Simeth, In re

Decision Date26 July 1974
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
PartiesIn the Matter of Christine SIMETH, a minor. COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Rosemarie SIMETH, Defendant and Appellant. Civ. 43815.

Daniel M. Luevano, Rosalyn Chapman, Philip L. Goar, and W. Kenneth Rice, Western Center on Law & Poverty, Los Angeles, amicus curiae.

Evelle J. Younger, Atty. Gen., Elizabeth Palmer, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Edward M. Belasco, Deputy Atty. Gen., amicus curiae.

Gerald Blank, Gary T. Wienerman, Center for Parental and Juvenile Justice, Los Angeles, for appellant for the purposes of this motion only.

Joseph P. Busch, Dist. Atty. of Los Angeles County, Harry B. Sondheim, Head, Appellant Division, Los Angeles, and Daniel L. Bershin, San Diego, amicus curiae.

ROTH, Presiding Justice.

Appellant, Rosemarie Simeth, having appealed from an order after an adjudicatory disposition held in the Juvenile Court, finding and declaring her minor daughter a Dependent Child, pursuant to section 600(a) of the Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC), now moves that counsel be appointed to represent her on appeal. The order appealed from removes the child from the mother's custody. Unless the order is modified pursuant to section 775 WIC et seq., the mother would not have custody of the child during the years of the child's minority. (WIC 607.)

Appellant's motion by Western Center on Law & Poverty, temporary counsel appearing as amicus curiae, is supported by compelling declarations and a consummate brief. An amicus brief was requested by this court and filed by Joseph P. Busch, District Attorney of Los Angeles County and upon request of this court, a brief has also been filed by the Attorney General.

Appellant's amicus argues convincingly that this court has the inherent, constitutional and statutory authority to make such appointment.

This court in respect of the same question has previously decided that we had no statutory authority. (In re Robinson, 8 Cal.App.3d 783, 87 Cal.Rptr. 678. 1 ) The briefs of all counsel point out that since Robinson the statutes upon which the Robinson ruling was predicated have been amended. The District Attorney in his brief says in pertinent part: 'It is the position of the Amicus Curiae, joined herein by the People that the amendments to Welfare and Institutions Code sections 634, 679 and 700 when viewed in conjunction with Government Code section 27706(e) (which since 1970 no longer omits persons coming within the description of Welfare and Institutions Code section 600) and Penal Code section 1241 (which in 1971 deleted the requirement that the appeal or proceedings must be a criminal matter) require this court to reconsider the previous holdings in In re Robinson 2 * * * and to now hold that the right to court-appointed counsel on appeal for an indigent mother exists. See 6 U.C.D.L.Rev. p. 240 'Dependency Hearings: What Rights for the Parents?' Albert O. Cornelison, Jr. wherein it is pointed out the need for court appointed counsel.) The People feel that the appointment of counsel on appeal for an indigent mother is required by (a) the underlying intent of the legislature, (b) the inherent right of a parent to raise his child, and (c) the nature of the proceedings in the Juvenile Court.'

This court has reconsidered In re Robinson in the light of the statutory changes pointed out in the above excerpt and holds without discussion of or resort to any independent constitutional or inherent power it may have that the statutory changes authorize the appointment of counsel in an indigent proceeding such as the one at bench.

The motion is granted.

COMPTON, J., concurs.

FLEMING, Associate Justice (concurring).

I concur on the ground that appointment of appellate counsel in juvenile court proceedings under Welfare and Institutions Code section 600 is now implicitly authorized by RULE 251 OF...

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12 cases
  • Kayla G., In re
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
    • 30 November 1995
    ...court appointed a competent attorney to represent him at taxpayer's expense (Cal.Rules of Court, rule 1435(b); In re Simeth (1974) 40 Cal.App.3d 982, 984, 115 Cal.Rptr. 617) and provided him with a record at no cost (Welf. & Inst.Code, § 395). Counsel filed an opening brief providing us wit......
  • Bryce C., In re
    • United States
    • California Supreme Court
    • 26 December 1995
    ...no statute expressly authorized appointment of counsel on appeal in dependency actions, the Court of Appeal, in In re Simeth (1974) 40 Cal.App.3d 982, 115 Cal.Rptr. 617, had inferred a right to appointed counsel from other elements of the statutory scheme. (Jacqueline H., supra, 21 Cal.3d 1......
  • Sade C., In re
    • United States
    • California Supreme Court
    • 26 August 1996
    ... ... But such a right is "implicit in the whole statutory scheme" governing dependent children. (In re Jacqueline H. (1978) 21 Cal.3d 170, 176, 145 Cal.Rptr. 548, 577 P.2d 683, citing In re Simeth (1974) 40 Cal.App.3d 982, 984-985, 115 Cal.Rptr. 617; see also Cal. Rules of Court, rule 1435.) Recently, in 1994, the Legislature enacted Welfare and Institutions Code section 317.5, which declares not only that parents in dependency proceedings have the right to the assistance of counsel, but ... ...
  • Robert P., In re
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
    • 19 August 1976
    ...for notice and a due process hearing, ours does. Also, in this state, indigent parents are entitled to free counsel (In re Simeth, 40 Cal.App.3d 982, 115 Cal.Rptr. 617) and dependency proceedings are given priority on the appellate calendar (§ Regardless of these distinctions, we feel that ......
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