Matter of Destiny Marie M.

133 A.D.3d 440, 18 N.Y.S.3d 851

• Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
• Decided: November 10, 2015
• Docket: 16081A 16081
• Status: Published

Opinion

Order of disposition, Family Court, New York County (Stewart H. Weinstein, J.), entered on or about July 30, 2014, to the extent it brings up for review a fact-finding order, same court and Judge, entered on or about the same date, which found that respondent father had neglected the subject child, unanimously affirmed, without costs. Appeal from fact-finding order unanimously dismissed, without costs, as subsumed in the appeal from the order of disposition.

The finding of neglect is supported by a preponderance of the evidence, including the caseworker’s and mother’s testimony that the father was aware of the child’s existence in 2010 but failed to assert his parental rights and assume his parental responsibilities until three years later, when the child was four years old (see Family Ct Act § 1012 [f]; Nicholson v Scoppetta, 3 NY3d 357, 368 [2004]). The court’s credibility determination is entitled to deference (see Matter of Irene O., 38 NY2d 776, 777 [1975]). Concur — Mazzarelli, J.P., Renwick, Saxe and Moskowitz, JJ.