Preview:

****************************************************** The ``officially released'' date that appears near the beginning of each opinion is the date the opinion will be published in the Connecticut Law Journal or the date it was released as a slip opinion. The operative date for the beginning of all time periods for filing postopinion motions and petitions for certification is the ``officially released'' date appearing in the opinion. In no event will any such motions be accepted before the ``officially released'' date. All opinions are subject to modification and technical correction prior to official publication in the Connecticut Reports and Connecticut Appellate Reports. In the event of discrepancies between the electronic version of an opinion and the print version appearing in the Connecticut Law Journal and subsequently in the Connecticut Reports or Connecticut Appellate Reports, the latest print version is to be considered authoritative. The syllabus and procedural history accompanying the opinion as it appears on the Commission on Official Legal Publications Electronic Bulletin Board Service and in the Connecticut Law Journal and bound volumes of official reports are copyrighted by the Secretary of the State, State of Connecticut, and may not be reproduced and distributed without the express written permission of the Commission on Official Legal Publications, Judicial Branch, State of Connecticut. ****************************************************** IN RE DEANA E. ET AL.* (AC 20421)
Foti, Spear and Pellegrino, Js. Argued October 16--officially released December 26, 2000 Counsel

Reine C. Boyer, for the appellant (respondent father). Jane R. Rosenberg, assistant attorney general, with whom, on the brief, were Richard Blumenthal, attorney general, and Susan T. Pearlman, assistant attorney general, for the appellee (petitioner).
Opinion

FOTI, J. The respondent father, Magdiel F.,1 appeals from the judgments of the trial court terminating his parental rights with respect to his three children, D, Y and M. On appeal, the respondent claims that (1) his due process rights were violated because the department of children and families (department) failed to give him adequate notice of either the neglect or the termination proceedings against him and (2) the court improperly proceeded to the dispositional phase of the termination proceeding because its finding that the respondent had abandoned his children was improper. We affirm the

judgments of the trial court. In its comprehensive November 15, 1999 memorandum of decision,2 the court recited the following facts and procedural history. On August 22, 1995, the petitioner, the commissioner of children and families (commissioner), filed neglect petitions alleging that the respondent denied his three children proper care and attention physically, educationally, emotionally or morally, and that the respondent permitted his children to live under conditions, circumstances or associations injurious to their well-being. On October 6, 1995, the court ordered that temporary custody of the children should be with the commissioner. On February 4, 1997, the court committed the children to the care and custody of the commissioner as neglected children. On August 19, 1998, the commissioner filed petitions for the termination of the respondent's parental rights. The petitions alleged that the respondent had failed to achieve such a degree of personal rehabilitation as would encourage the belief that within a reasonable time, considering the ages and needs of the three children, he could assume a responsible position in their lives. The petitions also alleged the absence of an ongoing parent-child relationship that ordinarily develops as a result of a parent having met, on a continuing day-today basis, the physical, emotional, moral or educational needs of the children. The commissioner alleged that allowing further time for the reestablishment of the parent-child relationship would be detrimental to the best interests of the children. See General Statutes

Download In re Deana E. (concurrence below).pdf

Connecticut Law