Doe v. Doe

• Decision Date: 04 June 2003
• Docket Number: No. 28086.,28086.
• Parties: In the Interest of Jane Doe. Jane DOE I, Petitioner-Respondent, v. John DOE, Respondent-Appellant.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

71 P.3d 1040

138 Idaho 893

In the Interest of Jane Doe.

Jane DOE I, Petitioner-Respondent, v. John DOE, Respondent-Appellant.

No. 28086.

Supreme Court of Idaho, Boise, March 2003 Term.

June 4, 2003.

Cynthia Jane Woolley, Hailey, for appellant.

Frederick C. Allington, Hailey, for respondent.

SCHROEDER, Justice.

John Doe appeals the decision of the district court which affirmed the decision of the magistrate court terminating his parental rights to his minor child.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

John Doe and Jane Doe I were married in January 1993. Shortly after the marriage, John Doe served a six-month prison term for writing bad checks. He was released on parole in August 1993. On November 30, 1993, Jane Doe gave birth to the minor child of herself and John Doe. The Does separated in July 1994. John Doe told his wife that "he didn't want to be raising a family at that point. He wasn't ready."

In September of 1994, John Doe made his first visit to Jane Doe and the minor child since the separation. He was living in Challis. Jane Doe and the minor child were living with her sister in Hailey. Jane Doe asked John for some money. He gave her five dollars. This was the last contact he had with the minor child until November 1996.

Shortly before Christmas in 1994, John spoke with Jane on the phone. He testified that when he spoke with her, she said, "he would not see the child again if he did not come for Christmas." He did not visit the child for Christmas in 1994 because, he says, the pass by which he needed to travel was snowed-in.

After the alleged conversation in December 1994, John testified that he tried to call Jane again, but there was no answer. John testified that he became very depressed, and did not get out of his bed for a month. He quit his job in January of 1995 and hitchhiked from Challis to Helena, Montana, testifying that he went there to see his father. When his parole officer was apprised that he had quit his job and left his apartment, the probation officer spoke with John's roommate, who informed the officer that John had left on January 13 with some of his belongings, hitchhiking to Helena, Montana. The officer asked the roommate to tell John that he needed to speak with him. John returned for the rest of his belongings, and his roommate told him of the officer's desire to speak with him, to which John responded, "Oh well." The district court in Blaine County issued an arrest warrant for John Doe on February 14, 1995, for violations of the terms and conditions of his probation.

After traveling to Montana for a short time, John traveled to Boise, where he stayed with his mother until June of 1995. He went to Oregon to go to an annual fair and see an old friend. While in Oregon, his car was stolen. He hitchhiked to California where he found work and lived with the truck driver with whom he hitchhiked. He testified that he worked three jobs simultaneously in California: for a trucking company, as a chef, and as a night manager for a convenience store. His roommates testified that he would frequently talk of the child and how he missed her. The trial court found that he did miss the minor child and wanted to see her. John testified that his friends in California paid for bus fare to Idaho so he could try to find the minor child. He says he took the trip but was unsuccessful in his efforts to find the minor child. He testified that he felt Jane was deliberately trying to hide their child from him.

On February 16, 1996, Jane Doe obtained a divorce decree by default on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. The decree awarded her sole custody of the minor child, "subject to supervised visitation by [John Doe]. Supervised visitation shall be limited to such times and under such conditions as may be agreed to by [Jane Doe]." In addition, the decree ordered John to pay $200 per month for the care and support of the child.

John Doe did not give monetary contributions for the minor child voluntarily. The only money received for the child from John before the filing of the Petition for Termination in 2000 was in the form of garnishments by the State of Idaho from his social security benefits. The minor child received a total of $2,773 from John from July 1994 to January 2000, all in the form of garnishments from his social security benefits. By the time the petition was filed, John was between $10,000 and $12,000 in arrears on his child support payments. The trial court found that while John was unemployed from 1998 to just before trial, he was fairly steadily employed between 1996 and 1998. He testified that he was working three jobs simultaneously while in California.

During the summer of 1996 John moved from California to Boise. During that summer he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The severity of the condition and effect on his ability to function during all relevant times is in dispute. One of his close friends testified that he thought John was a "normal guy" and did not know he was bipolar until John told him. Another friend testified that most of the time John was not depressed and seemed to be able to function as a normal person. John's witnesses testified that his condition was more severe, often causing him to not the leave the house for several days. The trial court found that his mental condition was not just cause for the failure to contact the minor child.

Jane Doe remarried in September 1996. She eventually had two children by the new marriage. The minor child has lived with her and her new husband since the marriage. Also in September 1996, John was arrested on the warrant issued in Blaine County.

In November of 1996 John called Jane's mother. He testified that it was the first time he was able to speak with her after having tried to contact her at that number for at least two years. John was in Hailey that day for a scheduled arraignment in district court where he was to face charges for absconding. Jane's mother relayed the message to Jane that John wanted to speak with her. Jane promptly called John at the motel in Hailey where he was staying, and the two arranged to meet at a local café. Jane requested that John voluntarily give up his parental rights, which he refused to do. John admits that Jane requested his assurance that if he was not going to give up his parental rights, that he would not "continue popping in and out of [the minor child's] life every three years." He says he agreed with Jane that such infrequent contact was inappropriate. That evening, Jane, the child, and John had a brief visit. Jane gave John her phone number and mailing address.

John's mother initiated contact with the minor child on many occasions. In December 1996, she contacted Jane and arranged for Jane, her new husband, and the minor child to stop by her home on their way to Washington, where they were going for Christmas. The visit took place as planned. John was present and was able to visit with the child. Jane testified that John's mother called her in 1997, 1998, and several times in 1999, and that she allowed his mother to visit the minor child in September 1999.

In April 1997, John called Jane at her place of work when he was in Hailey for another court appearance. He told her that he had a package for the minor child that he wanted to drop off. They met briefly at her work, and he gave her the package. Also, in April 1997, John called and spoke with the minor child on the phone after Easter.

John testified that he has made countless unsuccessful attempts to contact Jane and the minor child by phone and mail. He admits that he never left any messages, but says that he does not like answering machines. Jane testified that—outside of the undisputed contacts already mentioned—she never received any mail, messages on her answering machine, or messages on her caller ID from John. The trial court found the following with respect to John's alleged attempts to contact the minor child:

The Court ... accepts testimony that if [John Doe] did in fact call, he was calling the wrong number. When and if he did send packages for [the minor child] he was mailing them to the wrong address. There is no adequate explanation for the testimony that he let the phone ring many times on many different occasions and never got an answer. [Jane Doe] has always had an answering machine. By his own explanation, packages that he mailed were mailed to the wrong address. As noted, it would not have been difficult for him to find [Jane Doe] through Social Security. Whenever he in fact wanted to make contact (for example, by calling [Jane Doe's] mother) he was able to do so. When he wanted to make contact because he was being arraigned in Blaine County on his probation violation, he was able to do so. When he wanted to make contact when he came up to Blaine County for sentencing on his probation violation, he was able to do so.

II. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Jane Doe filed a Petition for Termination of Parent and Child Relationship in January 2000. She and her new husband also filed a Petition for Step-Parent Adoption. A magistrate judge held a bench trial in which he granted the Petition for Termination, finding by clear and convincing evidence that John Doe had willfully failed to maintain a normal parental relationship with the minor child, under I.C. § 16-2005(a).

John appealed to the district court, arguing that the magistrate judge's decision was clearly erroneous, that I.C. § 16-2005 is unconstitutionally vague, and that the magistrate judge improperly considered the best interests of the child. The district court affirmed the decision of the magistrate court. John appealed to this Court, designating twenty issues. Some of these overlap in the question of whether there was clear and convincing evidence to support the trial court's findings. When consolidated, the issues to be determined are the following: 1) did the district court err in denying the motion for directed verdict; 2) was it clear error...