San Diego County Department of Social Services v. Gustavo V.

This is an appeal from a judgment terminating the parental rights of appellant father, after a selection and implementation hearing pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26. 1 Counsel appointed for appellant filed a brief which summarized the procedural and factual background of the case, advised that no substantive issues warranting reversal on appeal could be identified, 2 and requested that this court review the record independently. We decline to undertake this review and hence, no *1010 grounds for appeal being raised by appellant’s brief, we dismiss the appeal. (See 9 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (3d ed. 1985) Appeal, §§ 508, 530, pp. 494, 514.)

Since we dismiss the appeal because no grounds for appeal were stated, a detailed recitation of the case background is unnecessary. However, to put the matter somewhat in perspective, we review the same cursorily. Appellant father and the mother of Angelica had several children, all of whom had been removed from their custody. At the time of Angelica’s birth, all the children lived with their maternal grandmother. The mother was a drug addict who continued her habit during pregnancy with Angelica, resulting in…