In Re Paternity of MMB

877 N.E.2d 1239, 2007 WL 4357123
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 14, 2007
Docket45A03-0706-JV-253
StatusPublished

This text of 877 N.E.2d 1239 (In Re Paternity of MMB) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana 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 Paternity of MMB, 877 N.E.2d 1239, 2007 WL 4357123 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

877 N.E.2d 1239 (2007)

In re the Matter of the PATERNITY OF M.M.B. and A.W.T.,
State of Indiana, Appellant,
v.
McKinzie M. Black, Jr., Appellee.

No. 45A03-0706-JV-253.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

December 14, 2007.

Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, Frances H. Barrow, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellant.

OPINION

NAJAM, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

The State appeals the trial court's order vacating its prior judgment of the paternity of McKinzie M. Black, Jr., over M.M.B. and A.W.T., two minor children. We address a single dispositive issue on review, namely, whether the trial court clearly erred in vacating its prior judgments.

We reverse.

*1240 FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On May 9, 1990, Angela Tucker ("Mother") and Black jointly filed a petition to establish the paternity of M.M.B. ("M.M.B.-Paternity Petition"), who was born out of wedlock on June 16, 1989. When he signed the M.M.B.-Paternity Petition, Black also signed an accompanying form in which he waived "now and forever" his right to counsel and his right to request blood testing to establish paternity ("Waiver Form"). Appellant's App. at 22, 24. On July 10, 1990, the trial court accepted the M.M.B.-Paternity Petition and entered an order establishing Black as the father of M.M.B. The court also ordered Black to pay child support for M.M.B.

On November 5, 1990, Mother and Black jointly filed a petition to establish the paternity of A.W.T. ("A.W.T.-Paternity Petition"), who was born out of wedlock on August 17, 1990. As he had done with the M.M.B.-Paternity Petition, Black again signed an accompanying Waiver Form for the A.W.T.-Paternity Petition. On January 8, 1991, the court accepted the A.W.T.-Paternity Petition and entered an order establishing Black as the father of A.W.T. The court also ordered Black to pay child support for A.W.T.

In 1991, Black moved to Tennessee. While there, Black had three children with Melissa Black, whom he subsequently married. Between 1991 and 1996, M.M.B. and A.W.T. spent summers with Black in Tennessee, and Black returned to Indiana to visit them over Christmas. But in 1996, Black was incarcerated for involuntary manslaughter, "drug sales," and aggravated assault. Id. at 81. Black remained in prison until 2002.

In the winter of 2002, after Black was released from prison, he picked up M.M.B. and A.W.T. from their Indiana home and took them to his home in Tennessee. M.M.B. and A.W.T. lived with Black for the next thirteen months. However, at the end of that time period, Black's three children with Melissa overheard A.W.T. tell M.M.B. that M.M.B.'s biological "daddy was dead." Id. at 47. In response, M.M.B. said to A.W.T., "well you don't even look like dad." Id. Black's children with Melissa informed Black of what M.M.B. and A.W.T. had said, and Black subsequently sought DNA confirmation of his paternity of M.M.B. and A.W.T.

Those genetic tests disclosed a "0.00%" probability that Black was the father of either M.M.B. or A.W.T. Id. at 29, 32. Black contacted Mother about the tests, and Mother told Black that she knew Black was not the father of either M.M.B. or A.W.T. Mother then asked Black to send the children back to her. On the way back to Indiana, Black talked to M.M.B. and A.W.T. about the genetic test results. M.M.B. told Black that M.M.B. knew who his biological father was, and that the biological father "had been buying [M.M.B.] stuff . . . and had spent time with them." Id. at 50. Black subsequently lost contact with M.M.B. and A.W.T. because of Mother's transient status.

On January 31, 2005, Black filed a motion to vacate the M.M.B.-Paternity Petition, the A.W.T.-Paternity Petition, and the accompanying orders for him to pay child support for M.M.B. and A.W.T. The trial court held a hearing on February 9, 2007, at which Black testified that he was illiterate and mentally unstable when he signed the original paternity petitions and the Waiver Forms. Black also testified that he was living with Mother when she gave birth to M.M.B. and A.W.T., that Mother had testified at the original paternity proceedings both that Black was the father of M.M.B. and A.W.T., and that no one else could be their father.

*1241 On March 19, 2007, the court entered its Order Granting Motion to Vacate Orders ("Order"). In that Order, the court stated, in pertinent part, as follows:

[Black] was under a mental disability prior to both hearings establishing paternity for [M.M.B.] and [A.W.T.] Respondent [Black] had been hospitalized for mental problems prior to both hearings, and had continuing untreated mental problems after being released from treatment at Methodist Hospital in Gary, Indiana, prior to the paternity determination in both causes. The mental problems continued after the date of the hearing, and were untreated due to financial and other considerations. [Black] and [Mother] lived together before, during and briefly after paternity was established for [M.M.B.] and [A.W.T.]
Respondent's admission of paternity in both cases was made relying on mother's testimony that no one but he could be the father of [M.M.B.] and [A.W.T.] Respondent believed mother and saw no need to spend money for blood testing. Respondent Black could barely read at the fourth grade level when he appeared in court for hearing on the paternity matters that concern the court. He did not appreciate that legal consequence of signing the waiver of blood testing affidavit. Mr. Black was not mentally competent to waive of [sic] his right to blood test or counsel, nor was he competent to enter a knowing admission of paternity.
* * *
The strongest argument made by respondent was that it would be unfair to require him to be bound by the judgments entered considering that he was incompetent at the time the judgments were entered, his admissions were based upon the false statements mother made in court regarding whether any other man could be the father of his children, and that it would be unfair that he support children that are not his biological children to the economic detriment of his younger children.
T.R.[60](B)(7) & (8) recognize that our courts should always aspire to do equity. The burden is upon the respondent Black to prove affirmatively that relief is necessary and just. Respondent proved that he was not competent at the time of the adjudication of paternity in these cases. There is no question that Black was not able to read or understand the document he signed that suggested that he voluntarily waived his right to blood test and counsel. Respondent Black did not look for an opportunity to take DNA test[s] to avoid parental responsibility. The need was thrust upon him in an unexpected time by the words coming from the mouths of his own young boys. Even though the circumstances that lead [sic] respondent to obtain DNA test[s] was not that which our Supreme Court considered in Fairrow v. Fairrow, 559 N.E.2d 597 [Ind. 1990], the circumstances were nevertheless unique.
This case is unique and therefore similar to Fairrow in that the DNA testing occurred not as a defense or attempt to evade paying support but rather because of the information his younger sons provided.

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Paternity of M.M.B. v. Black
877 N.E.2d 1239 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
877 N.E.2d 1239, 2007 WL 4357123, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-paternity-of-mmb-indctapp-2007.