In re R.O. CA2/2

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 30, 2023
DocketB315213
StatusUnpublished

This text of In re R.O. CA2/2 (In re R.O. CA2/2) 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 R.O. CA2/2, (Cal. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

Filed 6/30/23 In re R.O. CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

In re R.O. et al., Persons B315213, B320219 Coming Under the Juvenile (Los Angeles County Court Law. Super. Ct. No. 21CCJP03245A-B)

LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES,

Plaintiff,

v.

L.O.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEALS from orders of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Jean M. Nelson, Judge. Affirmed. Jacques Alexander Love, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Janette Freeman Cochran, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Minors.

______________________________________

The juvenile court denied visitation to appellant L.O. (Father) at disposition and continued to do so when it terminated dependency jurisdiction. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 362.4.)1 The record shows the children fear and refuse to see Father, who beat them with a belt. They have nightmares triggered by his abuse and were traumatized by witnessing his suicide attempt and seeing him point a gun at the head of a half sibling. After the court sustained a petition against him, Father refused to acknowledge their pain, did not comply with the case plan, and made no progress to reunify with them. The evidence supports a finding that visits would be detrimental to the children. The court did not abuse its discretion by denying visits. We affirm. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Father and his ex-wife A.B. (Mother) have two sons, respondents Ru. (born in 2010) and Ra. (2012). The family was reported for child abuse and neglect from 2012 to 2018. Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) deemed the reports unfounded or inconclusive.

1 Undesignated statutory references in this opinion are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.

2 Respondents lived with Father while Mother struggled with homelessness and addiction.2 After she completed rehabilitation in 2020, Father left the children with her, saying he could no longer care for them. A 2021 family court order gave the parents joint custody. Detention In July 2021, DCFS received a report that Father calls the children names, hits them, slapped Ra.’s face, and threatened them. The children have nightmares: Ru. sleepwalks and screams, and Ra. cries in his sleep. Ra. is “terrified” of Father, saying that he has a gun. Father was arrested after a high-speed chase in February 2021, yet the family court gave him custody of respondents a few months later. Father abused Mother during their relationship. She believes he uses drugs. Ru. said Father “ ‘yells, blames me for everything and hits me’ ” with a belt or hand, leaving bruises on Ru.’s arms and legs, and does “ ‘the same thing to my little brother.’ ” Father keeps a gun in an unlocked box in the house or car, and fights with his domestic partner Patty; Ru. said “ ‘the yelling never stopped.’ ” Ru. saw Father hold a gun to half sibling Paul’s head and threaten to pull the trigger while they were in the car. Father believes people are watching him and want to hurt him. Distraught when Patty left him, Father attempted suicide. Ru. saw Father “hanging from the ceiling fan with a rope and the fan chain wrapped around his neck.” Ru. said “ ‘my dad tried to hang himself’ ” and living with him was “ ‘like the Devil and hell.’ ”

2 In 1999, Mother’s oldest child tested positive for PCP at birth; her drug abuse ultimately caused her to lose custody of respondents’ half siblings. Mother and DCFS are not parties to this appeal.

3 Father used a blade to cut Ru.’s hair, leaving “ ‘blood all over my head.’ ” Near tears during his interview, Ru. feared he would never recover emotionally from living with Father. Ra. told a social worker (CSW) that Father was “ ‘crazy, chasing and watching people that he thought were after him.’ ” Ra. witnessed Father’s suicide attempt and saw “ ‘a rope around my dad’s neck.’ ” Ra. saw Father purchase a gun from a friend and point it at half sibling Paul, saying “ ‘he was going to put a hole in his head.’ ” Father sleeps with the gun. Ra. told CSW that Father smokes drugs and “ ‘went crazy.’ ” Ra. is “scared” of Father and planned to “run away from father’s home and find his way back to mother’s home.” Father felt “ ‘overwhelmed’ ” when he left the children with Mother in 2020. He admitted to a car chase in 2021 in which he struck another car and had a stand-off with police; felony charges are pending. He has many drug convictions and imprisonments. He denied physical discipline of the children or drug use, saying he last used methamphetamine in 2012. He denied attempting suicide in the children’s presence. Patty’s criminal history includes use and sale of methamphetamine. DCFS secured an order to remove the children from Father. Ru. said, “ ‘I’m so happy. I don’t want to go back to my dad’s, I’m scared.’ ” Ra. agreed, “ ‘I’m so happy too.’ ” Mother takes them to therapy to address their emotional issues. Petition DCFS filed a petition. As amended, it alleges that Father physically abused respondents by striking and bruising them with a belt and his hands, and left Ru. bleeding and in pain by using a blade to cut his hair; Father’s mental and emotional problems—paranoia, erratic behavior, agitation, homicidal

4 ideation, and a suicide attempt in the children’s presence—leave him unable to care for them and endanger their safety; he keeps a loaded gun within the children’s access and pointed it at the head of their half sibling; he has a 28-year history of abusing alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine, and used drugs while caring for the children; he has multiple drug convictions, is a registered narcotics offender, and was arrested for driving against traffic, evading arrest, and making criminal threats. At the detention hearing on July 16, 2021, the court removed respondents from Father, finding a substantial danger to their physical and emotional health. Based on their fear of Father, and his alleged abuse, the court denied Father visits pending adjudication but allowed monitored telephone contact. Mother submitted to the court’s jurisdiction. Jurisdiction and Addendum Reports The jurisdiction report details the parents’ history of drug abuse and crime, Mother’s failure to reunite with her older children, and prior reports about her abuse of respondents. Mother said Father choked her when she was pregnant with Ru, and later hit her while she held Ru. She lied about her history with DCFS, saying that only one child was a dependent of the court and no drugs were involved. Father admitted to a history of drug use and crime. He denied current drug use or domestic violence. Eleven-year-old Ru. told CSW, repeatedly and loudly, “ ‘I don’t want nothing to do with [Father]!’ ” Father underfed the children and gave them food that had gone bad. Ru. has a “ ‘really good’ ” relationship with Mother, who “ ‘does not hit me like dad did,’ ” feeds him, and takes care of him. Ru. takes

5 medication to cope with nightmares about Father. If returned to Father, Ru. “ ‘would run away and hide forever and not be found. If I were to be found, I would leave again.’ ” Ru. never felt safe with Father, who “ ‘beats me hard with the belt.’ ” Once, when police came, Ru. said nothing “ ‘because I did not want to get hurt by my dad,’ ” who “ ‘hits us for no reason.’ ” He does not want to see Father, even with a monitor. Ru. told CSW that Father “ ‘hits me with his hands and belts everywhere, every single day.’ ” Ru.

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In re R.O. CA2/2, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-ro-ca22-calctapp-2023.