Opinion
B323120
06-21-2023
In re A.E., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. v. S.E., Defendant and Appellant. LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES, Plaintiff and Respondent,
James W. Tritt, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Dawyn R. Harrison, County Counsel, Kim Nemoy, Assistant County Counsel, and Tracey M. Blount, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, No. 20LJJP00623A Robin Kesler, Juvenile Court Referee.
James W. Tritt, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Dawyn R. Harrison, County Counsel, Kim Nemoy, Assistant County Counsel, and Tracey M. Blount, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
WILEY, J.
A juvenile court sustained three bases for jurisdiction over the father's daughter, four-year-old A.E. One basis was violence between the mother and a maternal aunt. We affirm the court's exercise of jurisdiction because substantial evidence supports that ground.
The father, the mother, A.E., and the maternal grandfather lived in the grandfather's home. A maternal aunt moved in on July 28, 2020. There were several conflicts involving this aunt. Some conflict involved the parents' use of marijuana.
On August 9, 2020, the father said he had an argument with the aunt, who locked herself in a room with A.E. The father called the police. The aunt denied locking A.E. in her room and said A.E. willingly came to her.
In mid-August 2020, the mother and the aunt had a violent altercation while A.E. was present. According to the mother, she was holding A.E.'s hand and walking on a second-floor hallway toward the stairs. The aunt pushed the mother to the ground, they fought, and the grandfather had to separate them. The father took A.E. away from the fight. The father said the aunt was the instigator and the mother was only protecting herself. The mother's face and chin were scratched. The aunt did not remember the details, but she said she and the mother were injured. Another family member who was not present for this altercation said the mother and the aunt "have fought their whole life like sister[s] do."
On October 19, 2020, there was another incident, which resulted in the father calling the police. The father did not remember why he called, but said the aunt would insist on being in his space to instigate problems.
On October 31, 2020, the grandfather called the police on the father. The father was feeding A.E. The aunt said something like, "look at you finally being a father." According to the father, the grandfather did not say anything about the aunt's comment, so the father cursed at the grandfather for not enforcing rules or respect. The grandfather said he called the police because the father would not leave the home.
On November 1, 2020, the aunt and the mother had another physical altercation while A.E. was present. The mother told A.E. not to talk to the aunt. The aunt told A.E. it was ok to talk to her. The mother hit the aunt's arm. The aunt took out her phone to record the mother. The mother got on top of the aunt to get the phone. The father came downstairs and took A.E. away. The aunt was not sure how much of the fight A.E. saw. Someone called the police and according to police dispatch notes, the mother "punched" the aunt and took her phone.
As of December 4, 2020, the aunt said she and the mother had sat down and talked and there were no other issues.
Beginning with the Department's first contact with the mother and the father on September 1, 2020, the parents said they were planning to move out and were in the process of relocating. As of December 4, 2020, the mother said they were in escrow and hoped to be able to move.
The court held an adjudication and disposition hearing on February 4, 2021.
The Department and counsel for A.E. requested the court take jurisdiction. Counsel for the mother mentioned the parents had "closed on [a] home and are moving."
The court sustained a count about violence between the mother and the aunt: they "engaged in a physical altercation in the presence of the child over the mother's use of marijuana. The mother sustained scratches to the mother's neck. Such violent conduct on the part of the maternal aunt to the mother . . . endangers the child's physical health and safety and places the child at risk of serious physical harm, damage, danger and failure to protect."
The court also sustained counts about the parents' marijuana use. The court released A.E. to the parents.
The father appeals the jurisdictional findings. His appeal does not challenge dispositional orders. The mother is not a party in this appeal.
We review jurisdictional findings to see if substantial evidence, contradicted or uncontradicted, supports them. We draw reasonable inferences to support the court's findings and we review the record in the light most favorable to the court's determinations. (In re R.T. (2017) 3 Cal.5th 622, 633.)
When a dependency petition alleges more than one ground for jurisdiction, a reviewing court may affirm if substantial evidence supports any one ground. (In re I.J. (2013) 56 Cal.4th 766, 773.) We have inherent discretion, however, to reach the merits of the other jurisdictional findings. (In re D.P. (2023) 14 Cal.5th 266, 282.)
Substantial evidence supports the court's finding that the conflict with the aunt created a substantial risk of physical harm to A.E.
As we have recounted, there were at least five incidents of conflict between the aunt and the parents in a three-month span that involved violence, phone calls to the police, or both. A.E. was present for at least four of these incidents.
The relevant count cited the incident from mid-August 2020, when the mother and the aunt had a violent altercation while A.E. was present. The father told the Department about this encounter and said A.E. was present when it began and the incident caused injuries.
The issues persisted after the Department became involved. The mother and the aunt had a second violent altercation while A.E. was present on November 1, 2020. According to the aunt, the mother hit and got on top of the aunt.
Taken together, these repeated incidents created a substantial risk of harm at the time of the jurisdictional hearing. The parents planned to move and the aunt said they had resolved the conflict. The parents had not moved yet, though, and the most recent incident was just three months earlier. (Cf. In re Cole L. (2021) 70 Cal.App.5th 591, 604-608 [reversing jurisdiction finding where there was only one physical altercation, it was outside the children's presence, and nine months had passed without other incidents].) Given the repeated pattern of conflict, the presence of A.E. during conflict, A.E.'s young age, and the recency of the last violent event, substantial evidence supported the court's finding.
This finding is sufficient to support jurisdiction and we do not exercise our discretion to address the remaining grounds for jurisdiction.
DISPOSITION
The orders are affirmed.
We concur: STRATTON, P. J., GRIMES, J.