Santa Clara County Dept. of Child Support Services v. Mitchell CA6

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In January 2023, the Department filed a summons and complaint against Mitchell to establish child support for minor child, D.M., born in 2022. The complaint identified D.M.’s parents as Mitchell and respondent Jenny M. Gochez Flores2 based on a voluntary declaration of parentage (VDOP) signed by both parents and filed with the Department of Child Support Services. In March 2023, Mitchell filed an answer to the complaint. Attached to his answer were notarized documents entitled: (1) “Affidavit of General Denial,” (2) “Affidavit of Specific Negative Averment,” (3) “Affidavit of Status,” (4) “Affidavit of Denial of Paternity and Parentage,” and (5) “Written Objection.” In such documents, Mitchell claimed he was a “free man,” “homo liber,” and “stateless non-legal entity,” and identified a mailing address located in “Virginia Beach, Virginia Republic [zip code exempt] [¶] On the land commonly called America.” Mitchell challenged the trial court’s jurisdiction on the basis that, as a “homo liber,” he was not “amenable to process issued by the courts of this State. . . .” Mitchell claimed he was “not a party to any valid contract or compact”…