In re J. D.

Syllabus

The respondent mother appealed from, inter alia, the judgment of the trial court terminating her parental rights as to her minor child. The mother claimed that she did not receive the effective assistance of counsel in oppos- ing the petition to terminate her parental rights and advocating for her motion for posttermination visitation because her counsel did not present the testimony of a psychologist who had evaluated her. Held: This court concluded that the record was inadequate to review the respon- dent mother's claim that counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to call the psychologist as a witness, as the record was silent as to the testimony the psychologist would have provided at the termination trial and the mother failed to present this court with a sufficient record to overcome the strong presumption that counsel's decision not to call the psychologist to testify was strategically sound. Argued January 16—officially released May 19, 2025