M.L.K. III, Father of M.L.K. and M.C.K., Minor Children v. Department of Children and Families

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: December 4, 2024
• Docket: 1D2022-4158
• Status: Published

Opinion

FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA _____________________________

No. 1D2022-4158 _____________________________

M.L.K. III, father of M.L.K. and M.C.K., minor children,

Appellant,

v.

DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES,

Appellee. _____________________________

On appeal from the Circuit Court for Leon County. Anthony B. Miller, Judge.

December 4, 2024

PER CURIAM.

AFFIRMED. See § 92.55(2), Fla. Stat. (allowing a court, when testimony is sought from “a sexual offense victim or witness” to “enter any order necessary to protect the victim or witness in any judicial proceeding . . . from severe emotional harm or mental harm due to the presence of the defendant”); see also M.S. v. Dep’t of Child. & Fams., 346 So. 3d 678, 682 (Fla. 3d DCA 2022) (applying § 92.55, Fla. Stat., to a termination of parental rights proceeding); S.D. v. Dep’t of Child. & Fams., 208 So. 3d 320, 322 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017) (holding that “dependency proceedings” including termination of parental rights “are civil in nature, not criminal, and the constitutional right to confront witnesses is not implicated in a civil dependency proceeding”).

LEWIS, BILBREY, and WINOKUR, JJ., concur.

_____________________________

Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331. _____________________________

Thomas J. Butler of Thomas Butler, P.A., Miami Beach, for Appellant.

Sarah J. Rumph, Appellate Counsel, Children’s Legal Services, Tallahassee; Sara Elizabeth Goldfarb, Statewide Director of Appeals, and Mercy Almaguer, Senior Attorney, Appellate Division, Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office, Tallahassee, for Appellee.