Leslie O. v. Superior Court

Petitioner in a marital dissolution case moved to have the child custody evaluator removed for bias and her evaluations stricken. The trial court denied the motion. We conclude the court erred in finding insufficient evidence of bias and denying the motion. We grant the petition and issue a peremptory writ of mandate.

BACKGROUND

This is a marital dissolution case involving hotly contested issues of child custody. Petitioner Leslie O. and real party in interest Thomas O. have one minor child, Wyatt, who was born in 2009 with a condition causing him to have developmental delays and special needs. We set forth the record available to us with the utmost particularity, as the well-being of an unrepresented minor is at stake.

We conclude that, considering the totality of the circumstances, the child custody evaluator’s communications, and her conduct in stepping out of her role as an evaluator to help Thomas, demonstrate bias sufficient to warrant her removal and the striking of her evaluations.

A. Facts

In September 2012, a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) (the Evaluator) was appointed as the child custody evaluator in this case. The Evaluator had each parent…