DeFelice v. DFS

Summary

The Supreme Court affirmed the termination of Daniel DeFelice’s parental rights, holding that clear and convincing evidence established both a statutory failure to plan and that termination served Samantha’s best interests. The court also upheld the findings that DFS made reasonable reunification efforts and that DeFelice failed to rebut the statutory presumption limiting a sex offender’s custody and unsupervised visitation. The court found no reversible prejudice from counsel’s absence at one hearing and no other arguably meritorious appellate issue.