Kern County Welfare Department v. Patricia S.

*409 Opinion

On September 13, 1984, Kern County first filed a petition with the juvenile court claiming the minor came within the provisions of subdivisions (a) and (d) of section 300 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. 1 The supplemental petition filed March 21, 1985, alleged: “Said minor’s home is an unfit place for him/her by reason of neglect, cruelty, depravity or physical abuse by either of his/her parents, or by his/her guardian or other person in whose custody or care he/she is; In That:

Although the child was removed from the custody of the parents in September of 1984, the jurisdictional hearing did not commence until May of 1985; after the taking of some evidence the hearing was continued to October of 1985 and then concluded after a month’s hiatus in November of 1985. The minor’s father’s criminal trial on molestation charges in late February and early March of 1985 resulted in the convictions alleged in the supplemental petition.

The trial court sustained the petition under section 300, subdivision (d), solely upon the basis of the father’s convictions then on appeal. The juvenile court rejected the allegations against the minor’s mother and, other than the…