M.J.C. v. G.R.W.

69 So. 3d 197, 2011 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 22
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedJanuary 21, 2011
Docket2090869 and 2090889
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 69 So. 3d 197 (M.J.C. v. G.R.W.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
M.J.C. v. G.R.W., 69 So. 3d 197, 2011 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 22 (Ala. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

A.C. (“the mother”) and M.J.C. (“the father”) are the married parents of four children. Their youngest child, M.C. (“the child”), has lived with G.R.W. and K.W. (“the custodians”) since shortly after his birth in January 2006. In November 2008, on petition of the custodians, the Etowah Juvenile Court granted the custodians custody of the child. On December 4, 2009, the custodians filed a petition to terminate the parental rights of the parents. After a trial in May 2010, the juvenile court entered a judgment terminating the parental rights of both parents. After their jointly filed postjudgment motion was denied, both parents timely appealed, and their appeals were consolidated.

“A juvenile court is required to apply a two-pronged test in determining whether to terminate parental rights: (1) clear and convincing evidence must support a finding that the child is dependent; and (2) the court must properly consider and reject all viable alternatives to a termination of parental rights. Ex parte Beasley, 564 So.2d 950, 954 (Ala.1990).”

B.M. v. State, 895 So.2d 319, 331 (Ala.Civ. App.2004). A juvenile court’s judgment terminating parental rights must be supported by clear and convincing evidence. Bowman v. State Dep’t of Human Res., 534 So.2d 304, 305 (Ala.Civ.App.1988). “ ‘[CJlear and convincing evidence’ ” is “‘[e]vidence that, when weighed against evidence in opposition, will produce in the mind of the trier of fact a firm conviction as to each essential element of the claim and a high probability as to the correctness of the conclusion.’ ” L.M. v. D.D.F., 840 So.2d 171, 179 (Ala.Civ.App.2002) (quoting Ala.Code 1975, § 6-11-20(b)(4)). The juvenile court’s factual findings in a judgment terminating parental rights based on evidence presented ore tenus are presumed correct. K.P. v. Etowah County Dep’t of Human Res., 43 So.3d 602, 605 (Ala.Civ.App.2010). Furthermore, when the juvenile court has not made specific factual findings in support of its judgment, we must presume that the juvenile court made those findings necessary to support its judgment, provided that those findings are supported by the evidence. D.M. v. Walker County Dep’t of Human Res., 919 So.2d 1197, 1210 (Ala.Civ.App.2005).

The termination of parental rights is governed by Ala.Code 1975, § 12-15-319. That statute reads, in part:

“(a) If the juvenile court finds from clear and convincing evidence, competent, material, and relevant in nature, that the parents of a child are unable or unwilling to discharge their responsibilities to and for the child, or that the conduct or condition of the parents renders them unable to properly care for the child and that the conduct or condition is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future, it may terminate the parental rights of the parents. In determining whether or not the parents are unable or unwilling to discharge their responsibilities to and for the child and to terminate the parental rights, the juvenile court shall consider the following factors including, but not limited to, the following:
“(2) Emotional illness, mental illness, or mental deficiency of the parent, or excessive use of alcohol or controlled substances, of a duration or nature as to render the parent unable to care for needs of the child.
“(4) Conviction of and imprisonment for a felony.
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“(9) Failure by the parents to provide for the material needs of the child or to pay a reasonable portion of support of the child, where the parent is able to do so.
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“(12) Lack of effort by the parent to adjust his or her circumstances to meet the needs of the child in accordance with agreements reached, including agreements reached with local departments of human resources or licensed child-placing agencies, in an administrative review or a judicial review.”

As noted above, the child has been living with the custodians since shortly after his birth. The record does not reflect exactly why the child was placed in the home of the custodians, but it is clear from the record that the parties agreed to the arrangement at that time. The custodians testified that, at the time they took the child into their home, they believed that they would adopt the child. However, the father testified that, at the time the child was placed with the custodians, the custodians swore that they would not try to take the child away from the father.

The custodians sought legal custody of the child in the fall of 2008. The record does not contain the petition by which the custodians sought custody or a transcript of the trial on the custody petition. However, the juvenile court awarded custody of the child to the custodians in November 2008. The mother was awarded visitation with the child; the testimony at trial indicated that the visits were to be supervised and held in the home of her mother and stepfather, G.N. (“the maternal grandmother”) and S.N. (“the maternal grandfather”) (referred to collectively as “the maternal grandparents”). The father, who was incarcerated at the time, was not awarded specified visitation with the child.

At the time of the May 2010 trial on the termination-of-parental-rights petition, the mother had pleaded guilty to robbery in the second degree; she was awaiting sentencing. The mother was not employed at the time of trial, although she testified that she had put in several applications for employment; she said that her pending criminal charge had prevented her from being offered employment. The mother had been employed at Pilgrim’s Pride, a chicken-processing plant, for two or three months in the fall of 2009 and for a week or two weeks at another place of employment. However, she said that she did clean houses periodically for some relatives.

The mother testified that she and her other three children live with the maternal grandparents. She said that she had lived with the maternal grandparents from the time that the father was first imprisoned in 2008 because she and the other three children could not afford the house payment without the father’s income. However, she said that she did assist the maternal grandparents by contributing money toward household expenses and by paying for groceries. The maternal grandmother also testified that the mother paid part of her earnings to the maternal grandmother for household expenses in lieu of rent.

The mother denied the accusation that the maternal grandmother parented the other three children. She said that she, and not the maternal grandparents, was the primary caregiver for the other children. However, the record reflects that the eldest child of the parties, who is the biological child of the mother and the father’s brother, had resided primarily with the maternal grandmother for most of that child’s life.

[202]*202The mother denied having left the maternal grandparents’ home to live with other people, including her one-time boyfriend and codefendant in the robbery case, K.B. She said that she had sometimes “stayed with” another person for a short time but that she had never lived with anyone other than the maternal grandparents. Both the mother and the maternal grandmother testified that the maternal grandfather had kicked the mother out of the house in the fall of 2008, after the robbery, when the mother began seeing K.B.

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Mjc v. Grw
69 So. 3d 197 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2011)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
69 So. 3d 197, 2011 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 22, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mjc-v-grw-alacivapp-2011.