In re Wynston P. CA2/8

Filed 1/15/21 In re Wynston P. CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 WYNSTON P., a Person Coming B305492 Under the Juvenile Court Law.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY (Los Angeles County DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN Super. Ct. No. 20CCJP00382A) AND FAMILY SERVICES,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

WILLIS P.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Jean M. Nelson, Judge. Affirmed. Lori E. Kantor, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rodrigo A. Castro-Silva, Acting County Counsel, Kim Nemoy, Assistant County Counsel, and Melania Vartanian, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent. __________________________

Willis P. (Father) appeals a juvenile court order removing his child, Wynston P., from his custody following an incident in which he punched the child’s mother, Felicia S. (Mother), in the face because she refused to give him her phone. Out of fear for her safety and to escape Father, Mother then jumped off the second floor balcony of their apartment. As of the disposition hearing, Father denied using violence against Mother, and he claimed not to have anger management issues. On appeal, he contends there is insufficient evidence supporting the juvenile court’s removal order. We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On December 3, 2019, Mother called the police following a domestic violence incident with Father. According to the police report, Mother said she and Father had an argument while Father was holding their one-year-old child, Wynston. Mother opened the front door to leave, but Father shut it. Mother demanded Father get out of her way, and he punched her in the face. Mother ran onto the balcony of the second story apartment, which was about 10 to 15 feet above the ground. Father followed after Mother while still holding Wynston, and Mother jumped to the ground to escape him. Mother suffered redness and swelling near her eye, and she had an abrasion on her left knee from jumping off the balcony. During the ensuing investigation by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), Mother denied that Father had struck her or that she tried to escape from him. She claimed she threw her phone off the balcony after Father demanded to see it, and she went to retrieve it before Father could. Mother nonetheless agreed to follow a DCFS safety plan whereby she would live apart from Father.