Case Summaries

Eligibility as a “naturalized member” but not as an enrolled member of a tribe is insufficient to trigger the substantive and procedural safeguards of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The minors were removed from Mother and placed in foster…

There was sufficient evidence to support jurisdictional findings where the parents' custody order was insufficient to protect the minor and this was not the only basis for jurisdiction. The minor was removed from Mother due to domestic violence with the…

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) inquiry duties mandated by section 224.2 are not limited to biological relationships. Mother is the adoptive mother of the minor. The minor was removed from Mother due to allegations of physical abuse. Mother denied…

The Agency did not exercise due diligence in its attempts to locate Father for service when it failed to follow up with unique facts more likely to yield his whereabouts. The minor and his younger sibling were removed from Mother…

There was insufficient evidence to support a finding by clear and convincing evidence that placing the minor with Father would be detrimental. The minor came to the attention of the Agency when his half-brother was born testing positive for drugs.…

The juvenile court abused its discretion when it failed to order a supplemental bonding study after receiving an inadequate evaluation. The minor was removed from her parents due to sexual abuse. Following 18 months of services, the juvenile court set…

Parental fitness is a child-by-child assessment expressed in terms of detriment to the child, which is a prerequisite to terminating parental rights, but need not be made at the section 366.26 hearing. Following removal of the minor and her younger…

Father’s appeal is moot because his claim that he may be included on the California Child Abuse Central Index (CACI) is too speculative to demonstrate a specific legal consequence that a favorable judgment could redress. The minor had a healing…

Bypass of reunification services pursuant to section 361.5, subdivision (b)(6) was improper where severe physical abuse occurred in a prior dependency case and Father had promptly engaged in predisposition services. The minors were removed from the parents due to domestic…

Substantial evidence supported the setting of a section 366.26 hearing despite Mother’s progress in reunification services where she had a history of drug use and relapse, a prior dependency case, and the minor had grown attached to her foster family.…

The law of the case doctrine precluded the resentencing court from finding that a prison term of 15 years to life was cruel and/or unusual punishment. Upon his conviction for child molestation, Nash was sentenced to a determinate term after…

Inmate “kites” in an envelope addressed to defendant’s attorney were not covered by the attorney-client privilege because they were not confidential communication to the attorney for the purpose of seeking legal advice. Cortez is an inmate in jail awaiting trial…

Trial court properly dismissed defendant’s second Penal Code section 1172.6 resentencing petition, which was filed while the denial of his first petition was on appeal. Convicted of murder in 2004, Cress filed a petition to vacate his conviction under section…

Writ of mandate vacating superior court’s order to release sexually violent predator (SVP) issued because the statute prohibiting placement of certain SVPs near a school does not require the school to have been operating for any particular time, and includes…

Petitioner’s murder sentence must be vacated under Penal Code section 1172.6 where substantial evidence did not support a finding that she acted with reckless indifference to human life. In 2003, 19-year-old Guiffreda and codefendants Peace and Oie (Guiffreda’s husband) noted…

A defendant is entitled to discover the prosecution’s jury selection notes under Penal Code section 1054.9 where a postconviction prima facie case of racial bias under Batson/Wheeler has been established. Following an automatic appeal from a 1990 first degree murder…

Senate Bill No. 81’s amendments to Penal Code section 1385 do not mandate dismissal of enhancements that could make the sentence over 20 years where trial court finds dismissal would endanger public safety. Defendant was convicted of discharging a firearm…

Newly enacted Penal Code section 1170, subdivision (b)(6) (addressing imposition of the lower term when certain mitigating circumstances are present), does not apply to sentences imposed pursuant to a negotiated plea with a stipulated sentence. Pursuant to a negotiated plea…

Remand for resentencing under Senate Bill No. 567 was required where the Court of Appeal could not conclude beyond reasonable doubt that a jury would have found true all of the aggravating factors relied on in selecting the upper term,…

Denial of a Penal Code section 1172.6 petition affirmed where the jury’s true finding on a drive-by shooting special circumstance allegation, together with the court’s instructions, conclusively demonstrated petitioner was ineligible for relief. In 2005, petitioner was convicted of first…

A Franklin hearing does not reopen a final judgment or sentencing; it is an “evidence preservation process” to gather data for future determination of parole. In 2006, White was convicted of second degree murder and other offenses based on an…

Inadequate initial Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) inquiry was prejudicial under the Benjamin M. standard and any speculation about the minor's placement with a relative is not a proper consideration. The minor was removed shortly after birth and placed with…

Penal Code section 1170.95 relief is unavailable to a petitioner concurrently convicted of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder where both convictions involve the same victim. In 1991, Medrano was convicted of two counts of first degree murder,…

Mother's completion of a 90-day drug treatment program did not demonstrate a material change of circumstances necessary to grant a Welfare and Institutions Code section 388 petition. The minor N.F. was removed after she and Mother tested positive for methamphetamine…

California's DNA Act did not violate defendant's search and seizure rights or privacy rights under either the federal or state constitutions. A teenage girl's murder went unsolved until defendant's DNA was linked to certain items found at the scene. Defendant's…

Trial court correctly instructed jury with "kill zone" theory of attempted murder liability where defendant shot through closed doors at pursuing police officers. Mumin was convicted of special circumstance murder after he killed a man during a store robbery, as…

The 2020 statutory reduction in the length of parole terms to two years (Pen. Code, § 3000.01) applies to section 1170.95 petitioners who are resentenced to a determinate term. In 1998, Tan was convicted of first degree murder and robbery.…

Penal Code section 1170.95 does not apply to individuals charged with murder but convicted by plea of voluntary manslaughter. In 2016, McClure was initially charged with deliberate and premeditated murder for her participation in events leading to the victim's death.…