Trenton Simshauser v. Michelle Simshauser

── Trenton Simshauser v. Michelle Simshauser ── Court: Court of Appeals of Arkansas Date: April 01, 2026 Category: General Cite as 2026 Ark. App. 198 ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION II No. CV-24-272 TRENTON SIMSHAUSER Opinion Delivered April 1, 2026 APPELLANT APPEAL FROM THE GARLAND COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT V. [NO. 26DR-23-697] MICHELLE SIMSHAUSER HONORABLE CECILIA DYER, JUDGE APPELLEE AFFIRMED BART F. VIRDEN, Judge Appellant Trenton Simshauser (“Trent”) appeals from the Garland County Circuit Court’s order granting appellee Michelle Simshauser’s petition for an order of protection and motion for contempt. Trent argues that the trial court erred in granting an order of protection because there is insufficient evidence of domestic abuse and that the trial court erred in granting Michelle’s motion for contempt. Specifically, with respect to the latter, Trent asserts that he was wrongly denied a trial by jury for criminal contempt and that there is insufficient evidence that he was guilty of civil or criminal contempt because of the lack of clarity in the standing order that he allegedly violated. We affirm. I. Background The parties married in January 2021, and Michelle filed for divorce on September 12, 2023. The judge signed a standing order, which provided the following in relevant part:  5. Neither party shall threaten, injure, molest or harass the other party or any of the minor or adult child/ren of the parties. 6. Neither party shall spend or dispose of any monetary assets (money) except for normal/routine living expenses or normal/routine business expenses and neither party shall cancel health insurance, automobile insurance, or other casualty or property damage insurance, cell phones, utilities, or other necessities of life without order of the Court or written agreement between the parties filed with the Court. 7. There shall be no cash withdrawals from any marital account in excess of one hundred dollars ($100.00) per day or transfer funds held on deposit in any marital account without order of the Court or written agreement of the parties filed with the Court. On October 31, Michelle filed a motion for contempt alleging that Trent had violated paragraphs 5, 6, and 7 of the standing order. Specifically, she alleged that Trent had called her cell phone approximately thirty-six times in an eight-hour period; that he had made fourteen Facebook audio calls to her in a day; that he texts her minor children and family members when she does not answer his calls; that he screams into the Ring doorbell camera and through the Amazon Alexa device at the marital home when she does not answer his calls; that he has access to her phone and social media and contacts people with whom she communicates; that he threatens to report her (a nurse) to the Arkansas Board of Nursing for verbally and mentally abusing him—a disabled veteran and sexual-assault survivor; that he copied her on an email to the Arkansas Inspector General in which he stated that she had committed identity theft and fraud; that he harasses and humiliates her by posting on social media; that he calls and screams at her, calls her a liar, and threatens to not pay the mortgage, to disconnect the utilities, and to cancel the car insurance; that on October 26, 2023, he 2 canceled the internet and streaming services to the marital home; that he threatened to