Need Advise/Want to file a brief w/ Supreme Court to review

[Kimmers96]

We filed an appeal of our dependency case and lost the appeal. Surprise, surprise. We got our kids back last year, they were out of our home for about 9 months. The judge in our actually found no abuse or neglect. Neither did either of the social workers. The judge stated in her ruling that there were too many "red flags". And the potential of neglect. Court appointed apellate attorney's are just as bad as the County attorney's.

Well, I have until the 25th of this month to file with the Supreme Court for a review of our case. There are so many errors in the reports, court record, missing documents, my daughter's file wasn't included in the record for the court of appeal, I believe that that alone is a reason for a review as it's an entire court file missing. I repeatedly asked my attorney about my daughter's case also being included in the appeal and she assured me it was as did the Court of Appeal. Yet her file isn't part of the record that was reviewed.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Kim

[Frustrated]

How come your Case wasn't in Federal Court? Alot of people get instanteous results from Federal Courts and the results are GOOD for most Families. Many Families go to Federal Courts and got good results and the Federal Courts punished CPS for friviolous actions.

You can still use Discovery Reasoning in your Appeals.

[Marina]

Please clarify for us what is going on.

There are CPS administrative appeals and there are Family Court Appeals.

Also, I was under the impression that CPS administrative appeals could be done in court or have to be done in court, perhaps.

It appears, from what you are saying, that you lost in the first CPS administrative appeal, but won in family court. So now you are taking the CPS administrative appeal to the next level, based on the results of the family court hearing? And this next level would be the state Supreme Court?

You may want to contact your state's court website, or your local court website, and talk to someone directly, to make sure you get accurate information. Ask them to show you where the procedures are written down.

Please let us know what you find out, as this is interesting.
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[Frustrated]

There are 3 levels of CPS ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS and the Meetings can be done in CPS Office or some Business Office. Sometimes can be done in Court Business Office like a Meeting. It all goes the way up to the Director.

There are Appeals in Courts to take. District Court, Appeal Court, Supreme Courts. Almost like 3 levels to take as well.

Both of them has fact finding with evidence to present but Courts are better off to present its Evidence and CPS appeals are not exactly pristine or exact because the reports are falsified, lied to, fabricated by Social Workers. Such as Missing Documents, white outs, black out's with markers.

With Federal Courts, ALL EVIDENCE AND WITNESSES ARE THROUGHLY EXAMINED. Very detailed court procedure with Federal Court.

CPS Appeals are not exactly detailed as things are missing out and you are often not being heard and being discarded.

Same with Family Courts, they won't hear you and listen to CPS' recommendations almost every time.

[Kimmers96]

In Ventura County, CA. We have a new juvenile justice center. That is actually about 12 miles away from our County Courthouse. They make up their own rules, laws, etc. I have family law cases that I have always filed my own papers and represented myself. The way they handle this court, you don't stand a chance. And they won't let you represent yourself, so we were told in the begining when the court appointed attorney wouldn't tell the judge what I told him. And the judge wouldn't let me speak unless it was thru my attorney. Mind you everyone we met in the hallway while waiting on the several occasions we were there said how fair the judge was and that if the attorney wasn't doing his job to speak up. Not in my case.

Apparently the way it goes is you have a Detention Hearing. The DFA's (Depedent Family Advocate) or our attorney. Which I still don't know if they are acting in the capacity of an attorney. They go in and waive the reading of the petition, the recitation of rights, in our case they entered a general denial because I told him the social worker lied about the statements she said that I made. Then he set it for and uncontested Jurisdiction/Disposition hearing. They also waived our time. Without explaining anything before or after. You leave the court with only the 62 page Detention Report (in our case). The Judge makes it a prima facia case so you can't get your kids back.

I'm not really sure how things are supposed to go after that except for what I learned after we got our kids back and I was getting paperwork together for a civil attorney. I then learned about Welfare and Institutions codes. When I asked my attorney about my constitutional rights, he said that I had none in that court. So at our "trial" or hearing, I'm sure there is a difference. Which was continued 4 times so that County Counsel could try to obtain additional medical records regarding a drug test that was done on me without my consent or knowledge when I went to an Urgent Care clinic due to difficulting breathing when I broke out in hives due to a panic attack. I have a history of anxiety and I get hives, my doctor also testified to this. Long story short, they did some "rapid screen" test with a dip stick and didn't send urine to a lab. My doctor never saw the test and he didn't order the test. I have no drug history. I've never had a traffic ticket.

The social worker claims I told her I used meth and that my husband did also. She also said that my mom told her that I said I had only used meth one time and tested positive. I was never allowed to dispute anything the social workers said. When my attorney put me on the stand he didn't ask me anything to clear myself. There is way more to the story. Nobody ever talked to my mom who emailed a letter for me to give the court. She also said she would come from Las Vegas to testify if it would help. My attorney said that wasn't necessary.

We, husband and I have evidence to dispute every lie that was told and I gave copies of things to my attorney that he never gave the court and other things that he said to hang on to as it was good evidence. Everytime I was in court and getting pissed off and trying to speak out, he would say that this isn't the time.

So our kids were detained on 11/29/05. Our Detention Hearing was on 12/2/05. Our J & D Hearing was scheduled for 12/28/05. It was continued until 1/10/06,1/19/06,1/31/06,2/2/06 we started the trial then we resumed on 2/6/06 and she made her ruling on 2/7/06. She declared our children dependents of the state which isn't in the transcript. We then started our "case plan", things didn't make sense and I couldn't get answers, still can't. So I started making noise. I contacted the County Supervisor who wouldn't talk to me or meet me but had her assistant do that. I called a couple of the state senators offices, etc. We had a review hearing on 7/24/06 and our son got to come home, my daughter on 8/15/06 her bio dad tried to try to get her (she was nine and he only met her 9 months before this by his choice). I wanted to get out of the system and asked for a 90 day review. So on 10/16/06 our case was closed.

We had filed to appeal on 3/15/06. I'm sure that is why they were so eager to drop our case. Because since we got our kids back appeals court was going to not hear our appeal. We said no way, we want our records cleared. The judge found no abuse or neglect. She said there was a potential for neglect. Well our appeal was filed in the 2nd District division 6. Which is the division that happens to be in Ventura. All of the other divisions and there are 7 are in Los Angeles.

So we got there decision on 1/16/07 that they affirmed the juvenile courts decision. I want to fight it. But there are so many lies and now I find out my daughter's files wasn't in the record on appeal, but my attorney had assured me her case was included. She put on her opening brief that it was the County of Los Angeles V. .... when I told her it was Ventura County She said that didn't matter? My husbands appeals briefs show it was a San Luis Obispo case. Doesn't all of this make a difference? The dates that the juvenile court used as the date of the original detention hearing are wrong.
I told my attorney, he said that didn't matter and I told a clerk who didn't change the date. The petition was filed 12/1/05. After our hearing on 12/2/05, the put the date as 02/02/05.

Well now I understand why. The continued us until 2/2/06 so it looked like we had been in court for a year. Then on 2/7/06 when the judge was making her ruling she allowed the county to submit an amended pettition to conform to proof. Which in reality was a petition to keep from giving the kids back. And terminating our parental rights. Because it appeared on paper that we had been in the system for over a year and hadn't reunified. I don't know who to have look at these records to file criminal charges?

I know this is long and if anyone takes the time to read it and can give any advise at all I would greatly appreciate it.

[Marina]

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It sounds like they are collecting funding for non-existent cases. This is Social Security fraud, and you can report this.

Try to get a copy of your Central Registry check. You may be able to get this by applying to have a licensed day care in your home, or saying you want to volunteer in a school or daycare center, or be an independent contractor in daycare centers doing art classes, and you need documentation which shows that you can legally work with children.

If you are given clearance, then that will tell you one thing, and if you are not given clearance, then that will tell you something else. It sounds like somebody is doing some creative recordkeeping big-time.
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[Frustrated]

I am confused. Where are the Kids? In their Custody right now or in your Custody? I know they were removed before but right now, where are they now?

Sadly Hearsay are allowed in Family Courts. They will listen to CPS Workers no matter what you say. You are still screwed either way. That's why I prefer Criminal Courts because they won't allow Hearsay but only on EVIDENCE. Juvie Courts by its standards are the WORST because many Families that go through there always Lose. Every time.

Did you file Motions for Discovery? Showing that there was lack of Case Files being introduced in Court?

For TPR Cases, they have to SHOW REASON WHY THEY want to terminate your Parental Rights. They have to show that you are high risk of abusing and neglecting the Kids.

[Kimmers96]

My kids are back at home with my husband and I. My son came home in 7/06 and my daughter in 8/06. Then we went to court in on Oct. 16,2006 and our case was "dimissed". On the Dismissal Findings & Orders it says "The original dependency is dismissed and the dependency status of the child(ren) is terminated." Then signed by the Judge.

Wouldn't a case be closed after you have completed "services" and done what you are court ordered to do. Isn't "dismissed" something different. Like if they don't have enough evidence?

Part of the problem. They don't use judicial forms. They use their own forms that they just make up. If we would have been given forms that are used as shown on the jucicial council forms site. Those explain everything on them. It looks like some of them are now mandatory for use in CA, but I don't think that they were at the time of our case in 12/05.

Thank you on the advise for applying for a license. My husband actually applied for a job at a school district last month for a maintenance position and was sent the letter for an appointment to take the test for the job. So I'm assuming that he passed the background check. So I will try the same thng. Thank you.

As far as Discovery being missing. My husband and I didn't know until we got our files from our appeals attorneys. What they did was appoint attorney to us thru the California Appelete Project. We never got to meet with them or see what information that they had received from the court. When we asked for copies of the court transcript. To make sure they were correct. We were told we would get them after the appeals attorney 's didn't need them anymore. We didn't have the $700 to pay for them. Well both attorney's didn't "need" them anymore apparently until after our case was "affirmed" by the Appeals court.

That is my problem now. My attorney obviously didn't represent me properly as she was missing an entire case file. Should I confront her about this? I am going to file a complaint with the Bar Association. But wouldn't this alone be a reason for review in the CA Supreme Court?

Kim

[Frustrated]

Are they asking for TPR or you are just suing them through Lawsuit?

Since the Kids are in your Custody, they can't just ask for TPR while the Kids are in your Custody. That would be harder to prove.

If you are suing the CPS, then you would need all the Discovery Paperwork and Evidence to go against them. You would need alot of CPS Files, Paperwork, Records, and so forth in order to successfully sue them.

If you are appealing the decision of what the Judge said. I cannot see why you need to appeal since the Kids are in your Custody, there is no need to.

If the Judge said "Dismissed" it is exactly what it means. DISMISSED CASE. CLOSED CASE. DONE. No more. Your Children goes back home with you and Husband now. There are nothing you can do unless you are suing the CPS for something wrong or illegally filing wrong accusations against you. If you have the EVIDENCE, you can go forward. If your Evidence is "weak", it is not advisable to go ahead and do this. It would be like shaking the bee's nest.

[Bob_Lynn]

They make up their own rules, laws, etc. I have family law cases that I have always filed my own papers and represented myself. The way they handle this court, you don't stand a chance. And they won't let you represent yourself, so we were told in the begining when the court appointed attorney wouldn't tell the judge what I told him. And the judge wouldn't let me speak unless it was thru my attorney.

When I asked my attorney about my constitutional rights, he said that I had none in that court.

You know of course this is blatant fraud and lies. There is no such thing as "not allowing" a person to represent him/herself in a court of real law and your rights are protected by the Constitution anywhere in America. The judge, the attorneys and all state actors take an Oath of Office to abide by the Constitution and that means to protect your rights. Failure to abide by that Oath is insurrection.

What all the above means is that the court has no subject matter jurisdiction. But that means nothing unless you challenge it. Unfortunately, you would have to have asserted your Constitutionally protected rights in the lower court and challenged its jurisdiction when your due process and equal rights were violated. This is probably why you lost your appeal. There were no (or few) preservable issues to appeal.

You may want to learn more about this at the LIFE (Liberty Independence & Family Equality) website:

http://www.life-vs-cps.com/

at the section called The Family Court Hearing - A Constitutional Defense:

http://www.life-vs-cps.com/index_files/Page357.htm

Note that what's most important is that you have your children, the above is for informational purposes only and not legal advice.

[Kimmers96]

To answer your question if they are asking for a TPR. We filed a Notice of Appeal back in 3/06, within 2 weeks after our J & D Hearing. By the time our appellent attorney's actually filed our Opening Briefs. Mine 7/06 and my husbands on 8/06 our kids were already back at home. So County Counsel tried to get the appeal thrown out on the fact that we got our kids back. Well that is crap, since our kids shouldn't have been removed to begin with. So our appellent attorney's filed a Reply Brief in 11/06. We got our kids back in 7/06 and we had to keep doing drug testing and AA, etc. until 10/06 when our case was dismissed.

We are going to file a civil suit and have been talking to an attorney, but it appears he is very busy and he explained that even though if we lose the appeal, that has nothing to do with the civil suit.

I am just extremely angry at the lies. The falsification of documents, the missing records and the fact that I don't find out until after all is said and done that my "attorney" didn't "notice" that an entire case file was missing in the court record.

From what the attorney looking into our case said, we were extremely lucky that we got our kids back. As they were going to adopt my son out. That is what makes me sick. I want the criminal prosecution of the social worker and cop that put false info in our detention petition. And the social worker lied under oath. Badly. I also want to find out how I can let people in Ventura County know just how deep the corruption goes.

Sorry. It has been a very stressful weekend. Trying to decide whether I can do this petition. I can't seperate myself enough and I get to angry when I have to read thru the papers. I just brings back everything like it just happened.

Thank you everyone for your input. I really appreciate it.

Kim

[Frustrated]

I haven't heard of a Case that the Appeals go through the Courts while you have your Kids in Custody. Yes, you are sooooo LUCKY to have your Kids. COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS! OH my Goodness, they were going to adopt him out? whew! that was close!

Yes, you should sue CPS if you have enough concrete Evidence. They should pay for all the sufferings you went thru and for the Lies. Why let them off easy? No, make them pay. Make them accountable for their actions against you for frivilous reasons, given the Funds. It just makes me sick that they would USE the Children as monetary purposes. Don't they think about the Children at all? No....all they think about their ego trips and money, that's it. No questions, on how's or why's... just because they felt like going after when some one looks really good enough for Fundings.

They should pay.