In re Harrison, No. COA99-834.

• Docket Nº: No. COA99-834.
• Citation: 136 NC App. 831, 526 S.E.2d 502
• Case Date: March 07, 2000
• Court: Court of Appeal of North Carolina (US)

526 S.E.2d 502
136 NC App. 831

In re Dustin Eric HARRISON, a minor child, and In re John Stanley Koros, III, a minor child

No. COA99-834.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

March 7, 2000.

David W. Rogers, Rutherfordton, for respondent-appellants.

No response filed by petitioner-appellees.

EAGLES, Chief Judge.

Counsel appointed to represent respondents has filed a brief in which he states that he is "unable to find any error that might have substantially affected the respondent's rights." He asks this Court to conduct its own review of the record for possible prejudicial error pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493, reh'g denied, 388 U.S. 924, 87 S.Ct. 2094, 18 L.Ed.2d 1377 (1967), and State v. Kinch, 314 N.C. 99, 331 S.E.2d 665 (1985). Counsel has not filed documentation with this Court showing that he has complied with the requirements of Anders. However, counsel states that he has advised respondents of their right to file written arguments with the Court and provided them with a copy of the documents pertinent to this appeal. As of this date, respondents have not filed any arguments on their own behalf.

"An attorney for a criminal defendant who believes that his client's appeal is without merit is permitted to file what has become known as an Anders brief." State v. Mayfield, 115 N.C.App. 725, 726, 446 S.E.2d 150, 152 (1994)(emphasis added). However, this jurisdiction has not extended the procedures and protections afforded in Anders and Kinch to civil cases. The majority of states who have addressed this issue have found that Anders does not extend to civil cases, including termination of parental rights cases. See Department of Children and Family Services v. Natural Parents of J.B., 736 So.2d 111, 114 (Fla.App.1999)(Anders procedures do not apply in termination of parental rights cases); County of Kern v.

526 S.E.2d 503

Dillier, 69 Cal.App.4th 1412, 1419, 82 Cal.Rptr.2d 318, 322 (1999)("Anders's `prophylactic' procedures are designed solely to protect the indigent criminal defendant's right, under the Fourteenth Amendment's due process and equal protection clauses, to the assistance of appellate counsel appointed by the state"); Denise H. v. Arizona Dept. of Economic Sec., 193 Ariz. 257, 259, 972 P.2d 241, 243 (1998)(counsel for a parent appealing from a juvenile court's severance order has no right to file an Anders brief). But see L.C. v. State, 963 P.2d 761, 348 Utah Adv. Rep. 26 (1998), ...