J.E.

During the pendency of juvenile delinquency proceedings against J.E., J.E. filed a petition requesting that the court conduct an in camera inspection of a prosecution witness’s juvenile dependency file for Brady 1 exculpatory and impeachment evidence. The petition was filed under Welfare and Institutions Code section 827, which allows a juvenile court to release information from juvenile files to persons who are otherwise not authorized to access the confidential files. 2 The juvenile court declined to examine the file, ruling the Brady review should be conducted by the prosecutor, not the court.

In this writ of mandate petition, J.E. challenges the court’s refusal to exercise its authority to review the file under section 827. The People *1333 (represented by the district attorney’s office) agree that the court erred by declining to inspect the file.

For reasons we shall explain, we hold that when a petitioner files a section 827 petition requesting that the court review a confidential juvenile file and provides a reasonable basis to support its claim that the file contains Brady exculpatory or impeachment material, the juvenile court is required to conduct an in…