Lois R. v. Superior Court

On May 18, 1971, Referee Benjamin Louie conducted a hearing on a petition filed by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services (the Department) under Welfare and Institutions Code section 600, subdivision (a), to adjudge Vicki Lee R., the child of Lois R., a dependent child of the court. No member of the Department or attorney representing the Department was present in court, but a Los Angeles County deputy probation officer was there. Lois R. was present with her attorney. The first witness in support of the petition, Phillip H. Perkins, was called to the stand. The record does not indicate by whom. Presumably it was by the probation officer since the record reveals it was she who called the Department’s second witness. After Mr. Perkins was sworn and before any questioning began, counsel for Lois R. objected to the referee’s asking the questions and structuring the case for the Department. The timing of this move suggests that there was an existing practice, of which counsel was aware, among referees of taking over this aspect of juvenile court hearings. Referee Louie overruled the objection and then asked the probation officer if she would like him to…