Ex Parte Byars

Gayle Ozbirn Byars ("the mother") appealed to the Court of Civil Appeals from a divorce judgment in which the trial court had awarded custody of the parties' child to her husband, James Stratt Byars III ("the father"). The Court of Civil Appeals, on July 30, 1999, affirmed the judgment, without an opinion. Byars v. Byars (No. 2980342),781 So.2d 1024 (Ala.Civ.App. 1999) (table). We granted the mother's petition for certiorari review. We affirm.

The parties were married in September 1986. They had one child, a son, who was born on September 17, 1990. The parties began divorce proceedings in…