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IN RE: INTRA FAMILY ADOPTION OF A.G.T. BY HER STEPFATHER, J.L.S.
COURT OF APPEAL FIFTH CIRCUIT

NO. 06-CA-805
FIFTH CIRCUIT

COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF LOUISIANA

ROED MAR 13 2007

ON APPEAL FROM THE JEFFERSON PARISH JUVENILE COURT PARISH OF JEFFERSON, STATE OF LOUISIANA NO. 06-AD-24, DIVISION "B" HONORABLE ANDREA PRICE JANZEN, JUDGE PRESIDING

March 13, 2007

SUSAN M. CHEHARDY
JUDGE
Panel composed of Judges Marion F. Edwards, Susan M. Chehardy, and Fredericka Homberg Wicker

KENNgTH A. GOODWIN Attorney at Law
1821 Joseph Street New Orleans, Louisiana 70115

COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLEE, J.L.S. TERRI M. MILES
Attorney at Law 310 Weyer Street Gretna, Louisiana 70053

COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT, R.P.T.

AFFIRMED

This is an appeal of a final decree of adoption, issued after the trial court f nd the biological father had forfeited his right to consent to the adoption by failing to make child support payments for a period of six months or more and by ' failing to communicate with the child for a period of six months or more. The biological father has filed a suspensive appeal.' We affirm.

FACTS
S.L.S. and R.P.T. were married in 1988 and a child was born of the marriage in 1993.2 The couple divorced in 1995. In 1996 the mother, S.L.S., was awarded sole custody of the child, A.G.T. The father, R.P.T., was awarded visitation rights on a schedule set out in the judgment. In 1997 S.L.S. married J.L.S. As A.G.T.'s stepfather, J.L.S. is the petitioner for adoption.

i La.Ch.C. art. 336 provides: A. Except as provided by Paragraphs B and C of this Article, the effect of a judgment shall not be suspended by an appeal, unless the trial court or a court of appeal directs otherwise. B. A parent shall have the right to appeal suspensively from any ruling terminating his parental rights, including a judgment of adoption, notwithstanding the power of the court to order the commencement or continuation of temporary custody of the child with persons other than the parents. C. A suspensive appeal shall not suspend the execution of the judgment insofar as the judgment relates to custody or child support. 2 We use initials in order to maintain confidentiality pursuant to La.Ch.C. art. 412.

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Pursuant to an October 11, 2001 judgment of the district court, R.P.T. was obligated to make child support payments of $534.25 per month on the first day of each month. On August 1, 2005 R.P.T. made his monthly child support payment. On August 28, 2005-the day before Hurricane Katrina-S.L.S., J.L.S, and A.G.T. evacuated to Baton Rouge, where they checked into a hotel. S.L.S. telephoned R.P.T., who lives in Baton Rouge, and told him he could exercise visitation with his daughter since they were in Baton Rouge, and he did so. R.P.T., however, did not see his daughter or make child support payments for several months thereafter. We take judicial notice that Hurricane Katrina struck south Louisiana on August 29, 2005. Its devastating effects have been well-documented not only by the popular media, but also in official records.3 The effects include lengthy displacement of persons living in the affected area, as well as disruption ofpublic services, private businesses, and government functions for weeks and months afterward. Jefferson Parish, where A.G.T., S.L.S. and J.L.S. live, is within the affected area. On April 13, 2006, J.L.S., as A.G.T.'s stepfather, filed the instant proceeding for intrafamily adoption of A.G.T. in the juvenile court. His petition alleged that R.P.T. had "refused or failed to comply with the court order of support without just cause for a period of at least six months, the last payment being made on or about August 1, 2005." The petition for adoption was tried on June 5, 2006. At the hearing S.L.S. testified that she, J.L.S., and A.G.T. stayed at the Baton Rouge hotel for about ten days after the hurricane, then moved to a house in

' See State of Louisiana Executive Orders No. KBB 2005-32, KBB 2005-48, and KBB 2005-67; La.R.S. 9:5821, et seq.; State v. All Property and Cas. Ins. Carriers Authorized and Licensed To Do Business In State, 20062030, p. 2 (La. 8/25/06), 937 So.2d 313, 316; Kimbrough v. Cooper, 2005-2335 (La. 11/22/05), 915 So.2d 344.

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Baton Rouge for about two weeks. They returned home to Metairie before the end of September 2005, because their house had sustained no significant damage from the storm. They have lived there ever since. Further, their telephone was functional when they returned home and has continued to be functional since then. S.L.S. said that while they were still in Baton Rouge, after they had moved from the hotel to a house, she attempted to locate R.P.T. to let him know where they were. She went to his home, which is in Baton Rouge, but he was not there. She left a note on his front door, telling him how to get in touch with them and where they were, and also left a note for him at the hotel where they had stayed. She said she did not telephone him because "phones weren't working real well in Baton Rouge, sometimes you would get calls, sometimes you wouldn't." Even after they returned home, she said, when they would leave the house they would leave a note on the front door in case R.P.T. came by. S.L.S. testified, "[W]e never saw him, never heard from him again...until April." Around the end of March 2006, R.P.T. began calling A.G.T. on her cell phone again. A.G.T. did not call him back because she did not want to see him. S.L.S. testified further that on April 28, 2006, R.P.T. called her to arrange for visitation with A.G.T. He also gave S.L.S. a check for child support. A.G.T. testified that her father had not called her on her home telephone since before the hurricane. He had called her cell phone beginning at the end of March (2006), but she did not answer the calls and did not call him back. She testified she calls J.L.S., her stepfather, "Dad," he drives her to school every morning, she has a good relationship with J.L.S., and she loves him. J.L.S. has two adult children, a son and a daughter, her stepbrother and stepsister. A.G.T. testified she is very close to her stepsister, and also very attached to her

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stepbrother's son. A.G.T. said she wanted J.L.S. to adopt her and to become her

father officially. On cross-examination by R.P.T. (who represented himself at the adoption
hearing), A.G.T. denied receiving any e-mail messages from him, or receiving any Christmas or birthday cards from him. He asked h

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