In re Angelina O
Filed 3/29/06 In re Angelina O. CA2/1
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION ONE
| In re ANGELINA O. et al., Persons Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. | B184749 c/w B185286 |
| LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. GERALD O., Defendant and Appellant. | (Super. Ct. Nos. CK 59367 & CK 59417) |
APPEAL from orders of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. D. Zeke Zeidler, Judge. Reversed in part with directions and affirmed in part.
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Michael A. Salazar, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Raymond G. Fortner, Jr., County Counsel, Larry Cory, Assistant County Counsel, and Jerry M. Custis, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
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Gerald O., father of Angelina O. (born in 1996) and Santiago O. (born in 1999), appeals from a July 11, 2005 juvenile court order adjudicating the children dependent wards, placing Angelina with her mother Nicole A. and Santiago with his mother Sara V., and providing Father with reunification services. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 300, subds. (b), (c), (d), (j); all further undesignated section references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.)[1]
Father contends that (I) insufficient notice was provided under the Indian Child Welfare Act (hereafter ICWA) (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.); (II) the juvenile court erred in questioning Angelina during her testimony and limiting Father's cross-examination of her; (III) insufficient evidence supports the wardship findings; and (IV) even assuming no other error, the court failed to provide an adequate reunification plan for Father and the children.
We agree with Father that insufficient evidence supports the wardship finding as to Santiago, but not as to Angelina. We reverse the wardship finding as to Santiago and remand the case to the trial court to dismiss the petition as to Santiago. We reject Father's remaining contentions and in all other respects affirm the order.
FACTS
Father and Angelina's mother Nicole, who shared custody of Angelina, had an on-going custody dispute over Angelina in family court. That litigation included repeated allegations that Father sexually molested Angelina. By March 2005 all the allegations had been dismissed. Father shared custody of Santiago with Santiago's mother Sara V.
Shortly after Angelina returned from a late March 2005 visit with Father, she again accused him of sexually molesting her. About that time evidence emerged that Father also may have sexually molested Santiago. DCFS filed Angelina's petition on April 13, 2005 and Santiago's petition on June 1, 2005. After a brief initial detention, DCFS returned Angelina to her mother's custody; DCFS never removed Santiago from his mother's custody. The juvenile court heard the adjudications and dispositions together, and we consolidated the resulting appeals.
At early hearings, Father and Nicole reported they had Native American ancestors. The court therefore ordered DCFS to send out ICWA notices to the tribes and the Bureau of Indian Affairs regarding both children.
At the July 6 and 11, 2005, adjudication and disposition hearing, reports received in evidence disclosed that Angelina told Nicole, a school psychologist, the police, a therapist, and others that Father had sexually molested her, that she did not want to return to his house, and that she had recanted her earlier accusations only because she feared Father. The reports attached Angelina's written descriptions of the molestations. Angelina also told several people that Father and his girlfriend had sex in her presence. The reports included Father's denial of ever sexually molesting Angelina, his claim that Nicole and Sara V. encouraged Angelina to fabricate the accusations as part of their custody disputes, and that the earlier accusations had not been proven. The reports included a statement by Angelina's paternal aunt that Angelina told the aunt that Nicole and Sara V. instructed her to fabricate the accusations. The aunt supported her claim by a statement that she had made a verbatim contemporaneous written account of what Angelina told her.
The reports also disclosed that after Santiago returned from a December 2004 visit with Father, he was fearful, began uncontrolled urinating and other behavior showing emotional disturbance, and blurted out to his grandmother â€
