Michael P. v. Superior Court

Petitioner Michael P., a party to a juvenile dependency action, served subpoenas duces tecum on real parties in interest Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the Westminster Police Department prior to the jurisdictional hearing. Petitioner sought to discover forensic evidence and various investigative reports compiled by real parties during their ongoing criminal investigation into the death of 21-month-old Monika G. The trial court granted real parties’ motion to quash the subpoenas, finding the official information privilege applied and precluded disclosure of materials relating to an ongoing criminal investigation. We conclude the court abused its discretion by failing to conduct an in camera review of the requested items before ruling on real parties’ motion. Accordingly, we grant the petition and remand the matter for the court to conduct an in camera review.

Facts

Petitioner is the biological father and custodial parent of seven-year-old Alexandria P. His girlfriend Kirsten M. would frequently bring her 21-month-old daughter Monika on weekend visits to his home. On one of these visits Kirsten left Monika in petitioner’s care; less than an hour later, Monika was…