Nicole R. v. John C. CA4/3

Filed 10/2/23 Nicole R. v. John C. CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

NICOLE R.,

Plaintiff and Respondent, G061736

v. (Super. Ct. No. 03P000231)

JOHN C., OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from an order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Carmen R. Luege, Judge. Affirmed. Law Office of Timothy M. Stuart and Timothy M. Stuart for Defendant and Appellant. Law Offices of Lisa R. McCall, Lisa R. McCall and Erica M. Barbero for Plaintiff and Respondent.

INTRODUCTION Over a decade after being accused of child abuse by his child’s mother during a parentage and custody action, the appellant filed a request in the same action seeking exculpation, claiming the mother had fabricated the allegations in an attempt to gain sole custody. While there are places where exculpation is a remedy, a family court is not one of them. Instead, the Legislature has provided a mechanism under Family Code section 3027.1 for persons like appellant to be compensated when false allegations are leveled at them. Today, we affirm the trial court’s decision to adjudicate appellant’s 1

request under this statutory scheme. FACTS Cole was born in 2003 out of a short-lived relationship between appellant John C. and respondent Nicole R.2 John had an eight-year-old son named Tyler from a previous marriage, and Nicole, John, and Tyler all lived in the same residence until just before Cole’s birth. A judgment of paternity was entered in November 2003 with Nicole and John sharing legal and physical custody of Cole. After the judgment was entered, Nicole filed at least three requests for domestic violence restraining orders. The first was in December of 2006. We have insufficient information in our record to understand the basis for that request. The second and third were in March, 2009, when Nicole sought restraining orders against John for alleged sexual abuse of Cole and against Tyler for alleged sexual abuse of Cole. Although the court issued temporary restraining orders in all three cases, none of the three requests ever resulted in a full evidentiary hearing or permanent restraining order against either John or Tyler because the parties continually agreed to continue or take the matters off calendar.