Sc Dept. of Social Services v. Cochran, 25997.

• Decision Date: 06 June 2005
• Docket Number: No. 25997.,25997.
• Citation: 614 S.E.2d 642
• Court: South Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, Respondent, v. Kimberly COCHRAN, Appellant. Re Tyler Dane Cochran, a minor child under the age of eighteen.

614 S.E.2d 642

SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, Respondent, v. Kimberly COCHRAN, Appellant.

Re Tyler Dane Cochran, a minor child under the age of eighteen.

No. 25997.

Supreme Court of South Carolina.

Heard May 3, 2005.

Decided June 6, 2005.

Rehearing Denied July 7, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Kimberley Elizabeth Campbell, of Patrick Law Firm, L.L.C., of Surfside Beach, for Appellant.

Celeste Moore, of South Carolina Department of Social Services, of Columbia, for Respondent.

Melissa Meyers Frazier, of N. Myrtle Beach, for Guardian Ad Litem.

Justice BURNETT:

This is an appeal from an order terminating Kimberly Cochran's (Appellant's) parental rights to her child, Tyler Dane Cochran (Child). Appellant appeals various aspects of the family court order, which was issued after we reversed and remanded the action concluding the South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS) failed to establish the chain of custody of two drug tests. South Carolina Dept. of Social Services v. Cochran, 356 S.C. 413, 589 S.E.2d 753 (2003). We affirm.

FACTUAL/PROCEDURAL BACKROUND

DSS temporarily removed Child from the home of Appellant and Bobby Cochran (Father) in August 1997 after Father had physically abused the child. Child was returned to Appellant subject to conditions imposed by the family court judge. Appellant was required to submit to drug testing, seek drug treatment, and complete parenting and marriage counseling. If Appellant tested positive for drugs, Child would immediately be removed from her custody. Appellant, thereafter, tested positive for cocaine, and DSS took custody of Child in November 1997.

A permanency planning hearing took place on July 30, 1998. The family court judge concluded DSS would retain custody of Child and could proceed to terminate the parental rights of both Appellant and Father. The family court terminated Appellant's parental rights based on the following grounds: 1) pursuant to S.C.Code Ann. § 20-7-1572(2) (Supp.2004), Appellant had failed to remedy or rehabilitate the situation which caused the initial removal of Child; 2) pursuant to S.C.Code Ann. § 20-7-1572(6) (Supp.2004), Appellant had a diagnosed drug addiction, which prevented her from providing minimally acceptable care for Child; 3) pursuant to S.C.Code Ann. § 20-7-1572(8) (Supp.2004), Child had been in foster care for fifteen of the previous twenty-two months; and 4) termination was in the best interest of the child.

In the first appeal, we concluded the family court erred in determining DSS had established a proper chain of custody for Appellant's blood samples used for drug testing in May and June of 2000. We concluded the scope of Appellant's drug addiction was unclear because DSS did not establish a proper chain of custody for key evidence to support the allegation Appellant failed the May and June blood tests. We reversed and remanded the case to the trial court with leave to open the record and receive any other evidence pertinent to a determination of whether Appellant had overcome her drug addiction and to provide DSS the opportunity to present a proper chain of custody for Appellant's blood samples.

On remand, the trial court terminated Appellant's parental rights based on the following grounds: 1) Appellant failed to remedy the conditions which caused the removal of Child as required by S.C.Code Ann. § 20-7-1572(2) (Supp.2004) and 2) Appellant has a diagnosable condition of drug addiction pursuant to S.C.Code Ann. § 20-7-1572(6) (Supp.2004) and this condition makes Appellant unlikely to provide minimally acceptable care for Child. In so holding, the trial court determined DSS established the chain of custody required for the May and June 2000 drug tests.

ISSUES

I. Did the trial court abuse its discretion in determining DSS established the

chain of custody for the May and June 2000 blood samples?

II. Did the trial court err in terminating Appellant's parental rights on the ground she had a diagnosable condition of drug addiction making her unlikely to provide minimally acceptable care for Child?

III. Did the trial court err in terminating Appellant's parental rights on the ground she failed to remedy the conditions which led to Child's removal?

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The family court will terminate parental rights and free a child for adoption if it finds one of the nine statutory grounds for termination has been met and that "termination is in the best interest of the child." S.C.Code Ann. § 20-7-1578 (Supp.2004). The family court judge terminated Appellant's parental rights pursuant to two statutory grounds. S.C.Code Ann. §§ 20-7-1572(2) and (6) (Supp.2004). DSS must prove these grounds by clear and convincing evidence. Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745, 102 S.Ct. 1388, 71 L.Ed.2d 599 (1982); Richland County v. Earles, 330 S.C. 24, 496 S.E.2d 864 (1998). When reviewing the family court decision, this Court may make its own conclusions of whether DSS proved by clear and convincing evidence that parental rights should be terminated. South Carolina Dep't of Social Services v. Broome, 307 S.C. 48, 413 S.E.2d 835 (1992).

LAW/ANALYSIS

The termination of the legal relationship between natural parents and a child presents one the most difficult issues this Court is called upon to decide. We exercise great caution in reviewing termination proceedings and will conclude termination is proper only when the evidence clearly and convincingly mandates such a result.

In cases involving the termination of parental rights, there exist two, often competing, interests: those of the parents and those of the child. Parents have a fundamental interest in the care, custody, and management of their children. Parental rights warrant vigilant protection under the law and due process mandates a fundamentally fair procedure when the state seeks to terminate the parent-child relationship. However, a child has a fundamental interest in terminating parental rights if the parent-child relationship inhibits establishing secure, stable, and continuous relationships found in a home with proper parental care. In balancing these interests, the best interest of the child is paramount to that of the parent. South Carolina Dep't of Social Services v. Vanderhorst, 287 S.C. 554, 340 S.E.2d 149 (1986).

Recognizing the termination of parental rights to be one of most severe actions a state can take against its citizens, we turn to the issues presented in determining whether it is in the best interest of Child that all legal relations with Appellant be terminated.

I.

(Chain of Custody)

Appellant argues the trial court erred in determining DSS established a proper chain of custody with respect to the May 1, 2000 sample and the June 7, 2000 sample.

DSS has the burden to establish a chain of custody for the blood samples "as far as practicable." State v. Williams, 297 S.C. 290, 376 S.E.2d 773 (1989). We have explained:

[T]he party offering such specimen is required to establish, at least as far as practicable, a complete chain of evidence, tracing from the time the specimen is taken from the human body to the final custodian by whom it is analyzed. Where the substance analyzed has passed through several hands the evidence must not leave it to conjecture as to who had it and what was done with it between the taking and the analysis.

Benton v. Pellum, 232 S.C. 26, 33-34, 100 S.E.2d 534, 537 (1957) (cited in Raino v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., 309 S.C. 255, 258, 422 S.E.2d 98, 99-100 (1992)).

The two samples in question were tested at a North Carolina testing facility of Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp). In the first trial, DSS presented only the telephonic deposition of Steven Ivey, an employee of LabCorp. Ivey testified generally as to who would have handled the samples and how the testing of the samples would have occurred. He also testified he did not handle the samples, nor did he know which employee handled them. We concluded Ivey's testimony was insufficient to establish the chain of custody recognizing that while the chain of custody DSS is required to establish need not be perfect, Ivey presented no direct evidence of how those specific blood samples were processed. Cochran, 356 S.C. at 419, 589 S.E.2d at 756.

In the second trial, from which this appeal is taken, DSS presented additional testimony of the chain of custody for the two samples. On appeal, Appellant's primary contention is DSS did not establish the chain of custody because the person who drew blood and sealed the containers did not testify, nor did the persons to whom the samples were delivered. Additionally, the identity of the courier who transported the samples from the collecting site to the testing facility is unknown. We conclude the absence of testimony from these persons and the unknown identity of the courier fails to render the chain of custody incomplete.

All witnesses who testified they handled and tested the blood identified their signatures on the chain of custody sheets and described their respective procedure for handling it and the testing performed. The witnesses testified the samples would have each been taken from the collecting site in a sealed package to the laboratory in Research Trial Park by a LabCorp courier who made daily pick-ups and deliveries. The chain of custody form and the witnesses testimony indicate the two samples were delivered to a Jackie Johnson and a Corey Sweeney, respectively. Johnson and Sweeney were no longer employed by LabCorp and not available as witnesses.

According to the May 1 Specimen Security System/Chain of Custody Request Form, Jackie Johnson received the sample from the courier on May 2, 2000. Johnson signed the form which stated "rec'd from the courier/seals intact/aliquot transferred to temporary storage." The form was also signed by Kathy Kejales, the LabCorp phlebotomist who drew the blood, Jackie Johnson, and Appellant. Kejales was no longer employed at the collection site and...