David T., In re

• Decision Date: 25 February 1976
• Citation: 55 Cal.App.3d 798,127 Cal.Rptr. 729
• Parties: In re DAVID T., a minor. A. G. FORBES, Probation Officer, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. DAVID T., Defendant and Appellant. In re BRUCE W., a minor. A. G. FORBES, Probation Officer, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. BRUCE W., Defendant and Appellant. Civ. 14347, Civ. 14541.
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

Page 729

127 Cal.Rptr. 729

55 Cal.App.3d 798

In re DAVID T., a minor.

A. G. FORBES, Probation Officer, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. DAVID T., Defendant and Appellant.

In re BRUCE W., a minor.

A. G. FORBES, Probation Officer, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. BRUCE W., Defendant and Appellant.

Civ. 14347, Civ. 14541.

Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division 1, California.

Feb. 25, 1976.

Hearing Denied April 22, 1976.

Appellate Defenders, Inc., by J. Perry Langford and Alden J. Fulkerson, San Diego, for defendants and appellants.

Evelle J. Younger, Atty. Gen., by Jeffrey A. Joseph and John W. Carner, Deputy Atty. Gen., for plaintiff and respondent.

COUGHLIN, Associate Justice. ^*

The minors appeal from orders of the juvenile court decreeing them wards following a jurisdictional hearing in which the oral proceedings were not recorded by an official reporter, as required by Welfare and Institutions Code section 677 which provides:

'At any juvenile court hearing conducted by a juvenile court judge, An official court reporter shall . . . take down in shorthand all the testimony and all the statements and remarks of the judge and all persons appearing at the hearing; . . .' (Italics ours.)

The minors contend the failure of the court to appoint an official court reporter to record the proceedings at the jurisdictional hearing was prejudicial error requiring a reversal. The issue was presented to this court by the minors' motions to reverse and order a new trial, which were supported by declarations and other evidence. This court may entertain the motions and grant the relief requested in the exercise of its inherent power to reasonably control the proceedings before it in order to insure the orderly and effective administration of its functions as a court of appeal (Hays v. Superior Court, 16 Cal.2d 260, 264, 105 P.2d 975; Millholen v. Riley, 211 Cal. 29, 33--34, 293 P. 69; Estate of King, 121 Cal.App.2d 765, 774, 264 P.2d 586; Corum v. Hartford Acc. & Ind. Co., 67 Cal.App.2d 891, 896, 155 P.2d 710).

The trial court directed a shorthand reporter, who was not an official court reporter, to record the oral proceedings. The qualifications of an official reporter are prescribed by Government Code section 69942 which provides:

'No person shall be appointed to the position of official reporter of any court unless . . . he has been first examined as to his competency by at least three members of the bar practicing in the court and designated by the judge or judges of the court, or has first obtained a license to practice as a certified shorthand reporter from the Certified Shorthand Reporters Board.'

The shorthand reporter appointed to record the proceedings at bench had not been examined by members of the bar as required by section 69942, nor had he obtained a license as prescribed by that section. He made three applications for such a license before the jurisdictional hearing, and one after the hearing. Each was denied because he failed to pass the required examination. The reporter's transcript on appeal in this court is a transcript prepared and certified by an unqualified shorthand reporter designated by the trial court; it is not a transcript by an official court reporter of that court.

On an appeal from an order of the juvenile court the record of the oral proceedings before that court is a transcript thereof prepared and certified by the official reporter (Welf. & Inst.Code §§ 677, 800; Rule 4(d) California Rules of Court). In Dana J. v. Superior Court, 4 Cal.3d 836, 840, fn. 6, 94 Cal.Rptr. 619, 484 P.2d 595, 622, the court said: It is clear from section 800 of the Welfare and Institutions Code 'the Legislature did not intend to permit the juvenile court to order a settled statement in lieu of a transcript, as is the practice in certain criminal appeals.' Obviously the reporter's transcript to which the minor is entitled under Welfare and Institutions Code section 800 and Rule 4(d) California Rules of Court is a transcript prepared and certified to be correct by the official reporter the court is required to appoint to record the oral proceedings (Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 677, 800).

In the case at bench the error of the court in failing to appoint an official reporter to record the proceedings prevented the minors from perfecting their appeals with a record the statute prescribes they have a right to demand (Welf. & Inst.Code § 677). The substitution of a reporter's transcript prepared and certified by a shorthand reporter not qualified or appointed to be an official reporter in lieu of a transcript by an official reporter denies the minors the appeals to which they are entitled under the statute (gen. see Dana J. v. Superior Court, supra, 4 Cal.3d 836, 840, fn. 6, 94 Cal.Rptr. 619, 484 P.2d 595). The statute prescribes the minimum qualifications presumed to assure a prima facie accurate transcript. Less than these qualifications supports a contrary presumption which renders the certification of accuracy prescribed by the statute meaningless.

The Attorney General contends the situation is controlled by the decisions in People v. Chessman, 35 Cal.2d 455, 218 P.2d 769, People v. Scott, 23 Cal.App.3d 80, 100 Cal.Rptr. 34 and People v. Fuentes, 132 Cal.App.2d 484, 282 P.2d 524, which dealt...