Background
The West Virginia Department of Human Services alleged that C.H. neglected her four children by failing to provide food, supervision, education, and medical care. The petition also alleged that substance abuse and untreated mental-health issues impaired her ability to parent. Police had responded to incidents involving her erratic public behavior while caring for two children; during one incident, a child was found running outside in only a diaper.
The circuit court ordered a competency and parental-fitness evaluation, but C.H. did not complete it. At adjudicatory and dispositional hearings, she testified about her methamphetamine use, lack of mental-health treatment, and service participation. The circuit court adjudicated her as an abusing and neglecting parent and terminated her parental rights to three children and her custodial and guardianship rights to the fourth.
The Court’s Holding
The Supreme Court of Appeals affirmed. C.H. did not preserve a challenge to her competency as a witness because she identified no record showing that she objected or otherwise presented that issue to the circuit court.
Even considering the claim, the court held that her testimony met West Virginia’s competency standard. Her testimony showed knowledge of the relevant matters, an ability to recall events, and no indication that she failed to understand her duty to testify truthfully. The uncompleted evaluation and appointment of a guardian ad litem did not establish incompetence, particularly where C.H.’s own lack of cooperation prevented the evaluation. The court also found sufficient other evidence supporting adjudication and termination.
Key Takeaways
- A witness is presumed competent unless the record shows a lack of knowledge, memory, or understanding of the duty to testify truthfully.
- A party generally cannot raise an unpreserved competency challenge for the first time on appeal.
- A parent who prevents a court-ordered evaluation from occurring may waive reliance on the missing evaluation on appeal.
Why It Matters
The decision confirms that unresolved concerns about a parent’s mental health do not by themselves make the parent incompetent to testify in an abuse-and-neglect case. Appellate challengers must identify both a preserved objection and record-based evidence that the governing competency standard was not met.