In re J.S.
Annotate this CaseThe juvenile court terminated defendants-appellants, J.K.’s (Mother) and J.S.’s (Father; collectively Parents), parental rights as to J.S. (born in June 2014). On appeal, Mother argued: (1) the appeal must be construed to include the order denying her Welfare and Institutions Code section 3881 petition; (2) court erred by denying her an evidentiary hearing on her section 388 petition; (3) the court violated her due process rights by preventing her from testifying regarding Minor’s relationship with his sibling; and (4) the court erred by finding the beneficial parental relationship exception to termination of parental rights inapplicable. Father joined Mother’s arguments insofar as a resolution in her favor would benefit him. The Court of Appeal found the juvenile court’s prohibition against further questioning regarding Minor’s bond with his sibling eliminated any evidentiary basis for Mother to argue the sibling relationship exception applied. Indeed, the Court found no other evidence in the record to suggest Mother had custody of any of her other children and that they had any relationship with Minor. In fact, the evidence in the record suggests the contrary, that Mother no longer had custody of any of her other children. Thus, if Mother testified that she had regained custody of one of her children this would have placed the sibling relationship exception at issue because Mother had also regained custody of Minor for nearly a year during the juvenile court proceedings. The error cannot be deemed harmless because we cannot say how long Minor and his sibling may have lived with one another, what the degree of their bond might have been, and what credibility the juvenile court would have given Mother’s testimony on the issue. Therefore, the matter must be reversed and remanded for a hearing on the degree, if any, of any relationship between Minor and his siblings.
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