The Court of Appeal agreed with appellant that substantial evidence does not support the juvenile court’s order terminating his parental rights under Family Code section 7825 subdivision (a)(1) (unfitness due to felony conviction) and freeing minor for adoption.

The juvenile court based its order on father’s felony conviction for assault, which it found to be an act of significant violence that resulted in great bodily injury, and a prior domestic violence restraining order that expired 6 years prior to the termination hearing. However, the record was devoid of any admissible evidence detailing the violent nature of the assault or the extent of the victim’s injuries, and this single incident of violence is not the type of heinous crime that typically supports a finding terminating parental rights. Furthermore, due to the lack of facts in the record as to the conduct underlying the restraining order, no admissible evidence existed upon which the juvenile court could base its conclusion that the restraining order was a second point of violence exhibited by father, much less the type of extreme violence that demonstrates unfitness of a parent.

The Court of Appeal reversed the order terminating appellant’s parental rights.