No Grounds to Undo Knowing and Voluntary Child Abuse Stipulation

Question Presented: Whether Father can set aside a dependency, neglect, and abuse (“DNA”) stipulation when he agreed to the stipulation without knowledge of the impact on his employment.

Father stipulated that he had placed his child at risk of abuse and waived a formal hearing. The family court accepted the stipulation. Eight months later, Father sought to undo the stipulation after losing his job as a public school teacher due to being placed on the Child Abuse and Neglect Central Registry following his stipulation. The family court denied Father relief, finding he had knowingly and voluntarily entered his stipulation while represented by competent counsel. Father appealed, arguing ineffective assistance of counsel because he was unaware at the time of the stipulation that it would affect his employment.

The Court of Appeals held that Father’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim was not timely raised, as it must be brought on direct appeal from the disposition order in the DNA action. Father’s attempt to raise the issue later by motion was untimely. The Court of Appeals further held that, even if the claim were not time-barred, it would fail on the merits. “Father’s stipulation was knowingly and voluntarily made, and his due process rights were not violated.” Moreover, Father’s attorney did not have a duty to warn him about speculative employment consequences.

Digested by Elizabeth M. Howell