Santa Clara County Department of Family & Children's Services v. Gita B.
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Elia, J.
*192 Opinion
After a contested five-day hearing, the juvenile court declined to take jurisdiction over Sheila B. It therefore ordered the petition alleging Sheila came within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court dismissed. Is this order appealable? We conclude it is. On the merits, we also conclude the juvenile court did not err in failing to assume jurisdiction over Sheila. Since we also conclude an order granting a Code of Civil Procedure section 170.6 motion is not appealable, we will affirm the juvenile court’s order.
Factual and Procedural Background
The necessary facts can be briefly stated. Sheila and her brother Lester 1 were adopted by their paternal grandparents, Areobagita, or Gita, and Lorenzo B., when Sheila was two and a half.
The B. family emigrated from the Philippines to the United States in 1983. Here, they lived in the same house with Gita and Lorenzo’s daughter and son-in-law and their four children. Sheila shared a room with her nine-year-old cousin.
The B. family was very protective of the children, who were not allowed to have friends over, not allowed to go out alone, and not allowed to go to friends’ houses. Sheila felt constrained by this family…