Matter of Mesiah Elijah B. (Taneez B.)

132 A.D.3d 456, 17 N.Y.S.3d 637

• Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
• Decided: October 13, 2015
• Docket: 15841
• Status: Published

Opinion

Appeal from order of fact-finding and disposition, Family Court, New York County (Jane Pearl, J.), entered on or about January 13, 2014, which, upon inquest after respondent mother’s default at the fact-finding hearing, determined that the mother had neglected the subject child, and transferred custody of the child to the Commissioner of Social Services until the next permanency hearing, unanimously dismissed, without costs.

The order was entered upon the mother’s default and is therefore not appealable (see CPLR 5511; Matter of Darren Desmond W. [Nirandah W.], 121 AD3d 573 [1st Dept 2014]).

In any event, the finding of neglect is supported by a preponderance of the evidence (Family Ct Act §§ 1012 [¶] [i] [B]; 1046 [b] [i]). The mother’s medical records and the testimony of the agency caseworker demonstrate that the mother suffers from untreated mental illness, and has a history of erratic and aggressive behavior, which continued in the hospital after the child’s birth, which raised a substantial probability that the child would be at imminent risk of impairment if released to her care (see Matter of Cerenithy Ecksthine B. [Christian B.], 92 AD3d 417 [1st Dept 2012]).

Concur — Mazzarelli, J.P., Renwick, Andrias and Manzanet-Daniels, JJ.