THE 2ND DEPARTMENT, MAKING ITS OWN CREDIBILITY ASSESSMENTS, DETERMINED THE EVIDENCE SUFFICIENTLY DEMONSTRATED ABUSE; A FINDING OF NEGLECT BASED UPON EXCESSIVE CORPORAL PUNISHMENT WAS NOT SUPPORTED (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, reversing Family Court, making its own credibility assessments, determined there was sufficient evidence Amir abused Shyla. In addition, the Second Department determined the evidence did not demonstrate that mother neglected Amir by inflicting excessive corporal punishment:
Shyla described in detail at the fact-finding hearing the incidents of abuse by Bryan, which testimony sufficiently corroborated her out-of-court descriptions of the abuse … . Inconsistencies in Shyla’s testimony as to peripheral details, such as timing and the presence of other individuals in the home at the time of the abuse, did not detract from Shyla’s consistent and credible description of the core conduct constituting the abuse, particularly considering the child’s age at the time of these events … . Further, Shyla’s previous, out-of-court recantation of her allegations was sufficiently explained by the indirect threats she received from her own family members … . …
While the use of excessive corporal punishment constitutes neglect, “[p]arents have a right to use reasonable physical force against a child in order to maintain discipline or to promote the child’s welfare” … . Here, ACS [Administration for Children’s Services] offered evidence of a single instance in which the mother hit Amir’s arm with a belt to discipline him after he was caught shoplifting, and failed to sufficiently demonstrate that marks observed on Amir were the result of being hit with the belt by the mother. Under the circumstances, ACS failed to establish that the mother’s conduct rose to the level of neglect or that she exhibited a pattern of inflicting excessive corporal punishment on Amir … . Matter of Tarahji N. (Bryan N.–Divequa C.), 2021 NY Slip Op 05125, Second Dept 9-29-21