In re A.L. CA4/2

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 16, 2014
DocketE058579
StatusUnpublished

This text of In re A.L. CA4/2 (In re A.L. CA4/2) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re A.L. CA4/2, (Cal. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

Filed 1/16/14 In re A.L. CA4/2

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

In re A.L. et al., Persons Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.

RIVERSIDE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SOCIAL SERVICES, E058579

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super.Ct.No. RIJ118447)

v. OPINION

C.H.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. Tamara Wagner,

Temporary Judge. (Pursuant to Cal. Const., art. VI, § 21.) Affirmed.

Leslie A. Barry, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and

Appellant.

Pamela J. Walls, County Counsel, and Anna M. Marchand and Julie Koons Jarvi,

Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

1 C.H. (Mother) appeals after the termination of her parental rights to A.L. and J.L.1

at a Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.262 hearing. Mother makes one claim on

appeal that she received ineffective assistance of counsel due to counsel’s failure to

object to the supplemental section 387 petition filed in December 2011 for lack of

evidence to support the jurisdiction and disposition findings. We affirm the juvenile

court’s order terminating Mother’s parental rights.

I

PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. Detention

Mother had five children who were initially part of this dependency proceeding:

A.A. (14 years old); K.A. (13 years old); E.A. (12 years old); A.L. (3 years old); and J.L.

(1 year old). On July 30, 2009, the Riverside County Department of Public Social

Services (Department) received a report of caretaker/incapacity and general neglect. It

was reported that Mother had gone to Mexico on July 11, 2009, and left the five children

in the care of their 20-year-old sibling, I.H. I.H. attempted to apply for welfare in her

absence.

A social worker responded to the home on July 30, 2009. Upon arrival, couches

and furniture were observed piled up outside the house. J.L. was playing outside in only

a diaper. A.L. was also outside and they both were covered in dirt. The wood on the

1 J.L. is also referred to as J.D. 2 All further statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code unless otherwise indicated.

2 porch was rotted and sunk in. Blankets that were on top of the wood were covered in

ants and roaches. A woman who claimed to be the children’s “aunt” was at the home.

A sliding glass door leading to the house was shattered and still had shards of

glass hanging to the frame. In the living room, clothes and food (including chicken

bones) were on the floor. In one of the bedrooms, there was a dirty twin bed with no

sheets, food and empty food containers on the floor. There were also dirty plates and

toys. In the bathroom, there were feces in the toilet and dirty toilet paper throughout the

bathroom. There was a broken mirror and the bathtub was completely black from mold.

The only food in the house was a “rotted” plate of food in the freezer. There were dirty

dishes in the sink and a hose was being used as the faucet. There were roaches

throughout the house.

K.A. was missing from the home. While the social worker was inspecting the

house, E.A., A.L, and J.L. were able to leave the home and the “aunt” refused to tell the

social worker where they had gone. The “aunt” then asked the social worker what would

happen if she was really Mother. Mother admitted she lied about her identity. Mother

preferred to go to jail rather than tell the social worker where her children were located.

Mother finally told the social worker she had told the children to walk to her sister’s

house. The children were located and all of them were barefoot. J.L. had a soaking

diaper; A.L. was in pajamas; and E.A. was shirtless.

3 A.A., E.A., A.L., and J.L. were placed in a foster home together. A.A. refused to

change clothes, bathe, or eat. A.A. stated that his father, Alejandro A.,3 had beaten him

when they were younger. He stated that no one cleaned their house. When they had

moved into the house, there were already roaches and the bathtub was rotted. There was

no food in the house because they had run out of food stamps for the month. Francisco

L., who was the father of J.L. and A.L., had been deported to Mexico. Mother refused to

disclose the whereabouts of K.A. A prior referral was made in 2006 for the family and

there was little food in the house at that time.

On August 3, 2009, a section 300 petition was filed by the Department against

Mother for all five children. The petition alleged Alejandro was the biological father of

K.A., A.A., and E.A.; for A.L. and J.L., their father was listed as Francisco. It was

alleged against Mother, under section 300, subdivision (b), that she failed or was unable

to supervise or protect her children adequately, and she willfully or negligently failed to

provide them with adequate clothing, food, and shelter. As for Francisco and Alejandro,

they were reported to have not provided for the children (§ 300, subd. (b)) and failed to

provide adequate support (§ 300, subd. (g)).

At a detention hearing held on August 4, 2009, the juvenile court found a prima

facie case and ordered the children detained. K.A. was present at the hearing with

Mother and she was placed with her siblings.

3 Alejandro was in prison for 96 years for molesting I.H.

4 B. First Jurisdictional/Dispositional Report and Hearing

In a jurisdictional/dispositional report filed on September 11, 2009, the

Department recommended that Mother receive reunification services for all the children

and services be denied to both fathers. E.A., A.L., and J.L. were placed together in a

foster home; K.A. and A.A. were placed in different homes. Mother had one prior

incident of vandalism and had an outstanding misdemeanor warrant.

A.A. accused E.A. of hurting him when they were together. A.A. and I.H. did not

get along and he was mad at Mother that he had to be in foster care. His other siblings

hated him.

K.A. was also interviewed. Throughout the interview she had an attitude and

wanted to know why she was being interviewed. K.A. said that she would get blamed for

everything that happened in the house. She admitted she had threatened to kill one of her

brothers and her previous foster parents. She also admitted in her previous foster home

she threatened to kill herself.

E.A. was also interviewed. E.A. claimed that A.A. hit him and was a bully. He

had left welts on his back. He claimed A.A. caused the problems; he got along with K.A.

Mother claimed the house was dirty because they were moving. She insisted she

bathed the children but they played in the dirt. Mother was living with I.H. in a two-

bedroom apartment. Mother believed the fighting between the siblings was just sibling

rivalry. Mother was not working and depended on cash aid and I.H. for support. Mother

did not think she needed any services from the Department because she was not using

5 drugs and “not a women [sic] of the streets.” Mother wanted the children placed with her

mother.

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Alameda County Social Services Agency v. Willis H.
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