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QUARANTINED CHILD ABUSE

Since COVID-19 forced schools to close, reports of child abuse in Arizona have decreased by about twenty-five percent (25%). At first, this seems like one of the few silver linings of the pandemic (outside of Tiger King and attending business meetings without having to wear pants). However, after 20 years of litigating child abuse and neglect cases, I don’t believe this statistic is cause for celebration.

Confirmation Bias and Reliability in Treating Healthcare Provider Testimony

Imagine you are a juror in a case involving infant abuse. The treating physician testifies that, when the infant arrived in the hospital, she was covered with large bruises. The doctor then states, “The family was awkward, and the father was visibly irritated.” The family also offered no explanation for the infant’s condition. After accurately informing you that accidental bruising is exceedingly rare in infants, the doctor concludes the infant’s bruising is consistent with trauma caused by a severe beating. He adds: “I see this sort of thing every day, and it’s heartbreaking.”

The Boston Globe Weighs in on CAPTA Compliance

The Boston Globe recently published an important article analyzing every state’s compliance with Federal Child Abuse and Treatment Act of 1974 (“CAPTA”). Shockingly, the article concludes that no State is fully compliant with CAPTA’s requirements. However, Arizonian’s should be especially concerned because Arizona was the ONLY State that refused to share information regarding its CAPTA compliance, calling it “a time consuming, lengthy, non-value added survey.”

Rumors & Mandatory Reporting: Zamora reminds us the reasonableness standard is opaque warranting caution when dealing with any allegation of abuse

Brittany Zamora has garnered nationwide attention for her nefarious sexual relationship with her 13-year-old student. Zamora recently pleaded guilty to several sexual abuse charges and is now facing a lengthy prison sentence. However, a lesser known civil suit also surfaced, claiming Zamora’s school district[1] knew about the abuse months before the parents discovered it and did nothing to intervene.[2] Given a failure to report child abuse constitutes a class 6 felony under Arizona law,[3] we ought to be curious whether the district’s officials could be criminally liable, too.

The Misnomer of Web-Valuators: Utilizing Experts to Resolve Vehicle Value Disputes in Divorce

There is roughly one vehicle for every two Americans. The ubiquity of vehicles makes it difficult to imagine a divorce that doesn’t involve a vehicle. Regardless of whether the vehicle is a Honda Odyssey minivan or a vintage Packard that is part of an extensive car collection, utilizing a sound valuation methodology is crucial to both promote settlement and, if necessary, present compelling facts to the court.

Déjà Vu: Court of Appeals Profoundly Rejects DCS Procedure Again

Few things provide a person with more purpose and joy than raising children. The U.S. Supreme Court held, “even when blood relationships are strained, parents retain a vital interest in preventing the irretrievable destruction of their family life.” In other words, parents have a constitutional right to direct “the care, custody and management of their child.”In Arizona, “only in the most extraordinary circumstances, when all other efforts to preserve the relationship have failed,” can the parent-child relationship be terminated. Notwithstanding, courts, at the urging of the Department of Child Safety (“DCS”), have severed parental rights based on little more than agency opinion and unchallenged expert testimony.

DCS wanted him to admit to child abuse to get his kids back. Instead, he fought the charges — and won

In the news this week, the Department of Child Safety violated Arizona law by interviewing a child without parental consent, according to a report from the Arizona Ombudsman.

Crosby-Garbotz v. Fell in and for County of Pima

Supreme Court of Arizona Ι 246 Ariz. 54 Ι Filed February 5, 2019 CHIEF JUSTICE BALES, opinion of the Court: ¶1 Issue preclusion, also known as collateral estoppel, precludes relitigating an issue of fact in a later case when, in a previous case, the same issue was “actually litigated, a final judgment was entered, and […]

Revisions to the Family Law Rules

During the past several years, the Arizona Supreme Court has adopted restyled Rules of Evidence, Civil Appellate Producer, Protective Order Procedures, Civil Procedure, and Criminal Procedure. In December 2016, Chief Justice Scott Bales directed a Task Force to review the current family law rules, to identify possible changes that would confirm those rules to modern usage, and to adopt a new set of family law rules.

Divorcing the Minister and Rabbi: Accounting for the Parsonage Exemption

It is not unfamiliar to those practicing family law to have a client or opposing party provide a tax-return that does not match their salary. Most of these discrepancies result from individuals…