In re Amanda H.

Filed 5/26/06  In re Amanda H. CA2/8

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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  This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.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 EIGHT

            APPEAL from orders of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County.

Marilyn Kading Martinez, Temporary Judge.  (Pursuant to Cal. Const., art. VI, §  21.)  Reversed and remanded.

            Lori A. Fields, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

            Raymond G. Fortner, Jr., County Counsel, Larry Cory, Assistant County Counsel, and William D. Thetford, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

            Cathy W. (Mother) appeals the juvenile court's orders declaring her daughter Amanda H. a dependent of the court pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section  361[1] and sustaining the petition filed pursuant to section 395 with an order that Mother not contact Amanda.  Mother contends the court erroneously denied her request for a continuance of the contested adjudication/disposition hearing and erred in denying her any contact with Amanda.  Concluding that under the particular facts in this case there was an abuse of discretion in denying Mother's request for a continuance, we shall reverse and remand for another hearing at which Mother can participate.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY AND STATEMENT OF FACTS

Historical record according to reports of the Department of Children and Family Services (Department) and transcripts on appeal

            Father and Mother were never married and neither obtained a custody order regarding Amanda, who was in Mother's custody in California; Mother then moved to Chicago in November 2003 without telling Father.  Amanda called him from Chicago and asked to spend the summer in California with Father.  Amanda visited Father in the summer of 2004, and he did not return her to Chicago.  When Amanda said she would like to live with him, they called Mother, who became angry and did not call them back as promised.  Instead, when Father went to enroll Amanda in school, he was told that Mother had called the police and reported the child had been abducted.  Father then hired an attorney and petitioned the family law court, which granted him temporary custody until September 20, 2004, on which date Mother was granted custody. 

            According to Father, Mother asked him to keep Amanda overnight on September  20, the day of the family law hearing on custody, and they agreed Father would bring Amanda to the sheriff's station in Marina Del Rey the following day for Mother to pick up Amanda.  According to Father and a detective, Mother did not appear when Father and Amanda were there.  On advice of his attorney, Father successfully sought a stay order that was effective until October 24, 2004.

            On October 5, 2004, the Department received information that Amanda was the victim of emotional and physical abuse by her mother.  The informant, apparently Father or the therapist Father chose for Amanda, stated Amanda reported physical harm and that Mother and other adults would view pornographic videos in her presence and engage in sexual relations in front of Amanda.[2]

            The Department interviewed Amanda, then 10 years old and a fifth grader, on October 11, 2004.  Amanda confirmed the reported abuse and added other allegations, including that when she slept in the same bed with Mother, Mother touched her behind while masturbating.  Father reported that Amanda had disclosed the physical abuse before the September court hearings but disclosed the sexual conduct only after he took her on a short trip to San Francisco after the September stay order.  Amanda then disclosed to Father that she had seen Mother having sex with her boyfriend.

            The social worker called Amanda's school principal, who confirmed that Mother reported Amanda had not returned from California and â€