In Re Etherington

221 P.2d 942, 35 Cal. 2d 863, 1950 Cal. LEXIS 387
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 12, 1950
DocketCrim. 5070
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 221 P.2d 942 (In Re Etherington) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Etherington, 221 P.2d 942, 35 Cal. 2d 863, 1950 Cal. LEXIS 387 (Cal. 1950).

Opinions

SPENCE, J.

By means of habeas corpus, Freda Mickelson, the mother of Norman Etherington, a minor, seeks his release from custody after he was adjudged by the Juvenile Court of Nevada County to be a ward of the court and committed to the California Youth Authority. She challenges upon these grounds the jurisdiction of the court to make the order of commitment: (1) failure to serve notice of the hearing of the juvenile court proceedings upon her as required by law (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 726); and (2) insufficiency of the findings to justify removal of said minor from her custody (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 739). Neither point of objection is well taken under the record before this court.

Subdivision (m) of section 700 of the Welfare and Institutions Code provides that the jurisdiction of the juvenile court extends to any person under the age of 21 years “who violates any law of this State or any ordinance of any town, city, or county, of this State defining crime. ’ ’

The original petition for a writ of habeas corpus sets forth that Freda Mickelson is the mother of Norman Etherington, who was then 17 years of age; that on November 30, 1949, said minor was brought before the Juvenile Court of Nevada County for hearing on charges of (1) speeding and (2) resisting arrest committed in November, 1949, in the city of Grass Valley, and (3) contributing to the delinquency of a minor within Nevada County as accused by a warrant of arrest issued against said minor some two months previously but of which neither said minor nor his mother was informed until said minor’s arrest in said November; that at the time of the issuance of said warrant, said minor and his mother were domiciled in Nevada City but that after October 19,1949, they moved their residence to Sacramento, all of which facts were known to the Grass Valley and Nevada City police; that said minor’s mother was not notified of the scheduled November 30 hearing on the charges against said minor until 9 a. m. of said day, when said minor at Grass Valley was allowed to telephone her at her home in Sacramento to tell her that [865]*865he was “being taken to court” an hour later or at 10 a. m.; that she arrived in Nevada City in the courtroom at about 11:30 a. m., at which time the proceedings had started and testimony was being taken; that at her request, the judge at 12 noon that day continued the proceedings to the following day, December 1, 1949, at 10 a. m. so as to allow her time to employ counsel; that in the limited time available she did engage an attorney for the defense of said minor, and that she and said attorney were present in court the next morning, December 1, when the case was completed and the adjudication made declaring said minor to be a ward of the court and committing him to the California Youth Authority.

Upon such representation in the petition as to the manner of notice of the juvenile court proceedings that was given to the mother of the minor as “the person charged with his custody,” this writ was issued. The .return and answer to the writ was then filed, and included therewith is the record of the proceedings in the juvenile court. It appears therefrom that a verified petition was filed in the Juvenile Court of Nevada County by Thos. J. Barrett, probation officer, on November 28,1949, setting forth facts as would bring said Norman Etherington, alleged to be 17 years of age, within the provisions of said above-mentioned subdivision (m) of section 700 of the Welfare and Institutions Code: more particularly, that said minor had on November 18, 1949, committed a misdemeanor through the operation of his motor vehicle in a residential area of the city of Grass Valley at a speed of 56 miles per hour; that on said date he had wilfully and unlawfully resisted arrest by the apprehending police officer; and that on September 13, 1949, he did contribute to the delinquency of two minor girls in committing acts which “would cause or tend to cause said minor persons to lead idle, dissolute, lewd or immoral lives.” The petition contained the further allegation setting forth the Nevada City address of Freda Mickelson as the mother of said Norman Etherington and “the person . . . having the custody or control” of him. It also appears that the court issued its order fixing the 30th day of November, 1949, at the hour of 11 a.m. as the time for the hearing and directed that a citation be issued to said Freda Mickelson as “the person having the custody and control of said Norman Etherington,” directing her to appear for the hearing; that said Freda Mickelson did not arrive at the courtroom for the hearing [866]*866until 11:35 a. m. of said day, and that after her objection to her failure to receive notice of the hearing until “right close to ten o’clock” that morning and her statement of her desire to employ counsel in the matter, the judge continued the proceedings, until the next day, December 1, at 10 a. m.; that on December 1, as scheduled, the court convened, said Freda Miekelson and her counsel were present, oral and documentary evidence was introduced in support of the petition, witnesses were produced on behalf of said Norman Etherington—including said minor and his mother, Freda Miekelson—the matter was submitted for decision, the court made written findings that due “notice of the . . . hearing of said petition ha[d] been given,” that the “truth’ ’of the alleged facts “ha[d] been established to [the court’s] satisfaction,” and the said minor, Norman Etherington, was adjudged “a ward of the Juvenile Court” and “committed, until the further order of the court, to the care and custody of the Probation Officer of Nevada County . . . until delivery to the California Youth Authority. ’ ’

Thereafter an amended petition for a writ of habeas corpus was filed with this court, wherein it was further alleged that said Juvenile Court of Nevada County ordered the commitment of said minor, Norman Etherington, without making such finding of fact as would authorize its exercise of jurisdiction over him as a ward of the court and his removal from the custody of his mother. Section 739 of the Welfare and Institutions Code provides that “no ward of the juvenile court shall be taken from the custody of his parent or legal guardian without the consent of the parent or guardian, unless the court finds one of the following facts: (a) that the parent or guardian is incapable of providing or has failed or neglected to provide proper maintenance, training, and education for the person; (b) that the person has been tried on probation in such custody and has failed to reform; (c) that the person has been convicted of crime by a jury; (d) that the welfare of the person requires that his custody be taken from his parent or guardian.” The return and answer to the amended petition expressly denied “any lack of jurisdiction on the part of said Juvenile Court to make the order” of commitment and “in that respect” alleged that “said Juvenile Court complied with subdivision d, section 739, Welfare & Institutions Code, by certain oral findings made in open court and reflected by the transcript of the proceedings herein,” as theretofore filed “as a part of [the] return to the original petition.”

[867]*867An examination of the record discloses that the jurisdiction of the court to order the commitment in question is not vulnerable to attack in these habeas corpus proceedings.

Petitioner’s first point of objection rests upon the claim that the court was without jurisdiction to adjudge the minor a ward of the juvenile court because she was not given notice of the hearing of the proceedings as required by section 726 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
221 P.2d 942, 35 Cal. 2d 863, 1950 Cal. LEXIS 387, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-etherington-cal-1950.