Opinion
F075838
01-11-2018
In re J.C., et al., Persons Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. FRESNO COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. RICARDO C., Defendant and Appellant.
Carolyn S. Hurley, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Daniel C. Cederborg, County Counsel, and Brent C. Woodward, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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. Nos. 14CEJ300149-1, 14CEJ300149-2, 14CEJ300149-3, 14CEJ300149-4, 14CEJ300149-5, 14CEJ300149-6)
OPINION
THE COURT APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Fresno County. Gary Green, Commissioner. Carolyn S. Hurley, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Daniel C. Cederborg, County Counsel, and Brent C. Woodward, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Before Hill, P.J., Gomes, J. and Smith, J.
-ooOoo-
Dependency jurisdiction was taken over the six children of Ricardo C. (father) and E.G. (mother), after mother and their youngest child tested positive for methamphetamine at the baby's birth. While mother was given reunification services, father was denied them. Mother's services, however, were terminated at the six-month review hearing and a Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26 hearing was set. The hearing was continued because the Fresno County Department of Social Services (Department) filed its report the day before the hearing. Mother and father were late to the continued hearing, appearing while the juvenile court was in the middle of issuing its findings and orders, which included a finding that the children were adoptable and an order terminating parental rights.
Undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code. --------
Father appeals from the order terminating parental rights (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 366.26). Mother separately appealed from the termination order in case number F075711. In his appeal, father challenges the juvenile court's finding that the children are adoptable, arguing it is not supported by substantial evidence. In her appeal, mother contends she was deprived of her due process right to a contested hearing on the issues of adoptability and the beneficial parent-child and sibling relationship exceptions to adoption. (§ 366.26, subd. (c)(1)(B)(i) & (v).)
In mother's appeal, we concluded that mother's due process rights were violated when the juvenile court denied her a contested section 366.26 hearing. Accordingly, we reversed the juvenile court's adoptability finding and the orders terminating parental rights as to both parents, and remanded for the juvenile court to set a contested section 366.26 hearing to consider the issues of adoptability of the children and the applicability of the exceptions to adoption. Since father's parental rights are reinstated and a new section 366.26 hearing will be held, father's challenge to the adoptability finding is moot. Accordingly, we dismiss father's appeal.
DISPOSITION
The appeal is dismissed.