Montana Court Case: In the Matter of J.V.

IN THE MATTER OF J.V., S.V., T.V. and M.V., Youths in Need of Care. 

No. 02-436 

SUPREME COURT OF MONTANA 

2003 MT 68; 314 Mont. 487; 67 P.3d 242 

February 20, 2003, Submitted on Briefs 

April 3, 2003, Decided 

Released for Publication April 23, 2003. 

APPEAL FROM: District Court of the Sixteenth Judicial District, In and for the County of Custer, Cause No. DN 2000-6 .The Honorable Gary L. Day, Judge presiding. 

Affirmed. 

COUNSEL:
For Appellant: J. Dennis Corbin, Miles City, Montana (for F.B., natural father of J.V.); J. B. Wheatcroft, Miles City, Montana (for N.V., mother of the Youths in Need of Care).

For Respondent: Mike McGrath, Montana Attorney General, Ilka Becker, Assistant Montana Attorney General, Helena, Montana; Coleen J. Magera, Custer County Attorney, Miles City, Montana; Gary Bunke, Assistant Attorney General, Child Protection Unit, Miles City, Montana; Cynthia K. Thornton, Miles City, Montana (for E.T., natural father of M.V., S.V. & T.V.).

Guardian ad Litem: Janette Krutzfeldt Jones, Miles City, Montana. 

JUDGES:
Justice James C. Nelson delivered the Opinion of the Court. We Concur: KARLA M. GRAY, JIM REGNIER, PATRICIA COTTER, JIM RICE. 

OPINIONBY:
JAMES C. NELSON 

OPINION:

Justice James C. Nelson delivered the Opinion of the Court.
The Sixteenth Judicial District Court, Custer County, terminated the parental rights of the three natural parents of J.V., S.V., T.V. and M.V., and awarded permanent legal custody with the right to consent to adoption to the Montana Department of Health and Human Services (DPHHS). N.V., the mother of the four boys, and F.B., the father of J.V., appeal from the court's Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. Termination of parental rights for the father of S.V., T.V. and M.V. is not at issue in this appeal. We restate the issues as follows:
I. Did the District Court abuse its discretion in terminating N.V.'s parental rights?
II. Did the District Court abuse its discretion in terminating F.B.'s parental rights?
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND