County of Fresno v. Superior Court
Opinion
Opinion
Hopper, J.
The principal issue in this writ proceeding is whether it is an abuse of discretion for a trial court to deny a motion under Evidence Code section 893 for a human leucoyte antigen (hereinafter HLA) test to establish parentage in a civil paternity suit when extended factor blood testing has already taken place and the defendant was not excluded by such test. We conclude that under the circumstances it is an abuse of discretion.
Facts
On August 28, 1964, Ruth Williams (hereinafter Ruth) and James Williams (hereinafter James) obtained a final decree of divorce. On November 2, 1965, Ruth gave birth to David.
On July 29, 1977, the County of Fresno and David, through his guardian ad litem (hereinafter petitioners) filed a complaint in superior court to establish that James was the natural father of David. On November 18, 1977, the superior court ordered Ruth, David and James to submit to an extended factor blood test pursuant to a stipulation filed by the parties. The expert who analyzed the blood samples reported that James could not be excluded as the father of David and the probability that James was David’s father was 47 percent.