EVIDENCE DID NOT SUPPORT FINDING THAT RESPONDENT WAS LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CHILD, NEGLECT DETERMINATION CANNOT STAND (FOURTH DEPT).
The Fourth Department, reversing Family Court, determined the evidence was insufficient to support the finding that respondent was legally responsible for the child, therefore the neglect finding could not stand:
… [T]he evidence does not support Family Court’s determination that he is a person legally responsible for the child … , and the court therefore erred in determining that he neglected the child … . Even giving deference to the court’s credibility determinations … , we conclude that petitioner’s witnesses established that respondent and the mother of the child had been living together for some unspecified period of time, but there was nothing further to show that respondent acted “as the functional equivalent of a parent in a familial or household setting” … . There was no testimony that respondent, the mother, and the child were “living together as a family” … , or that respondent provided childcare or financial support, or performed any household duties … . Matter of Kameron V. (Eva V.), 2017 NY Slip Op 06782, Fourth Dept 9-29-17
FAMILY LAW (EVIDENCE DID NOT SUPPORT FINDING THAT RESPONDENT WAS LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CHILD, NEGLECT DETERMINATION CANNOT STAND (FOURTH DEPT))/NEGLECT (EVIDENCE DID NOT SUPPORT FINDING THAT RESPONDENT WAS LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CHILD, NEGLECT DETERMINATION CANNOT STAND (FOURTH DEPT))