Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services v. E.U.

194 Cal. App. 4th 1060, 123 Cal. Rptr. 3d 660, 2011 Cal. App. LEXIS 507
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 30, 2011
DocketNo. B223242
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 194 Cal. App. 4th 1060 (Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services v. E.U.) 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
Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services v. E.U., 194 Cal. App. 4th 1060, 123 Cal. Rptr. 3d 660, 2011 Cal. App. LEXIS 507 (Cal. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinions

Opinion

CHANEY, J.

The juvenile court adjudged minor Anthony G. a dependent child of the court pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivisions (b) (failure to protect) and (g) (no provision for support).1 Biological father, E.U., appeals from the juvenile court’s jurisdiction and disposition orders as to Anthony pursuant to section 300, subdivision (g), [1062]*1062claiming the evidence was insufficient to support the juvenile court’s finding of jurisdiction. We conclude the juvenile court’s finding that Anthony was a person described under section 300, subdivision (g) was not supported by substantial evidence because the record does not show Anthony was left without provision for support. We reverse the juvenile court’s jurisdiction and disposition orders as they pertain to E.U. but in all other respects affirm.

BACKGROUND

Anthony’s Mother (Mother), Anthony, and Mother’s younger son, Brandon, Jr., lived with Anthony’s maternal grandmother (Grandmother) in July 2009.2 Anthony, bom in February 2007, was two years old. Brandon, Jr., bom in May 2009, was two months old. Brandon, Jr.’s father, Brandon, Sr., did not live with the family.3 In July 2009, Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) received a referral that Brandon, Sr., had punched, hit and “ ‘dog walked’ ” Mother, who was then 17 years old. After that incident, Grandmother told Brandon, Sr., not to visit the family home. She suspected that Mother continued to see Brandon, Sr. DCFS informed Mother, Grandmother, and Brandon, Sr., who was 20 years old, that Brandon, Sr., was not to contact Mother until she turned 18 years old in November 2009.

During visits by DCFS to the home, Anthony was observed to be dressed and groomed appropriately and did not display any marks or bmises on his body. He was developmentally on target and had received his immunizations. During one visit, Mother was out buying groceries and diapers for the children. DCFS reported that Anthony’s father was unknown and Anthony’s birth certificate did not indicate a father’s name.

On December 10, 2009, Brandon, Sr., went to the residence and engaged in a physical altercation with Grandmother, during which Grandmother threw hot water on him and spat in his face. On December 31, 2009, DCFS filed a dependency petition alleging jurisdiction as to Anthony under section 300, subdivisions (a) (serious physical harm), (b) (failure to protect), and (g) (no provision for support). As to subdivision (g), the petition alleged, in pertinent part, that “The child Anthony G[.’s] father Ton[y G.] failed to provide the child with the necessities of life including food, clothing, shelter and medical care.”

Mother informed the juvenile court on December 31, 2009, that E.U., not Tony G., was Anthony’s father. After initially stating that E.U. had contact [1063]*1063with Anthony only once since his birth, Mother corrected herself to state that E.U. had contact with Anthony three or four times. She also provided E.U.’s phone number to DCFS.

When interviewed by DCFS in January 2010, E.U. admitted that he had previously had sex with Mother, but denied paternity. He demanded a paternity test “because [he was] tired of her calling [him] and saying that [he was] the father of her child . . . .” Tony G. also denied paternity.

On February 4, 2010, at the continued hearing on the dependency petition, the juvenile court appointed an attorney to represent E.U. and ordered him to submit to a paternity test. On February 19, 2010, after her counsel characterized Mother as “non-offending,” Mother submitted to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. Brandon, Sr., submitted on the petition on the basis of the social worker’s reports. DCFS requested the juvenile court conform to proof the section 300, subdivision (g) allegation to identify E.U. instead of Tony G. as Anthony’s father. E.U.’s attorney objected to the amendment on the basis that there was no proof that E.U. was the father of Anthony.

The juvenile court ordered the section 300, subdivision (g) allegation amended to name E.U. on the basis that E.U., whom Mother identified as the alleged father of Anthony, was not providing for him. E.U.’s counsel then requested that the juvenile court strike the section 300, subdivision (g) allegation. DCFS argued that E.U.’s support was necessary, he had never provided for Anthony, and Mother was struggling to provide support. Mother nodded affirmatively. The juvenile court refused to strike the section 300, subdivision (g) allegation against E.U.

The juvenile court found that Brandon, Sr.’s waiver of rights was freely and voluntarily made and denied E.U.’s motion to dismiss the amended section 300, subdivision (g) allegation. The court sustained the section 300, subdivision (b) allegation of the petition that on December 10, 2009, Brandon, Sr., was under the influence of alcohol and engaged in a violent physical altercation with Grandmother in which Grandmother threw hot water at Brandon, Sr.’s face and spat at him, in the presence of the children. The court sustained the section 300, subdivision (g) amended allegation of the petition that E.U. failed to provide the child with the necessities of life, including food, clothing, shelter and medical care.

The juvenile court declared the minors dependent children of the court and placed them with Mother under the supervision of DCFS. The court ordered family maintenance services for Mother, including requiring her to attend a DCFS-approved program of parent education, take six random drug tests, and attend “a DCFS approved program of individual counseling to address the [1064]*1064case issues including domestic violence.” The court ordered that if Mother missed or tested positive on a drug test, she would be required to attend a full drug rehabilitation program. The court also ordered family reunification services for Brandon, Sr.

At a continued progress hearing on April 16, 2010, DCFS submitted the results of E.U.’s paternity test, which established that E.U. is Anthony’s biological father. The juvenile court determined E.U. to be Anthony’s biological father.

In a supplemental report, DCFS reported that E.U. wanted another paternity test done, denied awareness of being Anthony’s father, and denied the use of drugs. The report also stated that in 2008 E.U. was arrested for driving under the influence and possession of an illegal firearm, for which he served nine months in jail and was released on three years’ probation. On April 29, 2010, on DCFS’s recommendation and E.U.’s counsel’s representation that E.U. was willing to enroll in parenting classes and complete six drug tests, the juvenile court ordered E.U. to attend a parenting program, submit to six weekly drug and alcohol tests, and complete a substance abuse program if he missed a test or tested positive. The juvenile court also ordered unmonitored visits for E.U. with Anthony.

DISCUSSION

E.U. asserts that the juvenile court’s order finding jurisdiction under section 300, subdivision (g) should be reversed because no substantial evidence supports it. We agree.

DCFS initially contends that to the extent E.U.’s challenge is to the sufficiency of the amended petition rather than to the sufficiency of the evidence, he has forfeited the right to make such a challenge by not raising the issue below, citing In re James C.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
194 Cal. App. 4th 1060, 123 Cal. Rptr. 3d 660, 2011 Cal. App. LEXIS 507, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/los-angeles-county-department-of-children-family-services-v-eu-calctapp-2011.