Jury trial Michigan

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Clynn89
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 4:28 pm

Jury trial Michigan

Postby Clynn89 » Fri May 12, 2017 5:10 pm

CPS opened a case agaisnt me on December 5th 2016. I tested positive for amphetamine (adderall) at the hospital when I gave birth to my daughter. I didn't have a prescription at the time. My daughter was healthy and the doctor even encouraged me to breastfeed even though she knew I was taking adderall. She said the dose i was taking wouldn't harm my daughter.

I lived in Monroe county but had my daughter in Wayne county. Wayne county CPS sent a worker to my apartment and they said everything was good..they told me they probably wouldn't be back and the case would be closed.

The father of my daughter, who I was not with, had his rights to 2 children terminated in Florida. I told them this at the hospital and because of that they transferred his case to monroe county where he also lived. On January 2nd the cops were sent to my house, they said they had a complaint about the father of my baby. I later found out that it was because they confirmed he lost his rights to his children in Florida.

January 4th I went to the DHS for a meeting with the new worker investigating his case(I set this meeting up). The worker asked a few questions about him and asked me to take a drug test. He said even if it was positive for adderall it would be good to show I wasn't doing other drugs. So I did. He said that he was not my caseworker and if I needed a caseworker I would be given a different one.

I don't hear anything until January 18th. My step mother tells me that the worker told her he wants to meet with me and my daughter's father. Its weird that he doesn't call me, since he has my number. So I call him and he asks if I can come the next day. I told him I would try to be there but I had an appointment so I might not be able to make it. He just said that's fine.

The next day I get a TEXT from the caseworker saying "why are you not present at this important meeting? We are discussing if we are going to remove your children or let them stay in your home".

I'm getting text messages from my family saying I need to get there now. I find out that this caseworker called my entire family to come to this meeting. 7 of my family members total. He never mentioned anything about them coming. Never mentioned my children being removed. So my family's texting me saying he wants me to bring the kids there and he's going to have a cop take them. I call him and ask what the hell is going on? He tells me to come and bring my kids. I keep asking him why since he already saw them. He just keeps saying.."are you refusing to cooperate?".

So I tell him I'm coming..but im leaving my children at a family members house until I talk to a lawyer. He just keeps talking over me..saying I'm not cooperating. So I'm crying hysterically. This entire time he's got me on speaker phone without telling me. So all of my family and 2 other workers hear me freaking out.

I leave right away. On my way there he has my mother tell me forget it..He's petitioning the court to remove the kids. He has her tell me to give the kids over to my family in the next few hours or the police will take them. So I do.

I go to court 2 days later and I'm given a court appointed lawyer. I tell them I don't think this is right and I refuse to agree to anything, at least until I've had more time to find out EXACTLY what I'm agreeing to.

I found out later that agreeing to the plan would mean not having the kids for a year, and risking my rights being terminated. They refused to tell me exactly what the plan would be until I agree to it. So I ask for a jury trial. My lawyer was very helpful in the beginning, but suddenly is pushing me to take a plea. The judge doesn't want this trial because they "dont have the funds".

So their constantly trying to bully and scare me into taking a plea. I would be pleading guilty to taking adderall while pregnant and failing a drug test for adderall on Jan 4th. They even recently added a drug test saying I failed a second one for adderall back on Jan 6th. After I threw a fit knowing I didn't fail another drug test, my lawyer made them get lab results. The prococustor says it was only a "human error" when she typed the petion and it was removed.

The investigator that had the kids removed was at the first court date in January, but totally disappeared after that. They told me he was out on medical and would be back in time for the first trial date in the beginning of April. He wasn't, and my trial was canceled. It was rescheduled for May 1st, he would DEFINITELY be back by then. He wasn't, so it was again canceled and rescheduled for June 12th.

June 12th will be 144 days since my kids were removed. They obviously don't follow the 63 day rule, they said its acceptable for "good cause". They need the CPS worker to testify so it will keep being extended until he's back.

I have a prescription for adderall now. I see a psychiatrist every 2 months and a therapist every month. I take drug screens for CPS and bring my prescription to them every week so they can count it. I have sutiable housing and always have.

It took a ridiculous amount of time to get my case files. The case in Monroe county isn't even mine..its in my daughter's fathers name. My Wayne county case files hardly have anything in them. They say after investigating me they saw the kids were safe, happy and healthy. They closed the case. My daughter had a mecounium test done at the hospital. They never even asked the hospital for the results. It shows that in January Monroe CPS called them asking about the test. They closed my case but transferred my daughters father's case to Monroe. I ended up involved because of his case.

The case worker from monroe put in the petition that I was not answering calls and avoiding him. He never contacted me besides that ONE TEXT about removing the kids. In the case files he never once mentions trying to contact me. Basically everything he says in the petition isn't what he says in the case files. I dont understand how someone can flat out lie.

I can't even explain all of the mistakes they've made and lies they've told..this is already long enough. I just found out I was put on the central registry months ago but never informed.

I feel like there's no way to win this with all of these people against me and lying about whatever they want. I can't understand how children can be removed over something like this. I can't afford to hire a good lawyer. I owe the horrible LGAL $1000 and I'm paying child support to the foster care system.

Thank you to anyone who reads this..i just feel lost and hopeless. Sorry for how long this is..believe it or not, I left A LOT out.

Clynn89
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2017 4:28 pm

Re: Jury trial Michigan

Postby Clynn89 » Fri May 12, 2017 5:27 pm

Also I recently noticed this in my case files...they do a risk assessment, which basically determines how involved they can get in your life. Or even if they can remove your children. The higher the score the worse for you. I got 1 point for taking adderall during pregnancy. I got -1 point because I said I would be willing to participate in services if they were offered. So I would have 0 points. But they add on 2 POINTS because my son is autistic. I'm disgusted by this. My son has been in special education since he was 3. He is a wonderful kid. They seriously just add points for children with disabilities. They also add points if you have over 3 children. Its unbelievable to me.
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