Schiesser v. State

• Decision Date: 01 December 1976
• Docket Number: No. B--5857,B--5857
• Parties: Brenda SCHIESSER, Petitioner, v. The STATE of Texas, Respondent.
• Court: Texas Supreme Court

Page 373

544 S.W.2d 373

Brenda SCHIESSER, Petitioner, v. The STATE of Texas, Respondent.

No. B--5857.

Supreme Court of Texas.

Dec. 1, 1976.

James C. Henry, III, Martin J. Grimm, Houston, for petitioner.

Sara B. McIntosh, Asst. Dist. Atty., Houston, for respondent.

SAM D. JOHNSON, Justice.

The Harris County Child Welfare Unit instituted this suit for termination of the parent-child relationship between the parents, Brenda Shadowens Schiesser and Freddie Shadowens, and their three children under Section 15.02 of the Texas Family Code Annotated. ¹ The juvenile court terminated the relationship and appointed the Welfare Unit as managing conservator. Freddie Shadowens did not appeal. The court of civil appeals affirmed. 531 S.W.2d 922. We reverse and remand for new trial in the interest of justice.

The record herein in no way lends itself to clarity or, in some instances, to understanding. No complete chronology of events has been submitted. ² The pertinent events appear to be as follows:

In July 1973 the Welfare Unit filed a petition in the juvenile court of Harris County, Texas alleging that these three children had been placed in its custody on June 28, 1972, that at that time the children were in need of medical attention and dependent upon neighbors for food, that the children had remained with the Welfare Unit, and that Brenda had been unable to formulate a child care plan. The petition requested that the Welfare Unit retain custody pending a final hearing and that the parent-child relationship be terminated.

On November 13, 1973 an amended petition was filed. It alleged that Brenda had not cooperated with the Welfare Unit, that she had been unable to formulate an adequate child care plan, and that the whereabouts of Freddie Shadowens were unknown.

A year later, November 7, 1974, the Welfare Unit moved to dismiss this amended petition ³ on the basis of a recommendation by Beth Stephenson, a case worker at the Welfare Unit. Her recommendation was based on the following facts: since April 1974 Brenda had requested monthly visits she had been very cooperative with the Welfare Unit; and she appeared able to offer proper care and a stable home for her children. During 1974 Brenda had obtained a divorce from Freddie Shadowens and continued to live with William Schiesser with whom she had lived since 1973.

On November 15, 1974 the Welfare Unit returned the children to Brenda at the home of William Schiesser. Five days later, on November 20, 1974, Brenda phoned Beth Stephenson at the Welfare Unit and requested that she remove the children from the home that day. Brenda maintained that she had no choice but to request the removal as William Schiesser insisted that the children leave but refused to allow her to leave. She also stated that she did not want her children to leave.

In her testimony Beth Stephenson related that she spoke with William Schiesser and Brenda on this day, November 20, 1974, and described them as appearing angry. She also stated that William Schiesser informed her that he wanted the children to leave because he could not afford to provide for them and because they were disturbing the family situation. She further testified that Brenda and William were 'yelling' at each other when she came for the children. The children returned with Beth Stephenson to the Welfare Unit.

The Welfare Unit, on December 30, 1974, filed a second amended petition alleging that in April 1974 the children had been declared dependent and neglected, ⁴ that Freddie Shadowens had 'failed to support the child(ren) in accordance with his ability during a period of one year ending within six months of the filing of the petition' (Section 15.02(1)(E)), and that Brenda had 'engaged in conduct or knowingly placed the child(ren) with persons who engaged in conduct which endanger(ed) the physical or emotional well-being of the child(ren)' (Section 15.02(1)(D)). It should be noted that the allegation contained in this second amended petition that Brenda had endangered the physical or emotional well-being of the children was not contained in the finding of facts filed by the juvenile court. Instead, the juvenile court found that the elements of a different Section, Section 15.02(1)(B), existed:

1. 'Brenda Shadowens Schiesser voluntarily left Thomas, Karen and Kenneth Shadowens in the possession of Harris County Child Welfare Unit and expressed no intent to return';

2. 'Thomas, Karen and Kenneth Shadowens were left by Brenda Shadowens Schiesser in the possession of Harris County Child Welfare Unit for 3 months, namely, part of November, December 1975 (sic), January and part of February, 1975'; and

3. 'Thomas, Karen and Kenneth were supported and provided for by the Harris County Child Welfare Unit for 3 months.'

It should also be noted that although the second amended petition did not contain an allegation that termination of the parentchild relationship was in the best interest of the children, the juvenile court made such a finding of fact.

On January 3, 1975, pursuant to the November 7, 1974 motion to dismiss of the Welfare Unit, the court entered an order dismissing the petition. A week later, on January 14, 1975, the Welfare Unit moved to set aside this dismissal order and the motion was granted on this same date.

During January 1975 Brenda left William Schiesser and stayed at a motel for four days. Brenda returned to his home and married him later that month.

For the first time since November 1974 William Schiesser and Brenda visited the children in February 1975. Brenda testified that this was the first time the Welfare Unit had allowed her to see her children. Under the order entered on January 30, 1975 by the juvenile court setting aside the dismissal, the Welfare Unit was reinstated as the temporary managing conservator of the children. Consequently, the Welfare Unit had control over visitation of the children by Brenda (Section 14.02). ⁵

Kathy Gaber, the Welfare Unit worker assigned to this case as of January 1975, testified that Brenda expressed to her the desire for the return of the children and that William had indicated that he wanted to adopt them. Her testimony included the additional information that she had not received any phone calls from either of them since the February 1975 visit. She further testified that Brenda had not mistreated the children.

The decree in issue in this case is that of March 31, 1975. It was on that date that the juvenile court appointed the Welfare Unit as managing conservator and, with respect to Brenda, ordered termination of the parent-child relationship under Section 15.02 on the grounds that she had 'voluntarily left the child(ren) . . . in the possession of another not the parent without expressing an intent to return, without providing for the adequate support of the child(ren), and remained away for a period of at least three months' (Section 15.02(1)(B)); and that the 'termination (of the parent-child relationship was) in the best interest of the child(ren)' (Section 15.02(2)). It is to be noted that the pleadings relied upon alleged Section 15.02(1)(D) (conduct which endangers the children) as a basis for termination. The findings of fact by the juvenile court indicate that it relied on Section 15.02(1)(B) (voluntarily left the children without expressing an intent to return) as a basis for termination. Such variance has not been made an issue before this court. Similarly, the failure of the Welfare Unit to allege that termination of the parent-child relationship was in the best interest of the children has not been made an issue in this case. ⁶

A preliminary matter which must be disposed of is the Welfare Unit's motion to dismiss the appeal because of mootness. ⁷ The documents in support of such motion reveal the most lamentable aspect of this case. An affidavit by the attorney of record of the Welfare Unit states that the three children were adopted on February 4, 1976 in a proceeding in Juvenile Court No. 1, Harris County. The juvenile court found that the three children had lived for at least three months in the home of the adopting parents, that the children's relationship with the natural parents had been terminated, and that the adoption was in the best interest of the children.

The background circumstances were as follows: On March 31, 1975 the juvenile court had entered a judgment terminating the parent-child relationship. A timely motion for new trial was made by Brenda and was overruled. Brenda properly appealed to the court of civil appeals and on December 31, 1975 such court delivered its opinion. Motion for rehearing was posted by United States mail on January 14, 1976 and received on January 16, 1976 by the clerk of the court of civil appeals. On January 14, 1976 copies of this motion were also mailed to the attorney for the Welfare Unit and the guardian Ad litem for the children. Therefore, this motion was timely. Tex.R.Civ.P. 4, 5, 458; Smith v. Harris County-Houston Ship Chan. Nav. Dist.,160 Tex. 292, 329 S.W.2d 845 (1959). In the interim, on January 15, 1976, a letter was written by the Welfare Unit to the attorney for Brenda making inquiry as to plans for appeal. On this same date, January 15, 1976, inquiry was made with the court of civil appeals by an unnamed individual connected with the Welfare Unit ascertaining that no notice of appeal had been received. The court of civil appeals thereafter entered an order overruling the motion for rehearing on January 30, 1976 and application for writ of error was timely filed with the court of civil appeals on March 1, 1976. The adoption decree was entered on February 4, 1976, apparently without any further inquiry having been made relative to the finality of the judgment of the court of civil appeals. On February 4, 1976 the instant case was still being appealed and there did not exist a final determination that Brenda's relationship with her children should be terminated. Since this...