in the Interest of I.G., I.G. and I.G., Children

383 S.W.3d 763, 2012 WL 4867583, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 8611
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided October 15, 2012·No. 07-12-00183-CV·Published·Cited by 58 cases

Opinion

OPINION

MACKEY K. HANCOCK, Justice.

Appellants, David and Sandra, 1 appeal a judgment that was based on a jury verdict that terminated the parental rights of both David and Sandra to each of their three children. The judgment included findings that Sandra had committed acts under Texas Family Code section 161.001(1)(D), (E), (L), and (0), while finding that David had committed acts under section 161.001(1)(D), (E), and (0). The judgment also found that termination of the parental rights of both parents was in the children’s best interest. We will affirm.

Background

In January of 2009, appellee, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (Department), was notified that I.G.-2, who was six months old at the time, had been treated for two broken legs. X-rays revealed that the child had fractures of the tibia and fibula of both legs. After initially providing multiple accounts of how I.G.-2 sustained this injury, Sandra eventually signed a formal written statement in which she admitted that she had forced the child into a walker in a manner which bent his legs back toward his body. Sandra, who was estranged from David at the time of these events, agreed to place the children 2 with a relative. Soon after this placement, the relative surrendered the children to the Department. After the children were surrendered, the Department sought an emergency removal and placed the children in foster care.

The reason that David and Sandra were estranged at the time of I.G.-2’s injuries was because of a domestic violence incident that occurred in December of 2008. Sandra’s parents took her out to celebrate her birthday while David stayed home with the children. While Sandra was away, *767 David became intoxicated. Sandra returned home, also intoxicated. The couple began arguing and, according to Sandra’s report at the time, 3 David struck Sandra in the head with a bed post. The police were called to the couple’s home where David was arrested. An emergency protective order was issued prohibiting David from having contact with Sandra or the children for sixty days.

Sandra ultimately pled guilty to the criminal offense of reckless injury to a child relating to I.G.-2’s January 2009 leg injuries. In accordance with a plea bargain, Sandra was found guilty of the offense and sentenced to ten years incarceration which was probated for a period of eight years. Sandra’s probation officer testified at the termination hearing that Sandra had committed several technical violations of the terms and conditions of her probation.

In February of 2009, the Department filed a petition seeking termination of David’s and Sandra’s parental rights to I.G.-l and I.G.-2. This case resulted in the entry of an Agreed Final Order in July of 2010. In the agreed order, the Department was appointed permanent managing conservator of I.G.-l and I.G.-2 with David and Sandra appointed possessory conservators. The Department’s pleadings seeking termination of appellants’ parental rights were dismissed without prejudice on the basis of the Department’s notice of nonsuit.

Soon after she was born, I.G.-B was removed by the Department and, in December of 2010, the Department filed a petition seeking termination of David’s and Sandra’s parental rights to I.G.-3. In March of 2011, the Department filed a second petition seeking termination of David’s and Sandra’s parental rights to I.G.-l and I.G.-2. As a result of temporary orders issued in relation to each of these proceedings, David and Sandra were ordered to comply with the Department’s Family Service Plan. Eventually, Trace Blakely, the foster care provider for each of the three children, filed a petition to intervene in the termination proceedings. The trial court granted Blakely’s intervention request, and consolidated the two termination proceedings.

The Department’s termination proceedings were tried before a jury from October 31 to November 7 of 2011. As a result of this trial, the jury returned a verdict finding that Sandra had engaged in conduct identified in Texas Family Code section 161.001(1)(D), (E), (L), and (O), and that termination of Sandra’s parental rights would be in the best interest of the children. The jury also returned a verdict finding that David had engaged in conduct identified in Texas Family Code section 161.001(1)(D), (E), and (O), and that termination of David’s parental rights would be in the best interest of the children. On April 23, 2012, the trial court entered a judgment accepting the jury’s findings and terminating David’s and Sandra’s parental rights to the children. By a joint notice, David and Sandra appealed. 4

David’s sole issue on appeal contends that the evidence presented at trial was legally and factually insufficient to support the jury’s verdict terminating the parent-child relationship between David and the *768 children. Sandra’s appointed counsel has filed a motion to withdraw and a brief in support thereof which renders her professional opinion that any issue that she could raise on appeal is frivolous and without merit. See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 744-45, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967).

Applicable Law and Standards of Review

The natural right existing between parents and their children is of constitutional dimensions. Holick v. Smith, 685 S.W.2d 18, 20 (Tex.1985); see Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745, 758-59, 102 S.Ct. 1388, 71 L.Ed.2d 599 (1982). A decree terminating this natural right is complete, final, irrevocable, and divests for all time that natural right as well as all legal rights, privileges, duties, and powers between the parent and child except for the child’s right to inherit. Holick, 685 S.W.2d at 20. That being so, we are required to strictly scrutinize termination proceedings. In re G.M., 596 S.W.2d 846, 846 (Tex.1980). However, parental rights are not absolute, and the emotional and physical interests of a child must not be sacrificed merely to preserve those rights. In re C.H., 89 S.W.3d 17, 26 (Tex.2002).

The Texas Family Code permits a court to terminate the parent-child relationship if the petitioner establishes (1) one or more acts or omissions enumerated under section 161.001(1), and (2) that termination of the parent-child relationship is in the best interest of the child. Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 161.001 (West Supp. 2012); 5 Holley v. Adams, 544 S.W.2d 367, 370 (Tex.1976) (citing Wiley v. Spratlan, 543 S.W.2d 349, 351 (Tex.1976)).

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in the Interest of I.G., I.G. and I.G., Children, 383 S.W.3d 763, 2012 WL 4867583, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 8611 (Tex. Ct. App. 2012).

383 S.W.3d 763 (in the Interest of I.G., I.G. and I.G., Children) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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