County of Santa Clara v. Superior Court

Dian L. Rodriguez, in pro. per., for Real Party in Interest.

OPINION

BAMATTRE-MANOUKIAN, J.

When an indigent person has been ordered to show cause why he or she should not be found in contempt and punished for alleged disobedience of an order to pay child support, and the potential punishment includes a possible jail sentence, must the county provide an attorney, at public expense, to represent the indigent citee? We hold that it must.

The Santa Clara County Superior Court ordered Robert Legaspi to make specified payments for the support of his two minor children. Thereafter the children's mother applied for an order to show cause why Legaspi should not be held in contempt, alleging that (among other things) Legaspi had not made the child support payments despite knowledge of the order and ability to comply with it.

The superior court ordered Legaspi to show cause "WHY THIS COURT SHOULD NOT FIND YOU GUILTY OF CONTEMPT AND PUNISH YOU FOR WILLFULLY DISOBEYING ITS ORDERS AS SET FORTH IN THE DECLARATION BELOW...." The mother's appended declaration alleged 16 instances of disobedience of court orders. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1209, subd. (a)(5).) The order to show cause was issued on a…