In re B.J.
| Decision Date | 14 September 2022 |
| Docket Number | 22CA3991 |
| Citation | 2022 Ohio 3307 |
| Parties | IN THE MATTER OF: B.J. AND W.J., Adjudicated Neglected/Dependent Children. |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
CIVIL CASE FROM COMMON PLEAS COURT, JUVENILE DIVISION
George L. Davis, IV, Portsmouth, Ohio, for Appellant.
Shane A. Tieman, Scioto County Prosecuting Attorney, Jay S. Willis Assistant Scioto County Prosecuting Attorney, Portsmouth Ohio, for Appellee.
DECISION & JUDGMENT ENTRY
{¶1} This is an appeal from a Scioto County Common Pleas Court Juvenile Division, judgment that granted Scioto County Children Services Board, appellee herein, temporary custody of one-year-old B.J. and three-year-old W.J {¶2} The children's biological parents, appellants herein, raise the following assignment of error for review:
"THE TRIAL COURT PREJUDICIALLY ERRED BY ADJUDICATING THE MINOR CHILDREN NEGLECTED AND/OR DEPENDENT."
{¶3} On November 16, 2021, appellee filed a complaint that alleged three-year-old W.J. and ten-month-old B.J. are "neglected/dependent children" under R.C. 2151.03(A)(2) and R.C. 2151.04(C). Appellee also requested an ex parte order placing the children in its temporary custody. To support its complaint, appellee submitted caseworker Miranda Howard's affidavit. Howard averred that on November 15, 2021, the agency received a referral that involved B.J. The referral indicated that mother brought B.J. to the emergency room, but she then "took him and fled into the woods." Hospital security personnel located the mother and returned her and the child to the emergency room.
{¶4} Caseworker Howard later visited the hospital and attempted to speak with mother, but she refused to provide much information. The mother stated that she and the children's father had argued in a cabin at Shawnee State Park and, as a result of this argument, she took B.J. and walked away. The mother found a ride to the emergency room but fled the hospital when she "became scared because 'people with masks were making noises at her and she does not want in the politics.'" Howard further explained that mother became combative --- mother tried to fight a nurse and bit a security officer. Medical personnel restrained the mother and drew blood for an alcohol concentration test. The test revealed a .225 BAC.
{¶5} Later, sheriff deputies located father and W.J. and brought them to the hospital. The father stated that the family's vehicle had broken down and he attempted to take B.J. from mother. The father claimed that mother told the father "not to touch her or the child because she did not trust him." The father started to walk to the cabin and thought mother followed him. When he returned to the cabin, he placed W.J. in bed.
{¶6} Based upon the foregoing allegations, the trial court awarded appellee temporary emergency custody of the children. At a probable-cause hearing, the court continued the children in appellee's temporary custody.
{¶7} At the January 24, 2022 adjudication hearing, Joyce Ann Nixon testified that, late in the evening of November 15, 2022 she was driving to West Union and noticed a person (mother) standing in the opposite lane of travel. When mother waved her arms and yelled for help, Nixon stopped and asked what she needed. The mother told Nixon that she was lost. Nixon noted that mother carried a baby and, because of the cold temperature, Nixon told the mother to enter the vehicle.
{¶8} When the mother entered Nixon's vehicle, she said she needed to make a phone call. Nixon, however, informed mother that the area did not have cell phone service and mother would need to go to "CCC Camp" to make a call.
{¶9} As Nixon drove, she noticed that mother smelled of alcohol. The mother also informed Nixon that the baby was ill. Nixon eventually decided to take the mother and baby to the hospital.
{¶10} When they arrived at a stop sign near the hospital, the mother "jumped up and took off running with the baby and had the baby by the arm * * * like you would carry a doll." Nixon called security and told the officers that the mother needed help.
{¶11} Southern Ohio Medical Center (SOMC) Security Officer Wendell Sorrell stated that he located mother and baby after mother departed the hospital and when law enforcement officers looked for her. Sorrell found her lying on the ground with the child in her arms. He kept watch over the mother until other hospital personnel convinced the mother to return to the hospital.
{¶12} Officer Sorrell indicated that the mother seemed argumentative with hospital staff, that she slurred her words, and he believed she was either drug or alcohol impaired. Sorrell also thought that mother did not hold the baby in a careful manner and he "kept waiting for her to drop the child." Sorrell further explained that he helped restrain the mother so medical staff could draw blood. He further stated that while he restrained the mother's arm, she bit him.
{¶13} SOMC Security Officer Jeff Duduit testified that while in a hospital room with mother and baby, he "was greatly concerned that [the mother] was going to drop the infant because she wasn't supporting the head and was holding it [in] a dangerous manner." Duduit also detected an odor of alcohol and he remained concerned throughout his encounter that mother would drop the baby. A doctor eventually ordered security officers to remove the baby from the mother.
{¶14} Officer Duduit also explained that, when medical personnel tried to ask mother a question, she would not answer and instead "talk[ed] about things that weren't related to" the reason for her and the child's presence at the hospital.
{¶15} Portsmouth City Police Officer Timothy Penley stated that he responded to the hospital around 10:30 p.m. on November 15, 2021. Penley explained that he spoke with father when he arrived at the hospital. Penley reported that father informed him that when the family's vehicle had broken down, they started to walk to their destination.
{¶16} The father further advised Officer Penley that he thought mother and baby followed him, but later learned they did not. The father stated that he continued to walk with W.J. and returned to their Shawnee Park cabin. He informed Penley that mother had been drinking a little, but he was not concerned about her condition.
{¶17} Portsmouth City Police Patrolman John Dixon stated that he arrived at the hospital around the same time as Officer Penley. When Patrolman Dixon spoke with mother, he noted that the mother appeared to be intoxicated and he had concerns that baby would fall from her arms.
{¶18} The mother informed Patrolman Dixon that the family had gone to Shawnee Lodge to order food, but that the parents had been arguing and their vehicle would not start. The mother told Patrolman Dixon that the father and W.J. walked in one direction and mother and baby walked in the other direction. The mother advised Patrolman Dixon that she later flagged down Joyce Nixon's vehicle and Nixon drove mother to the hospital.
{¶19} Appellee also presented testimony from other hospital personnel and all related concern for the child's well-being due to mother's behaviors.
{¶20} Scioto County Children Services Caseworker Emma Coldiron testified that she visited the hospital in response to a referral the agency had received. Coldiron stated that she heard father explain that he and mother had argued after their vehicle became disabled and father tried to take the baby but mother resisted. The father indicated that he and W.J. started to walk toward their cabin and he thought that mother followed him.
{¶21} The father explained that, when he arrived at the cabin and realized that mother did not follow him, he placed W.J. in bed and remained in the cabin. The father did not suggest that he made any effort to locate the mother and the baby. He related that although he had no access to a phone or a vehicle, he had no concern and "figured [the mother had] found somewhere to go." The father did acknowledge that mother had approximately four drinks during dinner. He did not believe, however, that she was intoxicated at the time of their argument.
{¶22} The trial court asked Caseworker Coldiron to explain her reasoning for deciding to take emergency custody of the children rather than letting the father take them home, and she stated that the mother "was highly intoxicated," "her behavior was erratic," and "she had taken off with her child [who was] under the age of one." Coldiron further indicated that mother "had [a] history with alcoholism and had several other children removed from her care."
{¶23} After appellants' counsel objected to Caseworker Coldiron's statement regarding the mother's history, the trial court asked Coldiron to explain how she knew about mother's history of alcoholism and that she had other children removed from her care. Coldiron stated that she searched "SACWIS," a state database that contains information about child welfare,[1]and discovered that mother had an alcohol problem and had "several" other children removed from her care. The search results also indicated that the mother had been "uncooperative with several other agencies."
{¶24} Caseworker Coldiron did clarify that the children removed from mother's care had a different biological father than the father involved in the case at bar. She stated however, that she "had concerns that [the father] had not attempted in any way to locate" the mother and the baby. Coldiron further relayed the following additional concerns: (1) father did not realize mother and baby had not followed him to the cabin; (2) father did not discover them missing until he returned to the cabin; (3) father did not recognize mother's serious intoxication; (4) father also...
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