B.C. v. State (In Re State Ex Rel. B.C.)
B.C. v. State (In Re State Ex Rel. B.C.)
Opinion
Per Curiam:
¶1 T.C. (Mother) and B.C. (Father) (collectively, Parents) appeal the juvenile court's order terminating their parental rights.
¶2 "In order to overturn a juvenile court's decision [to terminate parental rights,] the result must be against the clear weight of the evidence or leave the appellate court with a firm and definite conviction that a mistake has been made."
In re B.R.
,
¶3 Parents contend that the juvenile court erred in concluding that Mother's drug use alone was sufficient to support grounds for terminating her parental rights. Parents' argument centers on Utah Code section 78A-6-508(2)(c), which states that "habitual or excessive use of intoxicating liquors, controlled substances, or dangerous drugs that render the parent unable to care for the child" is evidence of unfitness or neglect. Utah Code Ann. § 78A-6-508(2)(c) (LexisNexis Supp. 2017). They argue that use of controlled substances is not sufficient in and of itself to support termination of parental rights but that the use of those drugs must render the parent unable to care for the child. They argue that to hold otherwise would render the part of the statute concerning the ability to care for a child meaningless. We need not resolve this issue because Parents are incorrect that the juvenile court based its decision on Mother's drug use alone. Instead, the juvenile court's decision was based upon the totality of the circumstances.
¶4 The juvenile court made findings of fact that included its agreement with prior case law "that the use of drugs is not consistent with responsible parenting as a matter of law."
See
In re S.Y.
,
¶5 Parents next argue that the juvenile court violated Utah law by requiring Mother to sign a Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing (DOPL) release so that the State could determine what medications she was taking and if any of those medications affected her drug tests.
See
¶6 Parents next contend that the juvenile court clearly erred in finding that Father failed to comply with the court's order by not obtaining a substance abuse evaluation. Father is correct that the juvenile court never ordered him to obtain a substance abuse evaluation. As a result, the juvenile court erred in finding that he violated its order by failing to submit to the evaluation. However, Parents have not alleged, much less demonstrated, that they were harmed in any way by the error. "[H]armless error is an error that is sufficiently inconsequential that there is no reasonable likelihood that it affected the outcome of the proceedings. Put differently, an error is harmful only if the likelihood of a different outcome is sufficiently high that it undermines our confidence in the verdict."
State v. Evans
,
¶7 Parents also assert that the juvenile court erred in making certain findings concerning Mother's interaction with a doctor and his staff. The transcript of the doctor's testimony demonstrates that Mother did have a loud, extended confrontation with the doctor's staff, and as a result of that confrontation, the doctor determined that he could not meet with Mother during business hours. Further, the doctor had sufficient concerns about his interaction with Mother that he wrote a letter to DCFS regarding Mother's behavior toward his staff. While the finding that Mother was so threatening to his staff that the doctor refused to meet with Mother during business hours as a means to protect his staff and patients may have been inartfully drafted, it is supported by the record. Mother's behavior was erratic, and the doctor was worried enough about Mother's potential behavior as to not want patients or staff around when he met with her. Thus, Mother has failed to demonstrate that the finding was clearly erroneous.
¶8 Finally, Parents argue that the juvenile court erred in admitting evidence of their criminal history over their objections based on rule 404(b) of the Utah Rules of Evidence. Rule 404(b)(1) states, "Evidence of a crime, wrong, or other act is not admissible to prove a person's character in order to show that on a particular occasion the person acted in conformity with the character." But, the "evidence may be admissible for another purpose, such as proving motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake, or lack of accident."
¶9 Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE of Utah, IN the INTEREST OF B.C. and A.C., Persons Under Eighteen Years of Age. B.C. and T.C., Appellants, v. State of Utah, Appellee.
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published