In re L.A. CA2/8

Filed 10/22/13 In re L.A. CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION EIGHT

In re L.A. et al., Persons Coming Under the B247507 Juvenile Court Law. (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. CK94084)

LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

J.A.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from orders of the Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles. Sherri Sobel, Juvenile Court Referee. Dismissed. Cristina Gabrielidis, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. John F. Krattli, County Counsel, James M. Owens, Assistant County Counsel, and Sarah Vesecky, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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SUMMARY J.A., the father in this dependency case, challenges the juvenile court‟s dispositional orders under Welfare and Institutions Code section 361, subdivision (c),1 specifically the removal of the children from father‟s care and a requirement for monitored (rather than unmonitored) visitation. During briefing of father‟s appeal, the juvenile court removed the restriction on father‟s visitation and then placed the children in father‟s home under the supervision of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. The department moved to dismiss father‟s appeal on the ground it is moot. We agree and dismiss the appeal. FACTS Father is a veteran of the Afghanistan war and has two young daughters, L.A. and J.A., born in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Father and mother were separated, but living in the same home with their daughters. On May 1, 2012, father and mother had a violent altercation in the children‟s presence over a laptop computer. Father “pushed the mother‟s face to the floor, grabbed the mother‟s neck, pinned the mother down on the floor by the mother‟s neck, and choked the mother, causing the mother to have difficulty breathing. The mother scratched the father‟s hand,” and he released her. The children were crying as they witnessed the domestic violence incident, and L.A. “was very affected and scared” about the incident. Father was arrested but mother did not press charges. Father did not believe he committed domestic violence and said that mother started the incident. The incident was the only domestic violence between the parents of which anyone was aware. The department‟s investigation revealed both parents suffered from mental and emotional problems. (The mother‟s mental health issues are not pertinent to father‟s appeal.) Father had bouts of depression, and had been in military confinement for eight months after returning from Afghanistan, during an investigation and trial of larceny