In re M.J.

• Decision Date: 29 November 2022
• Docket Number: 16743,Docket Nos. NN-01607/18,NN-01068/18,NN-01609/18,NN-01610/18,NN-01611/18,NN-01345/19,Case No. 2021-02515
• Citation: 2022 NY Slip Op 06750
• Parties: In the Matter of M.J., and Others, Children Under Eighteen Years of Age, etc., D.T., Respondent-Appellant, Administration for Children's Services, Petitioner-Respondent.
• Court: New York Supreme Court

2022 NY Slip Op 06750

In the Matter of M.J., and Others, Children Under Eighteen Years of Age, etc., D.T., Respondent-Appellant, Administration for Children's Services, Petitioner-Respondent.

Appeal No. 16743, Docket Nos. NN-01607/18, NN-01068/18, NN-01609/18, NN-01610/18, NN-01611/18, NN-01345/19, Case No. 2021-02515

Supreme Court of New York, First Department

November 29, 2022

Daniel X. Robinson, New York, for appellant.

Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix, Corporation Counsel, New York (Deborah E Wassel of counsel), for respondent.

Karen Freedman, Lawyers for Children Inc., New York (Shirim Nothenberg of counsel), attorney for the children M. J. and R. J.

Dawne A. Mitchell, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Diane Pazar of counsel), attorney for the children Q. T., J. T. and P.T.

Before: Acosta, P.J., Kern, Singh, Scarpulla, Pitt, JJ.

Order Family Court, New York County (Jonathan H. Shim, J.), entered on or about June 28, 2021, which inter alia determined, after a fact-finding hearing, that respondent father neglected the subject children Q.T., and J.T. and derivatively neglected the subject children R.J., M.J., and P.T., unanimously affirmed, without costs.

A preponderance of the evidence supports Family Court's finding that respondent neglected the subject children Q.T and J.T by committing an act of domestic violence against their mother in the children's presence. The record established that respondent, in violation of an order of protection, forced his way into the mother's apartment pushed one of the children to the ground, choked the mother, brandished a knife and threatened to kill everyone. This incident evinces a strongly impaired parental judgment, and the children were exposed to a substantial risk of harm, sufficient to sustain a finding of neglect (see Matter of Jermaine K.R. [Jermaine R.], 176 A.D.3d 648, 649 [1st Dept 2019]; Matter of J.R.M.-C. [Antonio M.], 176 A.D.3d 623 [1st Dept 2019]).

The child's out-of-court statements regarding the details of the incident and the injuries respondent inflicted upon the mother were corroborated by the caseworker's testimony and the criminal complaint (see Matter of Carmine G. [Franklin G.], 115 A.D.3d 594, 594 [1st Dept 2014]).

The evidence supported the finding of derivative neglect on behalf of M.J, R.J, and P.T. because respondent's actions demonstrated such an impaired level of parental judgment as to create a substantial risk of harm to any child...