Heather A., In re

• Citation: 60 Cal.Rptr.2d 315,52 Cal.App.4th 183
• Decision Date: 24 December 1996
• Docket Number: No. B095308,B095308
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: , 97 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 568, 97 Daily Journal D.A.R. 873 In re HEATHER & Helen A., et al, Persons Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. HAROLD A., Defendant and Appellant.

Page 315

60 Cal.Rptr.2d 315

52 Cal.App.4th 183, 97 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 568,

97 Daily Journal D.A.R. 873

In re HEATHER & Helen A., et al, Persons Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. HAROLD A., Defendant and Appellant.

No. B095308.

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 3, California.

Dec. 24, 1996.

Review Denied March 12, 1997.

[52 Cal.App.4th 186] Heather M. Giannini, Inglewood, for Defendant and Appellant.

DeWitt W. Clinton, County Counsel, Gary P. Gross and Sterling Honea, Los Angeles, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

CROSKEY, Associate Justice.

In this dependency case, Harold A. ("Father"), challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jurisdiction and disposition orders made regarding his minor twin daughters, Helen A. ("Helen") and Heather A. ("Heather"). He also asserts the court failed to put certain findings in the record. Part of the evidence before the dependency court focused on the concepts of secondary abuse and battered women's syndrome, as they relate to the children (or step-children, foster children, etc.) of victims of domestic violence. "Secondary abuse" refers to the effect on children of occurrences of abuse in their environment which are not directed specifically at them. Battered women's syndrome is that collection of symptoms commonly experienced by victims of domestic abuse. Here, there is evidence that the minor children were exposed to domestic violence in their father's home. This evidence, together with other evidence in the record, supports the orders challenged by Father and we therefore affirm the judgment.

BACKGROUND OF THE CASE

1. Events Leading to Jurisdiction Over the Minors

On December 13, 1994, the Department of Children and Family Services ("DCFS") filed a petition alleging the minor girls are persons coming within section 300 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, ¹ specifically subdivisions (a), (b), (c), (d), (g), and (i) of section 300. ² The A January 1995 report from the social workers states that Ramona related several incidents of spousal abuse by Father during June, July, August, and September of 1994, including his choking, pushing, and hitting her. The abuse also included threats by Father to kill Ramona, threats with a gun, and firing a gun at her. Ramona stated the minors had witnessed some of the incidents. In a social worker's interview with Father, he denied sexually abusing the minors and denied Heather and Helen had witnessed any of his fights with Ramona. He admitted to physically abusing Ramona in September 1994 and stated he and Ramona have had verbal arguments, during which he has restrained her by holding her down.

minors, who were born July 31, 1991, had been taken into custody on December 9, 1994, and placed with their step-mother, Ramona A. ("Ramona"). At that time, the whereabouts of their biological mother, Susan K., were unknown. A detention hearing was held December 14, 1994, with the court ordering the minors detained and placed in shelter care. ³

2. The Adjudication Hearing

On March 8 and 9, 1995, the court took evidence regarding jurisdiction. Ramona testified to incidents of spousal abuse against her and estimated they had occurred five times. She described incidents where she was hit and choked by Father, and also described an incident when she sustained a fracture and cuts to her head because of his violence. She stated the minor children were present in the home during the abuse but abuse was not done in front of them. However, she also stated that one of the incidents of abuse occurred in a hotel room and the children were in the room.

The court determined it had jurisdiction over the minors, finding the petition true and sustained as to the following matters: (1) the "minors are periodically exposed to violent confrontations between their father and stepmother that endanger their physical and emotional safety," and (2) the minors' mother's whereabouts are unknown. The court found the minors are described by subdivisions (b) and (g) of section 300.

3. The Disposition Hearing

a. Father's and Ramona's Testimony

Disposition hearings were held on June 21 and 22, 1995. Ramona testified she had been physically abused by Father about eight times and on four or five of those occasions the minors had been present. During one of the incidents, Father smashed a glass vase and one of the minors cut her finger and foot on the glass and needed medical attention. In another incident, when the minors were approximately three years old, Father had pushed Ramona on the floor and was hitting her, and Heather attempted to get Father off of Ramona. Asked about the girls' whereabouts during the September 1994 incident which sent her to hospital with a head fracture, Ramona stated the children were initially not present. They were asleep in another part of the house. However, after the violence started and Ramona was bleeding in the head, the minors woke up and came to see what was happening. The girls went with Ramona to the hospital. In addition to Ramona's testimony regarding domestic violence, there was evidence of Father's abuse of other women. The minors' biological mother ("Mother") reported to a social worker that Father had threatened to kill her and himself on one occasion.

Father denied hitting Ramona. ⁴ He admitted injuring her but stated he did not intend to. He stated there has been pushing and shoving and that there have been times when Ramona was the aggressor and injured him. He was unclear as to the frequency of altercations between Ramona and himself. He stated there had only been three incidents of violence during his whole relationship with Ramona, but then he stated there were six to eight incidents where he had to restrain Ramona. He mentioned there had been numerous times that he and Ramona argued. According to him, the minors never witnessed physical violence but did witness the arguments. He said he pleaded no contest to the charge he had abused Ramona because he wanted to preserve the family. He admitted that currently there was a

spousal abuse case against him in the district attorney's office. He denied that the girls are hesitant to visit with him, although he stated they were at first.

b. The Expert's Report

The court-appointed expert, Barry T. Hirsch, Ph.D., provided a report for the disposition hearing. Dr. Hirsch interviewed Father, Ramona, Heather, Helen, Mother, the minors' Optimists Home social worker (Renee Cote), and others. In answer to the question "What is the likelihood that the minors Heather and Helen [A.] will be physically/emotionally abused by a parent and/or member of the household?" Dr. Hirsch gave the following answer: "There is no information available to me that I consider to be reliable at the time of the writing of this report that either Minor has ever been directly physically or emotionally abused by any parent or member of the household of Harold and Ramona [A.]. There is evidence that they may have suffered secondary abuse associated with the domestic violence they were exposed to between [Father] and Ramona ..., but due to their age and impaired language ability this cannot be firmly substantiated." ⁵ (Emphasis added.) Hirsch defined "secondary abuse" as a label for a concept coined by him, which he had documented, that "children are affected by what goes on around them as well as what is directly done to them." He noted that "There is ample evidence that there has been repeated ongoing domestic violence between [Father and Ramona] when the twins were present to raise the issue of secondary abuse of the Minors." Dr. Hirsch noted that although Ramona was repeatedly abused by Father, she kept returning to him because of Battered Women's Syndrome, which he described as a "pattern of learned helplessness and dependency, originating in childhood, which, without intervention, is perpetuated throughout the victim's life that psychologically causes her to return again and again to relationships in which she is battered and abused." (Emphasis added.)

Hirsch's psychological testing of Father resulted in a clinical profile showing Father "is a person who is very sensitive to criticism and tends to overreact to minor problems with anger or hostility. He trusts no one and is constantly on guard to prevent others from doing him harm or injustice." The report also describes Father as being unable to compromise and "a person who broods and Dr. Hirsch stated his belief that Helen and Heather "are bonded and securely attached to both [Father and Ramona]." He based this belief on the information he received from documents and from persons he interviewed for his report. He did not interview the minors together with Father and/or Ramona. Other persons had a different opinion regarding Heather's and Helen's attachment to Ramona and Father. ⁷

[sic] great deal and becomes hostile when he feels threatened. He also tends to hold grudges and seeks to get even with others for perceived wrongs. His mistrusting and jealous behavior may place strains on his marriage. Individuals with his profile are seen as petulant and testy in [52 Cal.App.4th 191] relationships. He is seen as a person who is likely to quarrel a great deal and continually bring up old issues and arguments." ⁶

c. The Various Recommendations for Custody

In his report, Dr. Hirsch concluded that Father, Ramona and Mother should all be excluded as caretakers of Heather and Helen "until and unless such people have evidenced sufficient change in their psychological functioning that they can demonstrate being adequate parents." As reasons for excluding Father as a caretaker, Hirsch cited (1) Father's "long history of disruptive emotional relationships with women"; (2) Father's criminal record, (he fled Minnesota when he was charged with rape; he was arrested in 1972 in regard to a civil suit; he was jailed in 1973 for refusal to...