Department of Public Aid Ex Rel. Galbraith v. Jones

666 N.E.2d 12, 281 Ill. App. 3d 115, 216 Ill. Dec. 844
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 7, 1996
Docket4-95-0605
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 666 N.E.2d 12 (Department of Public Aid Ex Rel. Galbraith v. Jones) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Department of Public Aid Ex Rel. Galbraith v. Jones, 666 N.E.2d 12, 281 Ill. App. 3d 115, 216 Ill. Dec. 844 (Ill. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

JUSTICE GREEN

delivered the opinion of the court:

On behalf of Vicki Galbraith, the Illinois Department of Public Aid (Department) filed a petition pursuant to the Illinois Parentage Act of 1984 (Act) (750 ILCS 45/1 et seq. (West 1992)) against respondent Jeff Jones seeking to establish that respondent was the father of Galbraith’s son, K.G. (born February 3, 1993), and an order directing respondent to pay child support. On April 6, 1995, the circuit court of Adams County granted the Department’s motion for summary judgment finding respondent was the father of K.G. Subsequently, the court ordered respondent to pay past and future child support. Respondent appeals, contending that summary judgment was improper based on blood test results alone when he presented facts in his affidavit which raised a genuine issue of paternity. We affirm.

The record indicates that respondent denied paternity and the court ordered Galbraith, K.G., and respondent to submit to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) tests to determine inherited characteristics, including Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) tests, as authorized by section 11 of the Act (750 ILCS 45/11 (West 1992)). Subsequently, the Department filed a motion for summary judgment against respondent seeking to establish him as the father of K.G. Attached to the motion were the results of the ordered blood tests, which revealed a combined paternity index of 611 to 1 and a probability of paternity of 99.84%. Also attached to the motion was the affidavit of Galbraith, which stated (1) she was the mother of K.G.; (2) she became pregnant with K.G. between May 9 and May 18, 1992; and (3) from April 27, 1992, and June 2, 1992, she had sexual relations only with respondent.

Respondent filed a motion in opposition to the Department’s motion for summary judgment. Respondent attached his affidavit, which stated (1) although at some time he had sexual relations with Galbraith, he had not had any sexual contact with her for the two years preceding the birth of K.G.; (2) he was acquainted with Linus Mark Trokey who, on several occasions in the early summer of 1992, told him he was having ongoing sexual relations with Galbraith; (3) in late June or early July 1992, Galbraith informed him she was pregnant and sought to borrow funds for an abortion; (4) Galbraith told him that the father of the child was either Trokey or another named individual other than respondent whose name he could not remember; and (5) it was biologically impossible for him to be the father of K.G.

Also attached to respondent’s motion in opposition to summary judgment was a copy of a set of interrogatories answered by Galbraith where she indicated (1) she told respondent of her pregnancy with K.G. and both of them agreed that an abortion was the best solution; (2) respondent agreed to contribute some money to the payment of the abortion; and (3) she had sexual relations with Trokey on three or four occasions between June 7, 1992, and July 1, 1992, at which time she was already pregnant with K.G.

During the pendency of the case, respondent was granted several continuances in an effort to locate Trokey. Apparently, Trokey has never been found. Subsequently, following a hearing, the circuit court entered a summary judgment of paternity finding respondent to be the father of K.G.

A motion for summary judgment should only be granted when "the pleadings, depositions, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” 735 ILCS 5/2 — 1005(c) (West 1992); see also Purtill v. Hess, 111 Ill. 2d 229, 240, 489 N.E.2d 867, 871 (1986). Essentially, respondent contends that the court erred in entering summary judgment against him when he raised a genuine issue of his paternity by alleging that (1) he had not had sexual relations with Galbraith for two years preceding the birth of K.G.; (2) Galbraith admitted to him that either Trokey or another man, other than respondent, was the father of K.G.; and (3) Galbraith admitted she had sexual relations with Trokey near the time of conception.

Section 11(f) of the Act discusses the effect of the blood tests ordered to determine inherited characteristics, and provides, among other things, that if the blood tests result in a combined paternity index of 500 to 1 or greater, the putative father is presumed to be the father. 750 ILCS 45/11(f)(4) (West 1992). Here, the combined paternity index was 611 to 1; thus, there is a rebuttable presumption that respondent is the father of K.G. This presumption is rebuttable by clear and convincing evidence. People ex rel. Stockwill v. Keller, 251 Ill. App. 3d 796, 800, 623 N.E.2d 816, 819 (1993). The issues here are whether respondent’s rebuttal evidence, set forth in his affidavit and interrogatories answered by Galbraith, was clear and convincing, and whether the Department’s evidence of paternity " 'so overwhelmingly outweigh[s] the respondent’s evidence in rebuttal of the proposition that he fathered the child that paternity was not a genuine issue.’ ” Stockwill, 251 Ill. App. 3d at 798-99, 623 N.E.2d at 818, quoting In re Paternity of Smith, 179 Ill. App. 3d 473, 476, 534 N.E.2d 669, 671 (1989).

Respondent refers to several decisions where blood tests alone were deemed insufficient evidence of paternity to support summary judgment against the putative father in light of contravailing evidence refuting paternity. None of these cases, however, involved the existence of a presumption of paternity based on a combined paternity index of 500 to 1 or more, as here.

For instance, in Smith (179 Ill. App. 3d 473, 534 N.E.2d 669), the appellate court reversed and remanded a summary judgment of paternity against the respondent father where blood tests results indicated a 99.99% chance that the respondent was the father. However, the blood test used there showed exclusion only and could not affirmatively establish paternity. The court determined that a genuine issue of paternity remained, even in light of the blood tests, when there was evidence that the mother accused another man, other than the respondent, of being the father, another man’s name was put on the birth certificate and given to the Department as the name of the father, and the mother admitted she had sexual relations with three men, other than respondent, during the year the child was conceived.

In In re Estate of Lukas, 155 Ill. App. 3d 512, 508 N.E.2d 368 (1987), the appellate court upheld the circuit court’s denial to amend an order of heirship to include the name of petitioner’s son as an heir of the deceased. In order to determine paternity, genetic blood testing, including HLA tests, were done on the child, the deceased’s parents, the mother and her parents.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Villareal v. Peebles
701 N.E.2d 145 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1998)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
666 N.E.2d 12, 281 Ill. App. 3d 115, 216 Ill. Dec. 844, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/department-of-public-aid-ex-rel-galbraith-v-jones-illappct-1996.