In re Anthony S.

178 Misc. 2d 1, 675 N.Y.S.2d 759, 1998 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 252
CourtNew York City Family Court
DecidedApril 15, 1998
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 178 Misc. 2d 1 (In re Anthony S.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York City Family Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Anthony S., 178 Misc. 2d 1, 675 N.Y.S.2d 759, 1998 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 252 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1998).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Paula J. Hepner, J.

On February 23, 1998 the Law Guardian filed an order to [5]*5show cause seeking to have the court vacate its prior order terminating the parental rights of the respondent father and to conduct a new dispositional hearing for the purpose of determining whether it is in the best interests of the child to dismiss the petition so that Anthony may be returned to his father. The legal foundations relied upon by the Law Guardian in making this motion are CPLR 5015 and sections 631, 632 and 1055-a of the Family Court Act. From the court’s research, it would appear that the issues raised and the relief sought in this motion present matters of first impression.

Answering papers were received from counsel for the Administration for Children’s Services and Catholic Guardian Society. Each addresses the practical necessity of granting the Law Guardian’s motion, either because “Anthony is presently 15 years of age, is unwilling and unlikely to be adopted”,1 or because “caseworkers have not been able to persuade Anthony to return to the agency group home and it is highly unlikely that this 15 year old child will ever do so voluntarily.”2 Neither addresses the standing of the Law Guardian to make this motion in the first instance or secondly, the statutory authority for the court to grant the relief requested. No papers were submitted on behalf of the respondent father.

BACKGROUND OF THIS MATTER

Anthony came into foster care pursuant to a neglect finding on July 13, 1987 based on the misuse of drugs by his mother and father and their failure to provide adequate food, shelter, clothing, medical care and proper supervision for him and his four siblings. Pursuant to the dispositional order of October 9, 1987, the children were placed with the Commissioner of the Office for Children and Family Services (Commissioner) for 18 months. Extensions of placement were held in each of the ensuing years through 1996. In 1991, a trial discharge was contemplated and overnight visitation was arranged for Anthony and Liberty but the respondent father was incarcerated in 1992 and Anthony and his sister remained in care. Orders directing the Commissioner to file termination petitions on behalf of Anthony were first made in 1993 and then again in 1994. Petitions to terminate the parental rights of the respondent father were filed on September 21, 1994. The court made a finding on June 19,1995 that both parents permanently [6]*6neglected the child by failing to visit with Anthony and failing to plan for his return. The same day the court entered a dispositional order terminating both parents’ rights to the child and committed Anthony’s care and custody to the Commissioner and the agency for the purposes of adoption. Anthony was then 13 years old.

Evidence submitted at the foster care review proceedings held in the years 1996 and 1997 disclosed that an adoption petition for Anthony was filed in Surrogate’s Court, New York County. At the foster care review proceeding on September 19, 1997, this court issued a warrant for Anthony who was absent without leave from his foster home. On October 9, 1997 the respondent father filed a petition for custody of Anthony. The respondent father appeared in court with Anthony on October 27, 1997 and counsel was assigned to represent the respondent father. On February 2, 1998 the custody petition was dismissed since the respondent father had not appeared since October 1997. On February 3, 1998 the Law Guardian filed the order to show cause which is presently before the Court.

LEGAL AJSTALYSIS

The Law Guardian proposes several legal theories to obtain the relief requested and proclaims that if the court finds none of them persuasive and “says to a fifteen year old boy, who has a deep bond with a male figure that is his father, tough luck, you are a legal orphan and you have no choice but to live in a group home, then the law becomes an ass.”3

To begin with, the Law Guardian points to CPLR 5015 (a) which provides that “[t]he court which rendered a judgment or order may relieve a party from it upon such terms as may be just”. The child is not a party to the termination proceeding and this presents the initial problem for the Law Guardian’s effort to invoke this rule to obtain relief from the court’s dispositional order in the termination proceeding.4 Assuming, however, the child was considered a party to the termination, [7]*7the Law Guardian asserts subdivision (a) (1) as a basis to set aside the respondent father’s default. In his affirmation, the Law Guardian alleges “upon information and belief, the father insists he was unaware of the final court date”5 in the termination case and suggests the respondent father’s default was excusable. There is no affidavit from the respondent father annexed to the Law Guardian’s moving papers and, indeed, the Law Guardian later concedes that he “is not privy to an actual reason for Anthony Sr.’s default.”6 There are two obstacles in attempting to set aside the dispositional order on the ground of excusable default. First, the statute requires a party make the motion within one year after entry of the judgment or order from which relief is being sought. Since the dispositional order was entered on June 19, 1995, the motion is time barred. The second component of excusable default is the supplemental requirement to show a meritorious defense to the petition when filed. The Law Guardian’s papers do not contain anything which would fulfill this requirement and the defense surely cannot be based on the subsequent failure of the adoptive resource to complete the adoption or Anthony’s current refusal to be adopted.

The Law Guardian contends that the foster parent’s opposition to adopting Anthony and Anthony’s pattern of running away to the respondent father on numerous occasions constitute newly discovered evidence which should be a basis to grant relief from the dispositional order under CPLR 5015 (a) (2). “ [N] ewly-discovered evidence”, under CPLR 5015 (a) (2), is a ground to set aside a prior order only when the evidence “if introduced at the trial, would probably have produced a different result and which could not have been discovered in time to move for a new trial under section 4404”.7 This rule does not permit evidence arising from circumstances that occurred three years after the trial to become the basis for setting aside a decision issued earlier. Even so, under section 384-b (3) (i) of the Social Services Law, “proof of the likelihood that the child will be placed for adoption shall not be required in determining whether the best interests of the child would be promoted by [8]*8the commitment of the guardianship and custody of the child to an authorized agency.” Because the law does not require that there be a viable adoptive resource at the time of the termination, the adoptive parent’s withdrawal three years later does not become a reason to subsequently vacate the order terminating the parental rights of the parent.

Since there is no opposition to the Law Guardian’s motion in the answering papers from the Commissioner or the agency, the Law Guardian points to CPLR 5015 (b) as the next statutory base for relief from the court’s dispositional order of June 19, 1995.

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Related

In re Monique S.
68 A.D.3d 525 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2009)
Matter of Adrianne F. v. Anthony S.
2005 NY Slip Op 25209 (Kings Family Court, 2005)
Adrianne F. v. Anthony S.
8 Misc. 3d 751 (NYC Family Court, 2005)
In re Frederick S.
178 Misc. 2d 152 (NYC Family Court, 1998)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
178 Misc. 2d 1, 675 N.Y.S.2d 759, 1998 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 252, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-anthony-s-nycfamct-1998.