In re C.A.

2000 MT 227, 8 P.3d 116, 301 Mont. 233, 57 State Rptr. 931, 2000 Mont. LEXIS 226
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 18, 2000
DocketNo. 99-578
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 2000 MT 227 (In re C.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re C.A., 2000 MT 227, 8 P.3d 116, 301 Mont. 233, 57 State Rptr. 931, 2000 Mont. LEXIS 226 (Mo. 2000).

Opinion

JUSTICE LEAPHART

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶1 Sharon Aliáis (Aliáis) appeals the judgment and order of the Thirteenth Judicial District Court, terminating the parent-child relationship between herself and the child, C.A.

¶2 We affirm.

¶3 The following issue is presented on appeal:

¶4 Whether the District Court erred in terminating Aliáis’ parental rights with regard to C.A.

Standard of Review

¶5 We review a district court’s decision to terminate parental rights for whether the court’s findings of fact are clearly erroneous and whether its conclusions of law are correct. See In Re Custody and Parental Rights of P.M., 1998 MT 264, ¶ 10, 291 Mont. 297, ¶ 10, 967 P.2d 792, ¶ 10 (citations omitted). We have long recognized that “a natural parent’s right to care and custody of a child is a fundamental liberty interest, which must be protected by fundamentally fair procedures.” In Re R.B., Jr. (1985), 217 Mont. 99, 103, 703 P.2d 846, 848. Consequently, “prior to terminating an individual’s parental rights, the district court must adequately address each applicable statutory requirement.” In Re E.W., 1998 MT 135, ¶ 12, 289 Mont. 190, ¶ 12, 959 P.2d 951, ¶ 12 (citation omitted). Further, the party seeking termination of an individual’s parental rights has the “burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that the statutory criteria for termination have been met.”In the Matter of J.N., 1999 MT 64, ¶ 12, 293 Mont. 524, ¶ 12, 977 P.2d 317, ¶ 12 (citation omitted).

Factual and Procedural Background

¶6 C.A. was born in December, 1992 to Aliáis and Darold Brey (Brey). In March, 1998 the Department of Public Health and Human Services (the Department) received a report that drugs were being sold from Aliáis’ home in the presence of a young girl. The following month, the Department received a report that Aliáis was allowing Matt Fuller (Fuller), a known child molester, to be “around” C.A. The Department made numerous unsuccessful attempts to contact Aliáis. Police found C.A. and she was placed in emergency foster care. A so[235]*235cial worker met with Aliáis and observed that she seemed strung-out and that she tried to light the wrong end of a cigarette in her mouth. Aliáis also had red marks on her arms that appeared to be track marks. The social worker asked Aliáis to submit a sample for urinalysis; Aliáis failed to provide a sample.

¶7 C. A. was observed with Fuller in April, 1998. They were seen entering a bar late at night. C.A. had wet her pants and she was crying. When C.A. tried to hug Aliáis, Aliáis pushed her away. In April, 1998 the Department filed a petition for Temporary Investigative Authority and Emergency Protective Services. The District Court entered an order for protective services and granted the Department temporary custody of C.A.

¶8 Roxanne Roller (Roller), a social worker with the Department, was assigned to the case in May, 1998. Roller reviewed Aliáis’ treatment plan with Aliáis and told her that she had to comply with the plan within one year.

¶9 In July, 1998 Aliáis provided a urinalysis that tested “positive for amphetamine, marijuana, and cocaine.” However, Aliáis “failed to provide any other HAS pursuant to her contracts with Alternatives, Inc.” Those contracts were dated May 12,1998 to September 30,1998 and October 21,1998 to December 31,1998. Aliáis made no progress on her treatment plan between July 29,1998 and October 7,1998; she was incarcerated during that period for traffic offenses.

¶10 In October, 1998 a temporary custody hearing was held. Aliáis did not object to the Department’s request for temporary custody. C.A. was adjudicated a Youth in Need of Care.

¶11 After her release from jail on October 8,1998 Aliáis made no progress on her treatment plan. In December, 1998 Aliáis was taken into custody after receiving a twelve-year sentence on three felony charges.

¶12 Aliáis’ presentence investigation (PSI) revealed that Aliáis “was involved in a lengthy criminal spree involving check forgery, deceptive practices, and deceptive practices (common scheme).” C.A. was in Aliáis’ care during the crime spree.

¶13 In February, 1999 the Department filed a petition for Permanent Legal Custody, Termination of Parental Rights, and Right to Consent to Adoption. The District Court heard the case in April and May of 1999. At the hearing, Aliáis testified that she never took C.A. to a dentist. She “acknowledged that when [C.A.] was in her care, she was not an adequate parent in that she drank around [C.A.], did not [236]*236pay attention to her, and allowed inappropriate people to be around her.” Aliáis admitted that she had left C.A. alone with Fuller “[m]aybe for a few minutes at a time,” but claimed she did not know “his thing until after all this happened.” Giving “primary consideration to the physical, mental, and emotional needs of the child,” the District Court terminated the parent-child relationship between C.A. and her parents, Aliáis, Brey, and “any other unknown father.” The District Court awarded permanent custody of C.A. to the Department with authority to consent to adoption. From that judgment and order Aliáis appeals.

Discussion

¶14 Whether the District Court erred in terminating Aliáis’ parental rights with regard to C.A.

¶ 15 Aliáis argues that the District Court erroneously found that the jail is not “a child friendly environment and it is not an appropriate place to conduct a visit between a parent and a child.” Aliáis appears to assert that the District Court improperly based its finding solely on the testimony of one social worker. Aliáis also contends that the District Court erroneously made the “implication” from that finding that her requests for visits were inappropriate and that this implication “inappropriately colored” its determination that Aliáis could not become an adequate parent within a reasonable period of time. Aliáis asserts that the District Court’s findings are an “almost de facto determination that mothers incarcerated in our State prison facilities cannot satisfactorily rehabilitate themselves to resume the parenting role.”

¶16 The State responds that substantial evidence supports the District Court’s findings that the jail is not a child-friendly environment and that it is not an appropriate place for parent-child visits. The State asserts that no evidence contradicted the social worker’s assessment of the jail and that the testimony of one witness is sufficient to establish a fact, citing this Court’s decision in State v. Southern, 1999 MT 94, ¶ 80, 294 Mont. 225, ¶ 80, 980 P.2d 3, ¶ 80. Finally, the State argues that the District Court did not terminate Aliáis’ parental rights because she requested visits with C.A. and that “[t]he majority of [Aliáis’] failures and shortcomings, which are reflected throughout the lower court’s order, occurred prior to her incarceration and are unrelated to an inability to visit with her daughter while in jail.”

[237]*237¶17 We conclude that Aliáis’ arguments are without merit. Substantial credible evidence supported the District Court’s determination that the jail was not a child-friendly place. Roller testified:

It is the Department’s position that the jail is an inappropriate environment for a child to be exposed to. It’s not a child-friendly place there.

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Related

In Re the Custody & Parental Rights of A.L.R.
2002 MT 183 (Montana Supreme Court, 2002)
Matter of J.J. C.J.
2001 MT 131 (Montana Supreme Court, 2001)
In re J.J.
2001 MT 131 (Montana Supreme Court, 2001)
Matter of C.A.
2000 MT 227 (Montana Supreme Court, 2000)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2000 MT 227, 8 P.3d 116, 301 Mont. 233, 57 State Rptr. 931, 2000 Mont. LEXIS 226, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-ca-mont-2000.