Page:Arkansas Department of Human Services v. Dowdy.pdf/12

 We also affirm the circuit court's decision as to Eneks. While Eneks, unlike Huffman, is not an attorney, the circuit court specifically found as follows regarding Eneks's role in the March 2, 2017 hearing: The Court finds that Ms. Eneks intentionally engaged in the act of leaving the Courtroom and Courthouse so she would not be subject to questioning in (this case). The Court finds, in the present matter, Ms. Eneks had been present in Court all that morning for the entire docket; that she was instructed to leave by Mr. Huffman prior to the hearing and then she immediately returned after because he didn't want her put on the spot about present or previous opinions as to the placement of the juveniles. Ms. Eneks' leaving and returning was of her own volition. She is an experienced employee of the Department and has served as a caseworker and currently is a foster care supervisor.

The circuit court's ultimate conclusion that "there was an overt and conscious act by Ms. Eneks to deprive the Court of relevant and material testimony" is supported by substantial evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom, including the testimony and statements from Eneks, Jenson, and Huffman, as well as the courthouse security footage from the March 2, 2017 hearing. Without commenting on the propriety of a hypothetical, we note that this is not a situation in which, for example, Eneks had finished all her cases for the day and simply decided to go back to the office to finish other work, or something similarly innocuous. Here, the evidence indicates Eneks knew that DHS's specific aim was to keep her testimony out of the hearing, and Eneks directly advanced this tactic by knowingly and willingly removing herself from the courthouse at Huffman's signal. Eneks's and Huffman's prior coordination toward this end was apparent, and this court simply cannot condone such actions. Accordingly, we affirm the circuit court's decision to hold Eneks in contempt.

Affirmed.  K, C.J., and W, J., and Special Justice G F dissent.

