In re R.S. CA4/1

Filed 10/31/23 In re R.S. CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

In re R.S., A Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.

IMPERIAL COUNTY HEALTH & D082419 HUMAN SERVICES AGENCY,

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. JJP000451)

v.

A.S.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Imperial County, Marco D. Nunez, Judge. Affirmed.

William D. Caldwell, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Melissa A. Mandel and Joseph C. Anagnos, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

MEMORANDUM OPINION1 A.S. appeals from a protective order issued as part of an order authorizing disclosure of confidential juvenile court records to the prosecutor in a related criminal prosecution against A.S. for felony child abuse. (Pen. Code, § 273a, subd. (a).) We conclude that A.S. has forfeited and waived her challenges to the specific terms of the protective order by failing to raise them in the juvenile court and acquiescing in the protective order. After A.S. lost custody of her son and the juvenile court terminated her parental rights in a dependency proceeding, the deputy attorney general who was prosecuting her in a related criminal case for felony child abuse filed a petition for access to the juvenile case records under Welfare & Institutions Code section 827 and rules 5.552 and 5.553 of the California Rules of Court. The prosecutor explained in an attachment to the petition that she was seeking these records for the following purposes: (1) “to ensure the People have accurate and complete information regarding . . . the injuries that the child suffered . . . [and] the . . . investigation into the mistreatment and abuse of the child . . . .”; (2) “to ensure consistency in the criminal proceeding and to determine whether either [A.S.] or [her husband] made any incriminating statements”; and (3) to obtain “any testimony presented in dependency court that could aid in the prosecution of this case.” A.S. did not file any written objection to the prosecutor’s petition. Over the next four months, the juvenile court held multiple hearings on the matter and granted continuances to permit the Imperial County Department of Social Services (Department) to compile the records and make appropriate redactions.