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Smith v. Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services9/11/2003
Carlos and Bobbie Hinojosa Smith appeal the trial court's judgment terminating their parental rights to their children. By four issues, they challenge the factual sufficiency of the evidence to support the judgment. We hold that although the evidence is factually insufficient to support some of the grounds for termination alleged by the Department, factually sufficient evidence exists to establish that the Smiths engaged in a course of conduct that endangered their children and that termination was in the best interest of the children. We therefore overrule their issues and affirm the judgment.
BACKGROUND
Bobbie Hinojosa Smith
Bobbie Hinojosa Smith is the biological mother of the five children who are the subjects of this case, S.R.H., C.C.S., C.A.S., C.L.S., and C.R.S. Bobbie started using marihuana at the age of eleven. Since then, Bobbie testified that she has used other drugs, such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin. By the time she was in sixth grade, she quit school. She left home and began living alone and supporting herself at age twelve. At age thirteen, Bobbie met and started dating Carlos Smith and Darrell Slaughter at about the same time. When Bobbie was fourteen, she gave birth to her first child, S.R.H., a daughter born in June 1992. Darrell Slaughter is S.R.H.'s biological father; whether he was aware of his paternity is disputed. Bobbie worked at a nursing home to support herself and her daughter, while her mother and sister cared for S.R.H. About a year later, at the age of fifteen, Bobbie moved in with Carlos; he was twenty-five at the time. Bobbie and Carlos conceived two children while they were living together, a daughter, C.C.S., and a son, C.A.S. The couple married on August 29, 1999, and had two more daughters afterwards, C.L.S. and C.R.S. Bobbie had a tubal ligation after the birth of her fifth child. The family eventually moved into a manufactured home on five acres of land outside of Llano. Bobbie held various jobs at different times to help support the family, sometimes working two jobs, while her husband or his sister cared for the children.
Bobbie testified that she has been arrested four or five times; two of those arrests were drug related, another was for assault. At the time of trial, she was on probation for possession of a controlled substance, cocaine; her probation ends in 2004. She testified that she is not currently using drugs, has never used drugs with Carlos Smith, and has never been addicted to drugs. She further testified that she submitted to a random urinalysis test conducted by her probation officer in July 2002 (just before the trial) and tested clean. Bobbie testified that although she is not currently using drugs, she is willing to voluntarily commit herself to a drug rehabilitation facility to secure the return of her children. Bobbie also has a history of suffering from depression. On several occasions, she has had to seek medical treatment and has been prescribed anti-depressants.
Carlos Smith
Carlos Smith has two daughters--ages fifteen and nine at the time of trial--in addition to the four children he has with Bobbie. The oldest of the two was living with Carlos and Bobbie at the time of trial. Carlos also helped support and raise Bobbie's oldest daughter, S.R.H. Carlos testified he was convicted for driving while intoxicated when he was eighteen years old (he was thirty-five years old at the time of trial); he successfully completed probation for that conviction. He further testified that "nine years ago" (about 1993), he was convicted of delivering methamphetamine and marihuana. At the time, he and Bobbie had no children together. At the time of trial, Carlos was into
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