San Diego County Department of Social Services v. Bernard P.

At issue in this case is the juvenile court’s jurisdiction to make a dependency finding under Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivision (a), when the father had not received sufficient notice of the proceeding and the superior court had immediately before made a determination as to the custody of the child.

Facts

This case involves a protracted and bitter custody battle over Brendan by his parents Dorothy and Bernard.

In 1982, Dorothy left Bernard in Virginia and came to California with Brendan and her other two children after she had filed charges against Bernard for assault against her and child molesting against the other two children. None of these charges was ever substantiated or proven in court.

Custody alternated between Dorothy and Bernard by means of Dorothy’s hiding Brendan in California and Bernard’s kidnapping him.

Also, in 1982 Dorothy initiated child custody proceedings in the San Diego Superior Court. Over a protracted period, the San Diego court made visitation orders while the custody battle waged. Dorothy was consistently uncooperative; for 11 months following June 1982, the father and son had *913 virtually no contact. In October…