Ss v. Dl

944 So. 2d 553, 2007 WL 10029
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJanuary 3, 2007
Docket4D05-1548
StatusPublished

This text of 944 So. 2d 553 (Ss v. Dl) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ss v. Dl, 944 So. 2d 553, 2007 WL 10029 (Fla. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

944 So.2d 553 (2007)

S.S., the father, Appellant,
v.
D.L., the mother, Appellee.

No. 4D05-1548.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

January 3, 2007.
Rehearing Denied January 3, 2007.

*555 Felicia Shaman of Law Office of Felicia Shaman, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellant.

Richard L. Rosenbaum of Law Offices of Richard Rosenbaum, Fort Lauderdale, for appellee.

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

STONE, J.

We deny D.L.'s motion for rehearing and rehearing en banc, but withdraw our opinion of August 23, 2006, and substitute the following opinion in its place.

We reverse a partial final judgment terminating parental rights of S.S., the father, on the petition of D.L., the former wife and mother. The Department of Children and Families is not a party to these proceedings.

In 1997, S.S. was convicted of sexual battery of the thirteen-year-old friend of his eldest daughter. S.S. was sentenced to eight years in prison, followed by ten years of probation. There have never been any allegations of abuse of this daughter, or any of his children.

D.L. ultimately remarried. When S.S.'s release became imminent, nearly five years after the marriage was dissolved, his former wife amended the petition for dissolution to include termination of S.S.'s parental rights to his two younger daughters.[1] S.S. was still incarcerated at the *556 time of the termination hearing and appeared by telephone.

The only witnesses against him were D.L., her new husband, and a guardian ad litem. The guardian ad litem report was distinctly in favor of termination of parental rights. She had spent time in the mother's new home, interviewing S.S.'s daughters, D.L., and her new husband. The guardian ad litem spent an hour interviewing S.S. on the telephone. The gist of her report was that the girls were flourishing, had few memories of their biological father and those were not all that pleasant, and their lives should not be disrupted. She had nothing nice to say about S.S., finding him manipulative, his crime disgusting, and his mottled criminal past disturbing. S.S. had a cocaine charge in Texas in 1985, which was dismissed, and had been convicted of theft in 1994. However, there is no consideration in the report of exploring whether termination was necessarily the least restrictive means of protecting the children. S.S. underwent no psychological or substance abuse testing and has not been offered services or therapy.

At the final hearing, S.S. testified that he "would abide by all Court's orders and offer to do whatever the Court recommends for that — so they could make their own determinations as to my mental capacity and character and things like that." He stated that he had been evaluated by the Department of Corrections (DOC) when first incarcerated, but that no treatment had been ordered for him, adding, "I'd do anything that's possible so that I could get the right to be a part of my children's lives."

S.S.'s attorney addressed the issue of whether termination of parental rights was the least restrictive means of ensuring the best interests of the children with the guardian ad litem, asking why no supervised visits were considered. The guardian ad litem replied that the girls did not want to change the way things were. When questioned about any basis to connect his past crime with the risk of future abuse of his children, she could not provide anything beyond speculation. The guardian ad litem stated that she thought it was "healthier to detach from a circumstance as this," and the children were at risk of emotional abuse S.S. "could put these children through" because of animosity between the two parents. The guardian ad litem was not able to provide any support for her statements other than it would simply be easier and safer to terminate S.S.'s rights and let the two girls go looking for him after they turned eighteen, if they so desired.

The trial court's order dismissed abandonment, egregious conduct, and aggravated child abuse as factors. However, the trial court assigned the closeness in age of the oldest girl to the age of S.S.'s victim as a factor with weight. The trial court found that S.S.'s testimony was self-serving and, based only on that testimony, considered the probability high that S.S. would abuse drugs or alcohol in the future. Further, notwithstanding that S.S. had acknowledged guilt, the trial court considered that S.S. took no responsibility for his crimes.

The court relied upon section 39.806(1)(c), Florida Statutes, for its decision, recognizing that it applied when parents engage in conduct toward the child or other children that demonstrates that continued parental involvement threatens the life, safety, or well-being, or physical, mental, or emotional health of the child, irrespective of the provision of services or whether or not there had been services.

The trial judge also listed as a factor section 39.806(1)(d)1., Florida Statutes, dealing with incarceration of a parent for a *557 substantial portion of a child's minority. The court interpreted this to include retrospective incarceration, as well as prospective incarceration, and noted that S.S. had been gone for the past seven formative years of his daughters' lives.

This case differs from the bulk of decisional law on termination of parental rights in that these proceedings were initiated by a parent, not the state. Section 39.806(1), Florida Statutes, allows a petition by any person with knowledge of the facts alleged. In fact, termination cases filed by divorced parents are rare, inviting caution to avoid second challenges to custody determinations. See T.V.R. v. C.R., 918 So.2d 395, 397 n. 1 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006).

To prevail, D.L.'s burden was to present clear and convincing evidence of a statutory ground for terminating and clear and convincing evidence that terminating parental rights is in the best interests of the child. M.S. v. Dep't of Children & Families, 920 So.2d 847, 849 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). Further, however, because of the constitutional implications involved, the movant must also establish that termination is the least restrictive means of protecting the children from serious harm. B.C. v. Dep't of Children & Families, 887 So.2d 1046, 1050 (Fla.2004). A trial court's finding of clear and convincing evidence is reversible only if clearly erroneous or lacking in evidentiary support. In re Adoption of Baby E.A.W., 658 So.2d 961, 967 (Fla.1995).

Section 39.811(6), Florida Statutes, establishes circumstances under which the parental rights of one parent may be terminated without severing the rights of the other. The qualifying circumstances found in section 39.811(6) include: (a) if the child has only one surviving parent (not the case here); (b) the identity of the other parent is established as unknown by sworn testimony (inapplicable); (c) the parent whose rights are to be terminated became a parent through a single parent adoption (inapplicable); (d) the protection of the child demands termination of the single parent (possible); or (e) the criteria in section 39.806(1)(d) and (f)-(i) are met.

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Bluebook (online)
944 So. 2d 553, 2007 WL 10029, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ss-v-dl-fladistctapp-2007.