with the husband. Shortly thereafter, the husband was laid off by his employer and he struggled to find work. In 2011, the wife and child returned to Italy, after which time the husband was responsible for the expenses related to the marital home. The wife was responsible for her own and the child's living expenses, and received little, if any, financial 3 support from the husband until March of 2015, when the husband began sending the wife $100 to $150 per week. In May of 2015, the husband filed a complaint for divorce in the Probate and Family Court. Following a pretrial conference on December 9, 2015, a judge of the Probate and Family Court (pretrial judge) issued an ...
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