In Re John Paul J.

799 N.E.2d 769, 343 Ill. App. 3d 865, 278 Ill. Dec. 904, 2003 Ill. App. LEXIS 1185
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 24, 2003
Docket1-02-1205
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 799 N.E.2d 769 (In Re John Paul J.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re John Paul J., 799 N.E.2d 769, 343 Ill. App. 3d 865, 278 Ill. Dec. 904, 2003 Ill. App. LEXIS 1185 (Ill. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE HOFFMAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

The respondents, John J., Sr. (John J.), and Ardell J., bring the instant appeal from circuit court orders finding that their infant son, John Paul J., is a neglected minor and adjudicating him a ward of the court. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

John Paul J. was born on June 20, 2001. On June 26, 2001, the State filed a petition for adjudication of wardship of John Paul J. in which it alleged that he was both a neglected minor pursuant to section 2 — 3(1) of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 (Act) (705 ILCS 405/2— 3(l)(a), (b) (West 2000)) and an abused minor as defined by section 2 — 3(2)(ii) of the Act (705 ILCS 405/2 — 3(2)(ii) (West 2000)). That same day, the trial court appointed the public guardian to serve as John Paul J.’s guardian ad litem and conducted a temporary custody hearing. After the parties presented their evidence, counsel for the respondents moved to dismiss the case. Counsel asserted that the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) had taken temporary protective custody of John Paul J., not at 3:29 p.m. on June 25, as alleged in the State’s petition for adjudication of wardship, but on June 21 when John Steele, a child protective investigator employed by the DCFS, instructed personnel at the hospital where John Paul J. was born not to release the child to the respondents’ care. Counsel argued that, as the temporary custody hearing was not conducted within 48 hours of the child having been taken into protective custody, as required by section 2 — 9 of the Act (705 ILCS 405/2 — 9 (West 2000)), the trial court lacked jurisdiction. The trial court denied the motion. It went on to find that probable cause existed to believe that John Paul J. was neglected and awarded temporary custody of the child to D. Jean Ortega Pirón, Guardianship Administrator of the DCFS. The court then granted the State leave to amend the petition for adjudication of wardship by adding allegations that John Paul J. was a neglected minor as defined under section 2 — 3(l)(b) of the Act (705 ILCS 405/2 — 3(l)(b) (West 2000)) in that his environment was injurious to his welfare.

An adjudicatory hearing was held over a period of several dates commencing on September 26, 2001, and concluding on October 26, 2001. The following evidence was presented at the hearing.

At the State’s request, the trial court admitted into evidence court orders pursuant to which the respondents’ daughters Sapphire J. and Jasmine J. were found to be neglected minors in that their environment was injurious to their welfare and adjudicated wards of the court. The orders regarding Sapphire J. were entered in 1997, and the orders regarding Jasmine J. were entered in 1998. Also admitted into evidence were court orders, entered in 1994, pursuant to which Ardell J.’s children Krystle D. and Joshua D. were adjudicated dependent minors in that they were without proper care because of the physical or mental disability of their parent and adjudged wards of the court. Additionally, Ardell J.’s medical records from MacNeal Hospital, where John Paul J. was born, were admitted.

The State presented the testimony of Dr. John Murray, a clinical psychologist who conducted a psychological evaluation of Ardell J. in May and June of 2000. Dr. Murray testified that this evaluation consisted of interviewing Ardell J. on two occasions and reviewing “numerous records and reports,” including records from the DCFS, Ardell J.’s school records, reports from Catholic Charities and Hepzibah Child Protection Agency, a parental capacity evaluation, and records from the Fillmore Center, MacNeal Hospital, and the Illinois Department of Public Health. In addition, Ardell J. completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory test.

Dr. Murray testified that he diagnosed Ardell J. as suffering from major depression, alcohol abuse, and cocaine abuse, all of which were in remission at the time of his evaluation. He also diagnosed her as having learning disabilities and borderline personality disorder. According to Dr. Murray, he based his diagnosis of borderline personality disorder on the following symptoms exhibited by Ardell J., as revealed during his interviews with her or by information in her records: unstable relationships with various people in her life; unstable and somewhat extreme mood and emotional presentation; extremely limited insight into the motivation for her behavior; and impulsive behavior. Dr. Murray characterized Ardell J.’s borderline personality disorder as severe, noting that her symptoms had spanned a period of years and she had required four periods of psychiatric hospitalization and experienced suicidal thoughts at different points in her life. Dr. Murray stated that a person suffering from borderline personality disorder has a great deal of difficulty managing her self-esteem and anger and that “impulsive behaviors, and a stronger degree and presence of experience of anger, presents a risk for *** parenting children.” According to Dr. Murray, a person with a diagnosis of severe borderline personality disorder “could” put a minor child at risk. He explained that “[ijmpulsivity and anger and caring for young children are just not a good or safe match.” When asked what steps a parent with such a diagnosis would need to take to ensure that she did not pose a risk to her child, he responded that such a person would have to “develop more sophisticated and mature ways to cope and to fend from their emotion.” Dr. Murray stated that the only way he knows of to accomplish this is to actively participate in intensive psychotherapy over an extended period of time. To Dr. Murray’s knowledge, at the time he evaluated Ardell J., she had not participated in such therapy. At the time of his evaluation, Dr. Murray formed the opinion that Ardell J. was not able to adequately or safely parent a child and that her inability to parent was likely to continue into the foreseeable future. The doctor testified that borderline personality disorder is a chronic disorder and, in the absence of any treatment, its symptoms will persist. If Ardell J. had not participated in any psychotherapy since the time of the evaluation, his opinion regarding her inability to parent would remain unchanged.

The State also called Rosemary Spizzirri, a social worker employed by Catholic Charities, to testify. Spizzirri testified that she is familiar with the respondents as she “supervised the case” from October 1999 through May 2001. Spizzirri testified that the case file revealed that the respondents had completed a parenting evaluation, John J. had completed a drug and alcohol assessment, and Ardell J. had undergone a court-ordered psychological evaluation. Although John J.’s drug assessment indicated that he needed to participate in substance abuse services, there was no documentation in the file that he had done so. Also, although the file contained documentation showing that Ardell J. obtained counseling in 1994 and 1995 with regard to Jasmine J’s and Sapphire J.’s cases, there was no documentation that she did so after the parenting evaluation was performed.

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Bluebook (online)
799 N.E.2d 769, 343 Ill. App. 3d 865, 278 Ill. Dec. 904, 2003 Ill. App. LEXIS 1185, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-john-paul-j-illappct-2003.