In re Brian T.

38 A.3d 114, 134 Conn. App. 1, 2012 Conn. App. LEXIS 86
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedFebruary 17, 2012
DocketAC 33073
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 38 A.3d 114 (In re Brian T.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut Appellate Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Brian T., 38 A.3d 114, 134 Conn. App. 1, 2012 Conn. App. LEXIS 86 (Colo. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinions

Opinion

FLYNN, J.

The respondent father, Brian T., Sr., appeals from the judgment of the trial court terminating his parental rights with respect to his minor son, Brian T., Jr. (child). On appeal, the respondent claims that the court improperly (1) determined the respondent abandoned the child, (2) determined the respondent failed to rehabilitate since a 2005 finding that the child had been neglected or uncared for, (3) determined the respondent denied the child the care, guidance and control necessary for the child’s physical, educational, moral and emotional well-being, (4) determined the respondent failed to maintain an ongoing parent-child relationship with the child and (5) considered the best interest of the child prior to making findings that the statutory grounds for termination were proved. We affirm the judgment of the trial court on the basis of its findings that the respondent failed to rehabilitate and denied the child the care, guidance and control necessary for the child’s well-being.

The following facts, as found by the court, and procedural history are relevant to the respondent’s appeal. Pursuant to the authority found in General Statutes § 45a-715 (a) (1) and (2), the mother, Nicole G., and [4]*4the maternal grandmother, Margaret F., and stepgrand-father, Charles F., by joining in the mother’s petition and as legal guardians of the child, petitioned the court to terminate the parental rights of the respondent. Ultimately the mother withdrew from the termination petition, and the maternal grandmother and stepgrandfather moved to terminate her parental rights as well. The child was bom on July 11, 2002, to the respondent and the mother while the respondent was incarcerated at the Carl Robinson Correctional Institution in Enfield.1 At the time of the child’s birth, the mother was fifteen years old and the respondent was twenty-two.2 Almost two years after the child’s birth, his maternal grandmother and stepgrandfather (guardians) obtained formal legal responsibility for his care pursuant to an order of temporary custody entered by the Honorable Thomas P. Brunnock, judge of the Probate Court for the district of Waterbury on March 30, 2004, and were subsequently appointed guardians of the child on January 20, 2005. The respondent served two separate prison sentences during the child’s lifetime prior to the commencement of the trial in this matter. He first was incarcerated from March 4, 2002, until his release on January 2, 2004. He was returned to custody on December 10, 2004, and released more than four years later to supervised parole in July, 2009.

Prior to the commencement of this action for termination of parental rights, the respondent was subject to visitation restrictions with the child. Pursuant to those restrictions, the respondent, during his incarceration, [5]*5was allowed only monitored telephone contact with the child. On December 15, 2005, Judge Brunnock, in the Probate Court for the district of Waterbury, subsequently denied all of the respondent’s visitation rights.

An application for termination of the respondent’s parental rights first was filed by the child’s guardians on July 26, 2007, in the Probate Court for the district of Waterbury. That proceeding was transferred to the Superior Court in Waterbury and then to the Juvenile Court in Waterbury, where the court dismissed the application due to insufficient service of process on the respondent when the matter was transferred. On January 14, 2008, the guardians filed again, in the Probate Court for the district of Waterbury, an application to terminate the parental rights of both the respondent and the child’s mother, and, on February 5, 2008, Judge Brunnock transferred the matter, pursuant to General Statutes § 45a-623, to the Superior Court at Waterbury. That application, according to the recollection of the respondent’s attorney dining that proceeding, was withdrawn by the guardians because the application did not contain a statement of facts appended to the petition.

On June 1, 2009, the child’s mother filed her own petition in the Probate Court for the district of Old Lyme to terminate the respondent’s parental rights, which subsequently was transferred, pursuant to § 45a-715 (g), to the trial court for Juvenile Matters in Waterford shortly thereafter. The petition contained the following allegations that are relevant to this appeal: the respondent (1) had abandoned the child, (2) failed to achieve a degree of personal rehabilitation sufficient to assume a responsible position in the child’s life, (3) denied the child the care, guidance and control necessary for the child’s well-being and (4) failed to maintain an ongoing parent-child relationship. On October 20, 2009, the guardians filed a motion to substitute themselves as the petitioners in this action, which was granted by the [6]*6court, Driscoll, J. The newly substituted petitioners then submitted an amended application for termination of parental rights on January 11, 2010, that added a provision indicating the mother’s desire and consent to terminate her own parental rights should the court grant the original petition to terminate the respondent’s parental rights. A trial management conference was scheduled for March 9, 2010, and the matter formally was transferred to the Child Protection Session at Mid-dletown, where the court, Hon. Thayer Baldwin, Jr., judge trial referee, heard the petition to terminate the parental rights of the mother and the respondent on August 4 and 5, 2010. The child was eight years old at the time trial commenced.

After two days of hearing witness testimony and considering the briefs filed by both parties, the court issued its ruling on January 10, 2011. As to the claim of abandonment, the court found that the respondent had abandoned the child “by denying his parenthood for a period of five years and engaging in criminal activity that precluded active parenting . . . .” The court reasoned that the respondent’s prolonged incarceration, initial disavowal of paternity and the little attention he paid to the child were sufficient to constitute abandonment. Accordingly, the court ordered that his parental rights be terminated.

The court next considered the petitioners’ claim that the respondent had failed to achieve such a degree of personal rehabilitation as would encourage the belief that he could assume a responsible position in the child’s life. The court observed that the respondent had eight years since the child’s birth to be available to assume a responsible position in the child’s life. The court further determined that the respondent had failed to achieve a sufficient degree of personal rehabilitation during the period since the Probate Court for the district of Waterbury had found, in a January, 2005 proceeding, [7]*7that the child had been neglected or uncared for by the respondent. The court concluded that, during this time, the respondent failed to make himself available as a resource for the mother or the child and that he did not contribute significantly to the child’s care and maintenance. The court therefore ordered that the respondent’s parental rights be terminated for his failure to achieve sufficient personal rehabilitation as would encourage the belief that, within a reasonable time and considering the age and needs of the child, he could assume a responsible position in the child’s life.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
38 A.3d 114, 134 Conn. App. 1, 2012 Conn. App. LEXIS 86, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-brian-t-connappct-2012.