The mission of the Connecticut Judicial Branch is to serve the interests of justice and the public by resolving matters brought before it in a fair, timely, efficient and open manner.
AC47684 - In re Mikhail M. ("The respondent father, Daniel R.,
appeals from the judgment of the trial court, rendered
in favor of the petitioner, the Commissioner of Children
and Families, terminating his parental rights with
respect to his minor child, Mikhail M. On appeal, the
respondent claims that the court improperly determined that he failed to achieve a sufficient degree of
personal rehabilitation pursuant to General Statutes
§ 17a-112 (j) (3) (B) (i). We find no merit to the respondent’s claim and, accordingly, affirm the judgment of
the court.")
AC47796 - In re Hyrum D. ("The petitioner, the Commissioner of
Children and Families, appeals from the judgments of
the trial court revoking the commitment of the minor
children, Hyrum D. and Antonio D., to the custody of
the petitioner and returning the children to the custody
of the respondent mother, Stephanie V. On appeal, the
petitioner claims that the court exceeded its statutory
authority when it sua sponte revoked commitment of
the minor children to the petitioner’s custody without
providing all parties notice and a full evidentiary hearing. We agree and, accordingly, reverse the judgments
of the trial court.")
AC47745 - In re S. G. ("The respondent mother, Elizabeth G.,
appeals from the judgments of the trial court rendered
in favor of the petitioner, the Commissioner of Children
and Families (commissioner), terminating her parental
rights with respect to her minor children, M and S (collectively, children). On appeal, the respondent claims
that the court erred when it determined that (1) she
had failed to achieve a sufficient degree of personal
rehabilitation within the meaning of General Statutes
§ 17a-112 (j) (3) (B) (i), and (2) termination of her parental rights was in the children’s best interests. We disagree and, accordingly, affirm the judgments of the
court.")
AC47485- In re Maci S. ("The respondent mother, Dayna L., appeals from the judgment of the trial court, rendered in favor of the petitioner, the Commissioner of Children and Families, terminating her parental rights with respect to her minor child, Maci S. On appeal, the respondent claims that the court improperly determined that (1) she was unable or unwilling to benefit from the reunification efforts of the Department of Children and Families (department), (2) she failed to achieve a sufficient degree of personal rehabilitation pursuant to General Statutes § 17a-112 (j) (3) (B), and (3) the termination of her parental rights was in the best interest of Maci. We disagree with the respondent's claims and, accordingly, affirm the judgment of the court.")
AC47584 - In re Jacqueline K. ("The respondent father, Matthew S., appeals from the judgment of the trial court rendered in favor of the petitioner, the Commissioner of Children and Families, terminating his parental rights with respect to his daughter, Jacqueline K. On appeal, the respondent claims that the court improperly concluded that (1) the Department of Children and Families (department) made reasonable efforts to reunify him with Jacqueline pursuant to General Statutes § 17a-112 (j) (1); (2) he failed to achieve the requisite degree of personal rehabilitation required by § 17a-112 (j) (3) (B); and (3) termination of his parental rights was in Jacqueline's best interest. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.")
AC 47367 - In re Jaelynn K.-M. ("The respondent mother, Jessica K.,
appeals following the trial court’s judgments terminating her parental rights with respect to her children,
twins Jayden and Jaelynn. On appeal, the respondent
claims that the trial court violated her due process
rights under the fourteenth amendment to the federal
constitution with respect to the termination trial in (1)
constructively depriving her of her right to counsel, (2)
denying her assigned counsel’s request for a continuance, and (3) finding that the respondent and her counsel had adequate notice of the proceeding. We affirm
the judgments of the trial court.")
AC 47605 - In re Zarirai S. ("The respondent mother, Crystal S.,
appeals from the judgments of the trial court rendered
in favor of the petitioner, the Commissioner of Children
and Families, terminating her parental rights with
respect to her minor children, Z and L. On appeal, the
respondent claims that the court improperly determined that she had failed to achieve a sufficient degree
of rehabilitation because (1) the court’s determination
was not supported by the evidence, (2) the court impermissibly compared the parenting of the respondent with
that of the children’s foster parents, and (3) the court failed to apply the proper legal standard by ‘‘add[ing]
a requirement of a ‘guarantee’ that the [respondent] must be able to rehabilitate within six months.’’ We
affirm the judgments of the trial court.")
AC47510 - In re Charli M. ("The respondent father, Tyler M., appeals from the judgment of the trial court rendered in favor of the petitioner, the Commissioner of Children and Families, terminating his parental rights as to his minor child, Charli M. (Charli). The respondent claims that the trial court erred in concluding that (1) the Department of Children and Families (department) made reasonable efforts to reunify the respondent with Charli and that he was unable or unwilling to benefit from the department's reunification efforts, and (2) the respondent failed to achieve a sufficient degree of personal rehabilitation. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.")
AC47268, AC47368 - In re Andrew C. ("These appeals arise from a child protection matter concerning the care and custody of the
minor child, Andrew C. Andrew and his intervening
foster parents separately appeal, in Docket Nos. AC
47368 and AC 472681 respectively, from the judgment of the trial court, granting the motion, filed by the
respondent father of Andrew, Chester C. (respondent),
to open and vacate the court’s judgment, rendered
almost two years earlier, granting the foster parents’
motion to transfer guardianship of Andrew to themselves. We agree with the trial court that the foster
parents did not have standing to intervene in this action
and, thus, that the court did not have subject matter
jurisdiction to adjudicate their motion to transfer guardianship of Andrew. We therefore affirm the judgment
of the trial court.")
AC 47517 - In re S. F. ("The respondent father, Perry F., appeals
from the judgments of the trial court, rendered in favor
of the petitioner, the Commissioner of Children and
Families, terminating his parental rights with respect
to his children, A, B, and C. On appeal, the respondent
claims that he was denied his due process right to the
effective assistance of counsel. We affirm the judgments of the trial court.")
AC47325 - In re Jadiel B. ("The respondent father, Joel B.-R., appeals from the judgment of the trial court, rendered in favor of the petitioner, the Commissioner of Children and Families, terminating his parental rights with respect to his minor child, Jadiel B. (Jadiel). On appeal, the respondent claims that the trial court erred in determining that (1) the Department of Children and Families (department) had made reasonable efforts to reunify the respondent with Jadiel and (2) the respondent was unable or unwilling to benefit from services. The respondent also contends that General Statutes § 17a-112, as applied, violates the equal protection clauses of the federal and state constitutions. We affirm the judgment of the court.")
AC 47902 - In re Christian G. ("The petitioner, Christian G., appealed
to the Superior Court challenging the orders of the
Probate Court denying his petitions for the voluntary
appointment of a guardian and for the designation of a
minor child as having special immigrant juvenile status. See General Statutes §§ 45a-608n and 45a-610. Following a trial de novo, the Superior Court denied the petitions, and this appeal followed. We affirm the judgment
of the Superior Court.")
AC 47122 - In re M. S. ("This appeal, brought by the minor child,
M. S., arises from the trial court’s judgment sustaining
an ex parte order granting temporary custody of the
child to the petitioner, the Commissioner of Children
and Families, and adjudicating the child neglected. On
appeal, the child challenges only the sustaining of the
order of temporary custody and claims that the court
erred in making that decision without finding that she
was at risk of immediate physical harm. The respondent mother, Stephanie S., is not participating in this appeal. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.")
AC 47283 - In re Javonte B. et al. ("The respondent father, Amaris B.,
appeals from the judgments of the trial court rendered
in favor of the petitioner, the Commissioner of Children
and Families (commissioner), terminating his parental
rights with respect to his minor children, J and A. On
appeal, the respondent claims that the court improperly
concluded that it was in the best interests of the children
to terminate his parental rights because, contrary to the determination of the court, he had an existing relationship and bond with his children. We affirm the
judgments of the trial court.")
AC47076 - In re P. M. ("The respondent father, I. M. (respondent), appeals from the judgment of the trial court adjudicating his minor child, P. M. (P), neglected. On appeal, the respondent claims that the court erred in adjudicating P neglected because the evidence relied upon by the court is not sufficient to support its determination that P was denied proper care and attention and was permitted to live under conditions and circumstances injurious to his well-being. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.")
AC 47052 - In re A. H. et al. ("The respondent father, Terrel H., appeals
from the judgments of the trial court, rendered in favor
of the petitioner, the Commissioner of Children and
Families (commissioner), terminating his parental
rights with respect to his minor children, A. H. (A) and
K. H. (K). On appeal, the respondent claims that (1)
the court’s reliance on social studies prepared by the
Department of Children and Families (department) in
the adjudicatory phase of the trial violated General Statutes § 45a-717 and Practice Book § 35a-9, despite this
court’s holding in In re Tabitha P., 39 Conn. App. 353,
664 A.2d 1168 (1995), (2) the court’s use of the social
studies in the adjudicatory phase violated his due process rights, and (3) the court improperly admitted hearsay evidence contained in exhibits submitted by the
commissioner, and the admission of that evidence was
harmful to the respondent. We disagree with the respondent’s claims and, accordingly, affirm the judgments of
the court.")
AC 46612 - In re Denzel W. et al. ("The respondent mother, Stephanie B.,
appeals from the judgments of the trial court, rendered
in favor of the petitioner, the Commissioner of Children
and Families, terminating her parental rights with
respect to her minor children, Denzel W. and Ariel W. On appeal, the respondent claims that the court improperly (1) shifted the burden of proof on the issue of
personal rehabilitation to her and (2) determined that
she failed to achieve such degree of personal rehabilitation as would encourage the belief that, within a reasonable period of time and considering the ages and needs
of the children, she could assume a responsible position
in the children’s lives. See General Statutes § 17a-112
(j) (3) (B). We affirm the judgments of the trial court.")
AC 46641 - In re Wendy G.-R. ("The respondent mother, Mirian R.,
appeals from the judgment of the trial court terminating
her parental rights as to her biological daughter, Wendy
G.-R., pursuant to General Statutes § 17a-112 (j) (3) (B)
(i). The respondent claims that (1) she was denied her
due process right to the effective assistance of counsel,
(2) the court improperly determined that the Department of Children and Families (department) made reasonable efforts to reunify her with Wendy, and (3) the
court improperly determined that she was unable or
unwilling to benefit from reunification services. We
affirm the judgment of the trial court.")
AC 46639 - In re Zayden J. ("The respondent mother, Tabitha M.,
appeals from the judgment of the trial court rendered
in favor of the petitioner, the Commissioner of Children
and Families, terminating her parental rights as to her biological son, Zayden J. (Zayden). On appeal, the
respondent claims that the court erred in (1) determining that reasonable efforts were made to reunify her
with Zayden, (2) concluding that it was in the best
interest of Zayden to terminate her parental rights, and
(3) denying her motion for a continuance. We conclude
that the appeal is moot as to the first claim and dismiss
that portion of the appeal. With respect to the remaining
claims in the appeal, we affirm the judgment of the
court.")
AC 46679 - In re Josyah L.-T. ("The respondent, Celina T., appeals
from the judgment of the trial court terminating her
parental rights with respect to her minor child, Josyah
L.-T. (Josyah). The respondent, who is self-represented
in this appeal, asserts that this court should recognize
her right to be the legal guardian of Josyah because
she would be a better caregiver to him than the petitioner, the Commissioner of Children and Families.
Because the respondent has failed to identify any cognizable claim of error in relation to the court’s decision
terminating her parental rights as to Josyah, we affirm
the judgment of the trial court.")