IN RE DANIEL JOHNSON MINOR
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
In the Matter of DANIEL JOHNSON, Minor.
FAMILY INDEPENDENCE AGENCY,
UNPUBLISHED
January 8, 2004
Petitioner-Appellee,
v
No. 249167
Kalamazoo Circuit Court
Family Division
LC No. 02-000163-NA
PATRICIA JOHNSON,
Respondent-Appellant,
and
JEFF JONES,
Respondent.
Before: Donofrio, P.J., and Griffin and Jansen, JJ.
MEMORANDUM.
Respondent-appellant appeals as of right from the trial court order terminating her
parental rights to the minor child under MCL 712A.19b(3)(a)(ii), (c)(i), (g), and (j). We affirm.
Respondent-appellant has abandoned any challenge to the trial court’s finding that the
statutory grounds were established by failing to argue the issue in her brief. Yee v Shiawassee
Co Bd of Comm’rs, 251 Mich App 379, 406; 651 NW2d 756 (2002).
Respondent-appellant challenges only the issue of the child’s best interests, arguing that
the trial court failed to consider the child’s best interests in terminating her parental rights. We
disagree. The court is not required to affirmatively find that termination is in the child’s best
interests. In re Trejo, 462 Mich 341, 364, n 19; 612 NW2d 407 (2000). There was a significant
amount of evidence regarding the child’s best interests at trial. It is apparent from the record that
the trial court was cognizant of the issue and considered the best interests evidence in making its
findings. Further, the evidence did not show that termination of respondent-appellant parental
rights was clearly not in the best interests of the child. MCL 712A.19b(5); Trejo, supra at 356357. The child was removed after respondent-appellant physically abused him and respondentappellant never acknowledged that her actions were inappropriate. Respondent-appellant did not
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participate in services and stated several times that she did not want the child returned to her
home. The evidence established that it would be dangerous for the child to be returned to
respondent-appellant. Although there was also evidence that the child and respondent-appellant
were bonded and that the child had an extreme reaction upon learning that respondentappellant’s parental rights could be terminated, the trial court did not clearly err in terminating
respondent-appellant’s parental rights.
Affirmed.
/s/ Pat M. Donofrio
/s/ Richard Allen Griffin
/s/ Kathleen Jansen
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