Spangler v. Texas Department of Protective & Regulatory Services

962 S.W.2d 253, 1998 Tex. App. LEXIS 815, 1998 WL 41642
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 4, 1998
Docket10-97-210-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by102 cases

This text of 962 S.W.2d 253 (Spangler v. Texas Department of Protective & Regulatory Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Spangler v. Texas Department of Protective & Regulatory Services, 962 S.W.2d 253, 1998 Tex. App. LEXIS 815, 1998 WL 41642 (Tex. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinions

OPINION

DAVIS, Chief Justice.

Appellee, the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (“DPRS”), filed suit to terminate the parental rights of appellant, Thomas Edward Spangler, with respect to his two daughters. As grounds for termination, DPRS alleges that Spangler: (1) knowingly placed or knowingly allowed his children to remain in conditions or surroundings which endangered their physical or emotional well-being; (2) engaged in conduct or knowingly placed his children with persons who engaged in conduct which endangered the physical or emotional well-being of the children; (3) failed to support the children in accordance with his ability during a period of one year; and (4) that termination of the parent-child relationship would be in the best interest of the children. Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 161.001 (Vernon 1996). The jury found that Spangler engaged in the conduct alleged and that termination was in the best interest of the children. The trial court signed a decree terminating parental rights. Span-gler brings this appeal asserting in one point of error that the trial court erred in rendering judgment because the jury’s findings of fact were not supported by factually sufficient evidence. We will affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Spangler is the father of two girls, seven year old M.R.S. and five year old R.D.S. In 1994, a grand jury indicted Spangler for sexually assaulting a child. On June 25, 1995, officers with the Bellmead Police Department arrested Spangler for driving while intoxicated while his daughters were in the vehicle. In 1996, Spangler was incarcerated for six counts of felony retaliation against DPRS employees. On March 24, 1997, this case was submitted to a jury and the trial court terminated the parent-child relationship between the children and Spangler as well as with their biological mother.

[256]*256POINT OF ERROR

Spangler’s sole point of error alleges that the evidence is factually insufficient to support the jury’s finding that he engaged in conduct or knowingly placed the children with persons who engaged in conduct which endangered the physical or emotional well-being of the children. Spangler also asserts that the evidence is factually insufficient to support the jury’s finding that he failed to support the children during the one year period preceding the filing of the termination petition.

TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS

The natural right existing between parents and their children is of constitutional dimension. Holick v. Smith, 685 S.W.2d 18, 20 (Tex.1985). The termination of parental rights involves fundamental constitutional rights. Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 651, 92 S.Ct. 1208, 1212, 31 L.Ed.2d 551, 558 (1972). A termination decree is complete, final, irrevocable, and divests for all time that natural right as well as all legal rights, privileges, duties, and powers with respect to each other except for the child’s right to inherit. Holick, 685 S.W.2d at 20.

In proceedings to terminate the parent-child relationship brought under Section 161.001 of the Family Code, the petitioner must establish one or more acts or omissions enumerated under subsection (1) of the statute and must additionally prove, that termination of the parent-child relationship is in the best interest of the child. Richardson v. Green, 677 S.W.2d 497, 499 (Tex.1984). Both elements must be established, and proof of one element does not relieve the petitioner of the burden of proving the other. See Holley v. Adams, 544 S.W.2d 367, 370 (Tex.1976); Wiley v. Spratlan, 543 S.W.2d 349, 351 (Tex.1976).

CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE

Termination of parental rights is a drastic remedy and is of such weight and gravity that due process requires the petitioner to justify termination by “clear and convincing evidence.” In re G.M., 596 S.W.2d 846, 847 (Tex.1980). This standard is defined as “that measure or degree of proof which will produce in the mind of the trier of fact a firm belief or conviction as to the truth or the allegations sought to be established.” Id. Although the clear and convincing standard of proof required at the trial level is well settled, the standard of appellate review to be applied by this court is not as well defined. In re L.R.M., 763 S.W.2d 64, 65 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1989, no writ).

Texas law requires this court to determine if the trial court adhered to the clear and convincing standard of proof. Baxter v. Texas Dep’t of Human Resources, 678 S.W.2d 265, 267 (Tex.App.—Austin 1984, no writ). The Texas Supreme Court has held that termination proceedings should be “strictly scrutinized.” Holick, 685 S.W.2d at 20; G.M., 596 S.W.2d at 846. “In reviewing the factual sufficiency of the record in a termination suit, [the court of appeals] must consider all of the evidence as required by In re King’s Estate, 150 Tex. 662, 244 S.W.2d 660 (1951), while applying the ‘clear and convincing evidence’ standard of proof.” G.M. v. Texas Dep’t of Human Resources, 717 S.W.2d 185, 187 (Tex.App.—Austin 1986, no writ).

However, it is imprecise to say that the court of appeals should apply the clear and convincing standard of proof because the standard of proof must, by definition, be applied in the trial court. L.R.M., 763 S.W.2d at 66. The Dallas Court of Appeals recognized this distinction in Neiswander v. Bailey, 645 S.W.2d 835, 835-36 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1982, no writ) (citing Beeler v. American Trust Co., 24 Cal.2d 1, 147 P.2d 583, 600 (1944)) (Traynor, J., dissenting); Bryant M. Bennett, Comment, Evidence: Clear and Convincing Proof: Appellate Review, 32 Cal.L.Rev. 74, 78 (1944). In Neiswander, the court held:

[I]t is the duty of the appellate court in reviewing the evidence to determine, not whether the trier could reasonably conclude that the existence of a fact is more probable than not, as in ordinary civil eases, but whether the trier of fact could reasonably conclude that the existence of a fact is highly probable.

[257]*257Neiswander, 645 S.W.2d at 835-86. This standard of appellate review recognizes that the trier of fact judges the credibility of witnesses. Wayland v. City of Arlington, 711 S.W.2d 232, 233 (Tex.1986). However, using the term “highly probable” is an unnecessary complication because, in this context, “highly probable” is merely a synonym for “clear and convincing.” L.R.M., 763 S.W.2d at 66.

Therefore, the rule adopted by this court is stated as follows: When the trier of fact is required to make a finding by clear and convincing evidence, the court of appeals will only sustain a point of error alleging insufficient evidence if the trier of fact could not reasonably find the existence of the fact to be established by clear and convincing evidence. See L.R.M.,

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962 S.W.2d 253, 1998 Tex. App. LEXIS 815, 1998 WL 41642, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spangler-v-texas-department-of-protective-regulatory-services-texapp-1998.