T.R.W. v. Greene County Juvenile Office

317 S.W.3d 167, 2010 Mo. App. LEXIS 856
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 16, 2010
DocketNo. SD 30220
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 317 S.W.3d 167 (T.R.W. v. Greene County Juvenile Office) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
T.R.W. v. Greene County Juvenile Office, 317 S.W.3d 167, 2010 Mo. App. LEXIS 856 (Mo. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

DON E. BURRELL, Judge.

T.D.W. (“Father”), the biological father of the minor child T.R.W. (“Child”), ap[169]*169peals the judgment that terminated his parental rights to and over Child.1 Father asserts two points of alleged error: 1) that the trial court’s findings that Father had both abandoned Child and failed to rectify the conditions that initially caused Child to come under the protection of the court were not supported by substantial evidence and were against the weight of the evidence; and 2) that the trial court abused its discretion in finding that the termination of Father’s parental rights was in Child’s best interests. We affirm the judgment.

Factual and Procedural Background2

When reviewing a judgment to terminate parental rights, we “consider the facts and the reasonable inferences derived therefrom in a light most favorable to the judgment.” In re L.N.D., 219 S.W.3d 820, 822 (Mo.App. S.D.2007) (citation omitted). This recitation of the relevant facts is made in accordance with that standard.

Child was taken into protective custody on November 30, 2007. Father was incarcerated in a federal penitentiary at the time. At some point after February of 2008, Jim Snare (“Snare”), a social worker with the Children’s Division, was assigned to Child’s case and sent Father a letter “instructing him that we have a court hearing.”

In response to Snare’s letter, Father sent Snare a request for — in Snare’s words — “records that I have in order to, I guess, make a ease to get his child.” This request for records by Father constituted the only communication Father would make with the Children’s Division. Although Father would have been allowed to have contact with Child if he had requested it, Father wrote no letters to Child and made no other attempts to “provide any sort of parental relationship -with [Child].” Father also did not provide Child with any financial or in-kind support after he learned that Child had been taken away from her mother and placed into protective custody.

Father was personally served with a copy of the juvenile officer’s petition to terminate Father’s parental rights on January 20, 2009. Over the final few months before the termination trial began, the juvenile officer sent Father three separate attorney applications which advised Father of his right to legal counsel. The juvenile officer received no response from Father. Trial was held on the petition to terminate parental rights on September 25, 2009. Father, who was still incarcerated, did not appear at that trial either in person or by counsel.

On October 21, 2009, the trial court entered its judgment terminating T.D.A.’s and Father’s parental rights. Father now appeals that judgment. Additional facts relevant to the resolution of Father’s appeal will be set forth as necessary in the context of our analysis of his specific allegations of error.

[170]*170Analysis

Point I: Statutory Grounds for Termination

We review a trial court’s decision that one or more statutory ground exists for terminating parental rights to determine “whether the ruling is supported by substantial evidence, is against the weight of the evidence, or involves an erroneous application or declaration of the law.” In re C.A.M., 282 S.W.3d 398, 404 (Mo.App. S.D.2009); In re 160 S.W.3d 355, 362 (Mo. banc 2005). We will reverse the trial court’s decision only if we are left with a firm belief that the decision was wrong. Id. If we find that at least one statutory ground for termination was properly pleaded and proven, we will affirm the decision of the trial court. In re C.A.M., 282 S.W.3d at 404-05 (citing In re A.M.S., 272 S.W.3d 305, 308 (Mo.App. W.D.2008)). We view any conflicting evidence in the light most favorable to the judgment and defer to the trial court’s assessment of witness credibility. In re C.A.M., 282 S.W.3d at 405 (citing In re A.S.W., 137 S.W.3d 448, 452-53 (Mo. banc 2004); In re C.F.C., 156 S.W.3d 422, 426 (Mo.App. E.D.2005)).

The court’s judgment found that the juvenile officer had proven by clear and convincing evidence three statutory grounds for terminating Father’s parental rights: abandonment (see section 211.447.5(1));3 neglect (see section 211.447.5(2)); and what is commonly referred to as “failure to rectify” (see section 211.447.5(3)). As earlier noted, Father has challenged the trial court’s findings in regard to only two of the three grounds: abandonment and failure to rectify.

When the trial court finds multiple statutory grounds for termination of parental rights, in order to affirm the judgment this Court need only find that one of the statutory bases was proven and that the termination was in the best interests of the child. In re T.F.S., 52 S.W.3d 44, 48 (Mo.App. S.D.2001); see also In re J.L.M., 64 S.W.3d 923, 925 (Mo.App. S.D.2002) (“[o]ne ground for termination adequately pleaded and proven is sufficient to support termination.”). Thus, if an appellant fails to challenge each of the termination grounds found by the trial court, it is unnecessary for the appellate court to address the specific ground that is challenged. In re B.J.K., 197 S.W.3d 237, 246 (Mo.App. W.D.2006). “However, because the termination of parental rights is one of the most serious acts a court is empowered to perform, In re B.S.B., 76 S.W.3d 318, 324 (Mo.App. W.D.2002), we review the evidence ex gratia to determine whether the juvenile officer established at least one ground for termination by ‘[c]lear, cogent, and convincing evidence.’ ” In re B.N.W., 115 S.W.3d 869, 871 (Mo.App. S.D.2003).

In re J.B., 214 S.W.3d 353, 355 (Mo.App. S.D.2007). Our ex gratia review of the trial court’s abandonment finding shows that it is supported by substantial evidence.4

The relevant portion of the statute at issue provides that parental rights may be terminated if:

(1) The child has been abandoned. For purposes of this subdivision a “child” means any child over one year of age at [171]*171the time of filing of the petition. The court shall find that the child has been abandoned if, for a period of six months or longer:
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(b) The parent has, without good cause, left the child without any provision for parental support and without making arrangements to visit or communicate with the child, although able to do so[.]

Section 211.447.5 (bolding in original).

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Bluebook (online)
317 S.W.3d 167, 2010 Mo. App. LEXIS 856, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/trw-v-greene-county-juvenile-office-moctapp-2010.