Court Opinion

ID: 9655823
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 19:23:05.532674+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:22.208438
License: Public Domain

LAVENSKI R. Smith, Justice, concurring. I join the court’s decision to affirm but for different reasons than the majority. The majority erroneously holds that Dr. O.L. Henderson’s testimony supports a finding that D.U. suffered injuries that endangered her life. To the contrary, Dr. Henderson, though certainly opining that the injury to D.U.’s arm was serious, stated on direct examination, “[t]he possibility of loss of life would be very remote.” On cross-examination, he acknowledged that he observed no life-threatening conditions involving D.U. No one testified the subsequent facial bruises to the child were life-threatening. At base, the trial court’s decision to terminate parental rights arose from its stated conviction at the close of testimony that it discounted the parent’s testimony explaining the injuries and was convinced the child’s injuries were not accidental but the results of intentional abuse. A return of custody to a parent or parents that the court is convinced purposely injured a child is clearly against their best interest. In juvenile matters, the concern to which all others must yield is the best interests of the child. Baker v. Arkansas Dep’t of Human Servs., 340 Ark. 42, 8 S.W.3d 499 (2000). With the exception of a few weeks, D.U.’s entire life has been spent apart from her natural parents. She has now had little or no meaningful contact with them in the last two years. She has been out of their custody for almost three-and-one-half years. At this point, she no doubt, does not even know them as her parents. The need for stability and permanence weigh in favor of affirmance. Yet, I am troubled by the untenable position our law places the ADHS. The agency in this case, and no doubt others, simultaneously pursued reunification with the natural parents and termination of parental rights. The rights of parents to raise their natural children, though subordinate to the children’s welfare, remain precious and demand undistracted attention by a service provider that is not likely to become at cross-purposes with itself.