In Re Carr

151 P.2d 164, 65 Cal. App. 2d 681, 1944 Cal. App. LEXIS 761
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 7, 1944
DocketCrim. 2321
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 151 P.2d 164 (In Re Carr) 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 Carr, 151 P.2d 164, 65 Cal. App. 2d 681, 1944 Cal. App. LEXIS 761 (Cal. Ct. App. 1944).

Opinion

NOURSE, P. J.

In this proceeding in habeas corpus the petitioner seeks her release from an order of the Juvenile Court in Monterey County entered July 11, 1944, committing her to the custody of the sheriff of the county until she obeys an order of June 20, 1944, directing her to produce her minor child, Barbara, in court on June 28, 1944. The order of June 20th was made in open court, the petitioner then being present in court and represented by counsel.

The grounds upon which the petitioner seeks her release are: (1) That the Juvenile Court of Monterey County had no jurisdiction to hear the matter or to make the order of commitment because of the proceedings in Los Angeles County wherein the petitioner was named guardian of the minor. (2) That the failure of petitioner to bring the child into court on June 28th does not constitute contempt in the presence of *683 the court, and that the subsequent proceeding adjudging her guilty of contempt should have been initiated by an affidavit upon which the petitioner was entitled to be heard.

The facts are not in dispute. On July 14, 1941, the minor was declared a ward of the Juvenile Court in the County of Monterey, and its custody was awarded to the mother, the petitioner herein. On July 21, 1941, all the parties and counsel being present in court, this order was modified to the extent that the custody of the minor was awarded to the father. On December 7, 1943, upon motion of the mother the order of July 21, 1941, was vacated and custody of the child awarded to the mother. This order vacated all orders theretofore made inconsistent therewith and directed that the mother should not remove the child from the county of Los Angeles without the consent of the court, and stated that the court was ready to transfer the minor and the proceedings to the court of Los Angeles County if proper motion should be made. It does not appear that such motion was made, but the mother took the child to the county of Los Angeles and was residing therein on November 29, 1943, when the father filed a petition in the probate court in Los Angeles County asking guardianship and custody of the child. Judgment in that proceeding was entered May 29, 1944, awarding custody of the minor to the mother and directing that it should not be removed from the county of Los Angeles unless by order of the court. On May 23, 1944, the father filed a petition in the juvenile court in Monterey County asking a modification of the orders theretofore made and asking that the custody of the child be awarded to him. The mother was cited to appear in court and bring the minor with her. Several hearings were held upon this petition and continuances granted at the request of the mother, and on these occasions she was directed to produce the child in court and neglected to do so. The proceedings terminated in the order of June 30, 1944, which released the custody and control of the minor to the father under the supervision of the juvenile court, and directed that the minor should not be removed from the county of Monterey without the consent of the court.

(1) The jurisdiction of the Juvenile Court of Monterey County arises from the provisions of section 721 of the Welfare and Institutions Code which permit the filing of a peti *684 tion stating that a minor residing in the county comes within the provisions of section 700 or 701 of the code, and praying that the court take appropriate proceedings to declare the minor a ward of the juvenile court to be dealt with in the manner provided in the code. Section 750 declares that when a minor has thus been made a ward of the juvenile court such court retains jurisdiction over the ward during minority or until such jurisdiction is released by appropriate order. It is argued by petitioner herein that the order of December 7, 1943, awarding custody of the minor to her and permitting her to remove it to the county of Los Angeles was a release of the jurisdiction of the juvenile court in Monterey County, and that neither the petitioner nor the minor were thereafter subject to the jurisdiction and orders of the juvenile court in Monterey County until the minor became a resident of the latter county and proceedings were instituted under sections 721 et seq. of the Welfare and Institutions Code. The argument is based upon the portion of the order vacating all orders theretofore made. On June 29, 1944, this order was amended nunc pro tunc as of December 7, 1943, by inserting the words “inconsistent herewith,” and the order stated that the minute order of December 7, 1943, did not convey the true meaning of the court. When the question of the meaning and effect of a judgment or order is raised, the entire document is to be construed as a whole to determine the purpose and intent, just as in a ease of a contract or other document. (Lazar v. Superior Court, 16 Cal.2d 617, 622 [107 P.2d 249].) Examining the order of December 7, 1943, in this light it will be noted that it does not appear that any motion was made specifically affecting the order of July 14, 1941, declaring the minor a ward of the juvenile court. The proceedings seem to have been started by a motion of the mother to set aside an order of July 21, 1941, which awarded the custody of the minor to the father. This motion was granted and it would appear that the orders which the court had in mind to vacate were the orders relating to the custody only. This is further indicated by the concluding paragraph of the order which expressed a willingness to transfer the child and the proceedings to Los Angeles County if such a motion were made. If the court had intended by this order to release the child from the jurisdiction of the juvenile court there would have been no purpose in stating that it *685 was prepared to transfer the child and the proceedings to Los Angeles County.

It. may be conceded that the proceedings in the juvenile court did not bar the mother from proceeding in the probate court in Los Angeles County for letters of guardianship of the person and estate of the minor. This right is expressly conferred by section 1440 of the Probate Code. (Guardianship of Phillips, 60 Cal.App.2d 832, 834 [141 P.2d 773]. But this does not affect the jurisdiction of the juvenile court in Monterey County since under the provisions of section 700 of the Welfare and Institutions Code the juvenile court may remove a minor from the custody of its guardian as well as of its parent. A somewhat similar ease is Smith v. Smith, 31 Cal.App.2d 272 [87 P.2d 863], where it was said that the jurisdiction of the juvenile court of a delinquent or dependent child was not lost by a subsequent award of the custody made in a divorce proceeding. A similar holding is In Re Hosford, 107 Kan. 115 [190 P. 765, 11 A.L.R. 142], which is carefully annotated in 11 A.L.R. p. 147.

(2) Whether the failure of petitioner to bring the child into court as ordered constituted a direct or constructive contempt has not been directly decided. In Phillips v. Superior Court,

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Bluebook (online)
151 P.2d 164, 65 Cal. App. 2d 681, 1944 Cal. App. LEXIS 761, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-carr-calctapp-1944.