skip to Main Content
Name: In re Andres D.
Case #: E079972
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 4 DCA
Division: 2
Opinion Date: 08/23/2023
Summary

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) section 224.2, subdivision (b) initial inquiry requirements do not apply when a minor is brought into custody pursuant to a warrant (section 340). The minor was removed from his parents pursuant to a detention warrant. Mother denied Indian ancestry and Father claimed Cherokee ancestry. The Cherokee Nation said that the minor was not eligible to be enrolled in the tribe. Father appealed the jurisdictional and dispositional findings that adjudged the minor as a dependent of the court and removed minor from his custody, raising an ICWA initial inquiry failure. The appellate court affirmed. Division two of the Fourth Appellate District followed the precedent in In re Robert F. (2023) 90 Cal.App.5th 492 and In re Ja.O. (2023) 91 Cal.App.5th 672 and declined to follow the holding in In re Delila D. (2023) 93 Cal.App.5th 953 (Delila D.). [Editor’s Note: Justice Slough wrote a concurring opinion following the reasoning of Delila D.]