| Matter of Nikeerah S. (Barbara S.) |
| 2010 NY Slip Op 00061 [69 AD3d 421] |
| January 7, 2010 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
| In the Matter of Nikeerah S., a Child Alleged to be PermanentlyNeglected. Barbara S., Appellant. Hale House Center, Inc.,Respondent. |
—[*1] Law Office of Alayne Katz, P.C., Irvington (Dana Forster-Navins of counsel), forrespondent. Karen Freedman, Lawyers for Children, Inc., New York (Dawn O'Brien-Gans of counsel),and Proskauer Rose LLP, New York (William H. Weisman of counsel), Law Guardian.
Order, Family Court, New York County (Susan K. Knipps, J.), entered on or about October2, 2007, which, upon a fact-finding of permanent neglect, terminated respondent mother'sparental rights and transferred custody and guardianship of the subject child to petitioner for thepurpose of adoption, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
Any failure to assign counsel for the fact-finding hearing was occasioned solely by themother's persistent decision to absent herself from the proceedings, despite being given severalopportunities to appear and despite actual knowledge of every scheduled court date (see Matter of Starasia C., 18 AD3d213 [2005], appeal dismissed 5 NY3d 824 [2005]; Matter of Joshua K., 272AD2d 160 [2000], lv dismissed 95 NY2d 959 [2000]; Matter of Amy Lee P., 245AD2d 1136 [1997]).
When the mother subsequently appeared for the dispositional hearing, counsel wasappointed; the decision not to seek vacatur of the fact-finding determination did not constituteineffective assistance of counsel, since the mother lacked either a reasonable excuse for herdefault or a meritorious defense (see Matter of Jones, 128 AD2d 403 [1987]).
Family Court properly determined that the best interests of the child would be served by[*2]termination of parental rights, rather than a suspendedjudgment (see Matter of Albert E., 259 AD2d 315 [1999]). Concur—Gonzalez,P.J., Mazzarelli, Buckley, Renwick and Abdus-Salaam, JJ.