Jeffrey Patrick Bassett's Legal Cases (3)

Child abuse

Seminole Tribe of Florida v. FL Dept of Children & Families

Jul 05, 2007

OUTCOME: Lower Court order affirmed (DCF prevailed)

This was the first dependency case involving a tribe and the State of Florida ever to be decided on an appellate level pursuant to ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act) provisions regarding the placement of ... a Seminole child in a non-tribal home. The matter involved both written briefs and oral argument. Jeffrey Bassett handled both and prevailed on behalf of FL DCF, with the 4th DCA determining that a sufficient basis was presented by the lower court to place the child outside of a tribal home.

Child abuse

S.K. v. Dep't of Children & Families

Jun 20, 2007

OUTCOME: Lower court order affirmed for DCF

The father appealed his child's adjudication as dependent and argued that his due process rights were violated because he was incompetent and unable to assist in his defense, and in that the lower cour ... t did not appoint him an attorney ad litem. This was the first appellate decision pertaining to competence and dependency, and Jeffrey Bassett authored DCF's brief. The Fourth District sided with DCF, finding that the father did not have a right to an attorney ad litem and that the Department was not required to wait until the father regained mental competence in order to determine dependency for the minor child.

Child abuse

L.M. v. Dep't of Children & Families

Jan 01, 2006

OUTCOME: Lower court order affirmed (DCF prevailed)

This was Florida's first published appellate opinion pertaining to dependency and a parent's competence to proceed. Here, the mother (who had been involuntarily committed during a portion of the proce ... edings) was represented by both an attorney and an attorney ad litem. She failed to appear for the dependency adjudicatory hearing, at which point, her counsel attempted to continue the matter; the lower court denied the motion to continue. DCF prevailed and the children were adjudicated dependent. The mother appealed, and the 4th DCA held that she had been provided due process by having counsel at every stage of the proceedings. Most important was the 4th DCA's determinations that the lower courts could not postpone cases indefinitely due to a parent's competency issues, as this would deprive a child of permanency and run counter to estabished provisions of law. The mother's due process rights must yield to the due process rights of her children.

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