## Facts

- The State, through the county child welfare agency, sought termination of the parents’ rights to three children: M.S. (8), S.S. (7), and A.A.S. (4).
- The juvenile court terminated parental rights under OCGA § 15-11-51(a)(2), based on findings of statutory grounds for termination and the children’s best interests.
- The juvenile court used a special procedure to take testimony from the oldest child, M.S., aimed at reducing intimidation and trauma.
- M.S. testified in an interview room with only the guardian ad litem and the guardian ad litem’s attorney present; the child could not see or hear observers and did not know others were watching.
- The judge, counsel for all parties, court reporters, and technicians observed from a separate room through a one-way mirror and heard the testimony live.
- Objections were stated into a microphone from the observation room; the judge ruled immediately, and the guardian ad litem’s attorney received rulings through an earpiece (without the child hearing them).
- After direct examination by the guardian ad litem’s attorney, other counsel could ask questions by speaking into the microphone; the guardian ad litem’s attorney then posed those questions to M.S.
- The interview and observation-room proceedings were transcribed, and the interview-room participants were videotaped.
- During the interview, parents’ counsel did not object to the mechanics of the procedure; the mother’s counsel asked no questions, and the father’s counsel asked questions through the procedure.

## Issues

1. Whether the child-testimony procedure (one-way mirror observation and indirect questioning through the guardian ad litem’s attorney) violated the parents’ due process rights or any confrontation-type rights asserted under the Sixth Amendment.
2. Whether the evidence was sufficient to support termination of parental rights under OCGA § 15-11-51(a)(2).

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals of Georgia affirmed the termination order.
- The court held the child-testimony procedure did not violate due process in a civil termination proceeding.
- The court concluded the record contained clear and convincing evidence supporting statutory grounds for termination and that termination served the children’s best interests.

## Legal Principles

- Termination of parental rights is a civil proceeding in which the controlling constitutional requirement is due process; Sixth Amendment confrontation rights, as such, apply to criminal prosecutions.
- A child-sensitive testimonial procedure may satisfy due process where counsel can observe and hear the witness in real time, raise objections with prompt judicial rulings, and conduct cross-examination through the procedure under the judge’s supervision.
- Full recording and transcription of the testimonial process supports reliability and permits meaningful appellate review.
- Termination requires clear and convincing evidence of statutory grounds and a determination that termination is in the child’s best interests.

## Conclusion

The court upheld a controlled, non-face-to-face method for receiving a child’s testimony in a termination case because it preserved counsel’s ability to observe, object, and cross-examine under judicial oversight while protecting the child from intimidation, and it affirmed termination based on clear and convincing evidence.


In re M.S., 178 Ga. App. 380, 343 S.E.2d 152 (Ct. App. 1986)