Opinion
DOCKET NO. A-2246-12T3
06-20-2014
NEW JERSEY DIVISION OF YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. K.R., Defendant-Appellant. IN THE MATTER OF S.R. AND K.R., Minors.
Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for appellant (Victor E. Ramos, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, on the brief). John J. Hoffman, Acting Attorney General, attorney for respondent (Andrea M. Silkowitz, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel; Vonnetta Fermin, Deputy Attorney General, on the brief). Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, Law Guardian, attorney for minors (Hector Ruiz, Designated Counsel, on the brief).
RECORD IMPOUNDED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
Before Judges Simonelli, Fasciale and Haas.
On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Family Part, Essex County, Docket No. FN-07-365-11.
Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for appellant (Victor E. Ramos, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, on the brief).
John J. Hoffman, Acting Attorney General, attorney for respondent (Andrea M. Silkowitz, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel; Vonnetta Fermin, Deputy Attorney General, on the brief).
Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, Law Guardian, attorney for minors (Hector Ruiz, Designated Counsel, on the brief). PER CURIAM
Defendant K.R. appeals from an October 14, 2011 order finding that she abused and neglected her children; a May 16, 2012 permanency order approving the plan of termination of parental rights; and a June 28, 2012 order terminating the FN litigation. We affirm.
In an unpublished opinion calendared back-to-back with this appeal, we affirmed an order terminating defendant's parental rights to two surviving children. N.J. Div. of Youth & Family Servs. v. K.R., No. A-4906-12 (App. Div. June 20, 2014).
We will not recite the facts at length. Suffice it to say that the police arrived at defendant's apartment and discovered defendant's eight-year-old physically-abused daughter. A medical examiner pronounced the daughter dead from complications related to severe malnourishment and an untreated fractured femur. The police then located two other children, seven and six years old, who had been hidden in a padlocked room in the apartment. These two children were severely malnourished; physically abused; forced to use a bucket as a toilet; tied to a radiator; abandoned for long periods of time; had blackened elbows and knees from being dragged around defendant's apartment; and were deprived of medical care, education, and adequate food and living space. The children have suffered tremendously, both physically and emotionally.
The medical examiner ruled the child's death to be a homicide.
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On appeal, defendant argues that the judge erred by sua sponte applying a clear and convincing standard to his findings of abuse and neglect. Defendant also contends that the judge failed to make sufficient findings supporting his decision to approve a plan of termination of parental rights. After careful consideration of the record, we are satisfied that plaintiff's arguments lack sufficient merit to warrant discussion in this opinion, R. 2:11-3(e)(1)(E), and we affirm substantially for the reasons expressed by the judge. We add the following brief comments.
The judge did not deny defendant procedural due process, in violation of N.J. Div. of Youth & Family Servs. v. R.D., 207 N.J. 88 (2011), by applying a clear and convincing standard to his findings of abuse and neglect. In the subsequent FG litigation, the judge did not give any collateral estoppel effect to his FN findings. He required the Division to prove each and every prong of N.J.S.A. 30:4C-15.1a by clear and convincing evidence.
Affirmed.
I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the original on file in my office.
CLERK OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION