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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Docket No. 39394 IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & WELFARE, Petitioner-Appellant, v. JOHN (2011-20) DOE, Defendant-Appellant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

2012 Opinion No. 15 Filed: March 16, 2012 Stephen W. Kenyon, Clerk

Appeal from the Magistrate Division of the District Court of the Seventh Judicial District, State of Idaho, Bonneville County. Hon. Ralph L. Savage, Magistrate. Decree terminating parental rights, affirmed. James H. Barrett, Bonneville County Public Defender; Scott J. Davis, Deputy Appellate Public Defender, Idaho Falls, for appellant. Hon. Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General; Mark V. Withers, Deputy Attorney General, Idaho Falls, for respondent. ________________________________________________ MELANSON, Judge John Doe appeals from the magistrate's decree terminating his parental rights to his two children. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. I. FACTS AND PROCEDURE Doe has an extensive criminal history that includes multiple charges of battery, aggravated assault, malicious injury to property, and driving under the influence. Doe also has a history of gang association and controlled substance use. Doe's children were born in 2008 and in 2009. In November 2009, Doe was on probation for a malicious injury to property conviction and absconded from the Wood Project, a therapeutic court for individuals who would otherwise be sentenced to serve a period of incarceration. Thereafter, Mother did not allow Doe to see the children, and Doe did not have physical custody or care of his children.

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On March 4, 2010, Doe met with Mother in a car and attempted to flee from police who had outstanding warrants for his arrest. Doe had a firearm in his possession and shot several times at a police officer. Doe then attempted to flee on foot but was arrested and charged with aggravated assault on a police officer. Doe was high on methamphetamine and alcohol at the time of this incident and tested positive for marijuana. Doe remained in jail until he was convicted of aggravated assault with an enhancement for use of a deadly weapon in July 2010, and was sentenced to a unified term of fifteen years, with a minimum period of confinement of six years. Doe's earliest parole eligibility date is March 21, 2016. However, if required to serve his entire sentence, Doe will not be released until March 20, 2025. Beginning in January 2010, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare received six referrals regarding neglect, physical abuse, and lack of supervision of the children by Mother. Like Doe, Mother has a history of criminal charges and controlled substance use. The last referral occurred after Mother took one of the children to the hospital in 2010 because the child ingested medication Mother took for substance abuse addiction. Mother left the hospital and did not return until the next evening. After attempting, unsuccessfully, to locate Mother from April to May and determining that the children were being primarily cared for by their teenage aunt, the Department filed a petition under the Child Protective Act (CPA), I.C.

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