In re Andrea B.
Opinion of the Court
In a proceeding pursuant to Social Services Law § 384-b to terminate parental rights on the ground of abandonment and permanent neglect, the mother appeals from (1) a fact-finding order of the Family Court, Suffolk County (Hoffman, J.), dated December 19, 2007, which, after a fact-finding hearing, found that she abandoned and permanently neglected her child, and (2) an order of disposition of the same court dated May 6, 2008, which, upon the fact-finding order and after a dispositional hearing, terminated her parental rights on the grounds of abandonment and permanent neglect and transferred custody and guardianship of the child to the Suffolk County Department of Social Services for the purposes of adoption.
Ordered that the appeal from the fact-finding order is dismissed, without costs or disbursements, as the fact-finding order was superseded by the order of disposition and is brought up for review on the appeal from the order of disposition; and it is further,
Ordered that the order of disposition is affirmed, without costs or disbursements.
The Family Court properly determined that there was clear
Contrary to the mother’s contention, the Family Court did not err in denying her request for new counsel under the circumstances herein (see Matter of Jennifer O., 256 AD2d 1197 [1998]; Matter of William D., 198 AD2d 40 [1993]; see also Matter of Ashley D., 268 AD2d 803, 805 [2000]). Moreover, the court did not improvidently exercise its discretion in closing the courtroom to the public during part of the fact-finding hearing based on, inter alia, prior disruptions of the proceedings by a family member (see 22 NYCRR 205.4; see also Family Ct Act § 1043). Mastro, J.P., Balkin, Dickerson and Lott, JJ., concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.