Ofelia C. v. Superior Court
Filed 2/24/06 Ofelia C. v. Superior Court CA4/3
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.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
FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION THREE
| OFELIA C., Petitioner, v. THE SUPERIOR COURT OF ORANGE COUNTY, Respondent; ORANGE COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICES AGENCY et al., Real Parties in Interest. | G036179 (Super. Ct. Nos. DP011266, DP011267) O P I N I O N |
Original proceedings; petition for a writ of mandate/prohibition to challenge an order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Donna L. Crandall, Judge. Petition granted.
Deborah A. Kwast, Public Defender, Frank Ospino, Assistant Public Defender, and Dennis M. Nolan, Deputy Public Defender, for Petitioner.
No appearance for Respondent.
Benjamin P. de Mayo, County Counsel, Dana J. Stits and Jeannie Su, Deputy County Counsel, for Real Party in Interest Orange County Social Services Agency.
Law Office of Harold LaFlamme, Mari Duque and Danette Gómez for Real Parties in Interest Pedro C. and Oliva C.
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Ofelia C. (mother) seeks extraordinary relief from a juvenile court order at the six-month review hearing (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 366.21, subd. (e); all further statutory references are to this code), where the court found Orange County Social Services (SSA) provided reasonable reunification services. Mother contends the juvenile court violated due process by prohibiting her from contesting SSA's favorable account of its services in reports the court admitted into evidence. Specifically, mother argues the court erred by precluding her from cross-examining the social workers who prepared the reports. We agree. The constitutional error is not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, and we therefore direct the juvenile court to strike from its order the finding that reasonable services were provided and to conduct a new and different hearing on this issue.
I
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
SSA detained 11-year-old Oliva and her 14-year-old brother Pedro at Orangewood Children's Home (Orangewood) in January 2005 after stepfather struck Oliva with a belt, leaving welts. Mother admitted she knew stepfather had beaten Oliva with a belt on other occasions, and SSA filed a dependency petition alleging she failed to protect the children. (§ 300, subd. (b).) After one visit with mother at Orangewood, Oliva told the social worker â€
