In re E.M. CA5

Filed 8/13/14 In re E.M. CA5

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

In re E.M. et al., Persons Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. RANDALL M., F068527 Petitioner and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 13A0028) v. OPINION JOSE M.,

Objector and Appellant.

THE COURT1

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Tulare County. James T. LaPorte, Judge. Marsha F. Levine, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Objector and Appellant. Randall M., in pro. per., for Petitioner and Respondent.

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1  Before Hill, P. J., Gomes, J., and Chittick, J.† † Judge of the Fresno Superior Court assigned by the Chief Justice pursuant to article VI, section 6 of the California Constitution.

Jose M. (father)2 appeals from a judgment granting a petition, under Family Code, section 78223, declaring his daughter, E.M., and son, E.P., (collectively, the children), free from his parental custody and control. Father contends (1) the trial court erred in failing to consider whether independent counsel should be appointed for the children and (2) insufficient evidence supports the trial court’s finding he intended to abandon the children. We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDUAL BACKGROUND On June 21, 2013, Randall M. (stepfather) filed a petition to declare the children free from father’s custody and control and to terminate his parental rights in conjunction with a stepparent adoption. The petition alleged that the children had not seen or heard from father since November 2008, and father had not provided any support for the children. Denise M. (mother) provided a declaration in support of the petition. According to mother’s declaration, she began an intimate relationship with father in the spring of 2004, when she was 17 years old and father was 32 years old. E.M. was born in April 2006. E.P. was born in November 2007. Father started physically abusing mother in December 2007. After two incidents of physical abuse in July 2008, mother called the police and stopped living with father. In October 2008, mother allowed father to visit the children in the yard outside her residence. After father demanded to know who mother was talking to on the phone and refused to leave, mother called the police and had father removed from her property. The following day, father left 20 messages on mother’s answer machine within a two-hour period.