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Mother appeals DCF termination, arguing judge denied reasonable‑accommodation requests and drew adverse inference
Summary
Appellant counsel argued the trial court refused a requested reasonable accommodation for a parent with mental‑health disabilities, excluded her after a courtroom outburst without warning and later used her inability to testify against her; DCF and child's counsel said the accommodation was limited and complied with and that removal and inferences were justified.
Laura Openshaw, representing a mother whose parental rights were terminated, told the Massachusetts Appeals Court that the trial court denied a reasonable‑accommodation motion filed months before trial and then excluded the mother after her disruptive behavior without following the procedural safeguards the court should have used for vulnerable parents.
"What happened next is a really big problem," Openshaw said, describing the sequence: a July filing and an oral renewal at…
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