MATTER OF SALMA M.
| Decision Date | 16 May 2002 |
| Citation | 294 A.D.2d 198,744 N.Y.S.2d 3 |
| Parties | In the Matter of SALMA M. and Others, Children Alleged to be Abandoned.<BR>HERMAN CARLEE M., Appellant;<BR>MIRACLE MAKERS, INC., et al., Respondents. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Respondent failed to overcome the presumption of abandonment raised by his failure to communicate with the children or agency during the six-month period immediately preceding the filing of the petition (Social Services Law § 384-b [5] [a]). Incarceration does not, by itself, excuse such failure (Matter of Anthony M., 195 AD2d 315), and respondent's testimony that the conditions of his confinement were such as to make it impossible for him to obtain a pen and paper or use the telephone raises issues of credibility that were properly resolved by Family Court. We note in the latter regard clear and convincing evidence that respondent, while incarcerated, had been writing letters to the children on a regular and frequent basis prior to the six-month abandonment period, but then abruptly stopped.
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