C.H., THE FATHER v. DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: July 26, 2023
• Docket: 22-1996
• Status: Published

Opinion

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed July 26, 2023. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

________________

No. 3D22-1996 Lower Tribunal No. 19-64-K ________________

C.H., The Father, Appellant,

vs.

Department of Children and Families, et al., Appellees.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Monroe County, Bonnie J. Helms, Judge.

Law Office of Richard F. Joyce, P.A., and Richard F. Joyce, for appellant.

Sara Elizabeth Goldfarb and Amanda Victoria Glass (Tallahassee), for appellee Guardian ad Litem; Karla Perkins, for appellee Department of Children and Families.

Before MILLER, GORDO and BOKOR, JJ.

PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See J.B. v. Dep't of Child. & Fams., 158 So. 3d 653, 657

(Fla. 1st DCA 2014) (explaining that “a claim of ineffective assistance of

counsel cannot be raised for the first time on appeal unless counsel's

ineffectiveness is apparent on the face of the record”), aff’d, 170 So. 3d 780,

792 (Fla. 2015) (establishing that no ineffective assistance claim lies unless

the “representation so prejudiced the outcome of the TPR proceeding that

but for counsel's deficient representation the [Father’s] rights would not have

been terminated”); Hunter v. State, 817 So. 2d 786, 791 (Fla. 2002) (“[T]o

establish an ineffectiveness claim premised on an alleged conflict of interest

the defendant must ‘establish that an actual conflict of interest adversely

affected his lawyer's performance.’”) (citation omitted); see also S.M.O. v.

Dep't of Child. & Fams., 357 So. 3d 773, 777–78 (Fla. 3d DCA 2023)

(explaining that “[w]e review the trial court's findings under the highly

deferential competent substantial evidence standard of review” and noting

that section 39.806(1)(f), Florida Statutes, “permits termination of parental

rights to siblings, even if there is no nexus between the egregious conduct

and the potential harm to the siblings”).