The published opinion remanded for the trial court to determine whether counsel performed deficiently and, if so, whether those deficiencies deprived the mother of a fair hearing. The existing appellate record did not permit the Court of Appeals to resolve the fact-sensitive ineffective-assistance questions itself. A separate concurrence elaborated on the standards the trial court should use on remand.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed a Domestic Violence Protective Order entered against a father who grabbed his seven-year-old son by the neck and hip and carried him to his car seat, causing the child to feel dizzy, experience difficulty breathing, and turn red in the face. A 2–1 majority held that competent evidence supported the finding of “intentionally causing bodily injury” under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50B-1(a)(1) even absent a visible mark. The court also held that minor children have standing to seek DVPOs against parents through a Guardian ad litem. Judge Wood dissented, arguing that routine parental discipline without lasting injury cannot constitute domestic violence.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals vacated an order ceasing a mother’s reunification efforts because the trial court entered that order at a review hearing rather than a permanency planning hearing, holding that N.C.G.S. § 7B-906.1(d1) does not authorize courts to cease reunification at review hearings—that authority belongs exclusively to permanency planning hearings under § 7B-906.2(b)—while also cautioning that missed 30-day permanency planning hearing deadlines must be challenged by writ of mandamus, not appeal.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed termination of parental rights on neglect grounds as to three children removed after a nighttime car accident left two infants with traumatic brain injuries, holding that the mother’s extensive CPS history, prior criminal conviction for a child’s death, psychological diagnosis showing parenting incapacity, and continued unsafe conduct during supervised visits established the likelihood of future neglect required by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7B-1111(a)(1).
The North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed a custody modification that maintained primary physical custody with the mother during the school year and equal summer custody, holding that a trial court has broad discretion to award primary custody to one fit parent without finding the other unfit, and that findings linking communication difficulties and the children’s need for a stable school-year routine rationally supported the arrangement.