Alaska Court Case: HERNANDEZ v. LAMBERT

LARRY HERNANDEZ, Appellant, v. LOUISE LAMBERT, Appellee.

Supreme Court No. S-7690, No. 4928

SUPREME COURT OF ALASKA 951 P.2d 436

January 2, 1998, Decided Appeal from the Superior Court of the State of Alaska, Fourth Judicial District, Fairbanks, Niesje J. Steinkruger, Judge.

Superior Court No. 4FA-95-0583 CI.

AFFIRMED.

COUNSEL:

Fleur L. Roberts, Law Offices of Fleur L. Roberts, Fairbanks, for Appellant. Christine A. McLeod, Andrew Harrington, and Robert K. Hickerson, Alaska Legal Services Corporation, Fairbanks, for Appellee. Mark Andrews and Michael Walleri, for Amicus Curiae Tanana Chiefs Conference. Lloyd Benton Miller, Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Miller & Munson, for Amicus Curiae Native Village of Tanana. Heather R. Kendall, Native American Rights Fund, for Amicus Curiae Alaska Inter-Tribal Counsel.

JUDGES:

Before: Compton, Chief Justice, Matthews, Eastaugh, Fabe, and Bryner, Justices.

OPINIONBY: BRYNER

At issue here is the timeliness of a superior court paternity action that conflicted with an adoption order issued by an Alaska tribal court five years previously. The superior court ruled that the tribal order was valid, that its issuance triggered Alaska's one-year time limit on challenges to adoption decrees, and that the paternity action was therefore time-barred. We agree that the paternity action is time-barred but reach this conclusion without deciding the validity of the tribal adoption order; we conclude that, whatever its validity, when originally entered, the order became legally cognizable upon the State's issuance of a new certificate of birth ratifying it as an adoption by tribal custom.

I. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

On February 26, 1990, Sandra Joseph gave birth to a baby boy, C.L., in Fairbanks. Joseph, who resided in Tanana, was unmarried at the time and declined to name C.L.'s father on the birth certificate. It is undisputed that Joseph was acquainted with Larry Hernandez before she gave birth to C.L. and that she and Hernandez had sexual relations at some time prior to the birth. n1 Joseph's relationship with Hernandez ended some time in 1989; Hernandez evidently left Tanana without learning of Joseph's pregnancy.

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n1 The parties agree that Joseph and Hernandez had sexual relations. Although Hernandez claims that he and Joseph "lived together for several years," we find nothing in the record to support the claim. Joseph has expressly denied having sexual relations with Hernandez during the period of time when C.L. was conceived.

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