Opinion ID: 1811753
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Termination of G.B.B.'s Parental Rights to M.B.

Text: In M.B.'s case, the evidence showed that on August 8, 1991, four days after his birth, G.B.B. began hearing voices in her apartment, and at four o'clock in the morning, took M.B. out of the apartment to wander the streets. A gas station attendant became concerned and notified the police. After this episode, M.B. was taken into state custody and, subsequently, declared a child in need of care on September 27, 1991. In the intervening years, G.B.B. was confined at mental institutions intermittently and was hospitalized at Central Louisiana State Hospital at the time of trial regarding M.B.'s child in need of care case. On January 13, 1993, the State filed a petition to terminate G.B.B.'s parental rights to M.B., on the basis of, among other things, her past history of neglecting and abusing her children, and current observations with regard to [her] current child care behavior and practices with her infant son [M.B.]. On December 6, 1995, the trial court terminated G.B.B.'s parental rights to M.B. pursuant to the 1992 version of La. Ch.Code art. 1015(7). [1] The court of appeal affirmed the termination of G.B.B.'s parental rights to M.B., noting the testimony of her clinical psychologist who opined that she was incapable of exercising her parental responsibilities without exposing M.B. to substantial risk of serious harm and G.B.B.'s own testimony that she was not able to exercise her parental responsibility at that time.