Lesley Hunter and Allen Hunter v. Arkansas Department of Human Services
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NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION
ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS
DIVISION IV
No. CA08-576
Opinion Delivered
LESLEY HUNTER AND ALLEN
HUNTER,
APPELLANTS
O CTOBER 1, 2008
APPEAL FROM THE
INDEPENDENCE COUNTY
CIRCUIT COURT,
[NO. JV-07-230]
V.
HONORABLE STEPHEN CHOATE,
JUDGE
ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF
HUMAN SERVICES,
APPELLEE
AFFIRMED; MOTION TO
WITHDRAW GRANTED
SAM BIRD, Judge
The Independence County Circuit Court entered an order terminating the parental
rights of appellants Lesley and Allen Hunter to their daughter, S.H., born August 3, 2007.
The Hunters’ attorney has filed a motion to withdraw and a no-merit brief pursuant to LinkerFlores v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 359 Ark. 131, 194 S.W.3d 739 (2004), and
Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 4-3(j)(1). The brief lists all rulings from the termination hearing that are
adverse to the Hunters and explains why there are no meritorious grounds for reversal. The
clerk of this court sent a certified copy of the brief and motion to Mr. and Mrs. Hunter,
informing them of their right to file pro se points for reversal under Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 43(j)(2). They did not submit any points for appeal. Based on our review of the record, we
affirm the termination order and grant counsel’s motion to withdraw.
The only ruling adverse to appellants was the termination decision. The Arkansas
Department of Human Services (DHS) removed S.H. from the home in September 2007 after
a family service worker observed Mrs. Hunter’s irrational behavior, caused by her failure to
take the anti-psychotic drug Haldol. DHS’s emergency-custody petition and accompanying
affidavit detailed a ten-year history of contact with the Hunter family. The circuit court
granted custody to DHS and adjudicated S.H. dependent-neglected. The adjudication order
stated that Mrs. Hunter suffered from schizophrenia and had not been taking her medication;
that Mr. Hunter was on the central registry as a sex offender; and that the Hunters’ parental
rights were involuntarily terminated to two other children in separate cases.
At the termination hearing, family service worker Robin Tate testified that the
Hunters had not completed parenting classes or attended counseling as ordered. She expressed
concern about Mrs. Hunter’s mental state, noting that Mrs. Hunter believed that S.H. and the
two children to whom her parental rights had previously been terminated—all of whom were
infants when they were removed from the home—could provide DHS with information
about the case. Tate testified that Mrs. Hunter was schizophrenic and that Mr. Hunter was
on the central registry. She also said that S.H.’s foster family had expressed an interest in
adopting her.
Mrs. Hunter testified that she was not schizophrenic but suffered from anxiety. She said
that a doctor prescribed pills for her but that she did not take them as recommended. Several
times during the hearing, she was combative and made rather disturbing remarks, including
comments about a “voodoo brain” in a jar. She also demonstrated a preoccupation with
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S.H.’s hair and expressed doubt that DHS care givers knew how to use hair spray on the fivemonth-old child.
Mr. Hunter testified that he had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was
taking medication. He said that he recently lost his job. He also said that he had previously
heard voices telling him to torture people to death, but he was not hearing them at the
present time. He acknowledged that he had been to prison before, was currently on parole,
and was awaiting a court date on a DUI charge.
We conclude that counsel has complied with Rule 4-3(j) and that the appeal is wholly
without merit. We therefore grant the motion to withdraw and affirm the termination order.
Affirmed; motion to withdraw granted.
G LADWIN and R OBBINS, JJ., agree.
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