Peery

Petitioner Steven Wesley Peery, Sr., father of the minor child Steven, Jr., born November 13, 1979, whose custody is in issue, seeks a peremptory writ of mandate to compel the trial court to relinquish jurisdiction, to enforce a Louisiana custody decree, and to order the immediate return of the minor child to his father.

The trial court assumed jurisdiction over the custody matter at the request of the mother, real party Maria Leticia Peery, based on its conclusion the Louisiana court did not have custodial jurisdiction in this matter because when it assumed jurisdiction, a San Diego Superior Court decree had already given custody to Maria, and the San Diego court was actively enforcing that decree and continued to have a jurisdictional basis for such enforcement. Accordingly, under Civil Code section 5163 and the analysis of Kumar v. Superior Court (1982) 32 Cal.3d 689 [ 186 Cal.Rptr. 772 , 652 P.2d 1003 ], the court found continuing modification jurisdiction to be in San Diego, not Louisiana.

We derive the facts in this matter from the parties’ declarations before the superior court and, where appropriate, from the reported decision in this matter of the Louisiana…