State in Interest of J.J.T.

• Decision Date: 10 June 1994
• Docket Number: No. 920351-CA,920351-CA
• Citation: 877 P.2d 161
• Parties: STATE of Utah, in the Interest of J.J.T. and T.J.T. J.T., Appellant.
• Court: Utah Court of Appeals

Page 161

877 P.2d 161

STATE of Utah, in the Interest of J.J.T. and T.J.T J.T., Appellant.

No. 920351-CA.

Court of Appeals of Utah.

June 10, 1994.

Robert L. Froerer, Ogden, for appellant.

Jan Graham and Carol L.C. Verdoia, Salt Lake City, for State.

Before ORME, Associate P.J., and BENCH and BILLINGS, JJ.

ORME, Associate Presiding Judge:

Appellant seeks reversal of the trial court's decision terminating his parental rights. He contends the court's action is barred by res judicata. We disagree and affirm the trial court's judgment.

FACTS

J.T., the appellant, is the biological father of minors J.J.T. and T.J.T. Appellant resided with the mother of the two minors, as well as with her five other minor children from previous marriages. Pursuant to a missing persons investigation, on December 17, 1990, police discovered the body of appellant's six year-old stepson in a shallow grave in appellant's back yard. Appellant was subsequently charged with third degree felony abuse of a corpse and second degree felony homicide.

The circumstances surrounding the death of appellant's stepson prompted the State to file a neglect petition on January 3, 1991, seeking temporary custody of the minor children residing with appellant, including J.J.T. Appellant admitted the allegations of neglect, and J.J.T. was placed in the temporary custody and guardianship of the Division of Family Services ("DFS"). Although the neglect petition was decided February 12, 1991, three days before appellant was sentenced to a five-years-to-life sentence of imprisonment, investigations by DFS into appellant's conduct vis-a-vis the children continued until approximately February 19, 1991.

On March 8, 1991, J.J.T.'s mother gave birth to appellant's son, T.J.T. Two weeks later, the State filed a petition with the juvenile court alleging that T.J.T. was a dependent child, and also filed a separate petition to terminate appellant's parental rights to J.J.T. and T.J.T. The petition to terminate parental rights was premised on parental unfitness, incompetence, and abandonment of J.J.T. and T.J.T.

Appellant asserts that the petition to terminate parental rights is barred by the doctrine of res judicata, arguing that the State could have brought the petition to terminate parental rights when the earlier neglect petition was filed by the State, or at least before the earlier petition was decided. ¹

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Appellant does not challenge the sufficiency of evidence relied on by the juvenile court to terminate his parental rights, but argues only that the termination petition was barred by res judicata. Therefore, this appeal presents a question of law. Office of Recovery Servs. v. V.G.P., 845 P.2d 944, 946 (Utah App.1992). Accepting the trial court's factual findings, we review its conclusions of law for correctness, according them no particular deference. Id.

ANALYSIS

Although appellant's single contention on appeal may be simply stated, the issue is an important one meriting careful consideration. Accordingly, we begin with a brief review of the res judicata doctrine and its two prongs, claim preclusion and issue preclusion. However, before putting the facts of this case through traditional res judicata analysis, we pause to question the applicability of the doctrine to cases involving the termination of parental rights. Only then do we consider whether the termination of appellant's parental rights is barred under the claim preclusion doctrine.

A. RES JUDICATA GENERALLY

The doctrine of res judicata "is based on the premise that the proper administration of justice is best served by limiting parties to one fair trial of an issue or cause." Trimble Real Estate v. Monte Vista Ranch, Inc., 758 P.2d 451, 453 (Utah App.1988) (citation omitted). Consequently, the doctrine has evolved from common law jurisprudence to serve such public interests as "fostering reliance on prior adjudication," "preventing inconsistent decisions," "relieving parties of the cost and vexation of multiple lawsuits," and "conserving judicial resources." Office of Recovery Servs. v. V.G.P., 845 P.2d 944, 946 (Utah App.1992) (citing Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 94, 101 S.Ct. 411, 415, 66 L.Ed.2d 308 (1980)).

Res judicata has two related but distinct branches, both of which are intended to promote judicial economy and the convenience afforded by finality in legal controversies. Copper State Thrift & Loan v. Bruno, 735 P.2d 387, 389 (Utah App.1987). One branch, claim preclusion, or "pure" res judicata, bars, inter alia, the relitigation of claims which have been previously litigated between the same parties. Id. To invoke this branch of res judicata, three requirements must be satisfied:

First, both cases must involve the same parties or their privies. Second, the claim that is alleged to be barred must have been presented in the first suit or must be one that could and should have been raised in the first action. Third, the first suit must have resulted in a final judgment on the merits.

Madsen v. Borthick, 769 P.2d 245, 247 (Utah 1988). The other branch, issue preclusion, traditionally known as collateral estoppel, prevents relitigation of issues that have been decided, though the causes of action or claims for relief are not the same. Penrod v. Nu Creation Creme, Inc., 669 P.2d 873, 875 (Utah 1983); Copper State, 735 P.2d at 389.

The parties agree that the case before us turns on application of the claim preclusion prong of the res judicata doctrine. Thus, res judicata would bar the State's petition to terminate appellant's parental rights in J.J.T. if the neglect petition presents the same claim, demand, or cause of action as the petition to terminate parental rights. The doctrine would bar not only claims for relief which were litigated to finality on their merits, but also those claims which could and should have been presented in the prior action, but were not. Accordingly, if res judicata applies in this case, we must consider not only whether the neglect proceeding has preclusive effect because of claims actually litigated, but also whether the State could and should have brought the termination petition contemporaneously with the neglect petition.

B. GENERAL APPLICABILITY OF RES JUDICATA TO PROCEEDINGS TERMINATING PARENTAL RIGHTS

A more fundamental question, however, is whether the judicial doctrine of res judicata has any application in proceedings involving the welfare of children. Mindful of the unique nature of child custody and related proceedings, we share the concerns expressed by the courts which have recognized that a hyper-technical application of res judicata is improper in adjudications where the welfare of children is at stake. ² Considerations regarding a child's welfare are rarely, if ever, static. In fact, it is more likely that the child's environment is constantly evolving, thus justifying the court's continuing jurisdiction. See Scott v. Department of Social Servs., 76 Md.App. 357, 545 A.2d 81, 90 (1988) ("child welfare seems to be a particularly appealing subject for periodic redetermination because children can be quickly and irretrievably scarred by negative circumstances"), cert. denied, 492 U.S. 910, 109 S.Ct. 3226, 106 L.Ed.2d 575 (1989).

Consequently, appellant's assertion that a "new" act of impropriety must have occurred for the State to bring a termination petition on the heels of a neglect petition totally misses the point of the juvenile court's continuing jurisdiction over a child. See Utah Code Ann. § 78-3a-40 (1992). In one sense To that end, we note that the function of res judicata is "to protect litigants from the burden of relitigating an identical issue with the same party or his privy and to promote judicial economy by preventing needless litigation." Smith v. Smith, 793 P.2d 407, 409 (Utah App.1990). However, determining whether the circumstances of child abuse or abandonment justify terminating parental rights is not the type of "needless litigation" contemplated by the doctrine of res judicata. See In re Pardee, 190 Mich.App. 243, 475 N.W.2d 870, 873-74 (1991). Moreover, non-application--or at least the flexible application--of res judicata in termination of parental rights proceedings does not leave the parents unprotected and subject to vexatious litigation. There are other protections in place that adequately safeguard the parents' rights without compromising the significant concern for a child's welfare. See In re J.R., 711 P.2d 701, 703 (Colo.App.1985).

each day a child is left in an unsafe or unhealthy environment represents a "new" basis for judicial concern, and it is this continued threat to a child's welfare that merits the court's continuing jurisdiction and periodic review. The best interests of a child usually cannot be determined from a single incident, or even a series of incidents considered in isolation. Rather, to effectively determine the best interests of a child, a court must be free from the imposition of artificial constraints that serve merely to advance the cause of judicial economy. See In re V.B., 220 Neb. 369, 370 N.W.2d 119, 121 (1985).

For example, a custody decision resulting from a divorce decree, predicated on a particular set of facts, is res judicata and will not be disturbed unless the party seeking modification can demonstrate a material change of circumstances. See Utah Code Ann. § 30-3-10.4 (Supp.1993). See also Smith, 793 P.2d at 410. Likewise, evidentiary requirements in a parental rights termination proceeding afford protections of the same caliber as those offered through res judicata. See In re J.R., 711 P.2d at 703 (protections equivalent to those advanced by res judicata available in termination proceedings by requirement that state meet its evidentiary burden of proof). Thus, it cannot be persuasively argued that judicial economy or the convenience afforded by finality of legal controversies must override the concern for a child's welfare. See Federated...