Opinion
E068364
05-08-2018
In re C.V., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. C.V., Defendant and Appellant.
Allison L. Ehlert, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Barry Carlton and Susan Elizabeth Miller, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. (Super.Ct.No. RIJ1501047) OPINION APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. Walter H. Kubelun, Temporary Judge. (Pursuant to Cal. Const., art. VI, § 21.) Dismissed. Allison L. Ehlert, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Barry Carlton and Susan Elizabeth Miller, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
A. PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On September 16, 2015, a juvenile wardship petition under Welfare and Institutions Code section 602, subdivision (a) alleged that minor and appellant C.V. (Minor) used force and violence on her father under Penal Code section 242, and willfully and unlawfully exhibited a weapon other than a firearm in a rude, angry, and threatening manner in the presence of her father under Penal Code section 417, subdivision (a)(1).
On October 22, 2015, Minor admitted the Penal Code section 242 charge, and the juvenile court granted the People's motion to dismiss the Penal Code section 417, subdivision (a)(1) charge. The court adjudged Minor to be a ward of the court, committed her to juvenile hall for 16 days with credit for time served, and released her into her parents' custody with various terms and conditions.
On January 26, 2016, the probation officer filed a notice of hearing under Welfare and Institutions Code section 777 alleging that Minor had violated a condition of her wardship because she tested positive for methamphetamines, left home without her father's permission, and remained out of the home for five days. On January 26, 2016, the court found true the allegations and ordered Minor to remain in juvenile hall pending a suitable placement. On February 26, 2016, the juvenile court found that continuance in Minor's parents' home was contrary to her welfare and ordered Minor placed in a suitable facility with preference for Promesa Behavior Health. On March 2, 2016, Minor was placed at Promesa Behavior Health.
Minor was screened at six facilities, she was accepted into only two. Promesa Behavioral Health, and David and Margaret Youth and Family Services.
On July 26, 2016, the juvenile court found that Minor's progress at Promesa Behavioral Health had been satisfactory, released her to her parents, and ordered her to participate in a Wraparound Program.
Wraparound Programs "are a family centered, individualized, community based, strength focused, needs driven collaborative approach to mental health treatment. A team of professionals including Clinical Therapists, Behavioral Health Specialists, and Parent Partners persistently work together with Probation Officers, nurses, and community members to ensure the family reaches their goals." (<https:www.rcdmh.org/Children-Services/Wrapa-Round>, as of May 4, 2018.)
On August 16, 2016, the probation officer filed a notice of hearing under Welfare and Institutions Code section 777 alleging that Minor had violated a condition of her wardship in that she had left home without permission on August 13, 2016, and her whereabouts were unknown. On September 15, 2016, after being arrested on the resulting warrant, Minor was booked into juvenile hall. On September 19, 2016, the probation officer filed a notice of hearing under Welfare and Institutions Code 777 alleging that Minor had not called her probation officer between August 13, 2016, and September 15, 2016, to provide her whereabouts. On the same date, Minor admitted that she had violated the conditions of her wardship and the court detained her at juvenile hall.
On October 17, 2016, at the dispositional hearing, the court released Minor to her mother's custody under a home supervision agreement and ordered Minor to participate in a Wraparound Program.
On April 7, 2017, the probation officer filed a notice of hearing under Welfare and Institutions Code section 777 alleging that Minor had violated a condition of her wardship by leaving home without permission and not returning for more than one day, by being absent from school without lawful excuse for four days, violating curfew, testing positive for marijuana more than once, and refusing to obey her parents. In an amended notice of hearing filed on April 11, 2017, it was alleged that minor left home on April 7, 2017, and her whereabouts were unknown. The court issued a warrant for her arrest. On April 24, 2017, she was arrested and placed in juvenile hall.
On April 26, 2017, Minor admitted violating the conditions of her wardship and the court ordered her to remain at juvenile hall. The court ordered the probation department to screen Minor for placement outside her parents' home.
On May 16, 2017, the juvenile court ordered Minor to be placed in a suitable group home, relative home, or county or private facility. The court ordered Minor be screened at additional placements in California before out-of-state placement was considered. On May 22, 2017, Minor was placed at Operation SafeHouse.
On May 31, 2017, a warrant of arrest was issued after Minor absconded from her placement at Operation SafeHouse. On the same date, the probation officer filed a notice of hearing under Welfare and Institutions Code section 777 alleging that Minor had violated a condition of her wordship in that Minor left her court-ordered placement at Operation SafeHouse without permission and her whereabouts were unknown. On June 26, 2017, Minor was arrested.
On June 28, 2017, Minor denied the allegations in the probation officer's petition. On July 18, 2017, at a contested jurisdictional hearing, the court found that Minor violated probation by leaving Operation SafeHouse without permission. It sustained the petition.
On August 11, 2017, at a contested disposition hearing, the court found that continuance in the parents' home was contrary to Minor's welfare; in-state facilities or programs had been determined to be unavailable or inadequate to meet Minor's needs; and it ordered Minor placed in a suitable foster home, relative home, or county or private facility with preference for an out-of-state facility. On September 8, 2017, Minor was placed at Sierra Sage in Nevada.
On September 28, 2017, Minor filed a notice of appeal.
On April 11, 2018, Minor's counsel filed a letter including an order filed by the trial court on March 7, 2018, which dismissed Minor's delinquency petition and sealed the juvenile records. On April 13, 2018, we filed an order notifying the parties of this court's intent to dismiss the appeal as moot unless either party filed a written objection within 15 days of the filing of our order. No opposition to dismiss the appeal as moot has been filed.
Since Minor admitted the charge, the facts are taken from the probation officer's report. --------
On July 25, 2015, police were dispatched to Minor's parents' apartment in Riverside due to a dispute between Minor and her father. When police arrived, Minor's father told them that Minor was a habitual runaway due to her methamphetamine use and had to be transported to the hospital three days earlier due to her bipolar and violent behavior. Officers determined that the dispute was based on Minor being unhappy because she was disciplined.
The following day, police were again dispatched to Minor's parents' apartment. When officers arrived, Minor was lying on the ground of the parking lot of the apartment complex screaming and crying hysterically. Minor's father told officers that Minor became upset when he would not allow her to borrow his cell phone. Minor punched him in the face three or four times, then grabbed a kitchen knife and held it over his head. A witness convinced Minor to drop the knife. She then ran out of the apartment and her father restrained her until police arrived.
DISCUSSION
It is well settled that this court's duty is to issue opinions upon matters which could provide relief to the parties. Accordingly, when an event occurs that renders it impossible for this court, if it should decide the case in favor of the appellant, to grant any effectual relief, then the court will not proceed to a formal judgment, but will dismiss the appeal as moot. (In re Sodersten (2007) 146 Cal.App.4th 1163, 1217.)
In the instant case, the juvenile court has dismissed Minor's delinquency petition and sealed the juvenile records. Accordingly, Minor's contentions regarding her placement are moot, because a finding that the juvenile court erred in the placement of Minor would not provide any relief, due to the dismissal of Minor's delinquency petition. (See In re Charles G. (2004) 115 Cal.App.4th 608, 611 [finding the minor's contentions moot due to the minor's probation being terminated].) In sum, it would be impossible for this court to grant Minor effectual relief, and therefore, we dismiss her appeal as moot.
DISPOSITION
The appeal is dismissed.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
MILLER
Acting P. J. We concur: CODRINGTON
J. FIELDS
J.