Court Rulings

¶ 0 The trial court approved an adoption without consent based on mother's failure to comply with an order for child support. A division of the Court of Civil Appeals affirmed that determination, finding federal stimulus monies retained by father should not have been considered when evaluating mother's compliance or non-compliance with the child support order. We granted certiorari and now conclude the trial court's refusal to consider economic stimulus payments, which were received by Father and credited by him to Mother's child support debt, was an abuse of discretion. Additionally, we find the evidence did not support a finding mother had willfully failed, refused, or neglected to pay child support in substantial compliance with a court order for twelve consecutive months out of the fourteen preceding the filing of the adoption petition.

The Defendants, Jeffrey Pete Fautt and Robin Leanne Osborne, appeal their convictions for selling one-half gram or more of methamphetamine. They argue the evidence was insufficient to support the guilty verdicts because officers' testimony was inconsistent, unreliable, and uncorroborated. Specifically, they assert that the controlled purchases were not captured by audio and video recordings, the searches of the confidential informant's vehicle were not recorded, and officers did not deploy a canine unit during the searches of the informant's vehicle. The Defendants additionally contend that Defendant Osborne's testimony should have been accredited over the confidential informant's testimony. The State avers that the testimony, video evidence, and laboratory results introduced at trial were sufficient to support the jury's verdicts. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.