Friday, December 06, 2013

In Re Brianna M. (Cal. Ct. App. - Oct. 24, 2013)

Here's another wonderfully uplifting family law case:

"Brianna (born Mar. 2005) is the biological daughter of Stephanie P. (mother) and Francisco. Brianna‟s half-brothers, Ronnie H. (born Mar. 2007) and Anthony H. (born Apr. 2008), are the children of mother and Ron. Brianna‟s half-sister, L.G. (born Dec. 2011), is the daughter of mother and Jonathan G. (Jonathan).

On June 6, 2012, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department conducted a parole compliance check of Jonathan at the family home. Jonathan and mother took the children into one of the bedrooms and barricaded themselves in it. When deputies entered the room, they discovered a loaded gun accessible to the children and 'deplorable' home conditions. The home 'was extremely dirty and messy, [a] non-operational dishwasher was in the bedroom, the home had a foul odor, trash [was] strewn throughout, roaches [were] everywhere, dead flies were in the refrigerator and animal feces [were] scattered throughout. It was also reported that the child [L.G.] was dressed in a heavily urine soiled blouse and she too also had [a] strong foul odor to her.' The sheriffs arrested mother and Jonathan and detained the children.

The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) filed a juvenile dependency petition for Brianna and her siblings on June 11, 2012. It alleged: Jonathan hit and choked mother in the children's presence, and such violent conduct in the children's presence endangered their health and safety and placed them at risk of physical harm (a-1, b-2); mother and Jonathan allowed the children access to a loaded firearm and refused to comply with law enforcement requests to exit the home (b-1); the family home was in a filthy and unsanitary condition, endangering the children‟s health and safety (b-3); and mother had a history of illegal drug use and was a current user of marijuana, which rendered her incapable of providing regular care for the children (b-4)."

*Sigh*