 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Hugh P. v. State11/23/2005
NOTICE Memorandum decisions of this court do not create legal precedent. See Alaska Appellate Rule 214(d). Accordingly, this memorandum decision may not be cited for any proposition of law or as an example of the proper resolution of any issue.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT
No. 1230
Before: Bryner, Chief Justice, Matthews, Eastaugh, Fabe, and Carpeneti, Justices.
I. INTRODUCTION
The superior court terminated Hugh P.'s parental rights after Hugh refused to participate in case plans for almost four years. Hugh challenges the superior court's findings that his daughter was a child in need of aid and that the Division of Family and Youth Services made active efforts to prevent the breakup of his family. We conclude that the superior court's findings that Hugh abandoned his daughter by failing to comply with case plans and that the division made active efforts to prevent the breakup of his family are adequately supported by the record. Accordingly, we affirm.
II. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
Hugh P. and Barbara A. met in 1991 and moved in together in Fairbanks within a few months of meeting. In 1992 Hugh went to prison for cultivating marijuana. Barbara was three and one-half months pregnant when Hugh was incarcerated. Barbara gave birth to Alison in March 1993. Barbara is a member of an Indian tribe, so Alison is a child within the meaning of the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Hugh served part of his prison sentence in a federal prison in Oregon. Barbara and Alison visited Hugh in prison only once. Hugh was released from prison in 1996 and moved back to Fairbanks to live with Barbara and Alison. Barbara and Hugh separated in 1997. After his split with Barbara, Hugh visited Alison consistently and had regular phone contact with her.
Barbara has a history of alcohol abuse. On December 7, 2000, Barbara was intoxicated at a Fred Meyer store, and punched Alison in the face with a closed fist. Alison asked a store employee for help because she was afraid. When approached by store employees, Barbara could barely walk and even stated, incorrectly, that Alison was not present with her, but with relatives. The Division of Family and Youth Services placed Alison in temporary foster care and filed an emergency petition for an adjudication that Alison was a child in need of aid and for a temporary custody order.
Hugh had moved to Seattle a few months before the Fred Meyer incident, and neither Barbara nor the division had a number at which to contact him. Approximately three weeks after the division placed Alison in foster care, Hugh contacted Alison's school, from Seattle, in order to speak with her. The school informed Hugh that Alison had been placed in temporary foster care by the division. On January 4, 2001, Hugh called Penny Watson, the division social worker handling Alison's case. Hugh was angry, cursed at Watson, and questioned Watson about what right the state had to take his child into custody. Watson arranged for Hugh to talk with Alison on the phone later that same day. Hugh was still angry when he spoke with Alison, and Watson, who monitored the conversation on a speaker phone, had to tell Hugh to focus on Alison and "talk to her as a father."
Concerned about Hugh's anger toward her and other staff members at the division, Watson conducted a background check on Hugh. She learned that Hugh was convicted for cultivating marijuana in 1992, that the department had received a report of harm relating to Hugh in 1996 after he left Alison in a car outside of a bar in cold temperatures, and that Hugh had driving under the influence convictions in 1998 and 1999. Watson determined that,
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Alaska DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|