Opinion ID: 2336544
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Status Hearing & Aftermath

Text: At the status hearing on November 8, 2002, it became clear that R.W.'s efforts to reunify with her son had met with significant difficulty. R.W. was escorted into the courtroom by Deputy U.S. Marshals with her right arm in a sling and appearing very distressed and upset. R.W.'s attorney explained that she was being held in lieu of bail on pending criminal charges. Social worker Clayton Spitzer testified that he had not been able to contact R.W. since the show cause hearing, despite twenty attempts to do so by phone, mail, and in person. Spitzer explained that he could not figure out where R.W. had been living during that time. Although R.W. was supposed to be staying with her fiancé, C.C., when Spitzer tried to reach her there, C.C. would tell him that he hadn't seen R.W. for days and that she was living on U Street with her daughter. When Spitzer tried to contact R.W. at her daughter's home on U Street, the daughter would tell him that R.W. was staying with C.C. Furthermore, Spitzer had been unable to verify that R.W. had kept her job at Walter Reed Army Medical Center because she had not signed an authorization to release that information. Next, the court reviewed the results of R.W.'s drug testing for this period, noting that she had tested negative a couple of times in May, but failed to report for a couple of others in June and July. It appeared that the last time she reported for testing was July 11. At that point, R.W. requested an additional six-month continuance to get her life together and stated that she remained opposed to the adoption. R.W. indicated that she wanted to address the court, so the trial court placed her under oath and allowed her to speak. According to the trial court, [R.W.] talked rapidly and in a high strung manner manifesting impulsive behavior and erratic attitude toward the petitioner[s] and other relatives, claiming they were all against her. She acknowledged that she did not participate in drug testing as ordered by the neglect review judge and did not report to the social worker because everyone was conspiring against her. She acknowledged that she had some involvement in arguments with her boyfriend and suggested that she was jailed because of her conflict with him. In addition, R.W.'s testimony suggested that her job at Walter Reed had also fallen through. Based on R.W.'s statement in court, and [the court's] observations of her demeanor, her eye expressions and tone of voice throughout her representations, the trial court found that R.W. had los[t] the capacity to take care of herself, and thus beyond a reasonable doubt she is unable to properly care for and raise [D.W.] .... The court also concluded, [t]he fact that the child has been in the care of [H.B.] for now almost six (6) years is a strong factor justifying waiving the mother's consent. Even if her conduct was now without fault, it could be argued that she has taken far too long to prepare herself to take care of her son who is now almost seven (7) years old. Accordingly, based on the evidence presented at both hearings, the trial court found that R.W. was unreasonably withholding her consent to the adoption. On January 10, 2003, the trial court issued its Final Decree of Adoption and R.W. timely appealed from the entry of that order.