Pubdate:  Thu, 12 Feb 1998
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Author: Lisa Sink of the Journal Sentinel
Contact:   (414) 224-8280
Website: http://www.jsonline.com/

MOTHER IN COCAINE CASE TO GET NEW HEARING

Juvenile Court ordered to review her parental rights

Waukesha -- The Waukesha County "cocaine mom" who lost the parental rights
to her son after she walked out of one hearing and slept through a second
hearing won another day in court Wednesday, under a ruling by the state
Court of Appeals.

In a three-page order, the court's panel based in Waukesha directed the
Waukesha County Juvenile Court to hold a hearing to address whether Angela
M.W. gave up her legal parental rights freely and intelligently.

Her attorney has argued that she did not do so, and the appeals court
ordered the case back to the trial court for review.

The ruling was praised by the woman's attorney and criticized by the
court-appointed guardian ad litem representing the best interests of the
boy, who turned 2 in September.

"I think the court did the right thing," said Michael Yovovich, Angela's
appellate state public defender. "The proceedings which took place (last
spring) were not done correctly."

Guardian ad litem Jill Vento said: "I'm disappointed in the decision. I
think it's sending the wrong message to Angie that she's going to get this
baby back."

The boy, who has remained with foster families since birth, "deserves
stability" Vento said. "And this type of proceeding raises false hopes and
places this baby's stability in continued jeopardy."

Yovovich agreed that even if he and Angela convince the juvenile court that
she did not give up her parental rights appropriately, she would not
automatically get her son back. She would be back in the position of asking
for a jury trial.

"She's a long way from an end to this," Yovovich said.

Waukesha County officials in 1995 won a court order to detain the
cocaine-addicted Angela against her will until she delivered her child, a
move the state Supreme Court later ruled was illegal.

The county sought to have her parental rights terminated and, last May,
Angela said she was willing to give up her son for adoption. However, a
week later, she changed her mind and said she would contest the termination
of her parental rights.

She walked out in the middle of the first hearing on the matter.

When she missed the second hearing -- saying later she had overslept -- the
judge ruled that she had forfeited her parental rights.

Evidence at the hearing showed Angela missed about 40 scheduled visitations
with her son, and spent just 14 hours with him in 21 months.

In December, pregnant again, Angela was arrested and charged with
misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

William Domina, the county's assistant corporation counsel whose office has
fought to terminate Angela's parental rights, said Wednesday that he
believed the court had fully advised Angela of her rights before she gave
them up.

"We look forward to the opportunity to present the issue to the court,"
Domina said.

Vento argued that former Juvenile Court Judge Kathryn Foster, who has since
rotated to the Civil Court division, "bent over backward" to make sure the
woman knew what she was doing.

But Yovovich argued that when Angela agreed to not contest the grounds
alleged for her termination, her answers were confused and contradictory.

Angela "didn't specifically admit" allegations that she had violated
conditions imposed for the return of her baby -- for example, that she
missed visitations and had tested positive for drug use, he said.

The appeals court ordered that Waukesha County Juvenile Court Judge J. Mac
Davis, who succeeded Foster, schedule a hearing and make a final
determination on Angela's claims by March 25.

Angela could not be reached for comment. But her mother, reached by phone
Wednesday, said she was pleased to learn of the hearing.

She said that her daughter was seeing a physician for prenatal care and
recently had agreed to undergo a drug test, the results of which she did
not know.

"It's a boy," the mother added.

Angela, who has two older sons whom she bore when she was a teenager and
who are being cared for by their grandmother, has told a reporter that she
would keep getting pregnant until she had a daughter.