Opinion
2 CA-JV 2024-0012
07-16-2024
In re Dependency of J.S.,
The Huff Law Firm PLLC, Tucson By Laura J. Huff Counsel for Appellant Kristin K. Mayes, Arizona Attorney General By Autumn Spritzer, Assistant Attorney General, Tucson Counsel for Appellee Department of Child Safety Pima County Office of Children's Counsel, Tucson By Merissa Amiri and David Miller Counsel for Minor J.S.
Not for Publication - Rule 111(c), Rules of the Arizona Supreme Court
Appeal from the Superior Court in Pima County No. JD20230449 The Honorable Kristin Schriner, Judge Pro Tempore
The Huff Law Firm PLLC, Tucson By Laura J. Huff Counsel for Appellant
Kristin K. Mayes, Arizona Attorney General By Autumn Spritzer, Assistant Attorney General, Tucson Counsel for Appellee Department of Child Safety
Pima County Office of Children's Counsel, Tucson By Merissa Amiri and David Miller Counsel for Minor J.S.
Chief Judge Staring authored the decision of the Court, in which Presiding Judge Gard and Judge Eckerstrom concurred.
MEMORANDUM DECISION
STARING, Chief Judge
¶1 Shirley R. appeals from the juvenile court's order finding her ward and grandson, J.S., born July 2015, dependent as to her. She asserts that J.S.'s claims of physical abuse are not credible and that his "alleged 'fear' of [Shirley] does not fit the definition of neglect." We affirm.
¶2 "On review of an adjudication of dependency, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to sustaining the juvenile court's findings." Willie G. v. Ariz. Dep't of Econ. Sec., 211 Ariz. 231, ¶ 21 (App. 2005). During a 2023 investigation by the Department of Child Safety (DCS), J.S. disclosed that Shirley regularly hit him, that he did not understand why, and that she was unable to control her temper. Although J.S. did not have bruises at the time of his first interview, during a later interview he had several bruises on "the soft part of the back of [his] arm," the largest being about the size of a quarter. J.S. told investigators Shirley had hit him with the heel of a high-heeled shoe. DCS removed him from Shirley's care in November 2023 and filed a dependency petition alleging J.S. was dependent as to her on abuse and neglect grounds.
¶3 During the contested dependency hearing, Shirley acknowledged that she frequently spanked J.S., sometimes after requiring him to remove his underwear. She denied striking J.S. with a shoe but claimed she could not remember whether she had struck him with other objects. The DCS investigator opined that J.S.'s bruises were consistent with his statement he had been hit with a shoe and were not likely to be accidental. The juvenile court found J.S. dependent as to Shirley. In its ruling, it recounted J.S.'s description of Shirley's abuse and found Shirley's home "unfit by reasons of abuse." It also concluded Shirley was "unwilling or unable to provide proper and effective parental care and control and has failed to provide a safe and stable home environment." It noted that J.S. was "afraid in the home" because he was unable "to understand or anticipate" when Shirley might strike him, sometimes with objects, and because the abuse placed J.S. "at an unreasonable risk of harm of extreme consequences for age-appropriate behavior." This appeal followed.
¶4 We review the juvenile court's dependency finding for an abuse of discretion. See Shella H. v. Dep't of Child Safety, 239 Ariz. 47, ¶ 13 (App. 2016). We do not substitute our judgment for that of the juvenile court, and we defer to its ability to assess the credibility of witnesses, observe the parties, and weigh the evidence. See Jesus M. v. Ariz. Dep't of Econ. Sec., 203 Ariz. 278, ¶ 4 (App. 2002). A dependent child includes one who is "[i]n need of proper and effective parental care and control and . . . who has no parent or guardian willing to exercise or capable of exercising such care and control" or whose "home is unfit by reason of abuse, neglect, cruelty or depravity by a parent." A.R.S. § 8-201(15)(a)(i), (iii). DCS was required to prove the allegations in its dependency petition by a preponderance of the evidence. See A.R.S. § 8-844(C).
¶5 On appeal, Shirley argues the juvenile court "committed legal error" by concluding J.S. was dependent as to her. She first asserts that J.S. was not credible, stating he has "a history of dishonesty" and the "quarter-sized bruises" on his arm "are not consistent with" his having been hit with the heel of a "stiletto heel," as J.S. described it. But credibility determinations are for the juvenile court to make, not this court. See Jesus M., 203 Ariz. 278, ¶ 4. And Shirley offers no support for her claim that J.S.'s bruises could not have been caused by the heel of a shoe. Nor does she cite any authority suggesting the court was required to disregard the DCS investigator's testimony that J.S.'s injuries were consistent with his allegation of abuse. See Christina G. v. Ariz. Dep't of Econ. Sec., 227 Ariz. 231, n.6 (App. 2011) (unsupported and undeveloped arguments are waived).
¶6 Shirley next asserts the juvenile court erred by citing J.S.'s fear of her in support of its ruling, asserting that § 8-201(2) requires that "emotional damage" must be "diagnosed by a medical doctor or psychologist." Thus, Shirley concludes, the court could not rely on J.S.'s "'fear' as a basis for the dependency adjudication," nor does his fear of her "support a finding of neglect." But the dependency petition did not allege emotional damage, and the court was not required to find emotional damage to find J.S. dependent. See A.R.S. § 8-201(15)(a)(i) (abuse includes "the infliction or allowing of physical injury, impairment of bodily function or disfigurement or the infliction of or allowing another person to cause serious emotional damage"). The court's finding was that Shirley's abusive conduct-corporal punishment not tethered to appropriate discipline as well as other physical abuse-demonstrated her inability to effectively exercise parental care and control. Beyond her argument that J.S. was not credible, which we have rejected, Shirley has identified no error in that determination.
¶7 We affirm the juvenile court's order finding J.S. dependent as to Shirley.