Mullins v. State Of Tenn., M2008-01674-SC-R11-CV.
| Citation | 320 S.W.3d 273 |
| Decision Date | 17 September 2010 |
| Docket Number | No. M2008-01674-SC-R11-CV.,M2008-01674-SC-R11-CV. |
| Parties | Candace MULLINSv.STATE of Tennessee. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Tennessee |
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Phillip L. Davidson, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Candace Mullins.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; and P. Robin Dixon, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
The issue presented in this appeal is whether the Tennessee Claims Commission had subject matter jurisdiction to hear a claim against the State of Tennessee arising from the death of a young child who had been removed from his mother's home and placed in the custody of the mother's aunt by order of the juvenile court. The child and his two brothers were removed from their mother's care because of her use of cocaine. At the mother's request and after an investigation, the Department of Children's Services recommended to the juvenile court that custody of the children be awarded to the mother's aunt. Less than a month after the court entered the order of custody, the mother reported concerns about the children's well-being to the Department. A case worker investigated the aunt's home and found no basis to remove the children. Ten days later, one of the children, a five-year-old boy, died from extensive injuries allegedly inflicted by the aunt's nineteen-year-old daughter who lived in the home. The child's mother filed a wrongful death claim against the State alleging negligence on the part of the Department. The Claims Commissioner denied the claim, finding that the Claims Commission did not have subject matter jurisdiction to hear the claim pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 9-8-307(a)(1)(E) (1999 & Supp.2009) and that, in any event, the mother had failed to prove negligence by the Department. We hold that the Claims Commission did not have subject matter jurisdiction to hear the claim because the child was not in the care, custody, and control of the State.
This case arises from the death of five-year-old Carlyle Mullins, the son of Candace Mullins. Carlyle and his two brothers were removed from their mother's care after the Tennessee Department of Children's Services (“DCS” or “the Department”) investigated a referral that the mother and her newborn son had tested positive for cocaine.2 After the children were removed from their mother's home, DCS conducted a team decision meeting to consider temporary placement of the children. Among those present at the April 19, 2005, meeting were Ms. Mullins; Lolitha Crook and her husband; Mrs. Crook's nineteen-year-old daughter, Latara Williams; the father of one of Carlyle's brothers; and several DCS employees, including the case manager, Stephanie Hall. At this meeting, Ms. Mullins requested that custody of her sons be placed with her aunt, Mrs. Crook. No one at this meeting raised any questions or concerns about the suitability of Mrs. Crook or her daughter, Ms. Williams.
Before DCS made its recommendation to the Juvenile Court for Davidson County regarding placement of the children, Sue Burfield, a DCS supervising case manager, performed a criminal background check, sex offender registry review, and search of the pertinent Tennessee child and family computer database systems to ensure that placement with the Crook family was appropriate. Additionally, a representative or representatives of Child Protective Services went to the Crook home to investigate its suitability. After completing these procedures, DCS concurred with Ms. Mullins' request and recommended to the juvenile court that the children be placed in the temporary custody of Mrs. Crook.
On April 20, 2005, the juvenile court awarded temporary custody to Mrs. Crook of the three children, ages six, five, and one month. After the court placed the children with Mrs. Crook, DCS closed its case files on the children. Ms. Burfield testified that when DCS closes a case and no longer retains custody of a minor who has been placed with a family member by juvenile court order, DCS has no duty to supervise the home environment of such a placement.
Less than a month later on May 17, 2005, Ms. Mullins called Ms. Hall with multiple concerns about the care and home environment of the children. Ms. Mullins reported that Mrs. Crook was away from the home as many as twelve hours per day and that Ms. Williams was caring for the children in Mrs. Crook's absence. Ms. Mullins alleged that Ms. Williams was mentally incapable of taking care of three young children, that she had been in special education classes, and that she had once set fire to the Crooks' kitchen. Additionally, Ms. Mullins reported that Carlyle had suffered a burn injury at the Crook home and that she had been unable to determine the cause of the burn. Ms. Hall instructed Ms. Mullins to make an official referral to DCS, which Ms. Mullins promptly did. Upon receiving the referral, Ms. Hall went to the Crook home the same day to investigate Ms. Mullins' concerns. When Ms. Hall arrived at the home, she interviewed Carlyle separately and observed his body from the waist up. She saw scars that she described as “very old” and “very, very faint” and a mark on his back that looked like a bite mark. She also observed a burn mark on Carlyle's arm. When Ms. Hall asked Carlyle how he got the burn, he told her that he had accidentally bumped into a hot iron in his closet. Ms. Hall looked in the closet and found an iron on a shelf at the level of the burn mark.
As to the scars and bite marks on Carlyle, Ms. Hall testified at trial that she recalled asking Carlyle how he got the scars and bite marks, but admitted that she made no documentation or evidence of this inquiry in any report. She did not testify as to Carlyle's response to her inquiry. She did not take any photographs or make any written notations of the marks on his body. Ms. Hall testified that Mrs. Crook told her that the marks, other than the burn, were present on Carlyle's body when he arrived at her house. Ms. Hall was aware that DCS had received an earlier referral in 2002 regarding Carlyle and his brother that involved cigarette burns, bruises, and bites, based on information available through the State's TennKids computer database.
Ms. Hall told DCS's Internal Affairs Division that Carlyle answered all of her questions and did not seem to be fearful during her investigative visit. She observed that Carlyle's demeanor was “happy,” that “he walked fine,” and that there was no immediate danger to Carlyle during her visit. Ms. Hall made a basic visual inspection of Carlyle's younger brother but not his older brother. She did not separately interview either Carlyle's older brother or Ms. Williams.
Ms. Hall testified that when Ms. Mullins called in the referral, she did not allege that Ms. Williams was abusing Carlyle. During the investigative visit, Mrs. Crook denied to Ms. Hall that Ms. Williams had been in special education classes and asserted that Ms. Williams was a CPR-certified lifeguard and that the kitchen fire had been an accident. Ms. Hall admitted that Ms. Williams appeared to her to be “mentally delayed.”
Based on her observations during the investigative visit and Carlyle's non-disclosure of abuse, Ms. Hall concluded that the allegations regarding the burn were unfounded and that there was no evidence that Carlyle was being neglected or abused or in immediate risk of harm. DCS closed the investigation on May 17, 2005.
Unfortunately, nine days later on May 26, 2005, Carlyle was admitted to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital suffering from serious injuries including a subdural hemorrhage with brain edema. He died the next day. The medical examiner determined the cause of death to be inflicted head trauma and the manner of death to be homicide. Ms. Williams was subsequently arrested and charged with first degree murder and aggravated child abuse.3
Ms. Mullins filed a claim in the Tennessee Claims Commission against the State of Tennessee alleging that DCS had been negligent in its care, custody, and control of Carlyle by: (1) failing to conduct an adequate investigation of the Crooks' home environment before recommending his placement there; (2) failing to maintain supervisory control over Mrs. Crook and her home with respect to Carlyle's care; (3) failing to properly ensure Carlyle was not subjected to abuse by parties living in the Crook home; (4) failing to protect Carlyle by removing him from the Crook home when DCS was notified of possible danger and abuse by Ms. Mullins' referral; and (5) failing to adequately investigate the cause of Carlyle's burn injury. Ms. Mullins asserted that if Ms. Hall had conducted an adequate investigation of the referral allegations, Carlyle would have been removed from the Crook home and protected from abuse.
Following a plenary trial, the Claims Commissioner dismissed the claim. The Commissioner ruled that Ms. Mullins had failed to prove that DCS had acted negligently in recommending to the juvenile court that temporary custody of Carlyle be awarded to Mrs. Crook; that the Claims Commission lacked jurisdiction over the claim because Carlyle was not in the care, custody, and control of DCS at the time of the alleged failure to properly investigate the referral of abuse and remove the child from the home; and that even if the Claims Commission had subject matter jurisdiction, Ms. Mullins had failed to prove that the alleged negligence of DCS was the cause of Carlyle's death.
Ms. Mullins appealed. The Court of Appeals ruled that the Claims Commission had jurisdiction to hear Ms. Mullins' claim relative to Carlyle's placement with Mrs. Crook, because at that...
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