In re Walker C.

CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedFebruary 6, 2020
DocketAC43068
StatusPublished

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

Bluebook
In re Walker C., (Colo. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

*********************************************** The “officially released” date that appears near the be- ginning of each opinion is the date the opinion will be pub- lished in the Connecticut Law Journal or the date it was released as a slip opinion. The operative date for the be- ginning of all time periods for filing postopinion motions and petitions for certification is the “officially released” date appearing in the opinion.

All opinions are subject to modification and technical correction prior to official publication in the Connecticut Reports and Connecticut Appellate Reports. In the event of discrepancies between the advance release version of an opinion and the latest version appearing in the Connecticut Law Journal and subsequently in the Connecticut Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports, the latest version is to be considered authoritative.

The syllabus and procedural history accompanying the opinion as it appears in the Connecticut Law Journal and bound volumes of official reports are copyrighted by the Secretary of the State, State of Connecticut, and may not be reproduced and distributed without the express written permission of the Commission on Official Legal Publica- tions, Judicial Branch, State of Connecticut. *********************************************** IN RE WALKER C. III* (AC 43068) Lavine, Devlin and Bear, Js.

Syllabus

The respondent mother appealed to this court from the judgment of the trial court terminating her parental rights with respect to her minor child. The trial court found, pursuant to statute (§ 17-112 (j) (3) (B) (i)), that the mother had failed to achieve a degree of personal rehabilitation as would encourage the belief that within a reasonable time she could assume a responsible position in the child’s life. She claimed that the court, inter alia, erroneously found that the child’s attorney argued in favor of the termination of the mother’s parental rights and that such error was not harmless because there was insufficient evidence tending to support termination of parental rights rather than permanent transfer of guardianship. Held: 1. The respondent mother could not prevail on her claim that the trial court erroneously stated the position of the child’s attorney and that such statement was not harmless error, as such claim did not challenge the court’s underlying factual findings or its conclusion that the petitioner proved by clear and convincing evidence the adjudicatory ground of failure to rehabilitate; although the trial court did not accurately set forth the position of the child’s attorney with respect to the termination of the mother’s parental rights, and did not set forth such counsel’s statements favoring a possible permanent transfer of guardianship as an alternative to termination, the court’s erroneous one sentence sum- mary of the final position of the child’s attorney was not a finding by the trial court, as it was not based on evidence, instead, it was a statement made by counsel in argument to the court, and, even if the court’s summary of such counsel’s position was to be considered a finding, any error deriving from the finding was harmless as there was abundant evidence of the mother’s multiyear history of alcohol and substance abuse and her lack of cooperation with rehabilitative services to provide support for the trial court’s ultimate finding by clear and convincing evidence that termination of the mother’s parental rights was in the best interest of the child. 2. The respondent mother could not prevail on her claim that the trial court erred by not ordering a permanent transfer of guardianship to the foster mother on the basis that there was considerable trial evidence tending to show that a permanent transfer of guardianship was in the child’s best interest, as the mother’s claim did not arise from anything she filed, offered into evidence, or argued during the trial; instead, the mother’s claim arose from argument of the child’s attorney that the foster mother preferred a permanent transfer of the child’s guardianship rather than termination of the mother’s rights, a claim that was contrary to the mother’s position during trial that she had rehabilitated and, therefore, the petition to terminate her parental rights should have been denied, and this court does not looked favorably on a party’s obvious, contradictory change of position on appeal and, accordingly, to allow the mother to reverse her trial court strategy and argue something completely different before this court on appeal would amount to sanctioning a trial where the representations to court and other counsel did not count. Argued December 11, 2019—officially released February 6, 2020**

Procedural History

Petition by the Commissioner of Children and Fami- lies to terminate the respondents’ parental rights with respect to their minor child, brought to the Superior Court in the judicial district of Hartford, Juvenile Mat- ters and tried to the court, Hoffman, J.; judgment termi- nating the respondents’ parental rights, from which the respondent mother appealed to this court. Affirmed. Joshua Michtom, assistant public defender, for the appellant (respondent mother). Stephen G. Vitelli, assistant attorney general, with whom, on the brief, were William Tong, attorney gen- eral, and Benjamin Zivyon, assistant attorney general, for the appellee (petitioner). Judith C. Dayner, for the minor child. Opinion

BEAR, J. The respondent mother appeals from the judgment of the trial court terminating her parental rights with respect to her minor child, Walker C. III (child). In the termination of parental rights petition, the petitioner, the Commissioner of Children and Families (commissioner), alleged that the respondent had failed to achieve such degree of personal rehabilitation as would encourage the belief that within a reasonable time, considering the age and needs of the child, she could assume a responsible position in the life of the child pursuant to General Statutes § 17a-112 (j) (3) (B) (i).1 On appeal, the respondent claims that (1) the court’s finding that the child’s attorney argued in favor of the termination of the respondent’s parental rights is clearly erroneous, (2) the court’s error was not harmless because there was insufficient evidence tending to sup- port termination of parental rights over permanent transfer of guardianship, and (3) there was considerable evidence tending to show that a permanent transfer of guardianship was in the child’s best interest.2 We affirm the judgment of the trial court. The trial court found the following facts by clear and convincing evidence. The respondent is the mother of the child and one other child, an older female half- sibling (daughter). The respondent has been involved with the Department of Children and Families (depart- ment) since 2009.3 Since that time, she continuously has denied that she has alcohol and substance abuse problems, despite several mandated reporters having informed the department that they had observed her to be intoxicated while in the presence of one or both children and while driving with them in her vehicle, thus demonstrating unsafe and otherwise inadequate supervision of her children. More specifically, on Febru- ary 12, 2015, a report was made stating that the respon- dent arrived at her daughter’s school smelling of alcohol and marijuana. A few months later, on June 3, 2015, the Hartford Police Department investigated the respondent’s allegation that her daughter’s father was sexually abusing the daughter, and the officer who investigated the allegation observed that the respondent appeared to have been intoxicated.

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Bluebook (online)
In re Walker C., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-walker-c-connappct-2020.