Filed 7/10/23 In re J.P. CA6

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for 

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or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. 

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

In re J.P., a Person Coming Under the 

Juvenile Court Law.

 H049923

 (Santa Clara County

 Super. Ct. No. 21-JD-026875)

SANTA CLARA COUNTY 

DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND 

CHILDREN'S SERVICES,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

E.P. et al.,

Defendants and Appellants.

The parents in this dependency case contend the juvenile court abused its 

discretion by quashing a subpoena that would have required the six-year-old boy who is 

the subject of the proceedings to testify at the jurisdictional hearing. Finding no abuse of 

discretion, we will affirm. 

I. BACKGROUND

The Santa Clara County Department of Family and Children’s Services initiated 

dependency proceedings after a report of domestic violence between the father and 

mother in the presence of their six-year-old son, J.P. The father reportedly strangled the 

mother until she lost consciousness. The Department filed a petition under Welfare and 

Institutions Code section 300 alleging J.P. was at risk because of domestic violence and 

the father’s untreated substance abuse issues. J.P. was detained, removed from his 
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father’s custody, and placed with his mother. He was soon afterward removed from her 

custody and placed in foster care when the Department learned the father had resumed 

living in the family home. After a jurisdictional and dispositional hearing, the juvenile 

court sustained the allegations of the petition and ordered reunification services. J.P. 

continued at his foster placement with both parents allowed supervised visits. 

Once the mother moved to her own home away from the father, she was allowed

unsupervised and eventually overnight visits with J.P. But J.P. told social workers the 

visits were “very bad.” He said his mother hit him (demonstrating with an open hand) 

when he misbehaves and had a boyfriend whom she “ ‘kisses all day’ ” and with whom

she sometimes fought in front of J.P. Then J.P. told his foster mother he was being 

sexually abused during the visits. He said his father was back in the house and the

parents had intercourse while J.P. was in bed with them, licked J.P.’s private parts, and he 

did not want to lick his father’s “pino” anymore. When asked what a pino is, J.P. pointed 

to his penis. He said his father touched him and liked to lick his butt and private parts. In 

a later interview with a forensic analyst trained in interviewing child sexual abuse 

victims, J.P. reported that his mother showered with him and would grab his hand and put 

it on her private parts. 

In an interview with a police officer, J.P. drew a stick figure showing his mother 

had touched him in the area between his legs. He said his parents told him not to tell 

anyone about anything they did and his father said he would stop buying him things if he 

told anyone. J.P. also spoke with a therapist and described being touched on his private 

parts. Both parents denied engaging in any such conduct but were arrested and 

criminally charged.

The Department filed a second dependency petition alleging J.P. was at risk 

because of sexual abuse. A contested jurisdictional hearing was set regarding the new

petition. The father’s counsel subpoenaed J.P. to testify at the hearing and J.P.’s counsel 

moved to quash the subpoena. The juvenile court granted the motion to quash, finding 
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the potential for psychological harm to J.P. outweighed the need for his testimony, given 

that he had already described the alleged abuse in detail during multiple interviews. 

At a combined jurisdictional and dispositional hearing, the court heard testimony 

from a social worker detailing J.P.’s allegations of sexual abuse and from J.P.’s therapist 

describing emotional trauma the abuse caused. The father testified and denied abusing 

J.P., saying J.P. had been coached into making the allegations. The juvenile court 

sustained the petition and issued dispositional orders for the continued removal of J.P. 

from his parents’ care, supervised virtual visitation, and counseling and treatment 

programs for the parents.

II. DISCUSSION

The parents contend the juvenile court erred by quashing the subpoena for J.P. to 

testify at the jurisdictional hearing. After carefully weighing the interests involved, a 

juvenile court may exclude even relevant and otherwise admissible testimony of a child 

who is the subject of dependency proceedings if the child would be psychologically 

damaged by testifying and the testimony would not materially affect the issues to be 

resolved. (In re Jennifer J. (1992) 8 Cal.App.4th 1080, 1089.) That power derives “from 

a recognition of the overriding objective of the dependency hearing—to preserve and 

promote the best interests of the child. It would be a perversion of the procedure to 

impose upon [the juvenile court] a requirement that the child’s testimony always be 

presented, regardless of the trauma resulting to the child therefrom, and regardless of the 

necessity of such testimony in the resolution of the issues before the court.” (Ibid.) 

Because the juvenile court must evaluate the competing interests and determine 

whether psychological harm outweighs the need for the child’s testimony, we review the 

court’s decision for abuse of discretion. (In re Daniela G. (2018) 23 Cal.App.5th 1083, 

1090.) Under that deferential standard, we affirm the ruling unless it is outside the range 

of permissible options afforded by the applicable law or the court acted arbitrarily or 
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irrationally. (Sargon Enterprises, Inc. v. University of Southern California (2012) 

55 Cal.4th 747, 773.)

We see no abuse of discretion here. In considering the motion to quash, the 

juvenile court observed on the record that J.P. “is very young, six years old, and 

diagnosed with PTSD, which is relatively rare in such a young child. And the evidence

indicates that [he] already has severe emotional distress and is experiencing night terrors 

and is showing signs of having been severely traumatized ... given that [he] has already 

been asked these questions at least once, and maybe multiple times, and given that there 

has been a forensic interview conducted by people qualified to ask questions of children, 

I don't really see much of a need for him to testify here, given that the information has 

already been provided and that's counterbalanced with the psychological detriment that 

would likely happen if he is forced to talk about these traumatizing events yet again.” 

The court’s comments show that it weighed the appropriate considerations and that its 

decision was the product of rational thought and not arbitrary.

The parents emphasize the importance of J.P.’s testimony to their case and argue 

that if he were allowed to testify they could explore inconsistencies in his reports that 

might cause the court to view the abuse allegations as less credible. But as the juvenile 

court noted, J.P. had already been interviewed multiple times about the abuse allegations, 

diminishing the need for his testimony. And even though J.P.’s credibility is highly 

important to the parents’ position, it is not an abuse of discretion to decide that the 

potential for psychological harm to him justifies quashing the subpoena. Given that the 

overriding objective in a dependency proceeding is safeguarding the child’s best interests, 

it is not an abuse of discretion for the juvenile court to prioritize J.P.’s wellbeing 

“regardless of the necessity” of his testimony. (In re Jennifer J., supra, 

8 Cal.App.4th 1083, 1089.)

The parents advance two other reasons for their position that the court abused its 

discretion. They assert there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for the finding that J.P. 
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would suffer psychological harm. But the record contains ample evidence to support that 

finding. The juvenile court indicated it was relying on the declarations of J.P.’s therapist 

and the assigned social worker, both of which say J.P. would by psychologically harmed 

were he required to testify. 

The parents fault the juvenile court for not considering less restrictive options, 

such as allowing J.P. to testify in chambers. The record also belies that assertion. The 

juvenile court specifically stated it had considered the possibility of alternative ways to 

obtain J.P.’s testimony: “Even if [J.P.] were questioned in chambers with only attorneys 

present or only a select number of people present in a less intimidating environment, still 

asking these same types of questions, appears to me to be likely to be further 

traumatizing.” 

The juvenile court did not abuse its discretion in deciding that potential 

psychological harm to the child outweighed the need for his testimony in this proceeding.

III. DISPOSITION

The orders are affirmed. 
____________________________________

Grover, J.

WE CONCUR:

____________________________

Greenwood, P. J. 

____________________________

Lie, J. 

H049923

In re J.P.; DFCS v. E.P. et al.