San Diego County Health & Human Services Agency v. Anthony R.

5 Cal. App. 5th 53, 209 Cal. Rptr. 3d 397, 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 947
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 3, 2016
DocketD070365
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 5 Cal. App. 5th 53 (San Diego County Health & Human Services Agency v. Anthony R.) 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
San Diego County Health & Human Services Agency v. Anthony R., 5 Cal. App. 5th 53, 209 Cal. Rptr. 3d 397, 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 947 (Cal. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

Opinion

McConnell, P. J.

INTRODUCTION

Anthony R. challenges the juvenile court’s denial of his request to be declared a third parent under Family Code section 7612, subdivision (c) 1 for two minors, M.Z. (Minor 1) and Z.Z. (Minor 2), who are the biological children of his girlfriend (mother) and her husband (Miguel Z.). 2 The juvenile court concluded section 7612, subdivision (c) was inapplicable because it found there was no existing parent-child relationship between Anthony R. and Minors 1 and 2. 3 (In re Donovan L. (2016) 244 Cal.App.4th 1075, 1093-1094 [198 Cal.Rptr.3d 550] (Donovan L.) [“ ‘an appropriate action’ for application of section 7612, subdivision (c) is one in which there is an existing parent-child relationship between the child and the putative third parent, such that ‘recognizing only two parents would be detrimental to the child’ ”].) We conclude Anthony R. failed to meet his burden to establish a parentage claim under the Uniform Parentage Act (§ 7600 et seq.), which is necessary to seek third parent status under section 7612, subdivision (c). We also conclude substantial evidence supported the juvenile court’s finding of an absence of a parent-child relationship. We affirm the juvenile court orders.

BACKGROUND

A

Mother and Miguel Z. had two children during their marriage, Minor 1 born in 2009, and Minor 2 born in 2010. Mother and Miguel Z. filed for *57 divorce in 2014, but the divorce was never finalized. Miguel Z. said he separated from mother because he could not stop using drugs and he was in and out of prison. In April 2015 after he got out of prison, he moved to Arizona in order to help support his sobriety. He began using heroin at 15 years of age. He used drugs daily. He said he would have bouts of sobriety, but would relapse and then get clean again.

After separating from Miguel Z. mother had three children with Anthony R., Minor 3 born in 2014 and a set of twins (Minors 4 and 5) born in 2015. Because the twins were premature, they were hospitalized for three and a half months before they were released in early November 2015.

The San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (the Agency) investigated two referrals in 2014 involving mother and Anthony R. In both instances, methamphetamine was found accessible to the children in the home. However, in one instance mother and Anthony R. said the drugs belonged to a friend. The referrals were determined to be either inconclusive or unfounded for general neglect.

Anthony R. used heroin and methamphetamine since he was 14 or 15 years old. He had been “in the system” since he was eight years old. He had been in prison or jail since he was 18 years old. He spent 10 years in prison before he was released at age 30 in 2014. He denied using drugs in front of mother and said he would disappear when he was using drugs. He was in jail again from August 2015 until November 4, 2015, for a parole violation. Anthony R. had two prior dependency cases, involving older children he had with other women. His parental rights were terminated as to at least one of these other children.

Mother and the children lived with her aunt because she needed help with the twins after they came home from the hospital. However, the aunt would not allow Anthony R. in the home. After the aunt learned mother had sneaked Anthony R. into the home, the aunt asked mother to move out for failing to pay rent. Thereafter, mother, the children, and Anthony R. stayed in motel rooms.

B

One of the infant twins, four-month-old Minor 5, was found dead in mother’s care on November 25, 2015. Chula Vista Police Department officers responded to a motel room after mother reported Minor 5 was not breathing. The motel room was dirty with food on the floor and broken cigarettes. Mother reported she thought one-year-old Minor 3 had rolled onto Minor 5 while they both slept with mother. Marks found on the baby’s face, neck, and *58 chest could have been caused by the baby being facedown for a period of time or by someone lying on top of the baby, but there was no clear evidence of suffocation. 4 Anthony R. was not present at the time of Minor 5’s death.

Mother denied using drugs, but when her blood was drawn she said she might test positive for marijuana. High levels of methamphetamine and amphetamine were found in mother’s blood. Trace amounts of methamphetamine were found in Minor 5’s blood and liver. The cause of Minor 5’s death was unexplained infant death, with methamphetamine exposure as a contributing factor.

C

Mother was in a hotel room with Anthony R. two days before Minor 5’s death and he smoked methamphetamine in mother’s presence. He also admitted he smoked in the bathroom where he would “hot box” with the shower running and something blocking the smoke from seeping under the door. He said the children were not present and mother would not have known he was smoking. Neither mother nor Anthony R. could give a reason for the presence of drugs in Minor 5’s system.

Anthony R. failed to show up at an appointment with a social worker stating he was “on the run.” He was arrested in December 2015 for possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell and for violating his parole. He reported he had been clean for a couple of weeks after his release from jail in November, but relapsed the week before Minor 5 died.

D

Six-year-old Minor 1 said he and his siblings ate cereal every day when they lived in the motel and Minor 5 slept with a blanket that smelled like urine. Minor 1 stated his five-year-old sister, Minor 2, fed Minor 5 when he was alive. Sometimes Minor 1 would feed Minor 5. Minor 2 described how she would make bottles and feed Minor 5 when he wanted to eat.

By 2016, Minors 1 and 2 were both academically behind in school, due in large part to their frequent absences and late arrivals to school while they were in mother’s care. Minor 1 was diagnosed with high functioning autism and needs structure and routine.

When Minor 1 was interviewed in January 2016 he stated mother visited Anthony R., but the children could not go because the “cops” would take *59 Anthony R. away. Minor 1 stated, “He can’t see us until he is out.” Minor 1 reported Anthony R. was in jail because he does drugs. He also stated Anthony R. “steals and uses girls. He gets girlfriends he takes their money and phones.”

E

The Agency filed dependency petitions for the children in January 2016 alleging they were within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivision (b). The petitions alleged the children had suffered or there was a substantial risk the children would suffer serious physical harm or illness by the inability of a parent to provide regular care due to substance abuse by mother and Anthony R.

Anthony R. completed parentage inquiry forms for each of the minors.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
5 Cal. App. 5th 53, 209 Cal. Rptr. 3d 397, 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 947, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/san-diego-county-health-human-services-agency-v-anthony-r-calctapp-2016.