Orange County Social Services Agency v. Stacy S.

Opinion

BAXTER, J.

In a juvenile dependency appeal from an order terminating parental rights, may the Court of Appeal receive and consider post-judgment evidence that was never before the juvenile court, and rely on such evidence outside the record on appeal to reverse the judgment? The general answer is no, although in the rare and compelling case an exception may be *400warranted. In this case the Court of Appeal erred in receiving and considering such postjudgment evidence, presented for the first time through the unsworn statements of the minor’s appointed appellate counsel in a letter brief,…