Department of Public Social Services v. Nutter

Opinion

BEACH, J. Petitions were filed alleging that Dawn O., Kathleen O., and Gypsy S.1 come within the provisions of Welfare and Institutions [162]Code section 600, subdivisions (a) and (d). The trial court found that the minors fall within subdivisions (a) and (d) of section 600.2 The mother of all three children and the father of Gypsy appeal from the order exercising jurisdiction over the children.

Facts;

The following evidence was produced at the hearing:

After attending school on February 3, 1975, Dawn O. accompanied her friend Jackie to Jackie’s home. She had been goi,ng home with Jackie after school for almost a month although her mother had never in any way communicated with Mrs. Rowell, the housekeeper at Jackie’s home. Normally, Dawn would come about 3:15 in the afternoon and would stay until dark; Mrs. Rowell fed her every day at about 4:30.

On February 3, after feeding Dawn and Jackie, Mrs. Rowell sent Dawn home about 5:15 p.m. Dawn returned after about an hour. Mrs. Rowell kept her and eventually called the juvenile authorities about 10 p.m. Officer Terence Dean, who had had contact with Dawn’s mother in the past, went to Mrs. Rowell’s house and spoke with her and Dawn. Talking to Dawn on the way to her house, he gathered the impression that she had a sister. When they got to the house, he knocked several times and entered through an adjacent door that Dawn told him led to her apartment.

At this point in the testimony, counsel for the mother and father made an objection that this was an illegal entry and any observation made thereafter or evidence taken from the apartment should be suppressed. The trial court held that the evidence was admissible in that the exclusionary rule does not apply to these proceedings and that, at any rate, the officers made a legal entry under these facts.

Upon entry, the officers saw the kitchen with many dirty dishes, spoiled food on the floor and in the refrigerator, and bags of trash and other combustibles on top of the stove. There was a foul odor in the kitchen. In the dining room they found a crib with an infant. The room was cluttered with dirty clothing and had dirt on the floor and soiled carpeting; it was in a general state of disarray. The child in the crib had soiled diapers. In the northeast bedroom the officers found another child