Walker v. Rodgers

18 Cal. App. 3d 973, 96 Cal. Rptr. 308, 1971 Cal. App. LEXIS 1450
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 28, 1971
DocketCiv. No. 26147
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 18 Cal. App. 3d 973 (Walker v. Rodgers) 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
Walker v. Rodgers, 18 Cal. App. 3d 973, 96 Cal. Rptr. 308, 1971 Cal. App. LEXIS 1450 (Cal. Ct. App. 1971).

Opinion

[976]*976Opinion

SIMS, J.

Edith M. Walker, the paternal grandmother of the subject of these proceedings, and Robert Earl Rodgers, the father of the child, have appealed from a judgment in adoption proceedings which adjudged that the mother, Kathleen Olson, had not abandoned her daughter, and that the father had abandoned his child, and which further denied the grandmother’s petition for adoption. The grandmother contends that the evidence requires the conclusion that the mother had abandoned her child and that it was error to fail to declare the child free from the custody and control of her mother. The father contends that the evidence does not sustain the finding that he abandoned his daughter so that she should be declared free of his custody and control.

The evidence, when viewed in the light of applicable legal principles, supports the finding of nonabandonment by the mother. With respect to the father, it is questionable whether issue was properly joined on the question of abandonment. If it was, he was not afforded an opportunity to be heard. The judgment must be affirmed with respect to the mother and reversed as to the father on the petition to have the child declared free from parental control and custody, and affirmed insofar as it denied the grandmother’s petition for adoption.

The proceedings under review (Adoption No. 819) were instigated by the grandmother’s petition for adoption, and her petition to have her granddaughter declared free from the custody and control of her parents, which were both filed on October 2, 1967. The latter petition came on for hearing on December 1, 1967, and the petitioner and the child’s mother each appeared with counsel. (The father’s appearance is reviewed below.) It was stipulated by those counsel that all of the allegations of the petition, other than the statistical facts, would be deemed denied, and that for all purposes the hearing on the petition would be deemed consolidated with forthcoming proceedings in juvenile court to review the status of the child as a dependent child of that court (Juvenile No. 7056). In addition to the testimony adduced at the hearing on December 1, 1967, the court indicated that it had taken judicial notice of and perused the juvenile court file relating to the father (No. 6028, not a part of the record), the juvenile court file of the mother (No. 5809, made a part of the record), the juvenile court file of the child (No. 7056, made a part of the record) and the file of the proceedings in which the marriage of the parents was annulled (Civil No. 42268, not a part of the record). From the matters in the record and the testimony at the hearing, the following facts appear:

The mother, .the respondent in these proceedings, was born January 16, [977]*9771948. On November 17, 1962, she left home without her parents’ consent, and 10 days later a petition was filed with the juvenile court and she was ordered detained pending further hearing. A probation report indicated possible pregnancy as the result of admitted intercourse on an earlier runaway, and she was made a ward of the court under section 601 of the Welfare and Institutions Code as beyond the control of her parents. The probation officer was awarded her care and custody and directed to place her in the home of her parents. On verification of her pregnancy she was placed under the supervision of the county welfare department, and after the birth, July 14, 1963, of a son who was relinquished for adoption, she returned to the home of her parents. Her status was reviewed favorably in November 1963, and the matter was continued for six months. On April 16, 1964, the proceedings and the petition were dismissed.

The father was born November 5, 1947. According to the report filed in connection with the proceedings involving his daughter on April 25, 1963, he was made a ward of the court under the provisions of section 602 of the Welfare and Institutions Code for violation of section 10851 of the Vehicle Code. On July 20, 1964, he married the respondent, and on March 7,1965, their daughter, the subject of these proceedings was born.

At the time the couple were living in the household of the paternal grandmother, with the latter’s brother and her mother and father. The child was brought to this household five days after its birth. According to the grandmother, after several nights with the baby, the mother, so she could get some rest, left the child with the great-grandmother at night. Some three months later the couple moved out and left the baby with the grandmother for a period of six weeks or two months. In August the couple returned, but the father, who was still a ward of the court, was ordered into custody and sent to a boy’s ranch for driving without a license, and for possession of beer. In September the mother left with her daughter and established a separate residence. A month later she returned and left the care of the baby up to the grandmother. At the end of the year the grandmother asked her to leave because, as the result of a quarrel with the father on his visit home, the authorities allegedly would not permit the father to visit while she was in the home, and because the grandmother was filing a petition to have the child made a ward of the court.

The petition filed January 3, 1966, by the probation officer, at the instigation of the grandmother, alleges that the child “comes within the provisions of Section 600a of the Welfare and Institutions Code of the State of California, in that: said minor, . . . has no parent or guardian capable of exercising proper and effective parental care or control and is in need of such care and control, in that the father of said minor is a ward of the [978]*978Solano County Juvenile Court and is presently in placement at the Fouts Springs Boys Ranch and on several occasions the mother of said minor has left said minor to be attended by the paternal grandmother without making any payment for said minor’s support.” On the same day an order was made that the child be detained at the grandmother’s home. A probation report filed January 19, 1966, reviewed the background which has been set forth above. It sets forth the complaints of the grandmother concerning the activities of her daughter-in-law, and the latter’s denials of any promiscuity or misconduct. It concludes as follows: “This Officer feels that Rhonda’s placement with her paternal grandmother would be a suitable one for the time being. She is receiving the care she needs and appears to be loved by all. members of the household. Wayne Rodgers, Bob’s uncle, who has a good position with Safeway Stores, is paying support for the child until Bob is discharged and finds a suitable job.

“Kathleen is obviously in no position to give her baby a home at the present time, plus the fact that she expresses no great desire to have the child with her.

“Since Kathleen has removed her baby from the paternal grandmother’s home in the past, it appears that this child needs the added protection of dependent child status so she won’t be subject to the instability and whims of her parents.” On July 21, 1966, the child was declared to be a dependent child of the juvenile court and placed under the care of the probation officer.

A probation report, filed January 5, 1967, for the annual review of the child’s status, briefly reviews the activities of the mother and father and child for the preceding year.

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Adoption of RRR
18 Cal. App. 3d 973 (California Court of Appeal, 1971)

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Bluebook (online)
18 Cal. App. 3d 973, 96 Cal. Rptr. 308, 1971 Cal. App. LEXIS 1450, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walker-v-rodgers-calctapp-1971.