Angel v. Humphrey
| Decision Date | 03 August 2022 |
| Docket Number | 1747-21 |
| Parties | ANGELA ANGEL v. DARRIUS HUMPHREY |
| Court | Court of Special Appeals of Maryland |
ANGELA ANGEL
v.
DARRIUS HUMPHREY
No. 1747-21
Court of Special Appeals of Maryland
August 3, 2022
Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County Case No. C-02-FM-21-817215
Graeff, Friedman, Harrell, Glenn T., Jr., (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned), JJ.
OPINION [*]
Harrell, J.
This case arises out of a decision by the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County to enter a 22 October 2021 final protective order that, among other things, prohibited Angela Angel, appellant, from having any contact with her ex-husband, Darrius Humphrey, appellee, and their minor daughter, K. Five days after the protective order was granted, Angel filed a notice of appeal. On 19 November 2021, Angel dismissed voluntarily her notice of appeal and filed a motion for reconsideration, by which she sought to have the final protective order vacated. The motion for reconsideration was denied on 8 December 2021. A week later, she filed a second motion for reconsideration that was denied on 27 December 2021. Angel filed a notice of appeal on 6 January 2022. Humphrey did not file a brief on appeal.
ISSUES PRESENTED
Angel presents two issues for our consideration, which we have rephrased slightly as follows:
I. Whether the circuit court's denial of Angel's request for a continuance of the hearing on the motion for final protective order was erroneous, denied her due process and interfered with her right to parent; and
II. Whether the circuit court erred in granting the final protective order because the evidence in support of that decision was not clear and convincing, was based solely on hearsay presented by Humphrey, and was not supported by corroborating evidence
For reasons explained below, we vacate the court's 22 October 2021 order and remand the case to the circuit court for further proceedings.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
The parties are the parents of five children, four of whom were minors at all times pertinent to this case. On 17 October 2014, the Circuit Court for Prince George's County granted Angel an absolute divorce from Humphrey. Angel was awarded sole legal and sole physical custody of the parties' minor children and Humphrey was ordered to pay child support. Subsequently, the court issued an order allowing Humphrey certain access to the children during the summer.
A. Temporary Protective Order
On 24 September 2021, the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County granted a temporary protective order in favor of Humphrey and K. (born on 10 April 2006). The court determined that there were reasonable grounds to believe that on 17 September 2021, at 3:30 p.m., Angel committed acts of child abuse against K. including "[s]tatutory abuse of a child (mental)[,]" causing "[s]erious bodily harm[,]" placing "person(s) eligible for relief in fear of imminent serious bodily harm[,]" "forced abandonment" of the child, and committing "[a]ssault in any degree[.]" The court forwarded the child abuse allegation to the Department of Social Services[1] for investigation and set a hearing on the final protective order for 22 October 2021.
B. DSS Preliminary Report
On 21 October 2021, the Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services ("DSS"), provided the court with a preliminary report. According to that report, on 29 September 2021, a DSS worker visited Humphrey's home and met with K. and "her stepmother, Dwan Burton[.]" The DSS worker described that meeting, in part, in her report as follows:
Worker observed [K.] to appear well with no visible signs of maltreatment. [K.] reported the allegation was true and explained what happened. [K.] stated after a Protective Order was denied on 9/17/2021, Ms. Angel picked up [K. and her siblings, D. (born 09/05/2007), J. (04/09/2009), and Y. (07/26/2012)] from the police station in a minivan. [K.] stated Ms. Angel stopped at a gas station and then tried to pull her out of the car. [K.] showed the worker where on her arms Ms. Angel grabbed her, and then explained Ms. Angel was unable to pull her out of the van because of the armrest in the van. Next, [K.] stated her mother dropped her back off at the police station and then refused to pick her back up even after police officers (Ofc. Kirby) called her and explained that [K.] needed to be picked up. [K.] explained the officers then allowed Mr. Humphrey to pick [K.] up as it was clear Ms. Angel would not return. [K.] expressed she was upset about the current situation because the judge did not allow her to speak at the previous Protective Order hearing. [K.] stated she wanted to be heard in court regarding this new Protective Order.
Worker asked [K.] how she felt when she was living with her mom. [K.] stated she did not feel comfortable or safe at her mom's house. [K.] added it was better when her older sister was at home and she no longer feels safe since her sister left for college. When asked about what she wants the outcome of the Protective Order to be, [K.] explained she does not want to go to her mom's house and that she wants to stay with her dad.
[K.] stated Ms. Angel has hit her previously. She explained Ms. Angel hits her as punishment whether it is something major or minor. [K.] stated when Ms. Angel hits her, it is normally with an open hand. [K.] reported there are usually no injuries except for one incident that left [K.] with a small cut on her arm and sometimes [K.] has marks from Ms. Angel's acrylic nails. [K.] stated Ms. Angel has hit her older sister but not her younger siblings. [K.] reported she has not experienced any sexual abuse. She also reported
no drug or alcohol abuse by any member in her household. [K.] stated she used to take medicine for her anxiety, depression, and ADHD, but has not been taking them for a few years.
K. and Burton reported that K. was not attending school while living at her father's home in Anne Arundel County because Angel refused to "unenroll" K. from the Prince George's County school she had been attending and would not provide K.'s immunization records and transcript.
The DSS worker also met with some of K.'s siblings. One of the siblings, D., reported that he and two other siblings, J. and Y., were living with Angel in an Airbnb.[2]D. stated that Angel "works a lot and sometimes he will be left alone to care for [J.] and [Y.] for long periods of time, sometimes ranging from three weeks to a month." According to D., "sometimes someone checks in on them." D. reported feeling "uncomfortable with the current arrangement."
The DSS worker also met with J. and Y. at their school. J. reported that on 17 September 2021, their father dropped him, K., D., and Y. "at the police station near his house for their mother to pick them up." J. stated that "the police station is not in Prince George's County." When Angel arrived, [K.] wanted to stay with Humphrey, "but his mother picked all of them up and drove off." Angel "later said [K.] wanted to stay with his daddy, so she went back to the police station and dropped [K.] off at the station and they left without her." Thereafter, the police called Angel "to come and get [K.]" According to J., Angel did not "shove [K.] out of the car and there was no fight between"
them. J. stated that Angel "did not hit [K.] that day" and that K. "was talking at their mother and their mother was responding."
The DSS worker reported that J. wanted "to bring to the attention of the court that he wants to live with his father and visit with his mother at his mother's house." He said that "he and his siblings have to stay a lot with his mother's friends as his mother usually goes out for a long time because she needs to do her work."
Y. reported that on 17 September 2021, Burton told her and her siblings that they had to leave their father's house, which is in Anne Arundel County, and return to their mother's house "because the court ordered it." Humphrey took the children to the police station and dropped them off. When their mother arrived to pick them up, K. "started cursing at" Angel. Y. reported that K. "was going off and talking trash at their mother and then their mother said she could stay with their dad." According to Y., Angel drove to a gas station and tried to drop off K. there, but her parents argued about where K. should be dropped off. Eventually, Angel drove back to the police station and dropped off K. According to Y., Angel "did not shove or push [K.] out of the car." Y. reported that her family moves around, that they have stayed at an Airbnb and a hotel, and that they stay with a babysitter or her mother's friend, "Ms. Cat," when her mother is out of town.
On 7 October 2021, the DSS worker also met with Angel and reported:
This worker then discussed the reported concerns of physically grabbing [K.] from the car, attempting to leave her at the gas station and then leaving her at the police station. Ms. Angel denied the allegations. Ms. Angel stated she picked the children up at the police station and [K.] did not want to go with her, so she attempted to drop her off at the father's home but her step mother refused to allow her back. Ms. Angel said she brought [K.] back to the police station and called [K.]'s father who also refused to pick her up. Ms. Angel
stated the police called her father and told him he had to come get her. Ms. Angel denied ever going to the gas station or grabbing [K.] Ms. Angel denied using any type of physical discipline on the children. Ms. Angel stated [K.] has extensive mental health issues. Ms. Angel stated she and Mr. Humphrey have a custody hearing coming up. This worker explained to Ms. Angel that clearly there is an issue causing [K.] not to want to return with her that needs to be explored. This worker...
To continue reading
Request your trial