DRUGS WEREN’T ACCESSIBLE, NOT USED IN THE KIDS’ PRESENCE, NOR TRAFFICKED
After a raid conducted on May 7, 2021, Suffolk County Police officers found four ounces of cocaine in an apartment where a father lived with his two kids. And when the Suffolk County Family Court later found the guy guilty of neglect, he appealed.
On its review, the Appellate Division, Second Department, noted that such a determination must be supported by evidence showing “(1) that the child's physical, mental, or emotional condition has been impaired or is in imminent danger of becoming impaired, and (2) that the actual or threatened harm to the child is a consequence of the failure of the parent or caretaker to exercise a minimum degree of care in providing the child with proper supervision or guardianship.”
Acknowledging that neglect can be shown when an adult engages in “repeated drug use,” allows drugs to be “readily accessible,” or engages in “narcotics trafficking,” the AD2 didn’t think the evidence supported the underlying outcome in this instance.
Among other things, the father here didn’t engage in any “drug transactions within the house,” nor was it shown that “he otherwise exposed the children to drug-trafficking activities.” And while the drugs were found within the dad’s bedroom closet, they were “not readily accessible to the children,” as they were on a shelf that was about six feet above the floor. And, finally, the AD2 noted that there was no evidence that he ever used the drugs.
Given that backdrop, the underlying determination was reversed.
Was that a neglectful neglect finding?
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DECISION