 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
In re C.E.L.7/19/2005
t stand and walk (inaudible)?
A: I've not tried -- not tried to work since then. I mean, I -- nobody will hire anybody with back problems. They will tell you if you have back problems they won't hire you.
A: My medical problems do not keep me from taking care of [C.E.L.].
Q: Now, you're completely able to take care of a four-year-old child?
A: Yes, I am. I bathe her. I take her outside. I play with her. I ride a bicycle while she's riding her little four-wheeler. I ride horses with her. She has her own horse, everything.
Q: You can ride horses with her?
A: Yes.
Q: With a degenerative disk disease?
A: Yes, I do.
Q: But you're incapable ---
A: It hurts, but I do it.
Q: But you're incapable of work?
A: That's what my doctor said.
Q: Did your doctor say determine whether you're not capable to work or didyou determine it?
A: No. She told me that I'm not to work, not to try to get a job . And I'm taking a chance riding horses on paralyzing myself. But if I can make [C.E.L.] happy, I'll do it.
We find that respondent's testimony about her health problems is competent evidence that supports the trial court's finding of fact that respondent was incapable of properly caring for C.E.L.
Furthermore, we note that the trial court did not rely solely on respondent's inability to care for C.E.L. when it found that it was not possible for C.E.L. to return to respondent's home within six months. Rather, the trial court also found that it would not be possible to return C.E.L. to respondent's home within the next six months because respondent had "failed to make reasonable progress in correcting those conditions that led to removal of [C.E.L.] from [respondent's] custody." As we have determined above, the trial court correctly found that respondent had failed to correct the conditions that led to C.E.L.'s removal. Therefore, respondent's failure to correct the conditions leading to C.E.L.'s removal provides independent support for the trial court's finding that it was not possible for C.E.L. to return to respondent's home within six months.
C.
Respondent next assigns error to the trial court's finding of fact that it was not in C.E.L.'s best interest to be returned to respondent's home and that it was in C.E.L.'s best interest that legal guardianship be awarded to M.R.O. In support of thisargument, respondent relies on the 6 January 2004, nunc pro tunc 15 April 2003, permanency planning order that deferred to the Chapter 50 child custody action. Respondent argues that since the trial court had previously found that the pending Chapter 50 action was the more appropriate venue to determine C.E.L.'s best interests, the trial court was bound by res judicata from changing its position on the issue and awarding guardianship to M.R.O.
We first note that respondent has failed to support this argument with any citations to legal authority, in violation of Rule 28(b)(6) of our Rules of Appellate Procedure. N.C.R. App. P. 28(b)(6) ("The body of the argument [of an appellant's brief] shall contain citations of the authorities upon which the appellant relies." (emphasis added)). Violations of the Rules of Appellate Procedure subject an appeal to dismissal. Viar v. N.C. Dep't of Transp., 359 N.C. 400, 401, 610 S.E.2d 360, 360 (2005). Furthermore, we find respondent's argument unpersuasive.
In order for the doctrine of res judicata to apply, there must be: "(1) a final judgment on the merits in an earlier lawsuit; (2) identity of the cause of action in the prior suit a
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 North Carolina Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|