Page 684
APPEAL
FROM THE WASHINGTON COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT [NO. 72JV-18-706],
HONORABLE STACEY ZIMMERMAN, JUDGE
Leah
Lanford, Arkansas Public Defender Commission, for appellant.
Callie
Corbyn, Office of Chief Counsel, for appellee.
Chrestman
Group, PLLC, by: Keith L. Chrestman, attorney ad litem for
minor child.
OPINION
N. MARK
KLAPPENBACH, Judge
Liset
Araujo appeals the order of the Washington County Circuit
Court adjudicating her one-year-old daughter, MM,
dependent-neglected. Appellant argues that the circuit court
erred in finding that MM was at substantial risk of serious
harm. We affirm.
MM was
removed from appellants custody on August 16, 2018. Three
days earlier, a hotline call was made reporting that MMs
putative father, Sabino Miranda, had punched appellant in the
face and back and later punched appellant while she was
holding MM. Appellant told family service worker Miranda
Collins that after Miranda assaulted her the second time, she
ran to a friends apartment, but Miranda followed her and
tried to assault her friend. The friend called the police,
and Miranda threatened to kill appellant and her friend and
to take MM away. Miranda was arrested and charged with two
counts of terroristic threatening, second-degree assault,
second-degree domestic assault, and endangering the welfare
of a minor in the third degree. Appellant told Collins that
the abuse had been an "ongoing thing" and that on
one occasion in December, Miranda punched her so hard while
she was holding MM that he ended up punching MM in the face
as well. Appellant said that both she and MM sustained marks
on their faces from the punch.
Appellant told Collins that she did not want to be with
Miranda anymore and was willing to do anything to get away
from
Page 685
him. Appellant agreed to go to the Peace at Home Family
Shelter with MM because they did not know when Miranda would
be released from jail, and appellant said that she would use
her savings to try to get her own apartment. On August 16,
however, appellant called Collins to ask how she could drop
the charges against Miranda. Appellant told Collins that she
wanted all of this to go away and that she would be willing
to go to counseling with Miranda. Appellant reported that the
shelter had a bed available for her beginning August 14, but
she did not go because she no longer felt that she was in
danger. Collins testified that the Arkansas Department of
Human Services (DHS) felt that appellant would not protect MM
because MM had been hurt during a previous domestic dispute
with Miranda, and appellant wanted to drop the charges
against Miranda after the latest domestic dispute. MM was
thus removed from appellants custody, and DHS filed a
petition for emergency custody and dependency-neglect.
Appellant testified at the September 26 adjudication hearing
that she had been at the shelter since August 16. She denied
telling Collins that she did not think she needed to go and
said that she did not go on August 14 because the shelter did
not send someone to pick her up as promised. She admitted
that she had called and asked about dropping the charges
against Miranda but said that she did not know what she was
thinking and did not actually drop the charges. She filed a
petition for an order of protection against Miranda on August
21 and was ultimately granted a final order of protection.
Appellant said that she did not desire to reconcile with
Miranda and that she had asked his attorney to tell Miranda
to take her name off their apartment lease so she could rent
her own apartment. Appellant testified that she could stay at
the shelter until then and that MM could stay at the shelter
with her.
Family
service worker K.C. Oliver testified that MM was in a foster
home and that DHS did not believe she could be returned to
appellants custody immediately. Although appellants visits
were going well and DHS wanted to increase them, Oliver said
that appellant had not undergone counseling, and she was
concerned about appellants ability to protect MM if she went
home. Miranda testified that he slapped appellant on August
12 when she was yelling at him, but he denied that any
physical contact occurred later that night while they were
arguing. He also denied the punching incident alleged to have
occurred in December and said that he had never hit MM.
The
circuit court ruled from the bench that it found by a
preponderance of the evidence that MM was
dependent-neglected. Pursuant to the adjudication order, MM
was adjudicated dependent-neglected as a result of neglect
...