R.D. v. C.L.W. (State ex rel. Z.C.W.)
| Decision Date | 23 September 2021 |
| Docket Number | No. 20200039-CA,20200039-CA |
| Citation | 500 P.3d 94 |
| Parties | STATE of Utah, IN the INTEREST OF Z.C.W. and C.C.W., Persons Under Eighteen Years of Age. R.D., Appellant, v. C.L.W., Appellee. |
| Court | Utah Court of Appeals |
Julie J. Nelson, Salt Lake City, and Alexandra Mareschal, Attorneys for Appellant
Lisa Lokken, Cottonwood Heights, and Kirstin H. Norman, Attorneys for Appellee
Martha Pierce, Salt Lake City, Guardian ad Litem
Opinion
¶1 This termination-of-parental-rights case—in which R.D. (Mother) seeks to terminate the parental rights of her ex-husband, C.L.W. (Father), regarding their two children, C.C.W. and Z.C.W. (collectively, Children)—comes to us for a second time. In our previous opinion, we reversed the juvenile court's order dismissing Mother's petition and remanded the case with instructions for the court to redo its "best-interest" analysis, this time taking into account evidence that it had previously discounted regarding Father's history of domestic violence toward Mother and another woman. See In re C.C.W. , 2019 UT App 34, ¶¶ 19–25, 440 P.3d 749. On remand, the juvenile court reconsidered best interest and this time took into account Father's history of domestic violence, but it conducted its analysis as of early 2017—the time of the previous trial—and not as of late 2019, when the post-remand proceedings took place. The court denied Mother's motion to amend her termination petition to include new facts and circumstances that she asserted had occurred after the earlier trial, and the court refused to consider any evidence regarding best interest that had not been placed into the record at the previous trial. After reevaluating best interest as of 2017, this time not compartmentalizing Father's history of domestic violence, the court again concluded that termination of Father's parental rights was not in Children's best interest, and again dismissed Mother's petition.
¶2 Mother appeals the dismissal of her petition, but does not raise a substantive challenge to the juvenile court's new findings and conclusions—that is, Mother does not claim that the findings are unsupported by the evidence presented at the 2017 trial. Instead, Mother's challenge is procedural: she asserts that the court erred by conducting its post-remand best-interest analysis in light of the evidence available in 2017, and by refusing to consider facts and circumstances arising after 2017 that might have affected its analysis. We agree with Mother, and hold that when we remand a case for a court to reconsider the best-interest question, we generally intend for that renewed inquiry to be conducted in the present tense, and for the effective date of that analysis to be the date of the post-remand proceeding. Accordingly, we vacate the juvenile court's order of dismissal, and remand for a new best-interest analysis that should be conducted based on the facts and circumstances in existence as of the date the inquiry is made.
¶3 Many of the salient facts that inform the legal issues in this case are set forth in detail in our previous opinion, see id . ¶¶ 2–12, and we see no need to repeat them here. For present purposes, we include only a brief summary of the pre-remand facts.
¶4 Mother filed a private petition seeking termination of Father's parental rights regarding Children and alleged, among other things, that Father had a history of domestic violence toward her and another woman and had been incarcerated twice for such offenses. Id. ¶¶ 2–5. After a trial in early 2017, the juvenile court found that Father had abandoned Children, and that there were therefore statutory grounds for termination, id. ¶ 7, but concluded that it was not in Children's best interest for Father's parental rights to be terminated, id. ¶¶ 9–12. The court made factual findings that Father had indeed brutally attacked Mother and had a history of domestic violence, id. ¶ 8 & n.1, but nevertheless concluded that those facts had little bearing on the termination inquiry, because Father had never been violent toward Children, id. ¶ 8. After determining that Mother had not carried her burden on the best-interest inquiry, the juvenile court dismissed Mother's petition, and Mother appealed. Id. ¶¶ 12–13.
¶5 On appeal, we concluded that the juvenile court's best-interest "analysis was materially flawed" because, rather than evaluating the impact Father's acts of domestic violence could have on Children, the court "completely separate[d] or compartmentalize[d]" Father's "history of domestic violence toward other adults from the best-interest inquiry." Id. ¶¶ 15, 19, 22. Accordingly, we vacated the order dismissing Mother's petition and remanded for the juvenile court to "reconsider[ ]" its best-interest inquiry. Id. ¶ 25. We directed the court, in conducting its renewed inquiry, to "adequately consider[ ] all of the proper factors," including "what effect, if any, Father's history of domestic violence might have on his efforts to reestablish a relationship with the Children." Id.
¶6 Soon after remand, Mother filed a motion seeking leave to amend her petition to include additional relevant information. Mother asserted that "significant events, developments and incidents" bearing on Children's best interest had occurred in the two years since the 2017 trial. Among other things, Mother alleged that, since the trial, Father had committed violent acts against another woman, and that Father's parole had been revoked due to drug and alcohol use. In addition, Mother asserted that her own situation had changed, alleging that she had remarried and her new spouse now wanted to adopt Children. The guardian ad litem (GAL) assigned to represent Children endorsed Mother's position. Nevertheless, the juvenile court denied Mother's motion to amend, explaining that it interpreted our opinion as requiring only a "reconsideration" of its previous ruling. The court declined to consider the new material alleged by Mother in connection with its renewed best-interest analysis, stating that it would "listen to the testimony" presented at the 2017 trial and would "read and consider the various literature cited" in our opinion, after which it would issue a written ruling without further hearing.
¶7 A few weeks later, the juvenile court issued a written decision setting forth its renewed best-interest analysis. This time, the court did consider Father's history of domestic violence. The court again noted that there was no evidence that Father had ever "physically abused his biological or stepchildren," and found that "Mother did not fear Father's interaction with the Children." The court also observed that, under the district court order then in effect governing the parties’ divorce proceedings, Father was entitled only to supervised parent-time with Children. The juvenile court concluded that Father was at low risk to commit domestic violence in the presence of Children, and gave several reasons for its conclusion: Father had little contact with Mother; Father had "engaged in mental health services and medication management" and had "developed coping skills"; Father was "remorseful" and "desire[d] to correct his past actions"; and Father "was married with a support system in place." In the court's view, this evidence demonstrated that Father had taken "meaningful steps to change his life in order to be reintroduced" to Children. The court also noted that Father was Children's only "African American father figure," and that by keeping Father's parental rights intact, Children could "maintain their legal relationship" with Father's extended family, including their older half-sister. For these reasons, the court concluded—based on reconsideration of the evidence presented at the 2017 trial—that Mother had not carried her burden of demonstrating, by clear and convincing evidence, that it would be in Children's best interest for Father's parental rights to be terminated. On that basis, the court again dismissed Mother's petition, doing so without considering any evidence regarding events that allegedly occurred between the 2017 trial and the date of the court's order.
¶8 Soon after issuance of the juvenile court's post-remand ruling, Mother and the GAL each asked the court for a "new trial," contending that the court should "re-open the evidence" because it was "impossible for the court" to properly consider best interest "without considering evidence of events that have occurred in the two and a half years since the trial." In the documentation supporting her motion, Mother provided additional detail regarding some of the new evidence, asserting that Children's half-sister had reached adulthood, no longer lived with Father, and had her own independent relationship with Children; that Father had reduced his financial support of Children and let their insurance coverage lapse; and that C.C.W. had recently been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
, allegedly heightening the need for stability in his life.1 The court denied these motions, offering its view that it had complied with this court's instructions by "considering all of the evidence presented" at the 2017 trial, and that Mother's remedy was either to appeal or to file a new petition for termination of Father's parental rights.
¶9 Mother appeals from the juvenile court's second dismissal of her termination petition, and raises one issue for our review: whether the juvenile court erred when it conducted its post-remand best-interest inquiry in past-tense fashion, as of 2017, and refused to consider facts and circumstances that allegedly occurred after 2017.2 Both Mother and Father contend that we should review this issue for abuse of discretion. We disagree. The narrow question of whether a post-remand best-interest inquiry should be conducted in past-tense or...
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