Appellant, Tulare County Grand Jury, filed a petition for an order permitting it to inspect the records of a dependency case, and the superior court denied the motion. The information supporting the petition was that it was necessary to an ongoing “public watchdog” investigation. No further information about the investigation or the relevance of the records was divulged. The appellate court here affirmed the denial of the petition. Because appellant did not provide the court with any specific facts, the court was unable to balance the confidentiality interests of the juvenile with the interests of the grand jury, and the denial was appropriate.
Case Summaries