Nevada family-law case summaries

This case asks what happens to a Nevada parent's child-custody rights when she once pleaded guilty to felony child abuse but was later allowed to withdraw that guilty plea after completing probation. Yumila Cardenas-Garcia's six-year-old child, Z.K., was removed from her home by Clark County Department of Family Services after the home was found to be unlivable. In a separate criminal case, Cardenas-Garcia pleaded guilty to felony child abuse, neglect, or endangerment under NRS 200.508, and a judgment of conviction was entered. Her plea agreement was a so-called "drop-down" agreement: if she successfully completed probation, she could withdraw the felony plea and instead plead guilty to a misdemeanor (contributing to the delinquency of a minor). She did complete probation, and the felony plea was withdrawn. A Nevada statute, NRS 432B.555, says that if a court finds a parent has "ever been convicted" of felony child abuse, the court cannot return the child to that parent unless the parent proves by clear and convincing evidence that the child will not suffer physical or psychological harm from being returned. The district court held a hearing while Cardenas-Garcia still had the felony conviction on her record, found she had not met that high burden, and ruled the presumption against reunification applied. After her felony plea was withdrawn, she went back to the district court and asked it to find the statute no longer applied to her. The district court still found she had not rebutted the presumption. Cardenas-Garcia then asked the Nevada Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus - an order from a higher court directing a lower court to do something it is legally required to do. She argued that because her felony conviction had been voided, she should not be treated as ever having been convicted, and the statute's higher burden should not apply. The Supreme Court disagreed and denied the writ. Focusing on the word "ever" in the statute, the majority held that NRS 432B.555 applies to anyone who at any point had a felony child-abuse conviction entered against them, even if that conviction is later withdrawn or voided. The court reasoned that the Legislature's choice of "ever" directs courts to look back at any conviction that was at any point on the record, regardless of its current legal status. The court emphasized, however, that the presumption is not a permanent bar. A parent can keep trying to rebut it as circumstances change, and district courts should "freely grant leave" to present new evidence when a party shows a significant change in circumstances - such as Cardenas-Garcia's successful completion of probation. Justice Bell dissented. She would have held that under existing Nevada precedent, a withdrawn guilty plea is treated as if it never existed, so Cardenas-Garcia legally has no felony conviction at all and the statute should not apply.