Andrew D. Stine, P.A. - Florida Criminal Defence Attorney

(Cal. App., Family Law, Government Law, Juvenile Law) Juvenile court's order declaring petitioner's daughter a dependent of the court under Welfare and Institutions Code section 300(d), following the court's true finding by clear and convincing evidence on the sexual molestation allegation by petitioner, is affirmed where: 1) petitioner's ineffective assistance of counsel claim fails as he lacks standing to assert the child's statutory right to be represented by competent counsel when that right is personal to the child; and 2) the petitioner's remaining contentions lack merit.

(Cal. App., Family Law, Government Law, Juvenile Law) A father's writ of mandate seeking relief from a juvenile court order terminating his family reunification services and setting a permanency hearing is denied as the court correctly weighed and considered all relevant factors under all three code provisions, including the father's incarceration, in making its decision and the court's reasoning was logical and amply supported by the record.

(U.S. 3d Cir., Evidence, Family Law, Government Law, Health Law, Labor & Employment Law) In plaintiff's suit against her former employer for violation of the FMLA, summary judgment in favor employer is vacated and remanded as an employee may satisfy her burden of proving three days of incapacitation through a combination of expert medical and lay testimony. Here, when expert medical opinion of a doctor that plaintiff was incapacitated for two days because of her illness is combined with plaintiff's lay testimony that she was incapacitated for two additional days, it necessarily follows that a material issue of fact exists as to whether plaintiff suffered from a serious health condition.

(U.S. 4th Cir., Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Family Law, Government Law, Injury And Tort Law) In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action brought by a minor child and her adoptive parents against defendant, an Adoption Specialist with the South Carolina Department of Social Services (SCDSS), alleging violations of their substantive due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment and state law claims against SCDSS under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act (SCTCA), judgment is affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded where: 1) when a state involuntarily removes a child from her home, thereby taking the child into its custody and care, the state has taken an affirmative act to restrain the child's liberty, triggering the protections of the Due Process Clause and imposing "some responsibility for the child's safety and general well being"; 2) because it would not have been apparent to a reasonable social worker in defendant's position that her actions violated the Fourteenth Amendment, she is entitled to qualified immunity; 3) prospective adoptive parents have no substantive due process right to the disclosure of a child's history of sexual abuse; and 4) district court's grant of defendants' motion for summary judgment on the state law claims for gross negligence against SCDSS is vacated and remanded for consideration of the applicability of section 15-78-60(25).

(Cal. App., Criminal Law & Procedure, Family Law) Conviction of defendant of child abuse and neglect and jury's true finding on the enhancement that she personally inflicted great bodily injury on her child is affirmed as, when she gave birth to her son in her bedroom and concealed the birth causing severe injuries, defendant inflicted great bodily injury on her child.