In re Alexis L.

• Decision Date: 12 June 2009
• Docket Number: No. 2006-57-Appeal.,2006-57-Appeal.
• Citation: 972 A.2d 159
• Parties: In re ALEXIS L.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

972 A.2d 159

In re ALEXIS L.

No. 2006-57-Appeal.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

June 12, 2009.

Matthew J. McGovern, Court Appointed Special Advocate.

Thomas Corrigan, Jr., Department of Children, Youth & Families.

Paula Rosin, Office of the Public Defender.

Present: GOLDBERG, Acting C.J., FLAHERTY, SUTTELL, ROBINSON, JJ., and WILLIAMS, C.J. (Ret.).

OPINION

Justice SUTTELL, for the Court.

This appeal is the last of a triumvirate of cases arising from the horrific abuse inflicted upon Alexis L.¹ by his father and his mother's inability or unwillingness to protect him. See State v. Lopez-Navor, 951 A.2d 508 (R.I.2008) and In re Victoria L., 950 A.2d 1168 (R.I.2008). This case came before the Supreme Court on appeal by the respondent, Rosalia Lopez-Navor (Lopez-Navor or respondent), from a decree entered in the Family Court terminating her parental rights to Alexis. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm the decree of the Family Court.

I Facts and Procedural History

Lopez-Navor met Alexis's father, Raul DeRosas (DeRosas) in Mexico when she was fifteen years old and he was approximately twenty-two. In January 2001, DeRosas illegally entered the United States, leaving a pregnant Lopez-Navor in Mexico. The respondent gave birth to Alexis on August 17, 2001, in Chalco, Mexico. Two years later, in August 2003, Lopez-Navor came to the United States, also illegally, arriving with Alexis in Providence to reunite with DeRosas. DeRosas paid for their entrance into and transportation across the United States from Mexico. At the time, Lopez-Navor was eighteen years old and Alexis was two. The respondent testified that she came to the United States "with the dream of having a family."

After living in Rhode Island for about two months, on October 29, 2003, Lopez-Navor was hospitalized for a kidney infection at Women & Infants Hospital. At the time, respondent was pregnant with her and DeRosas' second child. The next day, when Raul brought Alexis to the hospital to visit respondent, a certified nursing assistant observed bruising on the child's face and notified a clinical social worker employed by the hospital. DeRosas and Lopez-Navor said that Alexis had incurred the injuries by falling outside the hospital the day before and in the bathtub a few days earlier. A pediatrician was summoned, who examined the child and found additional injuries on his body. Alexis then was taken to Hasbro Children's Hospital, where an examination revealed significant bruising and redness on his face, a handprint on one cheek, cuts on his gums and inner lips, abrasions on and around his ears, multiple bruises on his legs, bite marks on his buttocks and upper thighs, ligature marks on both ankles, and a laceration on his penis.² As a result, Alexis was admitted to the hospital and placed in the temporary custody of the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF).

After an abuse investigation by DCYF, both Lopez-Navor and DeRosas were "indicated" for the physical abuse to their son.³ After a police investigation, DeRosas was criminally charged with second-degree child abuse under G.L. 1956 § 11-9-5.3, and Lopez-Navor was criminally charged with cruelty to or neglect of the child under § 11-9-5 for failing to protect him. The police and DCYF investigations also revealed that DeRosas and Lopez-Navor were in the United States illegally, which led the United States Department of Immigration and Naturalization Services to place a "hold" on them. DeRosas was detained and later deported to Mexico on February 12, 2004. The respondent was detained from November 14, 2003 to December 23, 2003, when she was released on personal recognizance.

After she was discharged from the hospital around November 4, 2003, respondent initially told Det. Nancy Santo Padre DosReis of the Providence Police Department, at a station interview, that she saw DeRosas spank their son on a single occasion. She did not indicate any concern about leaving her son in the care of his father and stated that she was not afraid of him. In February 2004, however, Lopez-Navor agreed to provide another police statement, in which "she admitted that Raul [DeRosas] habitually abused Alexis by hitting him, biting him, and restraining him," including placing him in a box in the dark with elastic bands around his ankles. Lopez-Navor, 951 A.2d at 510. The respondent told police that when she tried to intervene, DeRosas "ordered her to stay away and said that he would abuse her son even more if she did not." Id. She testified at trial that she failed to tell the truth originally because she was afraid that DeRosas would continue to harm Alexis.⁴ Id.

Maria Garrido, Ph.D., a psychologist who evaluated respondent at the request of DCYF, testified that respondent "reluctantly acknowledged" that DeRosas had abused Alexis but had difficulty discussing the details or extent of the abuse; respondent would not share the specific ways DeRosas was hurting the child. According to Dr. Garrido, respondent spoke little about her attempts to intervene when the abuse was occurring. The respondent told Dr. Garrido that the "most active" attempt she made to end the abuse was to leave the home at one point. This proved unsuccessful, she told Dr. Garrido, when she became lost and did not know where to go for help, so she returned. When asked about Lopez-Navor's ability to parent her son, Dr. Garrido stated:

"I failed to find a reason to consider [Lopez-Navor] herself to be a risk to her child. * * * My most important concern, however, in this situation, however [sic], has been her apparent inability to be more proactive or more active in protecting her child against this partner. Nevertheless, it appears there was a significant level of fear and intimidation along with the fact she was — what she reported — unfamiliar with her immediate environment and resources that would have assisted her. So that was what I consider to be a very negative combination of circumstances operating against her and her ability to actively seek resources or to protect her child."

Doctor Garrido also stated that respondent seemed intimidated by DeRosas but claimed to have been subject to only verbal, not physical, abuse.

Rita Graterol was the DCYF social worker assigned to this case. It was her role to facilitate supervised visitation between Alexis and Lopez-Navor, as well as to devise a case plan with a goal of reunification. Three supervised visits occurred between the date of Alexis's hospitalization and the start of trial. At the first visit, which took place on November 12, 2003, Alexis was reluctant to let go of his foster mother, crying when she left. Alexis did not make eye contact with respondent for about fifteen minutes, even as she was hugging and talking to him, although they eventually began interacting with each other. According to Ms. Graterol, Alexis did not cry when the visit ended. At a second visit on January 21, 2004,⁵ Alexis interacted with his mother and did not cry at the conclusion of the visit. At a third visit, on February 3, 2004, Ms. Graterol testified that respondent attempted to give Alexis a stuffed animal, but Alexis at first refused to accept it from her. When he finally took it, he threw it to a corner of the room. The visit lasted only forty minutes because Alexis asked to leave. After that visit, a no-contact order was issued, due to the criminal charges pending against Lopez-Navor, preventing her from contacting her son.⁶

Alexis's foster mother, Yolanda, also testified at trial. Yolanda and her husband had been caring for Alexis since Hasbro Children's Hospital discharged him on November 4, 2003. She testified that Alexis would not sleep when he first started to live with them and "would just cry." She stated that he would call for her during the night, saying "no solo," meaning that he did not want to be left alone. In addition, Yolanda said that the child did not urinate for three days when he first came to live with them. He eventually wet himself on the fourth day. He also exhibited some unusual sexual behaviors at first, and she had problems with him hitting and punching her. She stated that he is now able to sleep through the night, and she has sought a consultation about the child's aggressive behavior. Yolanda testified that she has a good relationship with Alexis and is considering adoption; she stated that her husband desires to adopt the child, if possible. Ms. Graterol, the DCYF caseworker, testified that she had observed Alexis in his foster home on numerous occasions and there appeared to be a "very close" relationship between the child and his foster parents. She indicated that the foster parents' home is pre-adoptive in nature.

DCYF filed in the Family Court both a child-neglect/abuse petition and a petition for an involuntary termination of parental rights.⁷ The petitions were consolidated for purposes of trial, which commenced on March 30, 2004. On June 16, 2004, after the presentation of evidence but before the trial justice reached a decision, Lopez-Navor gave birth to a daughter, Victoria, who was taken into DCYF custody because of the allegations of abuse to Alexis.⁸

The trial justice issued a bench decision on October 13, 2004, making numerous factual findings regarding the evidence in this case. He found the nurses, the detective, the child protective investigator, the social worker and the foster mother to be credible witnesses; however, he concluded that Lopez-Navor was not a credible witness. The trial justice concluded that the evidence of abuse to Alexis was clear and that respondent was aware that the child's father was inflicting injury on the child. He noted that Lopez-Navor lived in a Spanish-speaking community, was not physically restrained from leaving the apartment, and had been out of the apartment a number of times. The trial justice also pointed out that respondent did not tell police, hospital staff, or DCYF workers that she...