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In re Termination of Parental Rights to Emani M.11/12/2002
. Sheila M. appeals the order terminating her parental rights to her daughter, Emani, and the order denying her request to vacate the termination of parental rights order. She contends the trial court's admonitions that she was required to attend all future hearings did not rise to the level of an order. Therefore, she argues, since she was never actually ordered to attend all subsequent hearings, the trial court erroneously exercised its discretion when, after she failed to attend the contested dispositional hearing, it granted the State's request for a default judgment. Because the trial court clearly ordered Sheila M. to attend all future hearings, and because she gave no clear and justifiable excuse for her failure to appear at the dispositional hearing, the trial court properly exercised its discretion when it decided to "strik her contest posture" and denied her motion to vacate. Thus, this court affirms.
I. Background.
. Emani M. was born on May 11, 2000. Shortly before her birth, a CHIPS (child in need of protection or services) proceeding was started on her behalf because Sheila M. refused to follow through with her doctor's orders that she take various prescription drugs for her infectious disease, without which Emani was in danger of contracting, and because her sizable daily cocaine ingestion posed a danger to Emani. Several months after Emani's birth, she was placed in her current foster home where she has remained throughout her young life.
. After Sheila M. was unable to meet the conditions for the return of Emani to her care, a petition was filed requesting that Sheila M.'s parental rights to Emani be terminated. The petition claimed that Sheila M. had failed to assume parental responsibility for Emani pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 48.415(6) (1999-2000); that she had abandoned Emani pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 48.415(1)(a)3 (1999-2000); and that Emani was a child in need of continuing protection or services under Wis. Stat. § 48.415(2) (1999-2000).
. Sheila M. first appeared in court on November 6, 2001, at which time she contested the petition and requested an attorney. She was given information on how to contact the public defender's office and given a new date. As the proceeding was ending, the trial court advised her to reappear.
. Sheila M. next appeared in court in late November 2001 with her attorney, at which time a jury trial date was set. At the conclusion of this hearing, the trial court again told Sheila M. that she must appear in court on the adjourned date.
. At a pretrial conference set in late February 2002, Sheila M. stipulated that she had abandoned Emani, as alleged in the amended petition, and waived her right to a jury trial. However, she requested a dispositional hearing, which was set for March 27, 2002, at 1:30 p.m. On that date, although the case was set in the morning, it was not called until approximately 4:00 p.m. Several witnesses testified, but the case could not be concluded and was put over until April 19, 2002, at 10:00 a.m.
. On April 19, 2002, Sheila M. failed to appear. Her attorney, after advising the court Sheila M. was aware of the hearing date, indicated he had not heard from her since the last court date as her phone was disconnected, and that he could proceed in her absence. The State moved for default judgment. The trial court, after waiting approximately thirty minutes, granted the State's request, stating:
Whatever may be the explanation there is no reasonable explanation before me now for her not only [ ] having failed to appear, for not maintaining contact with her lawyer, et cetera; a lot of people have stood on their heads throughout these proce
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