Opinion ID: 2629181
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Failure to Advise on Confession to Motion

Text: C.S. next argues that the district court erred in not informing her of all the possible consequences of confessing the Department's motion to terminate her parental relationship with N.A., I.S., and D.S. She explains that because the hearing affected her fundamental rights as a parent, she was entitled to a full advisement concerning the effect of her decision. While we have already affirmed that a natural parent has a fundamental liberty interest in the care, custody and management of his or her child, we have also held that the General Assembly has safeguarded this fundamental interest by enacting the Termination Act. B.B. v. People, 785 P.2d 132, 136 (Colo.1990). In B.B., we determined that the Termination Act furthered the legislative purposes of preserving and strengthening family ties whenever possible while still protecting the child's welfare. Id. (recognizing that the pertinent protection has been codified under section 19-3-604, 6 C.R.S. (2003)). There, we also concluded that the detailed procedures and criteria provided under the Termination Act adequately protect a parent's fundamental rights. Id. Thus, to determine whether C.S.'s fundamental rights were protected when she confessed the Department's motion, we need only determine whether the proceedings substantially complied with the statute. See A.M.D., 648 P.2d at 631. Tellingly, C.S. alleges no particular constitutional error and no statutory violation on the part of the court in failing to detail all of the consequences of a confession of the termination petition. Furthermore, a review of all the circumstances surrounding the termination proceeding indicates that her assertion is baseless. We determine, based on the totality of the circumstances surrounding the dependency and neglect proceedings and the orders of termination, that C.S. knowingly and intelligently waived her right to contest the motion for termination as to N.A., I.S., and D.S. Nothing in the record suggests that she was unaware of the effect of her decision. Because C.S. was a party to the dependency and neglect proceedings for all four children in a heavily monitored process spanning nearly three years, it is inconceivable that she was unaware of the potential consequences of the termination hearing. Indeed, after each dependency and neglect proceeding began, and at every significant stage of these two cases, C.S. was provided with a written notice from the court that the irreversible termination of the parent-child relationship was a possibility. During all phases of the proceedings, C.S. was represented by counsel and at the pre-trial hearing on November 15, 2001, with counsel present, C.S. indicated to the court that she was not going to contest termination for her three oldest children. At the termination hearing, she stated that the only other option she would consider was relinquishment of the children to their maternal aunt. However, after the children's guardian ad litem, Troy Hause, who explicitly disclosed his alignment with the Department at the hearing, informed the court and C.S. that the only effect of the relinquishment would be to delay the permanent placement of her children, C.S. decided against relinquishment and confessed the termination motion. The court then informed C.S. that the termination trial would proceed and that the Department was still required to prove that termination was necessary by clear and convincing evidence. The effect of her decision at trial, the court explained, was that C.S. could not present her own evidence as to the three older children. When C.S. informed the court that she wanted to contest the termination motion concerning S.S., she said that she understood that I.S. and D.S. were likely to be permanently placed with her sister and that they would be in good hands. C.S. also stated to the court that after the termination, she would have to seek counseling in order to cope with the loss of her children. She explained that the only reason she wished to contest the termination motion concerning S.S. was that the Department sought placement outside the family. Thus, we conclude that the record, including C.S.'s own expressions, reveals a clear understanding on the part of C.S. of the effects of parental termination and her decision to confess the Department's motion. C.S. further claims that her decision to confess the motion was invalid since it was influenced by the information provided by Hause, a person with interests adverse to her own. Unavailingly, she cites to People v. Legler, 969 P.2d 691, 694 (Colo.1998), as authority for the proposition that Hause improperly counseled her on her ultimate decision not to contest termination for three of her children. Legler, however, merely acknowledged that, by statute, in a criminal investigation, a juvenile is entitled to have a non-hostile adult present during custodial interrogation. Id. Accordingly, it has no application here, and we find nothing inherently improper about the exchange between Hause and C.S. Procedurally, then, our review of the court's order presents no reversible error and we now turn to the termination order as to S.S.