Matter of G.H., YINC ( 2021 )

04/13/2021 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA Case Number: DA 20-0520 DA 20-0520 IN THE MATTER OF: G.H., ORDER A Youth in Need of Care. FiiLED APR 1 3 2021' Bowen Greenwood Clerk of Supreme Coutt State of Rilontana This matter comes before the Court on the joint motion of Appellants (Parents) to strike three documents appended to the Appellee's response brief that the District Court submitted to the Clerk of this Court after Parents filed their opening brief. The three documents are records from a prior parental rights termination proceeding in the State of Utah. The State opposes the motion. Parents contend that the State improperly secured transmittal of the documents, purportedly "found loose in the file" at the District Court. They claim that the documents bear no file stamp on them, were not made part ofthe record in the trial court, and were not provided to Parents in preparation oftheir opening arguments, despite the fact that Parents' counsel had made inquiry of the Clerk of the Second Judicial District Court about any additional records. Parents argue that, because it is "clear" these appendices were not part of the District Court record,the State improperly introduced the evidence in its briefon appeal, and altering the record on appeal after the Parents prepared and filed their opening arguments would be a violation oftheir due process rights. The State counters that it has not improperly attempted to place non-record evidence before this Court on appeal, representing that the exhibits were referenced in but not included with the file that was transmitted to this Court upon filing of the notice of appeal and that they were discussed during the terrnination hearing in this case. Counsel for the State represents that, upon discovering that the exhibits were not included, she contacted the District Court to ascertain whether there were any records that had been missed when the electronic record was compiled for transmission on appeal; the clerk reported finding the three documents loose in the court file and thereupon transmitted the additional documents to this Court. This Court's record confirms that the additional documents from the Utah court proceeding were transmitted by the Clerk of District Court and received by the Clerk ofthis Court on March 16,2021,approximately a month after both ofthe Parents' briefs on appeal were filed. As the documents were discovered in the court file and filed by the District Court Clerk, the Court finds no impropriety in the State's inclusion of them as appendices to its brief. The Parents may address the Utah court documents in their reply briefs. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the Motion to Strike is DENIED. The Clerk is directed to give notice of this order to all counsel of record. Dated this /3 day of April, 2021.