File photo of the mobile home in Romoland where Sean Spicer and husband Ryan Morris lived. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Marriage, attorneys for Ryan Morris unsuccessfully argued, is not just for people of regular intelligence.

The law allows “an extremely low level of mental capacity needed before making the decision to marry,” they argued, and a Riverside County Superior Court judge erred when she considered his capacity when removing Morris from the home of his husband and legal guardian. Morris, 28, has the intellect of a kindergartener. His husband, Sean Spicer, 46, is a truck driver of regular intelligence.

Spicer isolated Morris, kept him in a volatile household and was abusive, the trial judge concluded, ordering Morris removed to a calm, neutral home and appointing the Public Guardian as “conservator,” or legal guardian. She did not dissolve the marriage.

Morris’ attorneys implored the appeals court to reverse the judge’s decision and return Morris to his husband, saying that Morris was improperly removed based on the judge’s determination that he lacks the capacity to marry.

No, that’s not right, the Fourth District Court of Appeal said in a tentative ruling issued Friday, March 25, affirming the lower court’s decision – and offering harsh words for Morris’ lawyers.

Failure to perform

“Morris’ lack of capacity was not the basis for removal,” the tentative decision said. “As the judge’s written ruling makes clear, she found at least two of the grounds for removal…applied to Spicer — he was failing to faithfully perform his duties as conservator and his dual role as Morris’ spouse created a conflict of interest. Though the judge did conclude Morris lacked the capacity to marry Spicer, that conclusion did not form the basis for removal nor did the judge make any rulings that affected the legal status of the marriage.”

But even before turning to those arguments, the appeals court said, “We find it necessary to address what the brief does not contain: a summary of the facts.” That violates the California Rules of Court.

File photo of Sean Spicer’s mother, Theresa Spicer, at their mobile home in Romoland in 2016.  (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

There was no mention of how Morris mistook his wedding for a baptism. Or that Spicer was found to be prohibiting Morris from seeing his identical twin brother and biological family from Orange County. Or how Morris had been lashing out, assaulting both Spicer and Spicer’s mother in the mobile home they all shared in Romoland. Or how Spicer’s mother called Morris “a manipulative piece of shit” and sliced her wrists in front of him. Or how Spicer would threaten to take off his wedding ring, end the marriage and send Morris away for emergency mental health treatment when Morris was difficult or violent. Or how Morris was coaxed to marry by his adoptive mother, Michelle Morris, with the promise of a cell phone in exchange for taking vows.

“Whether intentional or inadvertent on counsel’s part, the complete failure to acknowledge any of the evidence that came out during the thirteen-day trial severely impairs our ability to analyze the arguments in the opening brief and is grounds for deeming the arguments forfeited,” it said.

Investigators found that Spicer neglected Morris’ special needs, from education to basic hygiene, according to court documents. The conflict between the two roles grew large: Morris had testified that he didn’t want to be married anymore, but it would fall to husband Spicer, as conservator, to make that happen.

“On this record, we conclude the judge’s decision to remove Spicer as conservator falls well within the bounds of reason,” the tentative ruling said.

Identical twins Ryan and Ronald Moore about age 7.  (Photo courtesy of Monica Mazzei)

Morris’ attorneys, Mark J. Andrew Flory and Jack B. Osborn, can ask to be heard at oral argument before a final ruling is issued, the court said. “However, at present, in this case the court believes that the records and briefs thoroughly present the facts and legal arguments such that the court is prepared to rule as set forth in the tentative opinion without oral argument,” it said, in italics.

Flory and Osborn did not respond to requests for comment about what they planned to do.

Decades of drama

This is the latest twist in a confounding legal drama that pits two fundamental rights squarely against one another: the right of the disabled to make their own choices free from abuse and undue influence, and the right to marry and have sex lives, just like everyone else.

It began when Ryan and identical twin Ronald were born in 1994, as tiny and frail as baby birds. Ronald, the healthy twin, came late in the evening on Jan. 9; Ryan followed 2½ hours later, on Jan. 10. The infants were swept immediately into county custody. Their mother had a history of mental illness and had not received prenatal care, according to a social worker’s report at the time.

Ronald Moore, left, and identical twin Ryan Morris embrace after seeing each for the first time in 13 years at a court hearing in 2015. (Photo courtesy of Monica Mazzei)

Grandmother Tamara Mukai Mazzei said she sat vigil most every night for six months as the babies struggled in intensive care, heading to work at a San Clemente beauty salon the next day, bleary-eyed. Mukai Mazzei had been in similar circumstances before: She was raising her troubled daughter’s two older children, and intended to take the boys as soon as they were strong enough to come home.

When the twins were about 16 months old, she got half her wish: Ronald was healthy enough to come home. Ryan wasn’t. Ryan was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, asthma and other maladies; his motor skills and speech were impaired; he was prone to seizures and required  24/7 care, much more specialized than Mukai Mazzei could provide, officials told her. Mukai Mazzei said she’d be happy to learn whatever was necessary, but Ryan was placed in one specialized foster home after another, at a cost of some $5,000 a month. At the time, the state would only provide financial support to foster care and institutional programs, not to families.

As the twins approached their fourth birthday, Ryan was transferred to a foster home in the Tustin foothills that catered to severely disabled children. Foster mother Michelle Morris eventually adopted him over the bio family’s objections, then refused to let the bio family see him. The biological family has been fighting to be part of Ryan Morris’ life for years, and brought the lawsuit that resulted in Spicer’s removal as conservator.

Michelle Morris Kerin (Courtesy of Riverside County DA)

Adoptive mother Michelle Morris had been trying to regain conservatorship over Ryan Morris. Last year, however, she was charged with multiple felonies, including second-degree murder of a disabled child in her care, as well as “willfully, unlawfully, and lewdly” committing lascivious acts upon adult dependents “with the intent of arousing, appealing to, and gratifying the lust, passions, and sexual desires of the said defendant and the said dependent person,” according to the indictment.

Ryan Morris is one of the alleged victims of that abuse.

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