Court Opinion

ID: 9727897
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 13:52:31.792542+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:44.217282
License: Public Domain

SCOTT, Acting P. J.
I concur in the judgment.
The notice requirements for the dependency hearing are set forth in section 325 et seq. Parents are required to be notified (§§ 332, 335). Parents include fathers of illegitimate children (see Stanley v. Illinois (1972) 405 U.S. 645 [31 L.Ed.2d 551, 92 S.Ct. 1208]; see also In re Reyna (1976) 55 Cal.App.3d 288, 297 [126 Cal.Rptr. 138].) The parent is entitled to be present and represented by an attorney (§§ 336, subd. (e), 349). If the parent is indigent, he is entitled to a court-appointed attorney (§ 336, subd. (e)). Parents have the right to subpoena witnesses (§ 341). At the hearing of the dependency petition, the judge is required to ascertain the “jurisdictional facts” (§ 350). Section 355 provides that in determining the jurisdictional facts “any matter or information relevant and material to the circumstances or acts which are alleged to bring him [the minor] within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court is admissible and may be received in evidence.” From this statutory scheme it is clearly contemplated that the parent is entitled to be present, represented by counsel, and present relevant evidence concerning the jurisdictional F acts. Furthermore, in In re B. G. (1974) 11 Cal.3d 679 [114 Cal.Rptr. 444, 523 P.2d 244], the court stated (at pp. 688-689), “the state, before depriving a parent of this interest [that is, child custody] must afford him adequate notice and an opportunity to be heard. [Citations.]” [Italics added.]
The court here, in not permitting the father to present evidence, simply failed to follow the hearing requirements of the statute. The *405questions of jurisdiction and disposition of the minor are governed by Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivision (a) and Civil Code section 4600 (see In re B. G., supra, at pp. 693-699).