Title: Ex Parte Alabama Dept. of Human Resources

State: alabama

Issuer: Alabama Supreme Court

Document:

682 So. 2d 459 (1996)
Ex parte ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES.
(Re L.W. and C.W. v. STATE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES. In the Matter of H.W. and R.W., children under the age of eighteen years)).
1941413.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
September 6, 1996.
William Prendergast and Lynn Sensabaugh Merrill, Asst. Attys. Gen., Department of Human Resources, for Petitioner.
William P. Burgess, Jr., Huntsville, for Respondents.
*460 COOK, Justice.
We granted the petition of the Alabama Department of Human Resources (D.H.R.) for certiorari review, to determine whether the Court of Civil Appeals erred in reversing the trial court's judgment granting custody of two minor children to D.H.R. L.W. v. State Department of Human Resources, 682 So. 2d 453 (Ala.Civ.App.1995). After reviewing the record, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals and render a judgment affirming the judgment of the trial court.
Huntsville residents R.W. and G.W. married in 1987; three children were born to the union. The events that resulted in this case began in December 1993 after the death of the middle child, D.W., when she was 22 months old. The mother told authorities the girl had choked while eating sweet potatoes, but an autopsy indicated that the child's death had resulted from a fractured skull. Authorities investigating the death found evidence to support a finding of child abuse. Subsequently, the surviving children were taken from the home.
D.H.R. pursued temporary legal custody of the two surviving children, H.W. and R.W., who were four years old and 11 months old at the time. The children's paternal grandparents, L.W. and C.W., intervened in the case, seeking custody of the children. The trial court conducted a hearing with regard to custody and determined that the children's interests would be best served by placing them with D.H.R. rather than with the grandparents. The Court of Civil Appeals reversed, holding that the trial court had abused its discretion in reaching its decision.
The dispositive issue is whether the trial court abused its discretion by placing custody of the children with D.H.R. rather than with the paternal grandparents. Appellate review is limited in cases where the evidence is presented to the trial court ore tenus. In a child custody case, an appellate court presumes the trial court's findings to be correct and will not reverse without proof of a clear abuse of discretion or plain error. Reuter v. Neese, 586 So. 2d 232 (Ala.Civ.App. 1991); J.S. v. D.S., 586 So. 2d 944 (Ala.Civ. App.1991). This presumption is especially applicable where the evidence is conflicting. Ex Parte P.G.B., 600 So. 2d 259, 261 (Ala. 1992). An appellate court will not reverse the trial court's judgment based on the trial court's findings of fact unless the findings are so poorly supported by the evidence as to be plainly and palpably wrong. See Ex Parte Walters, 580 So. 2d 1352 (Ala.1991).
The evidence presented at the custody hearing was conflicting. We must therefore determine whether the trial court's judgment was supported by the evidence. The trial court's order follows in relevant part:
The grandparents testified that they were in good health and believed they could take care of the children, although there was evidence, as set forth in the trial court's order, regarding medications being taken by the grandmother and regarding the grandfather's physical condition. The grandfather works and is away from the home approximately 10 hours per day; this fact means that the grandmother would face the challenge of handling the children each day alone. More than one witness testified that before D.W.'s death, the grandparents had kept H.W. and D.W. for an extended period. The witnesses were told that the grandparents were keeping the children to give the parents a break, but, in fact, the mother had been arrested for writing bad checks. After several months, according to the testimony, the parents told the witnesses the grandmother had called and asked that the parents come and pick up the children because she could not handle them. The grandparents did not present to the court any plan to employ household help or other assistance in handling the children. The grandparents have two grown children who live within 30 minutes' travel of their home. These children neither came to court nor sent to the court any evidence of a willingness to support their parents' efforts to gain custody of and to help care for their nieces. In light of this fact, the trial court could have reasonably found that the grandparents would be taking care of the children on their own and that doing so would be more than they could handle.
*463 There was other conflicting testimony. Several witnesses testified that the father of H.W. and R.W. told them that the childrens' paternal grandfather had abused alcohol and had been physically abusive to him and his brother. The grandfather denied drinking more than occasionally; he described his use of physical discipline as a "last resort" method that involved a "swat" to get the child's attention. The father of the children denied that he had ever said anything resembling what the witnesses testified he had said about his father.
Clinical child psychologist Dr. Patti Van Eys testified that H.W. showed no delight in seeing her family during visits with them after she was removed from her parents' home; that she had no problem parting company with them; that she initiated the departure; and that H.W. did not interact with her grandparents unless they initiated the contact. Dr. Van Eys described the grandparents as not demonstrating much warmth. She testified that H.W.'s lack of attachment to family members was underscored by her decision to sit with Dr. Van Eys after only a brief interaction with her mother and the grandparents and to seek her help in opening gifts from her grandmother. H.W. did this despite having met with Dr. Van Eys on only three prior occasions.
In addition, Dr. Van Eys testified that H.W. began calling the foster parents with whom she and her sister lived "mommy" and "daddy" immediately upon her placement with them. Within a matter of weeks, she progressed from the withdrawn, timid personality she had initially displayed to being a more active and vibrant child. The trial court could reasonably have found from this evidence that H.W. had adjusted well and had found a caring and nurturing environment.
The trial court in its order expressed concern for the physical security of the children if the natural parents had access to the children. This concern is certainly reasonable, given the evidence that the deceased child had suffered several skull fractures and given the mother's initial story that the child had choked on sweet potatoes. While the grandparents indicated they would cooperate with the court to the extent of not allowing the parents to visit with the children, the trial court expressed reservation. We can not say, given the circumstances of the death of D.W. and given the testimony of the grandparents, that this concern was unfounded. Although no one rebutted the grandparents' testimony that they would cooperate, the other evidence made it reasonable for the trial court to conclude that a conflict existed.
This evidence is sufficient to support the trial court's findings in this case. While the trial court's reservations about the ability of the Georgia Department of Family and Children's Services to monitor the grandparents and protect the children from their parents are speculative to some degree, the testimony, taken as a whole, sustains the trial court's judgment. The judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals is therefore reversed, and a judgment is rendered affirming the judgment of the trial court.
REVERSED AND JUDGMENT RENDERED.
HOOPER, C.J., and MADDOX, SHORES, HOUSTON, KENNEDY, and INGRAM, JJ., concur.
BUTTS, J., dissents.