In re Ryshan N.

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In re Ryshan N.

IN RE RYSHAN N.*
(AC 47771)
Alvord, Cradle and Prescott, Js.

Syllabus

The respondent mother appealed from the judgment of the trial court termi-
nating her parental rights with respect to her minor child. She claimed
that the court improperly drew an inference that was unsupported by the
evidence and relied on that inference in finding that she failed to achieve
such degree of personal rehabilitation as would encourage the belief that
within a reasonable time, considering the child’s age and needs, she could
assume a responsible position in his life. Held:

The trial court, in finding that termination of the respondent mother’s paren-
tal rights was in the best interest of the child, did not draw an inference
that the mother was under the influence of drugs during her visits with the
child and, instead, plainly and unambiguously concluded that it did not have
enough evidence to make that determination.
Argued January 6—officially released February 10, 2025**

Procedural History

Petition by the Commissioner of Children and Fami-
lies to terminate the respondents’ parental rights with
respect to their minor child, brought to the Superior
Court in the judicial district of Hartford, Juvenile Mat-
ters, and tried to the court, Frazzini, J.; judgment termi-
nating the respondents’ parental rights, from which the
respondent mother appealed to this court. Affirmed.
* In accordance with the spirit and intent of General Statutes § 46b-142
(b) and Practice Book § 79a-12, the names of the parties involved in this
appeal are not disclosed. The records and papers of this case shall be open
for inspection only to persons having a proper interest therein and upon
order of the court.
Moreover, in accordance with federal law; see 18 U.S.C. § 2265 (d) (3)
(2018), as amended by the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization
Act of 2022, Pub. L. No. 117-103, § 106, 136 Stat. 49, 851; we decline to
identify any person protected or sought to be protected under a protection
order, protective order, or a restraining order that was issued or applied
for, or others through whom that person’s identity may be ascertained.
** February 10, 2025, the date that this decision was released as a slip
opinion, is the operative date for all substantive and procedural purposes.
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In re Ryshan N.

Matthew C. Eagan, assigned counsel, for the appel-
lant (respondent mother).
Rosemarie T. Weber, deputy associate attorney gen-
eral, with whom, on the brief, were William Tong, attor-
ney general, and Nisa Khan, assistant attorney general,
for the appellee (petitioner).
Deetta C. Roncone-Gondek, for the minor child.
Opinion

PER CURIAM. The respondent mother, Crystal G.,
appeals from the judgment of the trial court rendered
in favor of the petitioner, the Commissioner of Children
and Families, terminating her parental rights with
respect to her minor son, Ryshan N.1 On appeal, the
respondent claims that the court improperly drew an
inference that was unsupported by the evidence and
relied upon that inference in finding that she failed to
achieve such degree of personal rehabilitation as would
encourage the belief that in a reasonable time, consider-
ing Ryshan’s age and needs, she could assume a respon-
sible position in his life as required by General Statutes
§ 17a-112 (j) (3) (B).2 We affirm the judgment of the
trial court.
Shortly after Ryshan’s birth in February, 2022, he was
adjudicated neglected and committed to the custody of
the petitioner. The petitioner thereafter filed a petition
to terminate the respondent’s parental rights. On March
28, 2024, following a four day trial, the court issued a
memorandum of decision in which it granted the peti-
tion to terminate the respondent’s parental rights. The
court found, by clear and convincing evidence, that the
1
The termination of the parental rights of Ryshan’s father has not been
challenged on appeal. Accordingly, all references to the respondent are to
the respondent mother only.
2
The attorney for the minor child has filed a statement adopting the
appellate brief of the petitioner.
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In re Ryshan N.

respondent was unwilling or unable to benefit from
efforts to reunify her with Ryshan. The court also found
that the respondent had failed to rehabilitate in that
she had unresolved issues with mental health, sub-
stance abuse and intimate partner violence, and that
termination of the respondent’s parental rights was in
Ryshan’s best interest. This appeal followed.
The respondent claims that the court improperly
drew an inference that was unsupported by the evi-
dence when it failed to conclude that the respondent
was not under the influence of drugs during her visits
with Ryshan. The alleged inference stems from the
court’s consideration of the respondent’s visitation and
relationship with Ryshan, wherein the court noted, inter
alia, the testimony of two Department of Children and
Families workers, Vanessa Lopez and Richard Bloom-
field, who supervised the respondent’s visitation with
Ryshan. Lopez and Bloomfield both testified that the
respondent at times appeared to have fallen asleep dur-
ing her visitation with Ryshan, but did not appear to be
under the influence.3 The court explained in a footnote:
‘‘The testimony from Lopez and Bloomfield about those
3
The court recounted: ‘‘Lopez testified that sometimes [the respondent]
fell asleep during visits and, on two occasions, had smelled of marijuana
but did not appear impaired. Lopez testified that when she one time tried
to wake the [respondent], [the respondent] denied having fallen asleep and
said that her eyelash extensions had given a false impression of her having
done so. Lopez’ descriptions of these incidents, however, were credible.
(When asked to describe what she saw that led to these conclusions, Lopez
said that, on ‘one of the occasions, [the respondent] leaned her head back
on the visit couch while holding Ryshan and kind of draped her arm over
her face.’ On other occasions, ‘from where I was sitting it looked like she
was struggling to stay awake because her eyes were kind of fluttering closed.’
. . . Bloomfield testified that sometimes [the respondent] would come to
the visits with a very strong odor of marijuana. He said that she usually sat
on a couch during the visit and that at a lot of these visits it appeared to
him that she had fallen asleep, but he could not be sure because of her
eyelashes, but that, if he asked her about sleeping, she would become very
combative. He did say, however, just like Lopez, that the [respondent] did
not appear to be under the influence.’’ (Citation omitted.)
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In re Ryshan N.

visits was detailed and credible, except that the court
does not fully credit as believable their remarks about
her not appearing to be under the influence. Such testi-
mony tells the court that on those occasions the mother
may not have been not acting erratically, and, in that
sense, she may not have appeared to be ‘under the influ-
ence.’ On the other hand, falling asleep or appearing to
do so, while taking care of a child, is a possible sign,
despite the testimony of the two visitation supervisors
to the contrary, of [the respondent] having been ‘under
the influence’ on those occasions. Other factors could
have caused her to fall asleep, or appear to do so, but
without any evidence about other such causes the court
can neither conclude nor rule out that her drowsy
demeanor on those occasions was the result of her
being impaired as the result of substance abuse.’’
(Emphasis added.)
The respondent claims that, in stating that it could
‘‘neither conclude nor rule out that [the respondent’s]
drowsy demeanor on those occasions was the result of
her being impaired as the result of substance abuse,’’
the trial court drew an inference that the respondent’s
alleged drowsiness during visitation was the result of
her being under the influence. We disagree.
Resolving the respondent’s claim requires us to inter-
pret the court’s judgment. ‘‘The interpretation of a trial
court’s judgment presents a question of law over which
our review is plenary. . . . As a general rule, judgments
are to be construed in the same fashion as other written
instruments. . . . The determinative factor is the inten-
tion of the court as gathered from all parts of the judg-
ment. . . . Effect must be given to that which is clearly
implied as well as to that which is expressed. . . . The
judgment should admit of a consistent construction as
a whole . . . without particular portions read in isola-
tion, to discern the parameters of its holding.’’ (Internal
quotation marks omitted.) CCI Computerworks, LLC
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6 ,0 0 Conn. App. 1
In re Ryshan N.

v. Evernet Consulting, LLC, 221 Conn. App. 491, 523,
302 A.3d 297 (2023).

Here, the respondent takes issue with the court’s
statement that it could not rule out the possibility that
she was under the influence when she visited Ryshan.
The court simply stated, however, that it was not credit-
ing the testimony that the respondent was not under
the influence. It does not follow that, in so stating, the
court found that the respondent was under the influ-
ence. In other words, the court’s statement that it could
not conclude that the respondent was not under the
influence when she visited with Ryshan was not tanta-
mount to an affirmative finding that she was under
the influence. The court’s acknowledgement that there
were other factors that could have caused that demeanor
supports its refusal to conclude that she was under
the influence. Although the court was troubled by the
respondent’s demeanor during those visits when she
appeared to have fallen asleep and indicated that it did
not credit the testimony that she was not under the
influence, it plainly and unambiguously concluded that
it did not have enough evidence to determine whether
she was or was not under the influence. Our conclusion
that the court did not draw the inference that the
respondent was under the influence when she visited
Ryshan is underscored by the fact that the court did
not mention it when it again discussed the respondent’s
visits with Ryshan later in its decision, and, instead,
focused on the respondent’s passive and disinterested
demeanor during those visits. We therefore reject the
respondent’s claim that the court drew an inference
that she was under the influence during her visits with
Ryshan.

The judgment is affirmed.