You are here: / / Evidence Insufficient to Support Neglect Finding, Criteria Explained/Repetition...
,

Evidence Insufficient to Support Neglect Finding, Criteria Explained/Repetition of Child’s Out-of-Court Statement Does Not Corroborate It

In reversing Family Court’s finding of neglect, the Third Department explained the analytical criteria and noted that a child’s out-of-court statement about his alleged consumption of alcohol was not corroborated by the child’s repetition of the statement:

“[A] party seeking to establish neglect must show, by a preponderance of the evidence, first, that a child’s physical, mental or emotional condition has been impaired or is in imminent danger of becoming impaired and second, that the actual or threatened harm to the child is a consequence of the failure of the parent or caretaker to exercise a minimum degree of care in providing the child with proper supervision or guardianship” … . “In order for danger to be imminent, it must be near or impending, not merely possible” … , and regarding degree of care “the statutory test is minimum degree of care — not maximum, not best, not ideal” … .

…[W]e note that one factual determination made by Family Court as supporting its finding of neglect was that respondent allegedly pressured [the child] to take a sip of her eggnog and brandy beverage at the party. The child did not testify, but the court found that his out-of-court statement was sufficiently corroborated because he had made such a statement to two different adults, although he had both denied and affirmed the allegation to one of the adults. While the corroboration requirement is low …, “[i]t is well settled that ‘repetition of an accusation by a child does not corroborate [that] child’s prior account'” … . Here, the out-of-court repetition of the statement did not provide sufficient corroboration and the statement should not have been considered as part of the neglect determination. Matter of Cadence GG…, 2015 NY Slip OP 00261, 3rd Dept 1-8-15

 

You might also like
THE PERIODS OF TIME WHEN CLAIMANT WAS DEEMED TEMPORARILY PERMANENTLY DISABLED AFTER SURGERY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN COUNTED AGAINST THE 300-WEEK CAP FOR HIS PERMANENT PARTIAL DISABILITY BENEFITS (THIRD DEPT).
THE FELONY COMPLAINT CHARGED DEFENDANT WITH RAPE FIRST (FORCIBLE COMPULSION); THE SUPERIOR COURT INFORMATION (SCI) CHARGED RAPE THIRD (LACK OF CONSENT); BECAUSE RAPE THIRD AS CHARGED IN THE SCI WAS NOT A LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSE OF RAPE FIRST AS CHARGED IN THE FELONY COMPLAINT, THE WAIVER OF INDICTMENT AND SCI WERE JURISDICTIONALLY DEFECTIVE (THIRD DEPT). ​
POSSESSION OF SEXUAL PERFORMANCE OF A CHILD CONVICTIONS REVERSED, PHOTOGRAPHS DID NOT MEET STATUTORY CRITERIA, ALTHOUGH THE MAJORITY AFFIRMED DEFENDANT’S CONVICTION IN THIS RAPE, CRIMINAL SEXUAL ACT, AND POSSESSION OF SEXUAL PERFORMANCE BY A CHILD PROSECUTION, THE DISSENT WOULD HAVE REVERSED BECAUSE THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITS UPON WHICH THE PROSECUTION RELIED WERE NOT PROPERLY AUTHENTICATED (THIRD DEPT).
DAMAGE TO A LEG MUSCLE, HERE THE HAMSTRING, SUPPORTED A SCHEDULE LOSS OF USE (SLU) AWARD, WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BOARD REVERSED (THIRD DEPT).
At Least Some of the Information In a Report Prepared for the Town by Outside Counsel May Be Subject to Disclosure Because the Attorney-Client Privilege Was Waived to the Extent the Contents of the Report Were Described at a Public Hearing
THE RELIABILITY OF THE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANT WAS NOT ADEQUATELY CONSIDERED BY THE HEARING OFFICER, DETERMINATION ANNULLED AND EXPUNGED (THIRD DEPT).
Slander Per Se Complaint Not Based Upon “Serious Crime” (Trespass) ​
DEFENDANT WAS ENTITLED TO THE ASSIGNMENT OF NEW COUNSEL BASED UPON COUNSEL’S REMARK THAT DEFENDANT’S REQUEST TO WITHDRAW HIS PLEA WAS UNWARRANTED; THE JUDGE SHOULD HAVE CONDUCTED AN INQUIRY ABOUT DEFENDANT’S REQUEST FOR SUBSTITUTE COUNSEL AND HIS REQUEST TO WITHDRAW HIS PLEA; MATTER REMITTED FOR ASSIGNMENT OF NEW COUNSEL AND A SUFFICIENT INQUIRY BY THE JUDGE (THIRD DEPT).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

Evidence Did Not Support Imposition of Supervised Visitation Re: Mother’s... Competing Expert Affidavits Raised a Question of Fact About Whether the Speed...