In Re CB

574 S.E.2d 339, 258 Ga. App. 143
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedOctober 23, 2002
DocketA02A1570
StatusPublished

This text of 574 S.E.2d 339 (In Re CB) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re CB, 574 S.E.2d 339, 258 Ga. App. 143 (Ga. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

574 S.E.2d 339 (2002)
258 Ga. App. 143

In the Interest of C.B., a child.

No. A02A1570.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

October 23, 2002.

*340 Suzanne Whitaker, for appellant.

Thurbert E. Baker, Atty. Gen., Dennis R. Dunn, Deputy Atty. Gen., William C. Joy, Senior Asst. Atty. Gen., Shalen S. Nelson, Asst. Atty. Gen., James T. Chafin III, for appellee.

RUFFIN, Presiding Judge.

The biological father of C.B. appeals the juvenile court's order terminating his parental rights. He asserts that the evidence was insufficient to support the termination, that the court failed to enter specific findings of fact supporting the termination, and that the court erroneously denied him his right to counsel.[1] Finding the evidence sufficient and no reversible error, we affirm.

1. The standard of review for orders terminating parental rights requires that "we view the evidence in a light most favorable to the juvenile court's ruling and determine whether a rational trier of fact could have found by clear and convincing evidence that the parent's rights should have been terminated."[2] So viewed, the evidence shows that C.B. was born on November 16, 1992. On April 6, 2000, the Henry County Department of Family & Children Services ("DFCS") filed a deprivation petition in the juvenile court asserting that C.B.'s father had been arrested for child molestation and cruelty to children. The criminal charges stemmed from alleged instances in which the father and mother played darts with C.B. and her two half-siblings[3] while the whole family was nude. The father was on probation for an unrelated prior conviction at the time of his arrest, and his probation was revoked.

On the day the petition was filed, the juvenile court held a brief hearing to provide emergency care and shelter for C.B. The father was incarcerated and did not attend the hearing. However, the transcript reflects that both the father and mother were represented at the hearing by counsel, James Watkins. Based on a stipulation of the parties that there was probable cause to believe that the father had sexually molested the children and that the mother had neglected them, the juvenile court ordered that C.B. be placed in DFCS's custody.

On May 18, 2000, the juvenile court conducted a hearing on the deprivation petition. The father appeared at the hearing, but was unrepresented by counsel. When the hearing commenced, the judge asked the father whether he had spoken to Ms. Hayes, the *341 attorney the court had apparently appointed to represent him. Hayes was not at the hearing, and the father told the court that he thought he was represented by Suzanne Whitaker, the attorney defending him in the criminal proceedings. The judge then asked the father whether he wanted a lawyer in this case, and the father responded affirmatively. Although the court apparently called Whitaker to come to the hearing, she was unavailable, and the deprivation hearing proceeded with the father unrepresented. After the hearing, the court entered an order finding C.B. deprived and awarding temporary custody to DFCS. In its order, the court also formally appointed Whitaker to represent the father and prohibited the father from visiting C.B.

DFCS developed a reunification plan for the father, and, on June 7, 2000, the parties and their attorneys, including Whitaker, attended a hearing to review the plan. Among the plan goals were requirements that the father maintain contact with C.B., develop parenting skills, resolve his criminal charges, remain drug and alcohol free, and provide financial support for C.B. After consulting with counsel, the father agreed to the plan, which the court approved.

On September 7, 2000, a grand jury indicted the father on three counts of child molestation relating to his conduct with the three children. Count 3 of the indictment charged that, between January 1, 1998, and March 27, 2000, both the father and mother "unlawfully perform[ed] an immoral and indecent act[ ] to ... [all three children, including C.B.], children under the age of 16 years, with intent to arouse and satisfy the sexual desires of said accused by playing games with said children at a time when the children and the accused were all nude."[4] On November 6, 2000, the father pled guilty to committing child molestation under Count 3, and the trial court sentenced him to ten years—three to serve in prison and seven years of probation.[5] A special condition of the probation prohibits the father from having any contact with the children.

On August 8, 2001, DFCS petitioned the juvenile court to terminate the father's parental rights in C.B.[6] The court conducted a hearing on the petition on November 6, 2001. At the time of the hearing, C.B. was living with her aunt, where she was placed approximately 18 months earlier. C.B. was in the third grade, had a "mild intellectual disability," and required speech therapy. A DFCS caseworker testified that, before he went to prison, the father cooperated with DFCS and attended parenting classes, but did not visit the children at DFCS's offices. According to the caseworker, DFCS records showed that, after being incarcerated, the father did not have any contact with C.B. or pay any child support. A certified copy of the father's conviction was admitted into evidence.

The father testified about his attempts to comply with the case plan, disputed the caseworker's account that he had never visited C.B., and elaborated on his reasons for pleading guilty to child molestation. Specifically, the father stated that he had attended 13 out of 15 parenting classes and that, while he was out on bond, he worked for his sister and gave her $50 of child support for C.B., not every "week or every other week," but "when [he] could." The father also maintained that, before he was incarcerated, he visited C.B. at DFCS on a weekly basis for at least ten weeks. As for his conviction for molesting C.B., the father admitted he had played games with the children while nude, but maintained that the conduct was not inappropriate. He testified: "I didn't think it was anything wrong with it, you know, a family doing what they—you know, what they wanted to do or whatever in their own personal home." According to the father, he pled guilty to the molestation charge to avoid a longer prison sentence. Finally, the father acknowledged that, while he was living with *342 C.B.'s mother, the police were "called out once or twice when [he] and [the mother were] ... arguing and fighting." Based on this evidence, the juvenile court terminated the father's parental rights in C.B.

Under the two-step inquiry for terminating parental rights, a court must first determine "whether there is clear and convincing evidence of parental misconduct or inability."[7] Parental misconduct or inability is established where it is shown:

1) that the child is deprived; 2) that the lack of proper parental care or control is the cause of the deprivation; 3) that the child's deprivation is likely to continue or will not be remedied; and 4) that continued deprivation is likely to cause serious physical, mental, or moral harm to the child.[8]

Under the second step of the inquiry, the court must determine whether termination is in the best interest of the child.[9]

In this case, there was clear and convincing evidence of parental misconduct or inability.

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In the Interest of C. B.
574 S.E.2d 339 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
574 S.E.2d 339, 258 Ga. App. 143, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-cb-gactapp-2002.