San Deigo County Department of Social Services v. Blanca N.

Blanca N. appeals an order declaring her minor son, Jose M., a dependent child of the juvenile court (Welf. & Inst. Code, 1 § 300, subd. (a)). She contends the court erred in refusing to order informal supervision (§§ 330, 360) and the evidence was insufficient to support the finding of dependency. We affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

The Petition

On November 5, 1986, the Department of Social Services (DSS) filed a petition under section 300, subdivision (a), alleging Jose had no parent or guardian actually exercising or willing and able to exercise care and control, in that the emotional atmosphere in the home, including excessive discipline by the mother and stepfather, was detrimental to Jose. On March 16, 1987, the petition was amended to allege, “[T]he mother and the stepfather subjected the minor to excessive discipline including but not limited to pulling said minor’s hair, dragging him upstairs, throwing him to the floor and striking said minor with hands and a belt causing, among other things, a horseshoe-shaped scar on the minor’s right forearm and bruises on his left leg and said minor’s mother has failed, refused, and been unable to protect said…

My disagreement with the majority is with their cursory rejection of In re Donald R. (1987) 195 Cal.App.3d 703 [ 240 Cal.Rptr. 821 ], I believe Donald R. sets forth a thoughtful and persuasive analysis of the same issue presented here and that it should be followed. I would also defer to Donald R. under the doctrine of stare decisis. (Interinsurance Exchange v. Campbell (1986) 187 Cal.App.3d 242, 243, 247 [ 232 Cal.Rptr. 27 ]; Kaus, Precedent is a Many Splendored Thing or Let Thirteen Flowers Bloom (Cal. Center for Jud. Ed. & Research J. (1986).) The rejection of established precedent in this type of case creates uncertainty for our overworked juvenile courts and imposes an unnecessary burden on our Supreme Court to decide the conflict.

My application of Donald R. to this case causes me to conclude there is insufficient admissible evidence to support the juvenile court’s dependency finding. I would therefore reverse the order of the trial court.

Appellant’s petition for review by the Supreme Court was denied March 23, 1989. Mosk, J., was of the opinion that the petition should be granted.