State Ex Rel. Ah

2009 UT App 232, 217 P.3d 278, 2009 WL 2619221
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedAugust 27, 2009
Docket20080487-CA
StatusPublished

This text of 2009 UT App 232 (State Ex Rel. Ah) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Ex Rel. Ah, 2009 UT App 232, 217 P.3d 278, 2009 WL 2619221 (Utah Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

217 P.3d 278 (2009)
2009 UT App 232

STATE of Utah, in the interest of A.H. and J.H., persons under eighteen years of age.
M.S., Appellant,
v.
State of Utah, Appellee.

No. 20080487-CA.

Court of Appeals of Utah.

August 27, 2009.

*279 Colleen K. Coebergh, Salt Lake City, for Appellant.

Mark L. Shurtleff, Atty. Gen., and John M. Peterson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Salt Lake City, for Appellee.

Martha Pierce and David L. Johnson, Salt Lake City, Guardians Ad Litem.

Before Judges GREENWOOD, BENCH, and ORME.

OPINION

ORME, Judge:

¶ 1 M.S. (Mother) appeals the juvenile court's order terminating her parental rights in A.H. and J.H. (the Children). Mother argues that insufficient evidence existed to support termination of her parental rights. More specifically, Mother asserts that the court erred in relying heavily on unproven criminal charges pending against her at the time of the termination hearing, especially because the court did not require the State to prove the criminal conduct by clear and convincing evidence. We affirm.

BACKGROUND[1]

¶ 2 In March 2006, the juvenile court removed the Children from Mother's custody after it concluded she had neglected the Children by exposing them to a violent domestic dispute.[2] At the court's direction, the Division *280 of Child and Family Services (DCFS) prepared a service plan that required Mother, among other things, to receive out-patient drug treatment,[3] have no contact with the Children's father, and receive a domestic violence assessment. Although Mother initially struggled to comply with the plan, by June 2007—one year and three months after the Children were first placed in DCFS custody—Mother had completed her service plan and regained custody, with DCFS providing protective supervision. In a September 2007 permanency hearing, the juvenile court determined that DCFS should prepare reports to release the Children from the court's jurisdiction with an expected effective date in November 2007.

¶ 3 However, in November 2007, five months after regaining custody, Mother's life fell apart. DCFS learned of allegations that Mother had been drinking, using marijuana, and contacting the Children's father. Then, Mother was arrested and incarcerated on felony robbery charges. As a result, the Children were again removed from Mother's care and placed in DCFS custody. In January 2008, the State petitioned for termination of Mother's parental rights based on allegations that Mother continued to use drugs and because she had been arrested on two robbery charges.

¶ 4 At the termination hearing in May 2008, only the DCFS caseworker and Mother testified. The caseworker readily acknowledged that Mother had made improvements, was "a wonderful mom when ... focused," and loved the Children. But she also testified that Mother's continued "poor choices" led to instability that would prevent her from providing the Children with stable, long-term care. The caseworker also testified about the Children's current foster family and their progress during that placement.

¶ 5 Mother testified and denied being at Valley Fair Mall or Wells Fargo on November 16, 2007. When the juvenile court further questioned Mother about being in the van that had been impounded by police on that date, Mother insisted she was not and tried to explain, but the court insisted on a "yes" or "no" answer. Mother admitted being at a cell phone store with her van near Valley Fair Mall on November 17, 2007, that she was the owner of the impounded van, that she was with one other person, and that a gun was found in her van.[4]

¶ 6 Mother's counsel advised Mother of her Fifth Amendment rights as she began to testify and interrupted her testimony to remind her of her rights. Mother's admissions, and failure to invoke her rights, seemed to make both Mother's counsel and the court uneasy, and the court suggested that Mother's counsel sit next to her as she testified. Prior to this arrangement, Mother had only invoked her right not to incriminate herself once, refusing to answer whether she was at Kohl's. Mother subsequently invoked the Fifth Amendment on a number of occasions, including when asked if she knew Carrie McCovis, Patrick Valdez, or a person named "Shooter"; whether McCovis was Mother's cellmate and if conversations had occurred between the two of them; if Mother was wearing a "hoodie" on the day in question; and whether Shooter had left the gun in Mother's van. Mother's counsel also informed the court that Mother planned to invoke the Fifth Amendment on any questions relating to the events of November 17, 2007.

¶ 7 Mother further testified to the status of the robbery charges: she had pled not guilty and was awaiting her preliminary hearing, which was scheduled for May 13, 2008. Although Mother seemed optimistic about her release and a favorable disposition of the charges against her, she did not know when she would be released.

¶ 8 Mother's testimony also included the dates and reasons for her three recent incarcerations, which totaled approximately forty-seven days in a six-month period. Mother *281 had been incarcerated between November 17 and December 6, 2007, based on the initial robbery charges. After being released, Mother was again incarcerated for about ten days in March 2008 because she failed to attend a hearing concerning the robbery charges. Mother's third incarceration, which resulted from Mother violating her pretrial release by being charged with public intoxication, began on April 15 and continued through May 1, 2008, the date of her termination hearing.

¶ 9 Mother also testified about her history, including that she had had three different addresses since December; had experienced employment difficulties;[5] had been in drug rehabilitation treatment twice in her life; and had experienced stress and needed support in caring for the children during the month or two preceding her arrest on the robbery charges.

¶ 10 Mother agreed that she had been unable to care for the Children for three to four of the previous six months. She also acknowledged her inability to immediately care for the Children because she was still incarcerated and admitted that she had not, during the last six months, provided them with the stable environment she knew they needed. Stating that she really had changed and that she had previously provided the Children with the love and stability they required, Mother was confident that she would be able to provide quality care and a stable environment for the Children once the robbery charges were resolved, but she was unsure when that would be.

¶ 11 Based on this evidence, the court terminated Mother's parental rights. The court's factual findings referenced Mother's repeated incarcerations, the charges filed against her, and the "substantial likelihood that [Mother would] not be capable of exercising proper and effective parental care to the children in the near future." The court also found that Mother had admitted that "she had been ... near Valley Fair Mall[] when a robbery occurred at Kohls"; "her van had been involved in the robbery and had been impounded"; "a gun was found in her van"; and "she took the 5th and refused to answer any other questions on the grounds that it may incriminate her." In addition, the court considered Mother's difficulties in finding stable housing and employment and Mother's refusal to continue to seek support from, or to continue contact with, her drug rehabilitation center.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2009 UT App 232, 217 P.3d 278, 2009 WL 2619221, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-ah-utahctapp-2009.