In 1998, an Arkansas court granted father primary custody of the minor, and ordered visitation in the summer with mother. In 2001, during her visit with mother in California, the minor told her stepfather that her father had molested her in Arkansas. A California family court issued a temporary restraining order to retain the minor in California. Before a show cause hearing on the permanent restraining order, the Department filed a section 300 petition, and the juvenile court took emergency jurisdiction under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJA). The juvenile court found the petition true, placed the minor with her mother, and terminated jurisdiction. Here, the appellate court found that the juvenile court was not authorized under the UCCJA to make a section 300 true finding, and that finding had to be reversed. However, the true finding was a finding sufficient to invoke emergency jurisdiction under the UCCJA. Also, the juvenile court erred because the custody order should have been limited to a duration determined after consultation with the Arkansas family court, though that error was not prejudicial. The juvenile court did not err by terminating its jurisdiction.
Case Summaries