FINDING THAT DENNIS T IS A PERSON LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CARE OF A CHILD WAS PROPER, EVIDENTIARY RULE ANALOGOUS TO RES IPSA LOQUITUR SUPPORTED THE ABUSE FINDING (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department determined Family Court properly found Dennis T was a person legally responsible for the child Steven L. The court agreed with Family Court’s finding of abuse against three persons using the Family Court Act evidence rule analogous to res ipsa loquitur:
“A person is a proper respondent in an article 10 proceeding as an other person legally responsible for the child’s care’ if that person acts as the functional equivalent of a parent in a familial or household setting”… . “Determining whether a particular person has acted as the functional equivalent of a parent is a discretionary, fact-intensive inquiry which will vary according to the particular circumstances of each case” … . “Factors such as the frequency and nature of the contact between the child and respondent, the nature and extent of the control exercised by the respondent over the child’s environment, the duration of the respondent’s contact with the child, and the respondent’s relationship to the child’s parent(s) are some of the variables which should be considered and weighed by a court in determining whether a respondent fits within the catch-all category of section 1012 (g)” … . * * *
Section 1046(a)(ii) of the Family Court Act “authorizes a method of proof which is closely analogous to the negligence rule of res ipsa loquitur” … . “The statute also permits findings of abuse against more than one caretaker where multiple individuals had access to the child in the period in which the injury occurred” … . “In such cases, the petitioner is not required to establish which caregiver actually inflicted the injury or whether they did so together” … . “[Once] the petitioner establishes a prima facie case of abuse the burden of going forward shifts to respondents to rebut the evidence of . . . culpability, although the burden of proof always remains with the petitioner” … . Matter of Unity T. (Dennis T.), 2018 NY Slip Op 07437, Second Dept 11-7-18
FAMILY LAW (ABUSE, FINDING THAT DENNIS T IS A PERSON LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE THE CARE OF A CHILD WAS PROPER, EVIDENTIARY RULE ANALOGOUS TO RES IPSA LOQUITUR SUPPORTED THE ABUSE FINDING (SECOND DEPT))/ABUSE (FAMILY LAW, EVIDENCE, FINDING THAT DENNIS T IS A PERSON LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE THE CARE OF A CHILD WAS PROPER, EVIDENTIARY RULE ANALOGOUS TO RES IPSA LOQUITUR SUPPORTED THE ABUSE FINDING (SECOND DEPT))/EVIDENCE (FAMILY LAW, ABUSE, FINDING THAT DENNIS T IS A PERSON LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE THE CARE OF A CHILD WAS PROPER, EVIDENTIARY RULE ANALOGOUS TO RES IPSA LOQUITUR SUPPORTED THE ABUSE FINDING (SECOND DEPT))/PERSON LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE (FAMILY LAW, ABUSE, FINDING THAT DENNIS T IS A PERSON LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE THE CARE OF A CHILD WAS PROPER, EVIDENTIARY RULE ANALOGOUS TO RES IPSA LOQUITUR SUPPORTED THE ABUSE FINDING (SECOND DEPT))