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In In
re Nelmarie O., the Appellate Court affirmed the trial court's
decision to terminate a mother's parental rights on the grounds
that the mother failed to provide her children with a safe home
environment free of violence and therefore she denied them the "care,
guidance or control necessary for [the children's] well-being."
See Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17a-112(j)(3)(C). The state sought
to terminate the mother's parental rights to her two children after
her step-child died from apparent physical abuse perpetrated by
the child's father and encouraged by the appellant-mother. There
was no evidence that the appellant physically abused her biological
children.
The Appellate
Court rejected the mother's argument that the trial court wrongfully
relied on evidence gathered after the filing of the petition for
its adjudication. The Court noted that the plain language of Practice
Book § 35a-7 limits the consideration of evidence of events
that post-date the petition. The Practice Book does not bar judges
from considering evidence that post-dates the petition so
long as the evidence properly relates to events that preceded the
filing of the petition.
The Court
also denied the mother's claim that there was insufficient evidence
that she failed to provide for the emotional well-being of her biological
children. The Court held that Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17a-112 does not
require that "the children who are the subjects of the termination
petition be abused physically." Quoting In re Sean H., 24
Conn. App. 135, 144 (1991). The trial court could reasonably have
found that termination was warranted given the atmosphere of violence
in the home and the mother's complicity with the violence perpetrated
against her step-son.
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