Suffolk County Dept. of Social Services on Behalf of Michael V. v. James M.

• Decision Date: 15 February 1994
• Parties: , 630 N.E.2d 636 In the Matter of SUFFOLK COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, on Behalf of MICHAEL V. and Another, Children Alleged to be Abused or Neglected, Respondent, v. JAMES M., Appellant.
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

Page 940

608 N.Y.S.2d 940

83 N.Y.2d 178, 630 N.E.2d 636

In the Matter of SUFFOLK COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, on Behalf of MICHAEL V. and Another Children Alleged to be Abused or Neglected, Respondent, v. JAMES M., Appellant.

Court of Appeals of New York.

Feb. 15, 1994.

McNamee, Lochner, Titus & Williams, Albany (David J. Wukitsch, of counsel), for appellant.

Robert J. Cimino, County Atty. of Suffolk County, Central Islip (Jeffrey A. Adolph, of counsel), for respondent.

Anthony DiSanti, Law Guardian, and Robert C. Mitchell, Central Islip, for Michael V. and another. OPINION OF THE COURT

LEVINE, Judge.

In proceedings pursuant to Family Court Act article 10, Nicholas V., born July 14, 1979, was adjudicated an abused child and Michael V., born October 6, 1980, was adjudicated a neglected child. In each instance, the adjudication was based upon Family Court's grant of the motion for summary judgment of the petitioner Suffolk County Department of Social Services, in which the court determined that appellant, stepfather of the two children, had sexually abused Nicholas.

The motion for summary judgment was supported by documentary evidence that appellant had been convicted in Suffolk County Court after trial of 15 counts of sodomy in the first degree committed against Nicholas. Without holding a dispositional hearing, Family Court entered a dispositional order of protection (see, Family Ct.Act § 1052[a][iv] directing appellant to have no contact whatsoever with the children, including no telephone contact and no written communication of any kind. The order of protection provided that it was to remain in effect until each child attained his eighteenth birthday, the maximum period statutorily authorized (see, Family Ct. Act § 1056[4].

The Appellate Division affirmed in all respects (188 A.D.2d 603, 591 N.Y.S.2d 202). It ruled that Family Court, in granting summary judgment, properly applied appellant's criminal conviction as "conclusive proof" of sexual abuse of Nicholas, and that this in turn supported the finding that Michael V. was a neglected child. Largely because of appellant's sentence to a term of imprisonment the minimum of which extended beyond the children's respective minorities, the Appellate Division further held that a dispositional hearing would have been superfluous and, therefore, no reversible error was committed by Family Court in rendering its dispositional order, without a hearing.

Upon appeal pursuant to leave granted by this Court, appellant initially argues that Family Court should not have granted summary judgment adjudicating Nicholas an abused child and Michael a neglected child. We disagree. Although there is no express provision for a summary judgment procedure in a Family Court Act article 10 proceeding, the Act does provide that, in such cases, "the provisions of the civil practice law and rules shall apply to the extent that they are appropriate to the proceedings involved" (Family Ct.Act § 165[a]. Summary judgment, of course, may only be granted in any proceeding when it has been clearly ascertained that there is no triable issue of fact outstanding; issue finding, rather than issue determination, is its function (Sillman v. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., 3 N.Y.2d 395, 404, 165 N.Y.S.2d 498, 144 N.E.2d 387). Summary judgment "does not deny the parties a trial; it merely ascertains that there is nothing to try" (Siegel, N.Y.Prac. § 278, at 407 [2d ed.]. When properly employed, moreover, summary judgment is a highly useful device for expediting the just disposition of a legal dispute for all parties and conserving already overburdened judicial resources. As such, we see no reason why summary judgment is not an appropriate procedure in proceedings under Family Court Act article 10.

We further conclude that summary judgment was properly granted here. The Nicholas V. child abuse petition alleged that "on numerous occasions since 1986," appellant committed acts of oral sodomy upon Nicholas. In support of the motion for summary judgment, petitioner submitted the indictment, certificate of conviction of 15 counts of the indictment and the sentencing minutes of appellant's sentencing, establishing his commission of 15 acts of sodomy of Nicholas in a three-month period from March through May 1988. Thus, the acts of sodomy for which appellant was convicted fell within the broad allegations of the Nicholas V. abuse petition, and petitioner satisfied its burden, as the proponent of applying collateral estoppel here, to establish the identicality of the issue of appellant's sexual abuse of Nicholas in the instant child protective proceeding and the issues resolved against him in the criminal proceeding (see, S.T. Grand, Inc. v. City of New York, 32 N.Y.2d 300, 304, 344 N.Y.S.2d 938, 298 N.E.2d 105; Schwartz v. Public Adm'r of County of Bronx, 24 N.Y.2d 65, 71, 298 N.Y.S.2d 955, 246 N.E.2d 725). Appellant has not disputed that he had a full and fair opportunity to litigate in the criminal proceedings...