Summary 2009 WY 109

Summary of Decision issued September 2, 2009

Summaries are prepared by Law Librarians and are not official statements of the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Case Name: RLA v. State, Dep’t of Family Services

Citation: 2009 WY 109

Docket Number: S-08-0274

Appeal from the District Court of Sweetwater County, the Honorable Nen R. James, Judge.

Representing Appellant RLA: John M. Burman, Faculty Supervisor, UW Legal Services Program; Aaron S. Hockman, Student Intern; and Matthew Landers, Student Intern.

Representing Appellee State: Bruce A. Salzburg, Attorney General; Robin Sessions Cooley, Deputy Attorney General; Jill E. Kucera, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Sue Chatfield, Senior Assistant Attorney General.

Guardian Ad Litem: Donald K. Slaughter, Rock, Springs, Wyoming. No appearance.

Facts/Discussion: RLA (Father) appealed from the district court’s order terminating his parental rights to his son, LA (Child), pursuant to Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-2-309(a)(iv) because he was incarcerated on a felony conviction and was unfit to have custody and control of Child. Father claims DFS did not present sufficient evidence to establish he was unfit. Child was born in 2006 and tested positive for methamphetamine at birth. DFS took him into protective custody. Mother later relinquished her rights to Child. DFS prepared a case plan listing the permanency goal as family reunification. The determination of whether a parent is unfit to have care and custody of a child must be made within the context of a particular case and will depend upon the situation and attributes of the specific parent and child.
DFS presented evidence that Father did not have an emotional bond with Child. It also produced evidence of Father’s on-going drug problem and significant criminal history. Father also continually declined opportunities to visit while a warrant was out for his arrest, offered to relinquish his parental rights to secure more lenient treatment and refused to comply with many of the provisions identified by DFS in the case plans to develop his child rearing skills. The Court contrasted the instant case with BA v. Laramie County Dep’t of Family Servs. where BA continued to attempt to maintain contact with her children from the time they were removed from her home, even when she left the jurisdiction to avoid criminal prosecution. In addition, BA completed a variety of courses to address her drug dependency, parenting problems and employment needs.

Conclusion: Father had very limited contact with Child during his life, made little effort to develop or maintain a relationship with him or to improve his parenting skills and did not have the present ability to provide for the ongoing physical , mental and emotional needs of Child. Therefore, DFS presented clear and convincing evidence showing Father was unfit to have care and custody of Child.

Affirmed.

J. Kite delivered the decision.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/ndw7pn .

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