Department of Social Services v. Otto S.

Opinion

ELKINGTON, J.

The parents of Ann S., aged 13, have appealed from orders of the juvenile court taking her physical custody from them, as a result of charges and evidence that (1) the father had brutally beaten the minor, and (2) that her mother had failed to protect the minor from the physical abuse of the father.

At the end of a somewhat lengthy juvenile court hearing, and before any order was made, the minor’s court-appointed attorney stated to the presiding court commissioner: “Your Honor, there is one thing Ann . . ., which was going to tell the court just before she stepped down, and…