Peo in Interest of RRS, 23CA2219

The El Paso County Department of Human Services filed a dependency and neglect petition regarding R.R.S., a newborn who tested positive for THC at birth and whose mother, S.S., allegedly used marijuana, fentanyl, and methamphetamines while pregnant.
S.S. (mother) denied the allegations and timely requested a jury trial.
On the day of the scheduled jury trial, mother was absent when the proceedings began, and her counsel stated she knew of the trial date but had indicated she would not be present.
The trial court, over objection by mother's counsel, found that mother had waived her right to a jury trial due to nonappearance and converted the proceeding to a bench trial.
Mother appeared virtually after testimony had begun, objected to the finding of waiver, but the court affirmed its decision and ultimately adjudicated the child dependent and neglected.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether mother waived her statutory right to a jury by failing to timely appear at trial	Delay did not justify waiver; court erred by not allowing more time or checking circumstances	Waiver was proper; court made due inquiry and had no reason to wait longer	No error: Waiver was implied by failure to appear and no good cause identified
Whether court sufficiently inquired into reason for mother’s absence before finding waiver	Court did not check with mother or allow time; this was premature	Court asked counsel about mother’s whereabouts and learned she wouldn’t attend	Court made adequate inquiry under relevant rules and precedent
Whether any waiver was voluntary, given alleged technical issues	Connectivity issues made absence involuntary	No evidence mother timely communicated any technical difficulties	No support for involuntariness; waiver was voluntary
Whether prior case law requires more time or inquiry	Relied on precedent requiring more inquiry before waiver	Distinguished precedent; here, no indications of imminent arrival or valid cause	Court properly distinguished precedent; followed procedural requirements

Whaley v. Keystone Life Ins. Co., 811 P.2d 404 (Colo. App. 1989) (party’s right to jury trial is substantial and may be lost only for specific reasons)
Wright v. Woller, 976 P.2d 902 (Colo. App. 1999) (right to jury trial may be lost per rules such as failure to appear)