## Facts

- Vicky Rogers Moss and Clay Jeffrey Moss married in February 1987 and were married for about thirty-one years.
- The couple had two children and separated in July 2018.
- In August 2018, Vicky filed for divorce in Mississippi chancery court on the statutory ground of habitual cruel and inhuman treatment under Miss. Code Ann. § 93-5-1.
- At trial, Vicky testified that Clay habitually belittled and humiliated her throughout the marriage.
- Vicky testified Clay repeatedly tried to control what she wore, inspected her clothing, and criticized her as immodest; she described being called degrading names when he disliked her clothing.
- Vicky testified Clay repeatedly accused her of infidelity and shamed her about her past, including accusations that escalated to questioning the paternity of their eldest child in a written note.
- Vicky testified Clay habitually criticized her performance of basic household tasks and demeaned her intelligence and judgment.
- Vicky testified Clay attempted to isolate her socially, including pressuring her to quit a women’s softball league and limiting her contact with friends.
- The couple worked as Christian missionaries overseas for extended periods, including time in Africa and Southeast Asia.
- Vicky testified that while overseas in 2011, concerns arose about the intensity of Clay’s relationship with a fifteen-year-old girl at a school; Clay frequently communicated with the child and disregarded Vicky’s requests to stop, and the mission organization placed Clay on leave.
- Vicky testified that around that time Clay’s sexual behavior changed in ways that distressed her, including new sexual demands; she also testified Clay began viewing pornography and asked her to change her grooming practices.
- Vicky testified Clay wrote notes threatening suicide and sent communications tied to the marital conflict; the writings included statements that the chancery court treated as consistent with Vicky’s account of emotional harm and coercive conduct.
- Vicky testified that Clay’s long-running treatment caused or worsened depression and anxiety.
- The chancery court credited Vicky’s testimony, found a sustained course of demeaning and controlling behavior, and granted Vicky a divorce on the ground of habitual cruel and inhuman treatment.

## Issues

1. Whether the chancery court erred in finding that Clay’s conduct constituted habitual cruel and inhuman treatment sufficient to grant Vicky a fault-based divorce under Mississippi law.
2. Whether the evidence supporting that ground was legally insufficient in light of Clay’s challenge to Vicky’s proof (including the extent to which her testimony was confirmed by other evidence).

## Decision

- The Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed the chancery court’s judgment granting Vicky a divorce on the ground of habitual cruel and inhuman treatment.
- The court held that the chancellor’s findings were supported by substantial evidence and were not manifestly wrong or clearly erroneous.
- The court concluded that, considering the totality of the proof, Clay’s repeated verbal degradation, control, accusations, and related conduct went beyond ordinary marital discord and supported the divorce ground.

## Legal Principles

- Habitual cruel and inhuman treatment can be shown by conduct that endangers a spouse’s life, limb, or health, including mental health, or by a continuous course of conduct that makes the marriage unsafe or unendurable and prevents the performance of marital duties.
- Physical violence is not required to prove habitual cruel and inhuman treatment; persistent emotional, verbal, and controlling behavior may suffice when it seriously affects the other spouse’s health or makes the marriage intolerable.
- Mere unkindness, rudeness, petty indignities, or incompatibility is not enough; the court evaluates whether the conduct, viewed as a pattern, rises to the level of habitual cruelty.
- In domestic cases, the chancellor is the fact-finder; appellate courts give deference to credibility determinations and will not reweigh conflicting testimony when substantial evidence supports the judgment.
- Mississippi fault-based divorce grounds generally require some confirmation beyond the complaining spouse’s testimony, but confirmation may be slight when much of the conduct occurs privately; written statements, notes, and other surrounding proof may satisfy that requirement.

## Conclusion

The Court of Appeals affirmed the divorce because substantial evidence supported the chancellor’s finding that Clay engaged in a long-term pattern of controlling and humiliating conduct—marked by degrading comments, clothing control, accusations of infidelity, social isolation efforts, and related behavior—that caused Vicky significant mental distress, meeting Mississippi’s standard for habitual cruel and inhuman treatment.


Moss v. Moss, 361 So. 3d 140 (2022)