Nevada Court Case: In re Q.L.R.

IN THE MATTER OF THE PARENTAL RIGHTS AS TO Q.L.R., A MINOR. ROGER D. R., Appellant, vs. DINA L. M., Respondent. 

No. 38221 

SUPREME COURT OF NEVADA 

54 P.3d 56; 118 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 63; 118 Nev. Adv. Rep. 63 

September 18, 2002, Decided 

Rehearing Denied October 31, 2002. 

Appeal from a district court order terminating parental rights. Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County; William O. Voy, Judge, Family Court Division. 

Reversed. 

COUNSEL:
Paul M. Gaudet, Las Vegas, for Appellant.

Jerome A. DePalma, Las Vegas, for Respondent. 

JUDGES:
BEFORE SHEARING, ROSE and BECKER, JJ. 

OPINION:
PER CURIAM:
Appellant Roger D. R. challenges a district court order terminating his parental rights to his minor child, Q.L.R. This appeal presents an issue of first impression for this court: Does incarceration, as a matter of law, support a determination that a parent intended to abandon his or her minor child? Roger contends that the district court erred by finding that, as a result of his incarceration, he abandoned Q.L.R. and that termination of his parental rights was in the child's best interests. We agree and, therefore, reverse the district court's order terminating Roger's parental rights. FACTS
In 1997, the minor child, Q.L.R, was born to appellant Roger D. R. and his wife, respondent Dina L. M. Roger and Dina permanently separated in August 1999. During the parental rights termination hearing in June 2001, Roger admitted that in the summer of 1999, he developed an addiction to crack/cocaine, had what he described as an "idiotic two months," and took a leave of absence from his job. He began calling Dina at work eighty to one hundred times per day. Dina, however, refused his calls, so Roger was unable to speak with her about Q.L.R.
Based on the numerous phone calls Roger placed to both Dina and her parents, Dina filed for a temporary protection order (TPO) against Roger, which a district court issued in September 1999. The TPO prohibited Roger from any contact with Dina or Q.L.R. and granted Dina temporary custody of the child. The TPO was still in effect in November 1999, when the following incident occurred.
The record shows that Roger approached Dina outside Q.L.R.'s daycare center. He forced his way into her car and drove around Las Vegas with Dina and Q.L.R. for approximately six hours. During this time, Roger did not physically harm Q.L.R. At one point, they went to a grocery store to buy diapers and food for Q.L.R., and again later stopped at Jack-in-the-Box to eat.