NEW JERSEY DIVISION OF YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES v. J.R.

 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-4185-04T44185-04T4

NEW JERSEY DIVISION OF YOUTH

AND FAMILY SERVICES,

Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.

J.R.

Defendant-Appellant.

______________________________________

IN THE MATTER OF THE GUARDIANSHIP

OF O.H.,

a Minor.

________________________________________

 

Submitted October 19, 2005 - Decided

Before Judges Wecker, Fuentes and Graves.

On appeal from Superior Court of New

Jersey, Chancery Division, Family Part,

Cumberland County, Docket No. FG-06-33-04.

Yvonne Smith Segars, Public Defender,

attorney for appellant (Michael C. Kazer,

Designated Counsel, on the brief).

Peter C. Harvey, Attorney General,

attorney for respondent (Patrick

DeAlmeida, Assistant Attorney General,

of counsel; Scott J. Kieserman, Deputy

Attorney General, on the brief).

Yvonne Smith Segars, Public Defender,

Law Guardian for the minor (Nancy E.

Scott, Assistant Deputy Public Defender,

of counsel and on the brief).

PER CURIAM

Defendant J.R. is the biological father of O.H, a six-year-old boy born on June 23, 1999. J.R. appeals from the judgment of the Family Part terminating his parental rights to O.H., thereby removing the last legal impediment to the boy's adoption by his current foster parents.

J.R. argues that the trial court erred when it concluded that the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) had satisfied the criteria outlined in N.J.S.A. 30:4C-15.1 for termination of his parental rights. Specifically, J.R. argues that DYFS failed to determine whether the child could have been placed with his paternal aunt; and the court erred by applying a "better interest" standard in finding in favor of termination. We reject these arguments and affirm.

T.T. was fourteen years old at the time she gave birth to O.H. Defendant J.R. is three years her senior. T.T. voluntarily surrendered her parental rights to O.H. on July 29, 2004. At the time this termination case came to trial, J.R. was incarcerated at the Cumberland County Jail awaiting trial on two counts of capital murder. According to the briefs filed, his status in this respect remains unchanged. In 2001, J.R. also pled guilty to assaulting a member of the Bridgeton High School coaching staff. J.R. has had no meaningful involvement in O.H.'s life.

Judge Mendez considered all of the evidence adduced at trial, including the testimony of the expert witness called by DYFS, and rendered a carefully reasoned oral opinion covering forty pages of transcript. Judge Mendez's opinion tracks the statutory requirements of N.J.S.A. 30:4C-15.1, in accordance with In re Guardianship of D.M.H., 161 N.J. 365 (1999), In re Guardianship of K.H.O., 161 N.J. 337 (1999) and New Jersey Div. of Youth and Family Servs. v. A.W., 103 N.J. 591 (1986), and is supported by the record. Rova Farms Resort, Inc. v. Investors Ins. Co. of Am., 65 N.J. 474, 484 (1974). Therefore, his factual findings "'should not be disturbed unless they are so wholly unsupportable as to result in a denial of justice.'" In re Guardianship of J.N.H., 172 N.J. 440, 472 (2002) (quoting In re Guardianship of J.T., 269 N.J. Super. 172, 188 (App. Div. 1993)).

 
We affirm for substantially the same reasons given by Judge Mendez in his March 17, 2005 oral opinion.

(continued)

(continued)

3

A-4185-04T4

RECORD IMPOUNDED

October 28, 2005