Lockwood

Sandra Sue Lockwood and Timothy Raymond Lockwood were accused by information of felony child abuse (Pen. Code, § 273a, subd. (1)) allegedly inflicted upon their young son. A juvenile court dismissed a dependency petition (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 300 et seq.) based on the same facts, and the Lockwoods moved to dismiss the criminal proceedings on the ground of collateral estoppel. Their motion was denied; this petition for an extraordinary writ followed. We issued an alternative writ of prohibition. We conclude that the Lockwoods’ position has merit and that a peremptory writ of prohibition should issue.

The Lockwoods’ son, then 11 months old, was brought to a hospital with a spiral fracture of his thigh bone. X-rays disclosed what could have been older, healing fractures of bones in both arms, and there were signs of burns on the child’s arm and ankle. The Lockwoods initially stated that they had found the child injured in his crib, but later acknowledged that they had “grabbed the child by the limbs and jerked him in order to correct him from doing a behavior that they didn’t go along with,” and Mr. Lockwood stated that “he may have been too rough” but “that he’s never…