In the Interest of C.J.

392 S.W.3d 763, 2012 WL 3139778, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 6414
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 2, 2012
DocketNo. 05-11-00697-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 392 S.W.3d 763 (In the Interest of C.J.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In the Interest of C.J., 392 S.W.3d 763, 2012 WL 3139778, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 6414 (Tex. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion By

Justice LANG-MIERS.

We deny appellant’s motion for rehearing and, on our own motion, withdraw our opinion dated April 30, 2012, and vacate the judgment of that date. This is now the opinion of the Court. JH (Father) appeals the trial court’s judgment terminating his parental rights. Father raises five issues on appeal. Four of those issues challenge the factual sufficiency of the evidence to support certain findings and another challenges the constitutionality of former section 263.405© of the Texas Family Code. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

Background

SJ (Mother) and Father met in approximately 2002. Mother had a child, C, who Mother said was born in September 2002, before she met Father. Mother and Father were never married by ceremony, but they claimed to be married by common law. They had three children together, I, born in 2006; B, born in 2007; and L, born in 2009.

In May 2008, the Dallas County Child Protective Services Unit of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (the Department) received a referral concerning possible domestic violence and neglect of the children in Mother and Father’s home. Mother agreed to place the children temporarily with K, Father’s mother, while the Department investigated the allegations. We will refer to this as the first case.

The Department tried to call K a couple of days later to check on the children, but could not reach her. The Department searched for the children all summer and, in September, Father brought the children to the Department. The Department placed the children in foster care and Mother and Father were ordered to complete certain services before the children could be returned to the home. Mother and Father completed the services and the Department returned C, I, and B to the home in June 2009.

In July 2009, Mother gave birth to L. About a week or two after L’s birth, Mother said Father hit her while she was holding L. The Department moved Mother and all four children to a domestic violence shelter. While they were at the shelter, L sustained bilateral skull fractures; she was about two weeks old. Mother said the clasp broke on the bassinet and L fell down two concrete steps. The hospital said the injuries were consistent with a fall and did not keep L overnight. The De-[766]*766partraent concluded that the injuries resulted from an accident and did not recommend further services for the parents.

Mother left the shelter after L was injured and took all the children home. Father agreed not to stay at home until he completed a batterers’ intervention program. At some point, however, he returned to the home without completing the program. In November 2009, Father discovered that L, who was now four months old, was “cold” and not breathing. She had been sleeping on Mother’s bed. Emergency medical technicians came to the home, could not revive L, and she was pronounced dead. Dr. Reade Quinton, a medical examiner, testified that he was unable to determine the cause of L’s death. He said he could not rule the death a “SIDS-type” death because of L’s history of skull fractures and a possible seizure disorder.

Dr. Quinton also testified that he thought the previous skull fractures L sustained were inconsistent with a fall down steps. He said the fractures indicated two points of impact and had to have been caused by significant force. He said if he had seen L at the time of the skull injury he would have asked for a consult by REACH, a group that evaluates children when there is a suspicion of nonaccidental trauma, but he did not see anything in the file to indicate a REACH consult was requested.

After L’s death, the State obtained temporary conservatorship of the other three children, moved to terminate Mother’s parental rights to all three children, and moved to terminate Father’s parental rights to I and B. We will refer to this case as the second case.

The first time this case was tried it resulted in a mistrial. Two days before the case was to be retried, Mother relinquished her parental rights to all three children and the trial proceeded against Father. The jury heard three days of evidence and found that Father had knowingly placed or allowed I and B to remain in conditions or surroundings which endangered their physical or emotional well-being, engaged in conduct or knowingly placed I and B with persons who engaged in conduct that endangered their physical or emotional well-being, or failed to comply with provisions of a court order concerning the actions necessary for Father to obtain the return of the children. The jury found that it was in I’s and B’s best interests that Father’s parental rights to both children be terminated. The jury also found that the Department should be appointed sole permanent managing conservator of all three children.

In accordance with the jury’s verdict, the court rendered judgment terminating Father’s rights to I and B. The judgment also stated that C’s father was unknown and that the unknown father had failed to respond by filing an admission of paternity or a counterclaim for paternity. The judgment terminated C’s father’s parental rights and appointed the Department sole permanent managing conservator of all three children.

On appeal, Father challenges the factual sufficiency of the evidence to support (1) the jury’s findings that termination of his parental rights to I and B was in the children’s best interests; (2) the trial court’s finding that C’s father was unknown; (3) the trial court’s finding that termination of C’s father’s parental rights was in C’s best interest; and (4) the jury’s finding that the Department should be appointed sole permanent managing conservator of all three children instead of Father’s mother, K. Father also argues that former section 263.405(i) of the family code is unconstitutional because it violates the [767]*767separation of powers doctrine. The State did not file an appellate brief.

STANDARD OF REVIEW AND APPLICABLE LAW

A trial court may terminate the parent-child relationship if the fact-finder finds by clear and convincing evidence that (1) a parent committed one or more of the enumerated statutory acts or omissions, and (2) termination is in the best interest of the child. Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 161.001 (West Supp.2012); In re W.D.W., 173 S.W.3d 607, 609 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2005, no pet.). Clear and convincing evidence is “the measure or degree of proof that will produce in the mind of the trier of fact a firm belief or conviction as to the truth of the allegations sought to be established.” Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 101.007 (West 2008).

In this appeal, Father does not challenge the findings that he committed one or more of the enumerated statutory acts or omissions. He challenges only the evidence supporting the findings that termination of his parental rights is in the best interests of the children.

In reviewing the factual sufficiency of the evidence, we look at all the evidence and “give due consideration to evidence that the fact-finder could reasonably have found to be clear and convincing.” In re J.F.C., 96 S.W.3d 256, 266 (Tex.2002).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
392 S.W.3d 763, 2012 WL 3139778, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 6414, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-interest-of-cj-texapp-2012.