Greene County Juvenile Office v. K.D.G.

341 S.W.3d 755
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 19, 2011
DocketNo. SD 30860
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 341 S.W.3d 755 (Greene County Juvenile Office v. K.D.G.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Greene County Juvenile Office v. K.D.G., 341 S.W.3d 755 (Mo. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

K.D.G (“Father”) appeals that portion of a judgment of the juvenile division of the circuit court (“the trial court”) that terminated his parental rights to and over his young child, X.D.G. (“Child”) on the [756]*756grounds of abuse and/or neglect and a failure to rectify the conditions that caused Child to come into alternative care (“failure to rectify”). See section 211.447.6.1 In three points relied on, Father asserts the trial court’s abuse/neglect and failure to rectify findings were not supported by substantial evidence and were against the weight of the evidence; and that the trial court abused its discretion in finding that termination was in Child’s best interest.

In In re X.D.G., 340 S.W.3d 607 (Mo.App. S.D.2011), we reversed the portions of the trial court’s judgment that terminated the parental rights of Child’s mother (“Mother”), who separately appealed. As in Mother’s case, our review of the record convinces us that the trial court’s findings as to both abuse/neglect and failure to rectify were not supported by the necessary substantial evidence of a convincing link between Father’s past behavior, his conduct at the time of the termination trial, and the trial court’s prediction of the likelihood of future harm. Id. at 609 (citing In re K.A.W., 133 S.W.3d 1, 11 (Mo. banc 2004)). For that reason, we also reverse the judgment insofar as it terminates Father’s parental rights.

Factual Summary

The action to terminate the parental rights of Father and Mother (“the parents”) was brought in a single petition and addressed in a single trial. The findings and conclusions set forth in the trial court’s judgment necessarily addressed evidence related to both parents. Much of that evidence was set forth in X.D.G. 340 S.W.3d at 609-14 and will not be repeated here. To summarize, at approximately seven weeks of age, Child was discovered to have suffered fractures to the tibia bones in both legs and the ulna bone in his left arm. Id. at 609-11. Neither parent admitted either causing these injuries or knowing how they had occurred. Both parents admitted that the injuries must have occurred while Child was in their care. After Child was placed into protective custody, the parents began complying with court-ordered services plans that required them to, among other things, submit to psychological evaluations, participate in individual and couple’s counseling, and attend parenting classes. Id. at 610-12, 614.

Concerning Father, Dr. Mark Bradford, a psychologist, testified that he performed a psychological evaluation of Father and observed that Father had a positive attitude toward change and therapy, was cooperative, and suffered from no major psychosis or debilitating mental disorder. According to Dr. Bradford, after being involved with the juvenile “system,” Father was “somewhat suspicious and paranoid of the whole process[.]” He said Father “had some narcissistic injury over all this, and it probably came out early on, and that probably did not help him early on.” Dr. Bradford testified that Father acknowledged making mistakes, feeling regret, and having an awareness that he needed to correct his mistakes.

Father’s individual counselor at the time of trial, Julian Tillman, testified that he had met with Father 32 times, and they had worked on “[djealing with denial of harm to [Child], denial of his wife’s part that she may have played in harm to their child, any type of emotional issues, such as anger issues, and then just the stress related to this process as it goes along.” When asked if his treatment would have been different if Father had admitted hurting Child, Tillman replied, “Most certainly.” Tillman testified that if that had been the case they would have worked to [757]*757determine Father’s psychological state at the time of the injuries and plan additional treatment based upon that determination. If Father had admitted instead that he knew Mother had caused Child’s injuries, the course of treatment would have differed yet again — focusing instead on the psychological state that had contributed to Father’s previous denial of this knowledge. Tillman also testified that if Father had either injured Child himself or falsely denied having knowledge of who had, and Tillman eventually learned of it, then it was Tillman’s opinion that the trust necessary for the patient-counselor relationship would be affected. If such an event damaged that trust beyond repair, the acquisition of a new counselor would be necessary.

Tillman testified, however, that Father never gave any indication that he had injured Child or knew that Mother had done so. Tillman also testified Father gave no sign that he was codependent on Mother to such a degree that he could not protect Child. Instead, Tillman observed signs in Father of regret and remorse based on Father admitting “many times” that he needed to be more vigilant as to Child. Tillman did not see any “anger issues” in Father. The only treatment goal Tillman set that he did not view as fully satisfied was one of personal growth; and Tillman testified that because the case was ongoing, there could still be stress and depression issues related to it that would have to be worked through.

Tillman testified that Father completed a course on fatherhood, and Father was doing a workbook with Tillman that focused on future parenting strategies in view of past issues. Tillman confirmed that Father had followed his recommendations and took initiative in treatment by enrolling himself in a parenting class, attending it, and then bringing in the certificate verifying his completion of the class. Tillman testified that Father had developed from a tendency toward self-involvement to being outwardly aware and was also more involved in Child’s physical care. Tillman stated, “Everything that we’ve talked about for the last 13 months shows me that [Father] wants to provide a safe environment for [Child] in [the parents’] home.”

Without objection, Tillman responded as follows to an inquiry from Father’s attorney.

Q. Do you have any indication to show that he has been untruthful with you in any way?
A. No, ma’am.
Q. Do you believe — Do you see any red flags which would indicate to you that [Father] would harm his son?
A. No, ma’am.
Q. Do you see any red flags that would indicate to you [Father] would not protect his son?
A. No, ma’am.
Q. Do you stand by your recommendation based upon information you have that he has been cooperative, completed his treatment goals and should be allowed more contact with his son to have an opportunity to show if he could get him back in his home?
A. Yes, ma’am.

The deposition of Father’s original therapist, Mindy Ellis, was admitted as Exhibit 7 at trial. Her testimony was that she met with Father for five counseling sessions between September and October 2008. She said that during their initial meeting, Father discussed four different explanations for injuries to Child and then gave three additional “possible” explanations for the fractures in their next session. She stated that during their third session, Fa[758]

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Related

In Re XDG
341 S.W.3d 755 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2011)

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Bluebook (online)
341 S.W.3d 755, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/greene-county-juvenile-office-v-kdg-moctapp-2011.