In the Interest of G.N.

510 S.W.3d 134, 2016 WL 5121991, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 10325
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 21, 2016
DocketNo. 08-16-00077-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 510 S.W.3d 134 (In the Interest of G.N.) 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 G.N., 510 S.W.3d 134, 2016 WL 5121991, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 10325 (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION

ANN CRAWFORD McCLURE, Chief Justice

This appeal is from a judgment terminating the parental rights of F.N. (Father) to his daughter, G.N. We affirm.

FACTUAL SUMMARY

Father and Mother1 have six biological children, including G.N., who was two and one-half years of age at the time of trial. As reflected in orders admitted into evidence at trial, Father lost custody of his oldest child in 2009 in a case brought by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (the Department), and that child lives with his paternal grandmother, Irene. Father’s parental rights to the next three oldest children were terminated in 2012, and the youngest child is deceased. As a result of these cases, the Department has had substantial contact with Mother and Father.

Both Mother and Father have a history of substance abuse, including use of cocaine, marijuana and opiates. Father has a substantial criminal history which includes four assault charges, three of which involved injury to a family member, four theft charges, four cases involving possession of drugs, and a resisting arrest charge. There is also evidence that Father [136]*136violated protective orders. Additionally, Father has mental health issues involving bipolar disorder and anxiety. When Father does not take his prescribed medication, he can become aggressive and angry.

The Department became involved with G.N. when it received a report of neglectful supervision by Father and Mother on September 7, 2013. According to the report, Father was arrested for disorderly conduct, public intoxication, and assault on an officer while visiting a relative at the jail. Both parents became confrontational and combative during the visitation sign-in. Four-month-old G.N. was with her parents during this incident. The following week, the Department learned that Father had tested positive for cocaine, marihuana, and opiates. Father subsequently entered a no contest plea to the assault charge. The Department validated Father and Mother for neglectful supervision of G.N. and opened a Family Based Safety Services (FBSS) case. The Department placed G.N. with her grandmother, Irene. Following Mother’s release from inpatient substance abuse treatment in December 2013, she began residing with her sister. The Department subsequently placed G.N. with Mother’s sister under a safety plan which prohibited Mother from caring for G.N. without supervision. In February 2014, Mother took G.N. to the Child Crisis Center even though the safety plan required Mother’s contact with the child to be supervised.

The Department filed a petition seeking permanent conservatorship of G.N. and termination of Father’s parental rights if reunification could not be achieved. The trial court appointed the Department as the temporary managing conservator of G.N., and the Department placed the child with her paternal grandmother, Irene. Karen Sanchez, a Department caseworker, developed a service plan for Mother and Father. Father’s service plan included the following requirements:

• Refrain from illegal or criminal activity;
• Participate in psychological and psychiatric evaluations and follow all recommendations;
• Complete anger management classes;
• Participate in parenting classes;
• Attend AA/NA at least twice a week;
• Attend individual counseling sessions;
• Submit to random drug screening;
• Continue with outpatient treatment services with Aliviane;
• Maintain gainful employment and report changes to the Department;
• Obtain a safe and stable home environment for G.N., and report any changes in living arrangements; and
• Comply with supervised visitation.

The Department modified the case plan during the course of the case.

Father and Mother initially complied with the case plan, and G.N. was returned to the home in March 2015, but the Department removed her again in June 2015 due to Mother’s continued use of alcohol. The evidence at trial showed that Father and Mother failed to follow other aspects of the service plan. Father did not provide a stable and safe home environment for G.N. Father and Mother did not consistently attend AA/NA and they failed to comply with a referral for family therapy services. Father separated from Mother, but he did not notify the Department about the change in their relationship. There is also evidence that Father committed domestic violence against Mother during this period. On the day G.N. was removed from the home the second time, Father was arrested on a pending warrant for assault family violence. Father began dating another woman shortly after he [137]*137separated from Mother, and he was arrested for assaulting the girlfriend.

The trial court terminated Father’s parental rights to G.N., finding by clear and convincing evidence that Father had his parent-child relationship terminated with respect to another child based on a finding that Father’s conduct was in violation of § 161.001(1)(D) or (E) of the Texas Family Code, and that termination was in the child’s best interest.

BEST INTEREST

In his sole issue on appeal, Father challenges the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence supporting the best interest finding. A parent’s rights may be involuntarily terminated through proceedings brought under Section 161.001 of the Texas Family Code. See Tex. fam. code Ann. § 161.001 (West Supp. 2016). Under this provision, the petitioner must (1) establish one or more of the statutory acts or omissions enumerated as grounds for termination, and (2) prove that termination is in the best interest of the children. See id. Both elements must be established and termination may not be based solely on the best interest of the children as determined by the trier of fact. Texas Department of Human Services v. Boyd, 727 S.W.2d 531, 533 (Tex.1987); In the Interest of A.B.B., 482 S.W.3d 135, 138 (Tex.App.—El Paso 2015, no pet.). Father concedes that the evidence is sufficient to prove the predicate ground for termination. Consequently, the only issue is whether the evidence is legally and factually sufficient to prove that termination is in the child’s best interest.

Sufficiency Standards

When reviewing the legal sufficiency of the evidence in a termination case, we consider all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the trial court’s finding, “to determine whether a reasonable trier of fact could have formed a firm belief or conviction that its finding was true.” In the Interest of J.P.B., 180 S.W.3d 570, 573 (Tex.2005), quoting In re J.F.C., 96 S.W.3d 256, 266 (Tex.2002); see In re J.O.A., 283 S.W.3d 336, 344 (Tex.2009).

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Bluebook (online)
510 S.W.3d 134, 2016 WL 5121991, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 10325, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-interest-of-gn-texapp-2016.