In re J.M. CA2/4

Filed 4/20/15 In re J.M. CA2/4 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FOUR

In re J.M., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY B257746 DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND (Los Angeles County FAMILY SERVICES, Super. Ct. No. CK94624)

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

ARLENE C. et al.,

Defendants and Appellants.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Veronica McBeth, Judge. Affirmed. Linda Rehm, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant Arlene C. Rich Pfeiffer, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant Jesus M.

Office of the County Counsel, Mark J. Saladino, County Counsel, Dawyn R. Harrison, Assistant County Counsel and Aileen Wong, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent. _________________________________

Appellants Arlene C. (Mother) and Jesus M. (Father) appeal the juvenile court’s order terminating parental rights. Appellants contend the court should have applied the exception to termination under Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26, subdivision (c)(1)(B)(i).1 Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In July 2012, Father brought eight-month old J.J. to the emergency room, suffering from fever, dehydration, lethargy and infected lesions in his mouth. Hospital personnel concluded the lesions were caused by his having been forced to drink a burning hot liquid. During J.J.’s hospitalization, the caseworker for the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) learned that a few months earlier, Father had hit the baby hard enough to leave bruises. Mother, too, had been the victim of Father’s domestic violence, and the grandparents had cared for the baby without Mother’s or Father’s participation for several months of his life.2 The caseworker also received information that Father was abusing 1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code. 2 The maternal grandparents were also caring for J.J.’s older half-brother, R.G., and had been doing so since 2006. The grandparents obtained guardianship of R.G. after Mother and R.G.’s father had been referred to DCFS due to abuse of drugs and domestic violence. R.G. reported that Father had struck him in the past. In 2007, another half- sibling of J.J.’s, Father’s child with another woman, had died at the age of four months while in Father’s care. The cause of death was determined to be sudden infant death syndrome, but the coroner’s office found that “‘imposed’ suffocation” could not be ruled out.