Court Opinion

ID: 9804210
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 16:32:02.404012+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:04:55.761082
License: Public Domain

WINCHESTER, J.,
dissenting, with whom TAYLOR and GURICH, JJ. join:
T1 Two conclusions by this Court appear to be unsupported and unsupportable by the record before this Court. I do not agree that the Father's due process rights were violated by the Mother's attempt to provide notice via Facebook. Nor do I agree that *53the judgment of the court was erroneous, given the facts that were uncontested and the statutes the trial court was obligated to follow.
I. THE BALANCING OF RESPONSIBILITY
2 The majority opinion cites the specific changes to the Oklahoma Adoption Code, and quotes 10 0.8$.2011, § 7501-1.2(A), which provides:
"A. The Legislature of this state believes that every child should be raised in a secure, loving home and finds that adoption is the best way to provide a permanent family for a child whose biological parents are not able or willing to provide for the child's care or whose parents believe the child's best interest will be best served through adoption. The purpose of the Oklahoma Adoption Code is to:
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"5. Affirm the duty of a male person who has sexual relations with a female person outside of marriage to be aware that a pregnancy might occur;
"6. Affirm the duty of the biological father of a child who is to be born or who is born outside of marriage to exercise his parental responsibilities for the child. This includes the duty to inform himself about the existence and needs of any such child and to exercise parental responsibilities toward that child even before birth...."
1 3 The legislature has clearly pronounced its intent. The duty of the male who has sexual relations with a female is (1) to be aware that a pregnancy might occur and (2) to inform himself, He cannot complacently wait for the female to find him in the event of a pregnancy. In this case the Mother tried to inform the father. There was no evidence that he attempted to learn anything. After the legislature had made its intent known, the majority opinion still maintains that the responsibility of informing a father lies fully with the female.
T4 The Father's testimony reveals that during the times they were having intercourse, the Mother was seventeen years old and he was twenty to twenty-one years old. He testified that he knew where she lived, knew her full name and had her telephone number. When asked, "What steps did you take to determine that she wasn't pregnant after you had intercourse the last time?" His answer was "None." He was also asked, "[DJid you ever attempt to contact her and she denied contact with you?" He answered, "No." He was asked how long it took for her to respond to him when he finally tried to contact her, he answered "within a day, maybe longer." No testimony indicates that knowledge about the Mother's pregnancy was kept from him.
T5 At the conclusion of the testimony of the father, who was the only witness called to testify, the biological Mother's attorney moved for a directed verdict, which motion was joined by the petitioners. The court asked for a response from the other parties present, and received no objections. The court granted the motion, finding in support that the Father's own testimony proved he had failed prior to the child's birth to determine if a child was going to be born, and failed to support, according to his means, the Mother of the child through her living expenses, medical expenses, and maternity expenses. The court further found that the Father did not do anything to assert his rights as a father other than showing up for the guardianship. At that point the court found that the adoption should proceed without the consent of the Father and terminated his parental rights.
T6 The transcript reveals that the trial court concluded the applicable law required the Father to inquire about whether the Mother had become pregnant. The judge and attorneys discussed 10 0.8.2011, § 7505-4.2(D), which provides:
D. In any case where a father or putative father of a minor born out of wedlock claims that, prior to the receipt of notice of the hearing provided for in Sections 7505-2.1 and 7505-4.1 of this title, he had been specifically denied knowledge of the minor or denied the opportunity to exercise parental rights and duties toward the minor, such father or putative father must prove to the satisfaction of the court that he *54made sufficient attempts to discover if he had fathered a minor or made sufficient attempts to exercise parental rights and duties toward the minor prior to the receipt of notice.
No one argued that the Father was denied knowledge of the minor or denied an opportunity to exercise parental rights or duties.
T7 Although the Father admits he had received notice of the child's birth on Face-book, he claims he did not see the notice until he tried to contact the Mother, on Facebook, regarding guardianship of the child. He testified he did not know how old the message was. Facebook has two methods of sending information. A message may be posted to an area that all "friends" on Facebook may view it, or it may be posted to a private area that is more like an email. Either way, all messages are dated. The transcript does not identify which method the Mother used. The Father admitted they were Facebook "friends" and that he used that method to contact her when he found out about the guardianship. He acknowledged that Face-book contained a message to him from the Mother that she was pregnant and that she wanted to place the baby for adoption. The text of the message as the Father recalls was "something about I'm pregnant, little girl, I'm putting her up for adoption."
18 Admitting the message was there, the Father either saw it and ignored it, or did not see it and wishes the trial court to conclude that the pregnancy was kept from the father. The majority opinion concludes that the "Mother allegedly informing Father of her pregnancy via a Facebook message was insufficient to satisfy the notice requirement of due process." There is no "allegation" of a Facebook message as the majority opinion states. The Father admits there was a message. Either he had actual notice or he had constructive notice.
T9 If this Court wishes to hold, as a matter of law, that notice was withheld from him, then 10 0.$.2011, § 7505-4.2(D) applies and the Father should have attempted to discover if he had fathered a child. If he had notice, then the Father should have taken action then to support the Mother during the process of her pregnancy. Either way, the Father's action or inaction supports the trial court's decision to terminate the Father's parental rights. Whether or not he actually viewed that message is not a question of law, it is a question of fact. Because the trial court was the fact finder, the court had the authority to decide whether the Father viewed that notice before the baby was born. Further, we are required to give deference to the trial court's view of the evidence and the assessment of the veracity of the witnesses.
{10 The trial court recognized the Father's duty, pursuant to statute, (1) to be aware that a pregnancy might occur and (2) to inform himself, By his own testimony, he could have informed himself by contacting the Mother, and did not even attempt to. The majority opinion does not declare unconstitutional the obligation placed by the legislature on the Father, yet the majority opinion returns the full burden to the Mother regarding notice.
II. THE NOTICE REQUIREMENT
€ 11 The majority opinion does not inform the biological mother precisely what notice is needed to satisfy this Court, The rule has been long accepted that, "Actual notice is the preferred method of satisfying due process requirements...." In re Dana P., 1982 OK 140, ¶ 9, 656 P.2d 253, 255. The Facebook message was actual notice. The Father testified that Facebook was his method to contact the Mother after he learned of the guardianship and that he reached her within twenty-four hours. Why would Facebook be any less reliable than other forms of electronic communication? Does the Court require a face-to-face confrontation with witnesses? Face-to-face discussions can be denied; letters can remain unopened; and faxes can be lost.
12 Osprey L.L.C. v. Kelly-Moore Paint Co., 1999 OK 50, ¶ 15, 984 P.2d 194, 199, held, "The purpose of providing notice by personal delivery or registered mail is to insure the delivery of the notice, and to settle any dispute which might arise between the parties concerning whether the notice was received. A substituted method of notice which performs the same function and serves the same *55purpose as an authorized method of notice is not defective." In the Osprey case, a lessee sent a fax to confirm a desire to continue a lease for another five years. The renewal terms stated that notice may be delivered either personally or by depositing the same in United States mail, first class postage prepaid, registered or certified mail, return receipt requested. The lessor even denied receiving the fax, but this Court recognized an electronic record showing that the fax activity report and telephone company records confirmed that the fax was transmitted successfully and that it was sent to Osprey's correct facsimile number. Osprey, 1999 OK 50, ¶ 6, 984 P.2d at 196. Actual notice satisfies due process just as formally approved methods do. The record contains an admission from the Father that his Facebook account contained notice. He just claims he did not read it.
13 Oklahoma law recognizes the efficacy of electronic transactions where parties to electronic transactions have agreed to transact business through that method. Forty-seven states, the District of Columbia, Puer-to Rico, and the Virgin Islands have adopted the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA). Oklahoma has codified this act as 12A 0.8.2011, §§ 15-101 through 15-121. Three states, Illinois, New York and Washington, which have not adopted the UETA have statutes pertaining to electronic transactions. The UETA is found within the Uniform Commercial Code and applies to transactions. A transaction is defined as "an action or set of actions occurring between two or more persons relating to the conduct of business, commercial, or governmental affairs." The point is not whether the UETA applies to the case before the court; the relevance is that electronic transactions are deemed by all states to be dependable enough to bind parties in business, commercial and governmental affairs.
T 14 In addition, Facebook is a dependable method for communication, enough so that the Father admits that the mother and the Father chose to communicate through that method. What happened when he received service about the guardianship? The tran-seript says that when he initiated contact with the mother. he did it through Facebook. There is no support for an argument that Facebook is less dependable as an actual notice than a fax, a letter or some form of email other than Facebook. Neither is there a sound argument that actual notice does not satisfy due process.
T 15 The trial court did not err as a matter of law by determining it made no difference when and if the Father received notice of the pregnancy if 10 O.8.2011, § 7505-4.2(D) means what it says, "such father or putative father must prove to the satisfaction of the court that he made sufficient attempts to discover if he had fathered a minor...." The requirement certainly is placed squarely on his shoulders, and this Court has cited no authority to show why such a statute would be unconstitutional, As I have previously said, either the Father was told and failed to act or was intentionally not told and failed to show any attempt to learn of a pregnancy. The majority view states that "Mother's failure to properly notify father of the pregnancy at any point constituted specific denial of knowledge of the child within the meaning of 10 0.8.2011, § 7505-4.2(D)." If that is so, then the father had a duty to find out pursuant to the very statute cited. Leaving all the responsibility to the mother is an archaic view of parenthood. The Father does not claim he did not know that his actions could produce a child. He testified to more than one occasion of sexual intercourse. The fact that he did nothing to find out shows a lack of responsibility.
{16 The Court of Civil Appeals properly affirmed the judgment of the trial court.