In Re NLM

101 S.W.3d 376, 2003 WL 1846162
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 10, 2003
Docket25139
StatusPublished

This text of 101 S.W.3d 376 (In Re NLM) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re NLM, 101 S.W.3d 376, 2003 WL 1846162 (Mo. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

101 S.W.3d 376 (2003)

In the Interest of N.L.M.
B.M., Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
Greene County Juvenile Office, Defendant-Respondent.

No. 25139.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Division Two.

April 10, 2003.

*377 Paul F. Sherman, Daniel, Powell & Kiefer, LLC, Springfield, for appellant.

Bill Prince, Springfield, for respondent.

*378 JOHN E. PARRISH, Judge.

B.M. (father) appeals the termination of his parental rights to N.L.M. This court affirms.

N.L.M. was born November 11, 1990. She was placed in protective custody in 1994. Prior to that time, she was in the custody of her mother. At the time the juvenile court first took custody of N.L.M., father was incarcerated in the Missouri Department of Corrections serving sentences of 10 years for first degree robbery, 20 years and 30 years for two offenses of armed criminal action, and 30 years for first degree assault. Father is still incarcerated. His sentences are consecutive sentences. He expects to have a parole hearing in 2005. He explained, "That would be the first even hint of a likelihood but the—the odds of me getting parole in 2005 are so steep I don't think I can calculate it...."

N.L.M. was returned to her mother's custody in 1998, but removed in 1999 at which time mother's parental rights were terminated. The proceeding to terminate father's parental rights that is the subject of this appeal was initiated October 23, 2001.

After an evidentiary hearing, the trial court found "based on clear, cogent and convincing evidence that the allegations contained in the Petition to Terminate Parental Rights are true and the statutory grounds for the termination of parental rights of the father exist...." The trial court concluded:

a. The father neglected the child.
b. The child has been under the jurisdiction of the court for in excess of one year and the conditions leading to the assumption of jurisdiction continue to exist.

The judgment declared:

In reaching the conclusions enumerated... the Court has considered the following factors:

a. The child's lack of emotional ties to the parent.

b. The extent to which the parent has not provided payments for the care and maintenance of the minor child including the time the child was in the custody of the Division of Family Service[s].

c. That additional services would not bring about lasting parental adjustment enabling a return of the child to a parent within an ascertainable period of time.

d. The father is serving a 90-year felony sentence which is of such a nature that the child will be deprived of a stable home for a period of years.

It concluded "that it would be in the best interests of the minor child to terminate the parental rights of the father." The parental rights of father were terminated.

Father presents three points on appeal. He argues the evidence was not sufficient to support either of the grounds the trial court found as bases for terminating parental rights (Points I and II), and that the findings the trial court made based on the required factors of § 211.447.6[1] were against the weight of the evidence.

"Juvenile proceedings and appellate review of such, partake the nature of civil proceedings and the scope of review is as in court-tried cases." C.R.K. v. H.J.K., 672 S.W.2d 696, 698 (Mo.App. 1984). The trial court order terminating parental rights is the judgment from which the appeal is taken. § 211.261, RSMo 2000; Rule 120.01. The judgment *379 will be affirmed unless there is no substantial evidence to support it, it is against the weight of the evidence, or it erroneously declares or applies the law. In Interest of S.J.G., 871 S.W.2d 638, 640 (Mo.App.1994), citing In Interest of L.W., 830 S.W.2d 885, 886 (Mo.App. 1992). This court views the facts and reasonable inferences from those facts in the light most favorable to the judgment. In Interest of M.L.K., 804 S.W.2d 398, 400 (Mo.App.1991). Where multiple statutory bases for termination of parental rights are found, all that must be found in order to affirm the judgment is that one of the statutory grounds was proven and that termination is in the best interests of the [child]. In Interest of S.J.G., supra, at 641.

M.J. v. Greene County Juvenile Office, 66 S.W.3d 745, 747 (Mo.App.2001).

The petition to terminate father's parental rights was filed by a Greene County juvenile officer. The petition alleged grounds prescribed by § 211.447.4(2) and (3). It alleged:

a. That the minor child has been abused and/or neglected. That the Juvenile Court of Greene County, Missouri, found in Case Number 199JU0551 that said minor was subject to abuse and/or neglect.
i. The father has repeatedly and continuously failed, although physically or financially able to provide the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or education as defined by law, or other care and control necessary for the child's physical, mental or emotional health and development.
b. That the minor child has been under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court for in excess of one year and the conditions which led to the assumption of jurisdiction continue to persist or conditions of a potentially harmful nature continue to exist and there is little likelihood that those conditions will be remedied at an early enough date so that the child can be returned to a parent in the near future and the continuation of the parent and child relationship greatly diminishes the child's prospects for early integration into a stable and permanent home.
i. The father has not complied with the terms of his court ordered treatment plan.

Point II is directed to the trial court finding that N.L.M. had been under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court for more than one year and that the conditions that led to the juvenile court's jurisdiction continued to persist; that there was little likelihood those conditions would be remedied early enough for the child to be returned to a parent in the near future; and that continuation of father's parental relationship greatly diminished N.L.M.'s prospects for early integration into a stable and permanent home. Point II argues the evidence did not support that finding.

The trial court took judicial notice of Greene County Juvenile Court file No. 194JU0305. It was the case that resulted in the juvenile court originally assuming jurisdiction over N.L.M. and which adjudicated her to be neglected. N.L.M. has been under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court since July 1994. She was three years old when the juvenile court placed her in its custody. Father was incarcerated at that time. He is still incarcerated.

N.L.M. has been in protective care since the time the juvenile court took jurisdiction over her until the present, other than from July 1998 until November 1999 when N.L.M. was returned to her mother's care.

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Related

In Interest of MLK
804 S.W.2d 398 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1991)
In Interest of SJG
871 S.W.2d 638 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1994)
In Interest of M.J. v. Greene County Juvenile Office
66 S.W.3d 745 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2001)
B.M. v. Juvenile Officer of Dallas County
830 S.W.2d 885 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1992)
In re C.R.K. v. H.J.K.
672 S.W.2d 696 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1984)
M. G. v. Juvenile Officer of Cape Girardeau County
828 S.W.2d 951 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1992)
Juvenile Officer v. L.L.J.
24 S.W.3d 771 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2000)
B.M. v. Greene County Juvenile Office
101 S.W.3d 376 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
101 S.W.3d 376, 2003 WL 1846162, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-nlm-moctapp-2003.