Stanley

Plaintiff, City and County of San Francisco (city), appeals from an order modifying the amount of child support and ordering blood tests of the child, her mother and defendant, Mark Stanley.

In January of 1987 the city brought a complaint for child support, reimbursement of public assistance, and establishment of paternity against Mark Stanley (Stanley) on behalf of a little girl born in October 1985. Stanley, who was represented by counsel, answered the complaint asserting as an affirmative defense that another man was listed as the child’s father on the birth certificate, that the mother had refused to communicate with him about the child and that he lacked information to know whether the child was his daughter. Once the district attorney moved for temporary support, the parties entered into a stipulation for paternity blood testing. That testing was apparently never done.

In early May 1988 Stanley substituted himself in propria persona for his counsel. At a hearing later in the month Stanley stipulated to being the parent of the little girl. An order issued establishing his paternity and directing him to pay child support in the amount of $140 monthly to the…