03-0715 P.S. V. DEPT. OF CHILDREN

SUPREME COURT CASES

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State: Florida

Court: Florida Third District Court

Docket No: 03-0715 P.S. V. DEPT. OF CHILDREN

Case Date: 12/24/2003

Preview:NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION AND, IF FILED, DISPOSED OF.

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA THIRD DISTRICT JULY TERM, A.D., 2003 P.S., Appellant, vs. DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES, Appellee. ** ** ** ** ** ** CASE NO. 3D03-715 LOWER TRIBUNAL NO. 02-15228

Opinion filed December 24, 2003. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Scott M. Bernstein, Judge. Herscher & Herscher, and Ilene Herscher, for appellant. Calianne P. Lantz, Assistant District Legal Counsel; Hillary S. Kambour, Program Attorney, Guardian Ad Litem Program, for appellee. Before GERSTEN, FLETCHER, and SHEPHERD, JJ. PER CURIAM. P.S. ("mother") appeals the trial court's order terminating her parental rights to her four children. Because there was no

competent substantial evidence supporting an expedited termination

of the mother's parental rights under Section 39.806(1)(f), Florida Statutes (2001), we reverse and remand. The mother was arrested at Miami International Airport for swallowing capsules of cocaine in an attempt to smuggle cocaine into the United States. Her two year old daughter, J.R. was present at The mother's three other children, C.R.,

the time of the arrest.

S.R., and P.R. were located the next day in the care of relatives. The Department of Children and Families' ("Department") placed the four children in placements under its supervision. The Department thereafter filed a dependency petition alleging that the mother and fathers1 had abused, abandoned or neglected the children. The Department subsequently filed a petition for

expedited termination of parental rights alleging that the parents neglected, abused and abandoned the children. The petition further

alleged the mother engaged in egregious conduct because she was arrested for attempting to smuggle cocaine into the United States and is incarcerated in a federal correctional facility awaiting trial on federal drug charges. Subsequently, the mother pleaded

guilty to conspiracy to import 500 grams of cocaine into the United States and was sentenced to a term of thirty months in federal

The fathers of J.R. and S.R are unknown and the unknown fathers' parental rights were terminated pursuant to publication. H.R., the father of P.R. proceeded to trial at the same time as the mother and the trial court also terminated his parental rights. Terrence Reed signed a surrender of his parental rights to C.R. The fathers are not parties to this appeal. 2

1

prison.

The

trial

court

granted

the

petition

for

expedited

termination of parental rights pursuant to Section 39.806(1)(f). To establish a prima facie case under Section 39.806(1)(f), the Department was required to prove egregious conduct on the part of the mother. Egregious conduct is defined as:

[A]buse, abandonment, neglect or any other conduct of the parent or parents that is deplorable, flagrant, or outrageous by a normal standard of conduct. Egregious conduct may include an act or omission that occurred only once but was of such intensity, magnitude, or severity as to endanger the life of the child. See

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