N.C.F. v. S.H.F.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 29, 2023
Docket122 MDA 2023
StatusUnpublished

This text of N.C.F. v. S.H.F. (N.C.F. v. S.H.F.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
N.C.F. v. S.H.F., (Pa. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

J-S24027-23

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT OP 65.37

N.C.F. : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : S.H.F. : : Appellant : No. 122 MDA 2023

Appeal from the Order Entered December 20, 2022 In the Court of Common Pleas of York County Civil Division at No(s): 2022-FC-000452-12C

K.A.F. : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : S.H.F. : : Appellant : No. 123 MDA 2023

Appeal from the Order Entered December 20, 2022 In the Court of Common Pleas of York County Civil Division at No(s): 2022-FC-000452-12B

BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., LAZARUS, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.*

MEMORANDUM BY LAZARUS, J.: FILED: AUGUST 29, 2023

S.H.F. (Father) appeals from the orders,1 entered in the Court of

Common Pleas of York County, issued pursuant to the Protection from Abuse ____________________________________________

* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.

1 Three PFA orders were entered against Father on behalf of his three minor

children, M.F., K.F., and N.F. Father appeals only those orders pertaining to K.F. and N.F. J-S24027-23

(PFA) Act, 23 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 6101-6122. After careful review, we vacate and

remand.2

On May 25, 2022, N.A.F. (Mother) filed a PFA petition against Father on

behalf of the parties three minor children, M.F. (born Nov 2017), K.F. (born

Jan. 2018), and N.F. (born Sept. 2019).3 The petition alleged that Father,

during a trip alone with K.F., had refused to allow K.F. to wear pajamas or

under garments to bed and that Father had K.F. had taken a shower together.

The petition also alleged that Father had had inappropriate contact with M.F.

at hotels, in RV campers and at home. See Protection from Abuse Petition,

5/25/22, at 2. On the same day, temporary PFA orders were entered against

Father with regard to Mother and all three children. On December 19, 2022,

the court held a final PFA order hearing at which Mother, M.F.,4 and Arnold

Shienvold, Ph.D., a qualified expert in psychology, testified.

Mother testified that on March 6, 2022, K.F. returned home from a

weekend trip in Connecticut with Father and disclosed to Mother that she had

suffered “sexual abuse” by Father. N.T. Final PFA Hearing, 12/19/22, at 20.

At this point in Mother’s testimony, defense counsel objected to any hearsay

statements regarding K.F. See id. at 22 (Defense counsel stating “[Mother] ____________________________________________

2 Mother did not file a brief in this matter.

3 Mother initially filed a PFA petition on March 7, 2022, but incorrectly listed

herself as the only protected party. There is an ongoing custody matter between Father and Mother.

4 M.F. was questioned by the trial court judge in camera, not in open court.

-2- J-S24027-23

didn’t really testify about any specifics, but I am going to have a continuing

objection if [the court] is going to allow [Mother] to testify about specifics.”)

Thereafter, the trial court conducted a Tender Years analysis on the record

to determine whether it would permit hearsay statements of K.F. See 42

Pa.C.S.A. § 5985.1 (Admissibility of certain statements).5

____________________________________________

5 “Hearsay is inadmissible unless it falls into one of the exceptions to the hearsay rule.” Commonwealth v. O’Drain, 829 A.2d 316 (Pa. Super. 2003). Tender Years statue, [set forth at 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5985.1], with respect to described certain offenses, “creates an exception to the hearsay rule in recognition of the fragile nature of young victims of sexual abuse.” Commonwealth v. Curley, 910 A.2d 692, 697 (Pa. Super. 2006) (citations and quotation marks omitted); see also 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5985.1(a)(2) (enumerating offenses subject to Tender Years Statute). Specifically, 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5985.1 (Admissibility of certain statements) provides the following:

(a) General rule.—

(1) An out-of-court statement made by a child victim or witness, who at the time the statement was 16 years of age or younger, describing any of the offenses enumerated in the paragraph (2), not otherwise admissible by statute or rule of evidence, is admissible in evidence in any criminal or civil proceeding if:

(i) the court finds, in an in camera hearing, that the evidence is relevant and that the time, content and circumstances of the statement provide sufficient indicia of reliability; and

(ii) the child either:

(A) testifies at the proceeding; or

(B) is unavailable as a witness. (Footnote Continued Next Page)

-3- J-S24027-23

The court stated that the notice requirement of the Tender Years statute

was satisfied due to the “fairly lengthy description [] of [K.F.]’s comments []

within the language of the PFA itself. . . . [The] PFA complaint [] contains

statements that can only really come from the child[.]” N.T. Final PFA

Hearing, supra at 26. The trial court considered the statement’s relevance

concluding, “[t]here’s no question to me at all about [relevance]. It’s relevant.

Daddy is sleeping with me naked. That’s pretty relevant to what’s going on

here today.” Id. Regarding reliability, the court stated, “[T]his is a

conversation between a four-year-old and her mother in a family home

without any third-party present.” Id. at 30-42. The court then requested

that both parties’ attorneys question Mother regarding whether testifying

would cause K.F. emotional distress which would prevent her from clearly ____________________________________________

(a.1) Emotional distress.—In order to make a finding under subsection (a) (1) (ii) (B) that the child is unavailable as a witness, the court must determine, based on evidence presented to it, that testimony by the child as a witness will result in the child suffering serious emotional distress that would substantially impair the child’s ability to reasonably communicate. In making this determination, the court may do all of the following:

(1) Observe and question the child, either inside or outside the court room.

(2) Hear testimony of a parent or custodian or any other person, such as a person who has dealt with the child in a medical or therapeutic setting.

Id. at § 5985.1(a)(1)(i-ii), (a.1) (emphasis added); see also Curly, supra at 698 (party seeking to admit child victim’s statement must notify adverse party of particulars of statement).

-4- J-S24027-23

communicating to the court. See 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5958.1(a.1) (listing factors

court may use to determine whether child victim would suffer serious

emotional distress to testify by alternative method).

Mother explained that K.F. is lively, energetic, outgoing, has the

attention span of a four-year-old, “occasion[ally]” has emotional regulation

difficulties, and has issues related to defiance of authority, which became

more apparent after her trip to Connecticut. N.T. Final PFA Hearing, supra at

29-30. Mother testified that if K.F. were to testify it would cause her emotional

distress “because it would bring up things that [K.F.] has been trying to work

on in counseling.” Id. at 34; id. at 29-30 (Mother testifying K.F. attends

trauma counseling with Counselor Ott because K.F.’s defiance of authority

became more apparent after March 6, 2022 trip with Father; K.F. had been

acting out); id. at 29 (Mother testifying K.F.’s school called Mother on “several

occasions . . . [regarding K.F.’s] defiance of authority).

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