People v. Superior Court

A county grand jury sought access to certain juvenile court records under Welfare and Institutions Code section 827, 1 subdivision (a)(l)(M). The trial court denied the petition; we affirm. We hold that the grand jury failed to demonstrate the records were necessary or relevant to any specific grand jury investigation.

Appellant Tulare County Grand Jury filed a petition in the Tulare County Superior Court under section 827, subdivision (a)(l)(M) (subpart (M)), for an order permitting appellant to inspect all the records of the juvenile court pertaining to In re Isaiah C. (Super. Ct. Tulare County, No. J51704), a dependency proceeding. Appellant did not support its petition with any particular facts showing “good cause” for the records except to state that the records were required in connection with an ongoing “public watchdog” investigation being conducted by appellant under Penal Code section 925. (See McClatchy Newspapers v. Superior Court (1988) 44 Cal.3d 1162, 1170 [ 245 Cal.Rptr. 774 , 751 P.2d 1329 ].) The juvenile court denied the petition after appellant refused to provide the court with any further information *491 about the nature or extent of its…