L.A. Cnty. Dep't of Children & Family Servs. v. William C. (In re Ethan C.)

• Decision Date: 05 July 2012
• Docket Number: No. S187587.,S187587.
• Citation: 12 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7690,279 P.3d 1052,143 Cal.Rptr.3d 565,2012 Daily Journal D.A.R. 9362,54 Cal.4th 610
• Court: California Supreme Court
• Parties: In re ETHAN C. et al., Persons Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. William C., Defendant and Appellant.

54 Cal.4th 610

279 P.3d 1052

143 Cal.Rptr.3d 565

12 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7690

2012 Daily Journal D.A.R. 9362

In re ETHAN C. et al., Persons Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, Plaintiff and Appellant,

v.William C., Defendant and Appellant.

No. S187587.

Supreme Court of California

July 5, 2012.

Andrea Sheridan Ordin, County Counsel, James M. Owens, Assistant County Counsel, Judith A. Luby and Kim Nemoy, Principal Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Jennifer Henning; Thomas E. Montgomery, County Counsel (San Diego), John E. Philips, Chief Deputy County Counsel, and Tahra C. Broderson, Deputy County Counsel, for California State Associate of Counties as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Appellant.

Christopher Blake, San Diego, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant.

William Wesley Patton, Costa Mesa, as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant.

Ronald L. Brown, Public Defender (Los Angeles), Albert J. Menaster and Karen Nash, Deputy Public Defenders, as Amici Curiae on behalf of Minor.

BAXTER, J.

Under certain circumstances, found by a preponderance of evidence, and indicating that a minor child is bereft of care or support by a parent or guardian, or has suffered or risks actual or threatened serious injury, illness, emotional damage, or sexual abuse because of a custodial parent's or guardian's inadequacy, neglect, or mistreatment, the child may be adjudged a dependent of the juvenile court. (welf. & inst.code, § 300.) ¹ a dependency adjudication is a preliminary step that allows the juvenile court, within specified limits, to assert supervision over the endangered child's care. But it is merely a first step, and the system includes many subsequent safeguards to ensure that parental rights and authority will be restricted only to the extent necessary for the child's safety and welfare.

Thus, unless a custodial parent or guardian has abandoned or voluntarily relinquished the child, the court may not remove a dependent child from the parent's or guardian's physical custody unless it finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that such action is necessary to protect the child from serious harm. (§ 361, subd. (c).) Even if removal is ordered, the court must provide social services, including family reunification services, designed to facilitate the parent's or guardian's resumption of full custody and control, unless the court finds specified circumstances by clear and convincing evidence. (§ 361.5.) Only if the court permissibly denies reunification services, or such services have failed, may the court conduct permanency planning proceedings that contemplate a final termination of parental rights.

Among the findings allowing an initial adjudication of dependency is that “[t]he child's parent or guardian caused the death of another child through abuse or neglect.” (§ 300, subd. (f), italics added (section 300(f)).) Here, a father's two young surviving children were adjudged juvenile court dependents, in part because of findings under section 300(f). These findings were based on evidence that, in violation of law, the father transported his third child, an 18–month–old daughter, in an automobile without securing her in a child safety seat, and she was fatally injured when another vehicle collided with their car. The Court of Appeal affirmed the juvenile court's judgment.

We granted the father's petition for review to address three issues: First, does the lethal neglect to which section 300(f) refers require criminal negligence, i.e., a degree of culpable misfeasance or malfeasance that would support the parent's or guardian's criminal conviction for causing a child's death? Second, does section 300(f) require discrete evidence and findings that the particular circumstances of the child fatality demonstrate a current risk of substantial harm to surviving children in the parent's or guardian's care? Third, what is the meaning of “caused,” as used in section 300(f); i.e., is a substantial or contributing cause sufficient, and what is the effect, if any, of any intervening or superseding cause?

Like the Court of Appeal majority in this case, we conclude that section 300(f) does not limit its application to criminal negligence. On the contrary, section 300(f) allows (but does not require) the juvenile court to adjudge a child a dependent if the court finds that the want of ordinary care by the child's parent or guardian caused another child's death. We further conclude that the juvenile court may adjudicate dependency under section 300(f) without any additional evidence or finding that the circumstances surrounding the parent's or guardian's fatal negligence indicate a present risk of harm to surviving children in the parent's or guardian's custody.

Finally, we determine that normal concepts of legal causation apply under section 300(f). Here, we are persuaded, the father's negligent failure to secure his young daughter in a child safety seat was a substantial contributing cause of her death in an ensuing traffic accident. The father's counsel conceded as much in the juvenile court. Nor does the evidence permit a conclusion that the accident itself was an unforeseeable intervening or superseding event that absolves the father of causation responsibility. The “superseding cause” doctrine cannot apply where, as here, the duty the father breached is intended to guard against the precise, and thus foreseeable, risk that materialized, i.e., a young child's injury or death in a traffic collision.

Accordingly, we will affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND²

Defendant William C. (William) ³ and his wife Kimberly G. (Kimberly) had three children, Ethan C. (Ethan), born in January 2006, Valerie C. (Valerie), born in November 2007, and Jesus C. (Jesus), born in November 2008. In March or April of 2009, William and Kimberly separated. Kimberly returned to her family's home, while Ethan, Jesus, and Valerie lived with William in the home of his mother (the children's paternal grandmother).

On June 17, 2009, William left Valerie in the care of his mother and sister. When he returned to the house, he noticed that Valerie's arm was injured. He decided to take her to the hospital to have the arm examined. During the trip, Valerie was not secured in a child safety seat; she sat on an adult relative's lap. En route to the hospital, another vehicle collided with William's car. Valerie died as the result of blunt force injuries. There is no indication William was at fault for the traffic accident itself.⁴

A week after Valerie's death, the Department responded to a report that Ethan and Jesus were victims of general neglect by their parents. Investigation revealed that the household in which William was living with the children included as many as 20 persons. The conditions were unsanitary, and the children in the household were dirty and seemed unsupervised. In particular, three-year-old Ethan appeared to be a victim of inadequate care, and he showed signs of delayed development. He lacked language skills, was confused about the difference between day and night, did not know how to use eating utensils, and had several rotten teeth that required extraction.

The Department investigators were told that Kimberly had a history of sometimes suicidal depression, anger management problems, a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, and cognitive impairments that limited her functioning to the level of an 11 year old. They learned the couple had engaged in episodes of domestic violence, with Kimberly as the primary aggressor. Members of Kimberly's family indicated she could care take care of her children, but only with extensive help and guidance. A psychologist expressed serious reservations about her ability to do so. On the other hand, members of Kimberly's family insisted that the children had been seriously neglected in the home of William's relatives, and that Jesus and Ethan would be in danger if they remained there.

William expressed extreme remorse about the fatal accident. He told the investigators that Valerie's arm injury apparently happened when she fell out of bed while unsupervised. He explained that when he decided to take Valerie to the hospital, his car, which had a child safety seat, was being used by someone else, and he was unable to get another seat from Kimberly, so he drove to the hospital with Valerie sitting unsecured in his sister's lap. Kimberly indicated she was not sure William ever had a child safety seat.

Initially, William, Kimberly, and the Department agreed to a voluntary plan whereby Ethan and Jesus would be temporarily removed from the physical custody of the parents, who would be allowed monitored visits with the children and would participate in a family reunification program. William began parenting classes and grief counseling. However, the Department's concern about his failure to leave his mother's home and establish a safe living environment for Ethan and Jesus, the pending criminal investigation against him in connection with Valerie's death,⁵ and Kimberly's serious mental health, cognitive, anger management, and physical violence issues, led to a departmental recommendation that the juvenile court take jurisdiction.

On August 18, 2009, the Department filed a dependency petition alleging that Ethan and Jesus came within the juvenile court's jurisdiction under the provisions of section 300, subdivisions (a), (b), (f), and (j). Under subdivisions (a) and (b), the petition alleged that the parents' history of domestic violence placed the children at risk of serious harm (allegations a–1, b–2). The petition further alleged under subdivision (b) that the children were placed in an endangering situation, and were at risk of serious harm, because Kimberly's cognitive limitations required the provision of extensive services to enable her...