In re Brenda E. CA2/5

Filed 3/26/24 In re Brenda E. CA2/5 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FIVE

In re BRENDA E., a Person B325056 Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. FJ57926) THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

BRENDA E.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Christina Hill, Judge. Affirmed. Mary Bernstein, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Zee Rodriguez, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Nicholas J. Webster, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Seventeen-year-old Brenda E. (Minor) shoved a school employee who was trying to separate Minor and another student who were arguing in a school restroom. The juvenile court sustained a juvenile court petition charging Minor with battery on a school employee in violation of Penal Code section 243.6.1 We are asked to decide whether substantial evidence supports the juvenile court’s finding that the employee was engaged in the performance of her duties at the time of the incident.

I. BACKGROUND The Los Angeles County District Attorney charged Minor in a Welfare and Institutions Code section 602 petition with a misdemeanor violation of section 243.6. The statute makes it an offense to commit a battery against “a school employee engaged in the performance of his or her duties.” (§ 243.6.) At the adjudication hearing, Charlotte Hinrichs (Hinrichs) testified she was employed as an intervention coordinator at Roybal Learning Center in Los Angeles. She was responsible for “supervis[ing] campus aides, . . . monitor[ing] the campus for safety, and . . . ensur[ing] that students were in class.” Hinrichs was trained “on how to respond to physical altercations between students” and her duties included “preempt[ing] situations.” One afternoon in December 2021, Hinrichs was supervising students and saw Minor walking toward a restroom in a “very focused” and “unusual” manner. Minor entered the restroom, followed by another student named Abigail. Hinrichs suspected the students were going to “vape,” but she heard shouting when