NEW JERSEY DIVISION OF YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES v. T.R and D.N IN THE MATTER OF THE GUARDIANSHIP OF D.N. and D.N

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-2799-08T42799-08T4

NEW JERSEY DIVISION OF YOUTH

AND FAMILY SERVICES,

Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.

T.R.,

Defendant-Appellant,

and

D.N.,

Defendant.

_______________________________________

IN THE MATTER OF THE GUARDIANSHIP

OF

D.N. and D.N.,

Minors.

_____________________________________________________

 

Submitted December 2, 2009 - Decided

Before Judges Fisher and Espinosa.

On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Family Part, Essex County, Docket No. FG-07-48-08.

Yvonne Smith Segars, Public Defender, attorney for appellant (Dianne Glenn, Designated Counsel, on the brief).

Anne Milgram, Attorney General, attorney for respondent (Andrea M. Silkowitz, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel; Emily R. Weisslitz, Deputy Attorney General, on the brief).

Yvonne Smith Segars, Public Defender, Law Guardian, attorney for minors (Olivia Belfatto Crisp, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, of counsel and on the brief).

PER CURIAM

Defendant T.R. (defendant) has given birth to sixteen children. This appeal concerns two of those children.

The record reveals that defendant voluntarily surrendered her parental rights to five children in 1999. In May 2000, her parental rights to four other children were terminated following a six-day trial; we affirmed that judgment by way of an unpublished opinion. N.J. Div. of Youth & Family Servs. v. T.R., No. A-5280-00T4 (App. Div. November 26, 2001). In December 2004, defendant's parental rights to three other children were terminated following a four-day trial; we affirmed. N.J. Div. of Youth & Family Servs. v. T.R., No. A-2613-04T4 (App. Div. August 17, 2005), certif. denied, 185 N.J. 392 (2005). And, in January 2006, defendant's parental rights to her thirteenth child was terminated at the conclusion of a one-day trial; we affirmed that judgment as well. N.J. Div. of Youth & Family Servs. v. T.R., No. A-5032-05T4 (App. Div. March 2, 2007).

This appeal concerns the termination of defendant's parental rights to her fourteenth and fifteenth children, who were born on February 9, 2006 and September 8, 2007, respectively. The judge presided over a four-day trial, during which the Division of Youth and Family Services called five witnesses -- three caseworkers, a psychologist and a psychiatrist. Defendant testified on her own behalf and called four other witnesses, including a psychologist and a psychiatrist. The judge rendered a lengthy and thorough oral decision, concluding that defendant's parental rights should be terminated.

Defendant appealed, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support the judge's findings that the Division met, by clear and convincing evidence, all four prongs of the statutory test set forth in N.J.S.A. 30:4C-15.1a. We find insufficient merit in these arguments to warrant discussion in a written opinion. R. 2:11-3(e)(1)(E).

 
Affirmed.

A sixteenth child was born on October 16, 2008. The Division effected an emergency removal of the child and commenced a guardianship action. That matter is pending in the trial court.

Defendant D.N., the father of the two children in question, did not appear at trial. His parental rights were terminated for the reasons expressed by the judge in his oral decision. D.N. has not appealed.

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4

A-2799-08T4

RECORD IMPOUNDED

December 10, 2009