Case Review:
A Tarrant count judge has allowed a child to be returned to his mother after CPS removed him & citing that they could not return him due to the potential for future neglect and abuse or worse. The child remained with his grandparents for the first 2 years of his life with no physical contact with mom until visitation was ordered by the court & even then she would barely be available for child to be dropped off. All visit dates were recorded, notes left on moms door & a picture of it as well. All visits missed by mom were forced to be made up by the grandparents with extra visits/transportation which was more than 15 miles one way.
The judge refused to look at any of the evidence.
The Mom missed 6 visits in 6 months.
She even moved and did not tell the grandparents who were providing transportation so when they came to drop their grandchild off, they had no idea where mom was. They were not even given the courtesy of a phone call by the courts, her attorney or her to advise of the move.
When visitations did take place, the mom would return the child to the grandparents filthy, his shirt soiled with food, pamper soiled straight through his clothes and sometimes urine & bowel running down his leg. A hidden video was taken as proof of the child’s condition but the judge refused to even view it.
While in moms care, he has had a small piece of flesh taken out of his hand leaving a blood bubble, when retrieved has an overwhelming stitch of marijuana & has almost been electrocuted, leaving a scar the size of a quarter on his torso & was never taken to the hospital.
When these issues were brought to Judges attention, her response to the grandparents was, “children get burned" and she proceeded to show where she had been burned, saying see, I have one too!
The mother’s family has over 30 yrs CPS combined history.
One individual whom the Judge tasked with providing transportation had a DUI on her record that was less than a year old.
One individual whom the Judge tasked with providing transportation had a DUI on her record that was less than a year old.
The judge laughed & giggled on the stand, was mixing up the grandparents case information with other case, would complain that she did not have all day to listen to this case that she had other things to do.
Would have conversations with the mothers guardian at litem just at random even while the grandparents were trying tot talk to her she would just turn her head and start talking to the attorney.
The judge asked the grandparents if they thought they were better than mom because they had more money.
Would have conversations with the mothers guardian at litem just at random even while the grandparents were trying tot talk to her she would just turn her head and start talking to the attorney.
The judge asked the grandparents if they thought they were better than mom because they had more money.
Made the statement that "she", NOT the courts, did not feel that grandparents should be raising their grandchildren. BUT AT WHAT COST?
The grandparents were later advised that the judge was believed to still be on prescription medication stemming from an injury or procedure & possibly should not have even been at work.
The grandparents tried to explain that moms irrational behavior such as telling people about the voices in her head that were telling her to do stuff & she used her hands to show a talking motion behind her head, refusing to take her medication because when she doesn't she has bouts of violence, picking the child up at 2 months old by his wrist & slamming him into his grandmothers lap, feeding him baby food (peas) with cereal in his bottle at "2 weeks of age", could not tell when her child ate last, could not read well enough to administer medication if given a prescription, and refusal to get up in the middle of the night to care for her child & calling her child her check, referencing her “SSI, WIC, medicaid” etc.
While proceedings were going on, the judge would not allow anyone else into the court room who did not have anything to do with the case, This case would often be scheduled for 8:00am or 9:00am but we would often not be seen until 1:00pm as if it were being pushed back intentionally.
The biggest concern was even after CPS conducted a 6 month long investigation that mom practically refused to comply with, it was decided that this child’s best interest would be to remain in the grandparents home, why would a judge not heed this.
To date mom advised the judge that she currently had 29 CPS cases opened/investigation under her.
To date mom advised the judge that she currently had 29 CPS cases opened/investigation under her.
This child was not appointed a Guardian at litem.
The judges behavior & interaction with the moms Guardian at litem in the courtroom was beyond unprofessional & felt extremely wrong but there was no court reporter assigned even though the grandparents asked for one.
The judges behavior & interaction with the moms Guardian at litem in the courtroom was beyond unprofessional & felt extremely wrong but there was no court reporter assigned even though the grandparents asked for one.
The following review is used with permission of Kathy Turnley M from her post found on Injustice in the Texas Family Courts [Tarrant County]
