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 SHANAIRA C.* (SC 18136)
Rogers, C. J., and Norcott, Palmer, Vertefeuille and McLachlan, Js.* *

Argued March 16, 2009--officially released August 10, 2010

Roseann Canny, for the appellant (intervenor Stephanie E.). John E. Tucker, assistant attorney general, with whom, on the brief, were Richard Blumenthal, attorney general, and Susan T. Pearlman and Patricia B. Johnson, assistant attorneys general, for the appellee (petitioner). Marcia McCormack, for the appellee (respondent mother). Rosemarie T. Weber, for the appellee (respondent father). Trudy Condio, for the minor child. Sarah Healy Eagan and Martha Stone filed a brief for the Center for Children's Advocacy, Inc., as amicus curiae.

Opinion

PALMER, J. The dispositive issue in this certified appeal is whether the Appellate Court properly affirmed the judgment of the trial court, which revoked the commitment of the minor child, Shanaira C., to the custody of the petitioner, the commissioner of children and families (commissioner), and awarded sole custody of Shanaira to the respondent Maria R., Shanaira's biological mother. Specifically, we must determine whether the Appellate Court properly concluded that the intervenor in the underlying neglect action, Stephanie E. (intervenor), did not have a right to call and cross-examine witnesses and otherwise to participate fully at the hearing on the commissioner's motion to revoke Shanaira's commitment. The intervenor contends that she was improperly denied that right both as a matter of procedural due process and under General Statutes

Download In re Shanaira C..pdf

Connecticut Law