Appellant’s case was remanded following a reversal of a parental rights termination order on the ground that the juvenile court did not ensure ICWA compliance. In a second appeal, appellant argued that the record did not contain sufficient proof that the Apache tribes received requisite notice because the Department failed to file any return receipts or responses. The Department conceded the issue but asked the court to take judicial notice of letters from the tribes, which were not authenticated. The appellate court denied the motion to take additional evidence and remanded for the trial court to address the issue. The objection to the lack of authentication is valid, and it is compounded by the fact that neither appellant nor her counsel were in attendance when the evidence was presented to the court.
Case Summaries