1 ... S eeTe x. R. App . P. 47. 4. 2 ... Th e t r i al court al so t er m i nat ed t he par ent al r i ghtsofH . B. P. ’ s bi ol ogi cal fath e r, B .L.P ., b u t on l yLind se yap p e a l s th e tr i a l co u rt ’s j u d g m e n t.

3 ... Th e dayb e fo re t he t er m i nat i on t r i al , Li ndsey l ear ned t hatt her e w as a b e d a v a i l a b l e a t a d ru g tre a tm e n t p ro g ra m a n d th a t s h e w a s re q u i re d to re p o rt w i t hi n f ort y- ei ght hou r s. O n t he day ofthe t er m i nat i on t r i al , Li ndsey app ear ed



## COURT OFAPPEALS SECOND DISTRICTOF TEXAS FORT WORTH NO. 2 - 0 8 - 3 4 1 - CV IN T H E IN T E R E S T O FH .B .P ., A C H I LD

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### MEMORANDU M OPI NI ON 1

----- ----- -- A ppel l antLi ndsey C . appeal s f r om t he t r i al co urt ’ s or dert er m i nat i ng her par ent al r i ght s t o H. B. P. 2We wi l l a f f i r m. A tt he t er m i nat i on t r i al , t he t r i al co urthear d t est i m ony thatLi ndsey had adm i t t ed usi ng m et ham phetam i ne w hi l e H . B. P. w as i n herpossessi on and t hat L i n d s e yh a d n e v e rc o mp l e t e d a d r u g - t r e a t me n tp r o g r a m. 3Li ndsey al so hadatt he cou rt hous e pr i or t o t he hea r i ng bu tdi sa ppe ar ed bef or e t he t r i al s t art ed.

The r ec or d r eve al ed t hats he had pr evi ousoppo rt uni t i est o a t t end dr ug t r e a t me n tp r o g r a ms b u td i d n o tt a k e a d v a n t a g e o ft h e m.

4 ... A p o l i c e o ffice r te s ti fi e d th a t h e p u l l e d o v e r a v e h i c l e a t 1 1 :1 7 a .m . on J une 27, 2008 , i n w hi ch Li nds ey w asa pas se nge ran d ga ve hera ci t at i on f or pos se ss i on of a sy r i nge and a gl as s pi pe. Li nds ey t ol d t he of f i ce rt hats he ha d be e n s ob e rf ora d a y. Th e CPS c a s e w or k e rt e s t i f i e d t ha tJ un e 27, 2008 , w a s a v i s i t a t i on d a y, t ha tL i nd s e y ha d l e f tt hevi s i tea r l y ( a pp r ox i m a t e l y 10: 30 or10 : 45 a. m . ) , and t hat she had f ai l ed t o show f or a ur i nal ysi s, w hi ch she had pr om i se d t o gi ve aft erhe rvi si t at i on. 2 f ai l e d t o u n d e r g o i n d i v i d u a l c o u n s e l i n g , h a d f a i l e d t o c o m p l e t e h e rp a r e n t i ng cl asses , and had f ai l ed t o r em ai n dr ug- f r ee dur i ng t he cour se oft he case. 4 T h e t r i al co urthe ar d e vi den ce t hatLi nds ey app ea r ed f oronl y t w ent y oft he ei ght yf i ve vi si t s t hatshe w as al l ow ed w i t h H . B. P. , t hatshe al w ays l ef tear l y, and t hat sh e d i d no th a vea r e ga r d f orH. B. P. ’ s p hy s i c a l o re m ot i on a l n e e ds . L i nd s ey never pr esent ed t he case w or ker w i t h pr oof of em pl oym ent or w i t h heraddr ess, ca us i ng t he ca sew or ke rt o ha ve t o spe nd a day l oca t i ng hereach m ont h. The r ecor d al so r eveal ed t hatLi ndsey had been i n v o l v e d i n dom est i c vi ol ence di sput es. A f t erhear i ng t he evi dence, t he t r i al courtf oun d t hatLi ndsey had kno w i ngl y pl ac ed orkn ow i ngl y a l l ow ed t he chi l d t o r em ai n i n c ondi t i onsor su r r oundi ngsw hi ch end ang ert he phys i ca l orem ot i ona l w el l - bei ng oft he chi l d, t hats he had en gag ed i n c onduc torkn ow i ngl y p l ac ed t he chi l d w i t h pe r so ns w ho eng age d i n c onduc tw hi ch end ang er s t he phys i ca l orem ot i ona l w el l - bei ng oft he chi l d, t hatshe had const r uct i vel y aband oned t he chi l d, t hatshe had3

f ai l ed t o com pl y w i t h t he pr ovi si ons ofa courtor dert hatspeci f i cal l y est abl i shed t he ac t i ons ne ce ss ary f orhe rt o obt ai n t he r et ur n oft he chi l d, t hats he us ed a con t r ol l ed s ubs t anc e i n a m ann ert haten dan ger ed t he hea l t h ors af et y oft he chi l d, and t hatt er m i nat i on of Li ndsey’ s par ent al r i ghtsw as i n t he besti nt er est ofH . B. P. L i n d se y ’s co u rt -a p p o i n ted ap p e l l a te c o u n se l h a s fi l e d a m o ti o n to w i t hdr aw asco uns el an d a br i efi n s upportoft hatm ot i on. I n hi s m ot i on, co un sel av ers t ha t he ha s co nd uc t ed a pr ofessi on al ev al ua t i on of th e re c o rd and , aft era t hor ough r evi ew oft he app l i ca bl e l aw , ha s r ea che d t he con cl us i on t h a tt h e r e a r e n o a r g u a b le g r o u n d s t o b e a d v a n c e d t o s u p p o rta n a p p e a l o ft h is cause and t hatt he appeal i s f r i vol ous. C o u n se l ’s b ri e f an d m o ti o n m e e t t h e req u i rem e n ts o f A nders by p re s e n ti n g a p ro fe s s i o n a l e v a l u a ti o n o f th e re c o rd d e m o n s tra ti n g w h yth e re a re no r eve r si bl e g r oundson a ppe al an d r ef er enc i ng a ny g r oundst hatm i ght a rg u a b l ys u p p o rt th e a p p e a l . S e eA n der sv. Ca lif

o r n ia , 386 U. S. 738, 741, 87 S . C t. 1 3 9 6 , 1 3 9 8 (1 9 6 7 ); Ma ys v. S tate , 90 4 S. W . 2d 92 0, 92 2– 23 ( Tex. A p p .— F o rtW o rt h 1 9 9 5 , n o p e t. ). T h i s c o u rth a s p rev i o u sly h e l d tha t A n ders p ro c e d u re s a p p l yi n p a re n ta l ri g h ts te rm i n a ti o n c a s e s . I nreK. M. , 98 S . W . 3d 774 , 776– 77 ( Tex. A pp. — FortW ort h 2003, no p et . ) . Li nds ey w asgi ven t he opport uni t y t o f i l e a pr o s e b r i efon h erow n be hal f , buts he di d notdo s o.4

I n our dut i es as a r evi ew i ng cou rt , w e m us t con duc t an i nd epe nde nt eva l uat i on oft he r ec or d t o det er m i ne w het herco uns el i s cor r ec ti n de t er m i ni ng th a t th e a p p e a l i s fri v o l o u s . S e eS taffo rd v. S tate , 813 S. W . 2d 503 , 511 ( Tex. C ri m . A p p . 1 9 9 1 ); Mays , 904 S . W . 2d at923. O nl y t hen m ay w e g r ant c o u n s e l ’s m o ti o n to w i th d ra w . S e ePen s o nv. O h io , 488 U. S. 75, 82–8 3, 109 S . C t. 3 4 6 , 3 5 1 (1 9 8 8 ). W e h a v e ca refu l l yrev i e w e d th e a p p e l l a te rec o rd a n d Lind se y ’s ap p e l l a te c o u n s e l’s b r ie f . W e a g r e e w it h h e ra p p e lla t e c o u n s e l t h a t t h e a p p e a l is w h o lly f r iv o lo u s a n d w it h o u tm e r it . W e f in d n o t h in g in t h e re c o r d t h a tm ig h ta r g u a b ly s u p p o rt th e a p p e a l . S e eBle dso ev. S tate , 1 7 8 S . W . 3 d 8 2 4 , 8 2 7 ( T e x . C r i m. A p p . 2 0 0 5 ). T h e refo re, w e g ran t Li n d se y ’s a p p e l l a te c o u n se l ’s m o ti o n to w i t hdr aw and af f i r m t he t r i al co u rt ’ s j udg m entt er m i nat i ng Li ndsey’ s par ent al r i ght s t o H. B. P.

P E R CU R I AM PA N EL: W A LKER, J. ; CA YC E, C. J. ; an d M EI ER, J. DEL I VERE D: J un e 11, 2009