State in Interest of CW v. Womack

669 So. 2d 700, 1996 WL 83224
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 28, 1996
Docket28310-JA
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 669 So. 2d 700 (State in Interest of CW v. Womack) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State in Interest of CW v. Womack, 669 So. 2d 700, 1996 WL 83224 (La. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

669 So.2d 700 (1996)

STATE in the Interest of CW, RW, JW, and JW, Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
Melinda WOMACK & Ricky Womack, Sr., Defendants-Appellants.

No. 28310-JA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

February 28, 1996.

*702 Michelle A. Dufour, E. Paul Young, Joseph S. Woodley, Shreveport, for Appellants.

Audie L. Jones, Pamela Harper, Rollin W. Cole, Shreveport, for Appellees.

Before HIGHTOWER and WILLIAMS, JJ., and CLARK, J., Pro Tem.

CLARK, Judge Pro Tem.

The appellants, Melinda Womack and Ricky Womack, Jr., appeal from the juvenile court's adjudication of their children, CW, RW, JW, and JW, as in need of care. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

Facts

In September of 1994, CW, date of birth September 14, 1990, was staying with Hazel Boyles, her great-aunt, in Jacksonville, Florida. Ms. Boyles testified that CW came to stay with her family because CW's great-grandfather, Jim Womack, had expressed concern that something had happened to CW. Once in Jacksonville, CW exhibited some inappropriate sexual behavior and, when Ms. Boyles was giving CW a bath, she noticed that CW's vagina was red.

Ms. Boyles notified the Florida Health and Rehabilitation Services to report her suspicions of sexual abuse of CW. Susan Oliver, a child protection worker with the Children's Crisis Center, interviewed CW on October 5, 1994. This interview was videotaped and observed by Roseanne White and Chandor Arbinger, child protection investigators. During this interview, CW indicated that her father had sexually abused her.

In October of 1994, Ms. Womack went to Jacksonville with her boys, JW, JW, and RW, to live with the Boyles. Ms. Boyles discussed CW's allegations with Ms. Womack. Ms. Womack then discussed CW's allegations with Louisiana Child Protection Worker Maria Littleton over the phone while she was in Florida. Ms. Womack told Ms. Littleton that CW had not changed her story and that she intended to stay in Florida and not reconcile with her husband. Ms. Littleton advised Ms. Womack to remain in Florida until the investigation was complete.

On October 31, 1994, Ms. Littleton discovered that Ms. Womack had returned to Shreveport with the boys. CW stayed in Jacksonville to continue counseling. However, in late November, Ms. Littleton discovered that CW had returned to Shreveport and was living with her mother and father. This action was initiated by the state and on December 13, 1994, all four children were removed from the home and placed in the custody of the state.

A trial was held in April and May of 1994. Based on the evidence adduced at the trial, the juvenile court found that the state proved by a preponderance of the evidence that Ricky Womack sexually abused CW, that Melinda Womack neglected CW by placing her at undue risk of physical and emotional harm, and that the appellants neglected RW, JW, and JW by placing them in a situation where there was an undue risk of physical and sexual abuse. Accordingly, the juvenile court adjudicated all four children to be in *703 need of care and ordered the children to remain in state custody.

A disposition hearing was held on June 9, 1995. Based on the evidence adduced at this hearing, the juvenile court approved the case plan submitted by the state, with certain limited exceptions expressed orally, and continued the children in state custody. This appeal follows.

Discussion

The Burden of Proof

The parents argue that the Louisiana Constitution requires the burden of proof in child in need of care proceedings to be clear and convincing evidence. In support of this argument, the parents cite State in the Interest of BS v. PS, 542 So.2d 1163 (La.App. 2d Cir.1989). The court in this case noted that the jurisprudence was not uniform as to the standard of proof in child in need of care proceedings, but did not resolve the conflict. Furthermore, this case was decided prior to the adoption of the Louisiana Children's Code. The Children's Code has made it clear that the state has the burden of proving the allegations in child in need of care proceedings by a preponderance of the evidence. La.Ch.C. Art. 665. The trial court did not err in applying this standard of proof.

Admissibility of the videotaped interview

The parents argue that the videotape of CW, made by Florida case workers on October 5, 1994, is inadmissable in that it did not meet the requirements for the admissibility of videotaped interviews set forth in the Louisiana Children's Code.

First, the parents argue that the interview was not authorized by the court as required by La. Ch.C. Art. 324. Second, the parents argue that the tape did not meet the requirements of La. Ch.C. Arts. 326 and 327.

Article 324 provides as follows:

A court exercising juvenile jurisdiction may, on its own motion or on the motion of the district attorney, a parish welfare unit or agency, or the department, require that a statement of a child be recorded on videotape in conformity with Article 326.

Article 326 requires that in order for a videotape to be competent evidence, all of the following requirements must be satisfactorily proved:

(1) Such electronic recording was voluntarily made by the child.
(2) No relative of the child was present in the room in which the recording was made.
(3) No attorney for either party was present when the statement was made.
(4) Such recording was not made of answers to questions calculated to lead the child to make any particular statement.
(5) Such recording is both visual and oral and is recorded on film or videotape or by other electronic means.
(6) Such recording is accurate, has not been altered, and reflects what the child said.
(7) The taking of the child's statement was supervised by a physician, a board-certified social worker, a law enforcement officer, a licensed psychologist, or an authorized representative of the department.
(8) Every voice on the recording is identified.

Article 327 provides that if all of the requirements in Article 326 are met, the videotape is admissible if all of the following occur:

(1) The parties to the proceeding are afforded an opportunity to view the recording before it is offered into evidence.
(2) The person conducting the interview of the child in the recording is present at the proceeding and available to testify or be cross-examined by either party.
(3) The child is available to testify.

The juvenile court found that the state substantially complied with all the requirements of Articles 326 and 327. It found that the child was physically available to testify and that, based on the videotape and Dr. Vigen's testimony, the child was competent to testify. The juvenile court also specifically stated that the videotape was both audibly and visually understandable to the court.[1]

*704 While we recognize that there was no authorization by a Louisiana court as required by Article 324, we find that the videotaped statement is trustworthy and reliable. The initial complaint of sexual abuse was made in Florida. Appropriately, the Florida authorities began the investigation, including the taking of the videotaped statement, under Florida law and procedure. There was no evidence adduced that the videotape was not made in accordance with Florida law.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
669 So. 2d 700, 1996 WL 83224, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-in-interest-of-cw-v-womack-lactapp-1996.