SC v. State

795 So. 2d 526, 2001 WL 1137356
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 27, 2001
Docket2000-CA-00837-SCT
StatusPublished

This text of 795 So. 2d 526 (SC v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
SC v. State, 795 So. 2d 526, 2001 WL 1137356 (Mich. 2001).

Opinion

795 So.2d 526 (2001)

In the Interest of S.C. and C. C.: B.R.C.
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2000-CA-00837-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

September 27, 2001.

*527 John Carlton Dawson Jr., Biloxi, Attorney for Appellant.

Herbert Wayne Wilson, Gulfport, Attorneys for Appellee.

Before McRAE, P.J., MILLS and WALLER, JJ.

WALLER, Justice, for the Court:

¶ 1. This case involves the abuse and neglect of three-year-old S.C. ("daughter") and her ten-year-old brother, C.C. ("son").[1] The daughter's grandmother, believing the daughter had been abused by her father, went to the Department of Human Services (DHS), which sought protective custody *528 before the Harrison County Youth Court. Ultimately, the youth court ordered that the daughter be placed in the custody of her mother, the son be placed in the custody of his mother, and that the father's visitation rights be terminated. The court further ordered that termination of parental rights proceedings be initiated against the father. Feeling aggrieved, the father appeals, raising the following issues:

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY ALLOWING THE INTRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE TO ESTABLISH THE TRUTHFULNESS OF A DECLARANT'S STATEMENTS?
II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY ALLOWING THE INTRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE CONTAINING INFORMATION BASED UPON INADMISSIBLE HEARSAY STATEMENTS?
III. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY ALLOWING TESTIMONY CONCERNING MATTERS THAT WERE IRRELEVANT TO THE CAUSE OF ACTION BEFORE THE TRIAL COURT AND CONCERNING ALLEGED OTHER BAD ACTS?
IV. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT ALLOWED HEARSAY TESTIMONY PURSUANT TO MISS. R. EVID. 803(25)?
V. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT ADJUDICATED THE DAUGHTER TO BE AN ABUSED CHILD AND THE SON TO BE A NEGLECTED CHILD?
VI. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ITS INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION OF MISS. CODE ANN. § 43-21-603(7) AS IT RELATED TO THE DISPOSITION AND PERMANENCY HEARINGS AND RESULTING ORDERS?

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

¶ 2. On February 17, 2000, a shelter hearing for the daughter was held by the Harrison County Youth Court, in which the court found there was probable cause to believe it had jurisdiction. The youth court ordered the temporary placement of the daughter with the maternal grandmother.

¶ 3. On February 22 and 23, 2000, petitions were filed in the youth court alleging that the daughter was an abused child and the son was a neglected child, both within the meaning of the Youth Court Law, Miss.Code Ann. §§ 43-21-101 to-755 (2000 & Supp.2001). Also, on February 23, 2000, a shelter hearing was held with respect to both children. The youth court ordered the continued custody placement of the daughter with the grandmother and granted supervised visitation to the father and the daughter's mother. The youth court also appointed Dr. J. Donald Matherne, a clinical psychologist, to evaluate the son and daughter. Dr. Matherne prepared reports with respect to his evaluations of the children and testified in the proceedings as an expert witness.

¶ 4. On May 9 and 10, 2000, a trial was held in youth court resulting in the adjudications of the daughter as an abused child and the son a neglected child.

¶ 5. On May 12, 2000, the trial court entered an opinion and disposition order granting custody of the daughter to her mother and custody of the son to his mother. The youth court order further terminated the father's visitation rights as to *529 both children and ordered that a permanency hearing be set within thirty (30) days from the date of the order.

¶ 6. On June 12, 2000, a permanency hearing was held in youth court. The court reaffirmed the previous custody placements of the daughter and son, ordered that DHS initiate termination of parental rights proceedings against the father, and enjoined the father from having any contact with either child.

FACTS

¶ 7. At the time the original complaint was made to DHS, the father and the daughter's mother were involved in divorce proceedings, and the father had custody of the daughter and son.

¶ 8. At trial the daughter's testimony could be best described as conflicting and inconsistent, as might be expected from a three year old. However, the daughter did specifically state three times, "My daddy stuck his finger in my butt." Pauline Myers, a social worker with DHS, testified that during her interview with the daughter, the daughter told her the father put his finger in her buttocks.

¶ 9. Dr. Matherne reported the daughter also told him her father had put his finger in her buttocks, and he concluded the father had sexually abused the daughter. With respect to the son, Dr. Matherne's diagnostic impression was that the son had a "sibling relationship problem which indicated a problem existing between himself and S. [the daughter]." The relationship problem is related to the son's acting out sexual behavior with his two sisters. Dr. Matherne's "Report of Psychological Evaluation" regarding the daughter and son was introduced into evidence.

¶ 10. The older sister related an incident that occurred where her father touched her in an inappropriate manner while she was at his home. The son explained that his father showed him Playboy magazines and taught him about sexual acts from those magazines. The son further testified that he had been caught mimicking sexual acts with his maternal half-sister, and with the daughter, at the father's house. The son's conduct did not involve the performance of any actual sex acts, but imitation of sexual behavior.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 11. The youth court may hear any evidence that is material and relevant to disposition of the cause, including hearsay and opinion evidence. In re R.D., 658 So.2d 1378, 1390 (Miss.1995). The visitation and restrictions in a custody hearing are within the discretion of the chancery court. White v. Thompson, 569 So.2d 1181, 1185 (Miss.1990). The standard of review for the youth court is the same as that of a chancellor whether the ruling was manifestly wrong, clearly erroneous, or applied an erroneous legal standard. M.C.M.J. v. C.E.J., 715 So.2d 774, 776 (Miss.1998).

DISCUSSION

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY ALLOWING THE INTRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE TO ESTABLISH THE TRUTHFULNESS OF A DECLARANT'S STATEMENTS.

II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT ALLOWED THE INTRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE CONTAINING INFORMATION BASED UPON INADMISSIBLE HEARSAY STATEMENTS.

¶ 12. The father argues that Dr. Matherne's reports concerning the daughter and son were inadmissible hearsay. *530 Dr. Matherne recorded that the daughter told him her father put his finger in her buttocks and that the son stated the father explained sex to him using Playboy magazines. The court found the statements from the children recorded in the reports were admissible pursuant to the medical records exception to the hearsay rule, M.R.E. 803(4).

¶ 13. The medical records exception to the hearsay rule allows statements made for the purpose of diagnosis or treatment to be introduced to be into evidence:

(4) Statements for Purposes of Medical Diagnosis or Treatment.

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In the Interest of S.C. v. State
795 So. 2d 526 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2001)

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Bluebook (online)
795 So. 2d 526, 2001 WL 1137356, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sc-v-state-miss-2001.