D.M. v. State, Division of Family & Youth Services

OPINION

EASTAUGH, Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

The superior court terminated a mother’s parental rights in 1997. In doing so, it relied on findings it had made in 1995, when it adjudicated the mother’s children to be in need of aid. It had made those adjudication findings under the clear and convincing evidence standard, rather than the usual preponderance standard, at the state’s request. Did the superior court’s reliance on the those findings violate the mother’s due process rights, where the state gave no advance notice of its request until the beginning of the adjudication heating? Despite the…