Rhode Island Court Case: In re Shaylon J.

In re Shaylon J. 

No. 2000-220-Appeal. 

SUPREME COURT OF RHODE ISLAND 

782 A.2d 1140 

November 1, 2001, Decided 

November 1, 2001, Opinion Filed 

Appeal from Family Court. Providence County. Mutter, J. (97-1512-03). 

Respondent's appeal was denied. Judgment was affirmed. 

COUNSEL:
Janice M. Weisfeld, For Plaintiff.

Frank P. Iacono, Jr./John E. Farley/Thomas J. Corigan, Jr., For Defendant. 

JUDGES:
Williams, C.J., Lederberg, Bourcier, Flanders, and Goldberg, JJ. 

PER CURIAM. 
The respondent-father, Bryant Brown (father), appeals from a Family Court decree terminating his parental rights to his daughter, Shaylon J., born October 4, 1994. Previously, the court had terminated the parental rights of Shaylon's mother by a default judgment. Only the father, however, has appealed the Family Court judgment. A single justice of this Court ordered the parties to show cause why we should not decide this case summarily. After considering the parties' written and oral submissions, we conclude that no cause has been shown and proceed to decide the appeal at this time. For the reasons indicated below, we affirm.
Shaylon was committed to the care, custody, and control of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF or department) on September 4, 1998, after the father admitted to neglect. On March 16, 1999, the department filed a termination of parental rights petition in which it alleged that the father was unfit because of (1) his incarcerated status; (2) chronic substance abuse, and (3) that the child had been in the custody of the department for at least twelve months.
Shaylon and her siblings (the latter are not the father's children and are not the subjects of this appeal) first came into the department's care in July 1997 because of the mother's substance-abuse problems. On September 30, 1997, the mother failed to appear in court, which then found Shaylon to be neglected by her mother and committed her to the care, custody, and control of DCYF. At that time, Shaylon's father had not yet been identified. Later, however, on January 12, 1998, the father, who was incarcerated at the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI), appeared, entered a denial, and questioned his paternity. n1 The court ordered paternity tests, which confirmed that respondent was indeed Shaylon's biological father. Thereafter, the father admitted to neglect and, in response, on September 4, 1998, the court committed Shaylon to the care, custody, and control of the department.

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n1 In January 1998, the father was imprisoned at the ACI, awaiting trial on two counts of burglary. Later, he was convicted and sentenced to fifteen years to serve. During the termination-of-parental-rights trial, the father's conviction was on appeal to this Court. Eventually, we affirmed the conviction. See State v. Brown, 748 A.2d 244 (R.I. 2000).

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