Summary
This Connecticut Appellate Court opinion addresses an appeal by a father challenging the termination of his parental rights. The appellant argued that the trial court violated his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination by terminating his rights based on his refusal to admit to potentially criminal conduct related to intimate partner violence. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's decision, holding that the termination was based on the father's voluntary denials and failure to rehabilitate rather than an unconstitutional compulsion to testify, and thus failed under the third prong of State v. Golding.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the termination of parental rights violated the respondent's Fifth Amendment right against self‑incrimination.
Holdings
- The respondent's unpreserved Fifth Amendment claim fails under the third prong of State v. Golding; the termination was based on voluntary denials contradicted by evidence, not on a protected invocation of the privilege.
Key quotations
“The respondent father’s unpreserved claim that the trial court violated his Fifth Amendment right against self‑incrimination failed under the third prong of State v. Golding because the alleged constitutional violation did not exist, as the court’s decision was not based on an invocation of the father’s right to remain silent but, instead, on his voluntary denials of the existence of intimate partner violence...”
Factual background
Shane B. was arrested after a domestic incident on February 2, 2021 that involved intimate partner violence, resulting in charges of assault, strangulation, and disorderly conduct. He repeatedly denied the violence, failed to complete court‑ordered rehabilitation programs, and was found by clear and convincing evidence to have not rehabilitated sufficiently to regain parental rights to his daughter, Skye B.
Procedural history
The Commissioner of Children and Families filed a petition to terminate the parental rights of Shane B. in the Superior Court, Judicial District of Fairfield, Juvenile Matters at Bridgeport. The trial court found clear and convincing evidence of failure to rehabilitate and terminated the parental rights. The respondent appealed.