IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

DIVISION ONE

In the Matter of the Dependency of ) No. 81795-7-I

J.D.E.C., d.o.b. 10/29/15, ) consolidated with

J.C., d.o.b. 10/16/17, ) No. 81796-5-I

)

Minor Children. )

)

)

WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT )

OF CHILDREN,YOUTH, & FAMILIES, )

)

Respondent, )

)

v. )

)

CLEVE GOHEEN-RENGO, ) PUBLISHED OPINION

)

Appellant. ) 

)

VERELLEN, J. — A parent facing termination of their parental rights must 

have a meaningful opportunity to be heard, including the ability to meaningfully 

assist counsel. Consistent with emergency orders issued by the Washington 

Supreme Court during the COVID-19 pandemic, Skagit County Superior Court 

adopted procedures to allow termination trials to be conducted remotely by 

videoconference and teleconference. Because the record shows those 

procedures did not deprive Cleve Goheen-Rengo of a meaningful opportunity to 

be heard, he fails to establish a violation of his due process rights.

Therefore, we affirm. 
No. 81795-7-I/2

2

FACTS

J.D.E.C. (hereinafter, “John”) and J.C. (hereinafter, “Jane”) were found to 

be dependent on April 21, 2017, and on January 3, 2019, respectively.1 The State 

petitioned to terminate their biological father’s, Cleve Goheen-Rengo’s, parental 

rights as to John in December of 2017 and petitioned to terminate his rights as to 

Jane in September of 2019.2 By the time of trial in July of 2020, the children had 

not been in Goheen-Rengo’s custody for more than two-and-a-half years. 

A bench trial was held in Skagit County Superior Court. At that time, the 

COVID-19 pandemic had forced trial procedures to change, and courts statewide 

were operating under emergency administrative orders.3 Pursuant to those 

orders, bench trials in Skagit County were to be conducted remotely by video 

conference or telephonically.4 The court used the Zoom videoconference platform 

for remote trials. Members of the public could attend trial in person so long as 

they complied with masking and physical distancing requirements. The court 

created specific protocols for remote trials, and those protocols applied equally to 

 

1

“John” and “Jane” are pseudonyms used for ease of reference. 

2 Their mother voluntarily relinquished her rights to both children.

3 Order No. 25700-B-622, In re Statewide Response By Washington State 

Courts to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (Wash. Apr. 30, 2020), 

www.courts.wa.gov/content/PublicUpload/Supreme%20Court%20Orders/Supreme

%20Court%20Order%20Dependency%20Termination%20Cases.pdf.

4 Admin. Order No. 20-8, In re Emergency Response to COVID-19 

Outbreak, at 3-4 (Skagit County Super. Ct., Wash. June 16, 2020), 

www.skagitcounty.net/SuperiorCourt/Documents/Superior%20Court%20

Emergency%20Order%2020-8.pdf.
No. 81795-7-I/3

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all parties.5 Among other requirements, a party or attorney wishing to speak 

privately with the other was required to inform the court so it could create a private, 

virtual breakout room from the video conference.6

Goheen-Rengo participated telephonically because he was unable to 

access Zoom. Goheen-Rengo’s attorney, the State’s attorney, most witnesses, 

and the court participated by videoconference. Following a two-day trial, the court 

found Goheen-Rengo was an unfit parent and terminated his rights to both 

children.

Goheen-Rengo appeals.

ANALYSIS

Goheen-Rengo argues his procedural due process rights were violated 

because the trial was conducted by video conference, placing “severe limitations 

on [his] ability to participate.”7 We review alleged due process violations de novo.8

 

5 Remote Bench Trial Protocol and Procedures 1 (Skagit County Super. Ct., 

Wash. May 2021), www.skagitcounty.net/SuperiorCourt/Documents/Bench%20

Trial%20Protocols.pdf.

6

Id. at 3. “Breakout rooms” are “split off from the main Zoom meeting” and 

are “completely isolated in terms of audio and video.” Participating in Breakout 

Rooms, ZOOM HELP CTR. (Mar. 25, 2021), http://support.zoom.us/hc/enus/articles/115005769646-Participating-in-Breakout-Rooms#:~:text=

Breakout%20rooms%20are%20sessions%20that%20are%20split%20off,used%20

for%20collaboration%20and%20discussion%20of%20the%20meeting.

7 Appellant’s Br. at 9.

8 Matter of Welfare of M.B., 195 Wn.2d 859, 867, 467 P.3d 969 (2020)

(citing In re Welfare of A.W., 182 Wn.2d 689, 701, 344 P.3d 1186 (2015)).
No. 81795-7-I/4

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A parent’s procedural due process rights protect their “fundamental liberty 

interest in the care and custody of their children.”9 These protections include the 

right to assistance of counsel, a meaningful opportunity to be heard, the 

opportunity to hear the State’s presentation of evidence, and the opportunity to 

consult with counsel about the State’s presentation.10 The right to be heard 

“‘ordinarily includes the right to be present,’”11 but if a parent is unable to be 

physically present, then “they must be given a meaningful opportunity to be heard 

and defend through alternative procedures.”12 If alternative procedures must be 

used, then the parent “must take reasonable and timely steps to exercise” their 

right to be heard.13

We apply the Mathews v. Eldridge14 balancing test to determine if a parent's 

due process rights were violated at a termination trial.15 We balance (1) the 

private interests affected, (2) the State’s interest in using the challenged 

procedures, and (3) the risk of erroneous deprivation of the private interests due to 

 

9

Id. (citing Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745, 753-54, 102 S. Ct. 1388, 71 

L. Ed. 2d 599 (1982) (plurality op.)).

10 Id. at 868, 874.

11 In re Welfare of L.R., 180 Wn. App. 717, 723, 324 P.3d 737 (2014)

(quoting In re Welfare of Houts, 7 Wn. App. 476, 481, 499 P.2d 1276 (1972)).

12 Welfare of M.B., 195 Wn.2d at 868.

13 Welfare of L.R., 180 Wn. App. at 724 (citing RCW 13.34.090; In re

Dependency of M.S., 98 Wn. App. 91, 96, 988 P.2d 488 (1999)).

14 424 U.S. 319, 96 S. Ct. 893, 47 L. Ed. 2d 18 (1976).

15 Matter of Welfare of D.E., 196 Wn.2d 92, 102, 469 P.3d 1163 (2020)

(citing Santosky, 455 U.S. at 754).
No. 81795-7-I/5

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the procedures used.16 A due process violation occurred when “there was an 

intolerable risk of error at the proceedings given the private interests at stake.”17

In Matter of Welfare of M.B., the court concluded an incarcerated father’s 

due process rights were violated by the trial court’s management of a termination 

trial.18 The father’s attorney had attempted to arrange for the father to participate 

telephonically, but prison staff refused to cooperate.19 The morning of trial, the 

court issued a transport order requiring transportation within five days, and it 

entered a six-day continuance.20 The prison failed to transport the father by the 

time of trial.21 To avoid a lengthy delay, given the multiple witnesses and their 

busy schedules, the court began trial and delayed the testimony of “the primary 

witnesses—the social worker and the guardian ad litem (GAL)—until [the father] 

was present.”22 The father’s attorney did not object, and the court began hearing 

testimony.23 

The following week, the primary witnesses and others were set to testify, 

but the prison would not transport the father for at least another week.24 To 

maintain its schedule and ensure the children’s rights were respected, the court 

 

16 Id. (citing Mathews, 424 U.S. at 335).

17 Welfare of M.B., 195 Wn.2d at 877.

18 195 Wn.2d 859, 878, 467 P.3d 969 (2020).

19 Id. at 865.

20 Id.

21 Id.

22 Id.

23 Id.

24 Id.
No. 81795-7-I/6

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decided to take testimony from the father telephonically and to hear testimony 

without the father present.25 Several critical witnesses, including the social worker 

and a psychologist, testified about the father’s fitness to parent and were crossexamined without the father present at all.

26

 When the father appeared 

telephonically, he was also able to hear some of the cross-examination of the 

social worker and testimony from the GAL, but he had no opportunity to speak with 

his attorney during the proceedings that day.27

The court concluded the father’s “inability to testify in person and to aid his 

counsel . . . created a significant risk of erroneous termination.”28 The prison 

prevented the father from physically attending trial, which deprived the court of the 

ability to evaluate his credibility akin to the other witnesses.29 The father was also 

prevented from hearing the testimony of six witnesses, including the social 

worker’s critical testimony during the State’s case-in-chief.30 And even after 

hearing some limited testimony, he had no opportunity to consult with his attorney 

before or after cross-examination.31 Because these severe limitations deprived 

the father of a meaningful opportunity to evaluate the State’s case or aid his 

 

25 Id.

26 Id. at 865-66.

27 Id.

28 Id. at 869.

29 Id. at 871.

30 Id. at 872.

31 Id.
No. 81795-7-I/7

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attorney, thus creating a risk to his fundamental right to parent, the court 

reversed.32

Here, the parties agree that Goheen-Rengo “has a significant private 

interest” in the care and custody of his children.33 John and Jane also have 

interests at stake, including a shared interest with Goheen-Rengo in achieving an 

accurate outcome.34 The children also have interests “in being free from 

unreasonable risks of harm and a right to reasonable safety; in maintaining the 

integrity of the family relationships . . . ; and in not being returned to (or placed 

into) an abusive environment over which they have little voice or control.”35

The State has similar interests in the children’s welfare.36 It also has 

interests in quickly resolving parental termination cases to keep the children in its 

custody from “‘legal limbo[,]’ suffer[ing] much ‘mental and emotional strain’” from 

the uncertainly.37 Due to COVID-19, Skagit County Superior Court suspended all 

termination trials as of March 23, 2020,38 and resumed them remotely on June 

 

32 Id. at 877-78.

33 Resp’t’s Br. at 20-21 (citing Welfare of L.R., 180 Wn. App. at 724); 

Appellant’s Br. at 8.

34 Welfare of M.B., 195 Wn.2d at 869 (citing Santosky, 455 U.S. at 760).

35 In re Dependency of M.S.R., 174 Wn.2d 1, 20, 271 P.3d 234 (2012); see

RCW 13.34.020 (children have private interests in “a safe, stable, and permanent 

home and a speedy resolution of any proceeding”).

36 Id.

37 Welfare of M.B., 195 Wn.2d at 876-77 (quoting In re Dependency of 

M.H.P., 184 Wn.2d 741, 762, 364 P.3d 94 (2015)); see Welfare of L.R., 180 Wn. 

App. at 727 (State’s interests include “a speedy resolution of the termination 

proceeding”).

38 Admin. Order No. 20-3, In re Emergency Response to COVID-19 

Outbreak, at 2 (Skagit County Super. Ct., Wash. Mar. 23, 2020), 
No. 81795-7-I/8

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22.39 Thus, the State was relying on videoconference and teleconference 

procedures to ensure termination trials could occur without further substantial 

delay and without risking exposure of the trial participants to a deadly disease.

Goheen-Rengo contends his interest in the care and custody of his children 

was placed at risk because “(1) he was not able to testify or communicate with the 

court in the same manner as the State’s witnesses, namely by video, (2) he was 

unable to meaningfully review and challenge the State’s evidence, and (3) he 

lacked the same level of access to his attorney as the other parties.”40 None of his 

contentions are supported by the record.

First, Goheen-Rengo relies upon Matter of Welfare of M.B. for the 

proposition that he was entitled to testify by the same means as the State’s 

witnesses. M.B. does not mandate that every witness present their testimony 

through identical means. Rather, M.B. requires that a parent unable to attend a 

termination trial in person “be given a meaningful opportunity to be heard and 

defend through alternative procedures.”41

 

https://www.skagitcounty.net/SuperiorCourt/Documents/Emergency%20Order%20

No%2020-3.pdf.

39 Admin. Order No. 20-8, at 3.

40 Appellant’s Br. at 9. Notably, Goheen-Rengo moved to continue the trial 

until the conclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic so his trial could be conducted in 

person. He believed this continuance was appropriate even if he could have 

accessed Zoom. The court denied his motion, and Goheen-Rengo does not

challenge that decision.

41 195 Wn.2d at 868.
No. 81795-7-I/9

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The court’s procedures let Goheen-Rengo participate either by appearing in 

person, which Goheen-Rengo said he could do but never did,42 or by appearing 

telephonically, which he did. Goheen-Rengo was afforded the opportunity to have 

the judge evaluate his credibility in person, but he chose not to take it.43 For the 

means Goheen-Rengo chose, he used his telephonic appearance to participate 

actively in the trial, hear the State’s evidence, and meaningfully communicate with 

his counsel.

Goheen-Rengo actively engaged in the trial. He directed his attorney to 

move for the judge to recuse himself. He consulted with his attorney both before 

and after witnesses testified to provide additional information and to help direct 

cross-examination. He directed which witnesses would be called to testify on his 

behalf. After deciding to testify on his own behalf, Goheen-Rengo directed which 

questions defense counsel was supposed to ask him.

He was able to participate so actively because he could coordinate with his 

counsel through the use of private breakout rooms. Seven times, Goheen-Rengo

requested that the court create a breakout room, and the court did so six of those 

seven times. The one time the court declined came at the end of the day when 

Goheen-Rengo and defense counsel could speak on the phone after the court 

recessed. The court also created breakout rooms for Goheen-Rengo and his 

 

42 It also appears that he had the opportunity to participate by video from his 

attorney’s office.

43 To the extent Goheen-Rengo now argues the State should have provided 

a reliable computer and internet connection to access Zoom, the record does not 

show he requested it. See Welfare of L.R., 180 Wn. App. at 724 (a parent wishing 

to utilize alternative procedures must take steps to do so).
No. 81795-7-I/10

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counsel to consult each other during recesses. It was clear that Goheen-Rengo

and defense counsel could speak with each other without a breakout room. For 

example, defense counsel called Goheen-Rengo twice when he had failed to call 

into the proceeding. Contrary to Goheen-Rengo’s argument, he actively reviewed 

and challenged the State’s case and consulted closely with his attorney to do so.

The portions of the trial Goheen-Rengo missed were due to his own 

actions. On the first full day of proceedings, the court granted a 15-minute 

morning recess, but Goheen-Rengo failed to return until 1:30, explaining “he 

misheard when court was resuming.”44 He missed testimony from two social 

workers, one who managed his case from December of 2014 until September of 

2016 and a few minutes of testimony from another one. He declined to participate 

the day the court made its ruling granting termination. During both voluntary 

absences, his counsel actively participated. Nothing suggests the remote trial 

format contributed to either absence.

Six times during the two-day trial, the court briefly muted Goheen-Rengo

and prevented him from speaking. Each time it did, the court was responding to 

Goheen-Rengo’s own interruptions and inappropriate behavior, including calling 

one witness a “moron” and interrupting the GAL’s testimony to argue with her. But 

unlike removal from the courtroom, Goheen-Rengo was not prevented from 

hearing the State’s case or from consulting with his attorney after being unmuted. 

 

44 Appellant’s. Br. at 11. The record reflects that the trial court expressly 

told the parties it was granting a 15-minute recess.
No. 81795-7-I/11

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Nothing suggests the court’s exercise of its considerable discretion to manage the 

courtroom violated Goheen-Rengo’s due process rights.45

Unlike Welfare of M.B., Goheen-Rengo participated actively in trial and 

routinely assisted his counsel. In Welfare of M.B., the incarcerated father was 

prevented from hearing nearly all of the testimony about his fitness to parent due 

to the prison’s actions. The small portions of trial Goheen-Rengo missed were 

due to his own actions. The court here weighed the Mathews factors at the outset 

of trial, and the procedures used did not deprive Goheen-Rengo of a meaningful 

opportunity to be heard. Because there was little risk to Goheen-Rengo’s interest 

from the procedures used and strong interests for both the State and the children 

in holding a trial without risking the spread of COVID-19, Goheen-Rengo fails to 

show his due process rights were violated.

Therefore, we affirm. 

WE CONCUR:

 

45 See In re Marriage of Zigler and Sidwell, 154 Wn. App. 803, 815, 226 

P.3d 202 (2010) (“Trial judges have wide discretion to manage their courtrooms 

and conduct trials fairly, expeditiously, and impartially.”) (citing State v. Johnson, 

77 Wn.2d 423, 426, 462 P.2d 933 (1969)).