In re Madison C.

Syllabus

The respondent mother, whose parental rights as to her minor children previously had been terminated, appealed from the judgment of the trial court granting the motion to strike her petition for a new trial filed by the Commissioner of Children and Families. In her petition, the mother made allegations that she claimed constituted newly discovered evi- dence that, if known during the pendency of her termination trial, would have affected the outcome, specifically, that the court had approved permanency plans following the termination trial seeking to reunite the minor children with their father and that, following her release from prison after the termination trial, she had achieved a degree of personal rehabilitation sufficient to encourage the belief that she could resume a responsible position in the children's lives. The court concluded that the mother had failed to plead sufficient facts for a new trial pursuant to statute (§ 52-270). On the plaintiff's appeal, held that the trial court properly granted the motion to strike the petition for a new trial as it failed to state a claim on which relief could be granted: the mother's allegations in her petition did not constitute newly discovered evidence as the court's orders approving new permanency plans were entered well after the termination trial had ended and judgment had been rendered terminating the mother's parental rights and, thus, were not facts that existed at the time of her trial; moreover, the mother's allegation that she had achieved a degree of personal rehabilitation sufficient to encour- age the belief that she could resume a responsible position in her chil- dren's lives also concerned events that occurred after her trial and were but a change in circumstances, as evidence in support of facts or events that did not exist or had not yet occurred at the time of trial is not and cannot be newly discovered. Argued February 3—officially released June 8, 2022