In Re Benjamin E.
OPINION
This is an appeal from a dispositional order entered on March 21, 1995, in a juvenile dependency proceeding pursuant to
In Wende, supra, 25 Cal.3d 436 the California Supreme Court followed the direction of the United States Supreme Court in Anders v. California, supra, 386 U.S. 738. The court held that the Courts of Appeal have the obligation to independently review the record whenever appointed counsel appealing a criminal conviction submits a brief which raises no specific issues. (1a) Appellant contends that the review provisions of Wende are applicable to a parental rights case even though they are derived from the criminal process. Appellant argues that since California has chosen to provide counsel to parents at public expense, the Wende review procedure is the natural result of that decision. Thus, when appointed appellate counsel for the case can find no specific grounds to urge on appeal, it would be incumbent upon the Court of Appeal to mount its own independent investigation of the record to verify that the finding of that counsel is correct. We reject these lines of argument.
We acknowledge that there is precedent for Wende review in a dependency proceeding pursuant to In re Brian B., supra, 141 Cal.App.3d 397. However, we question whether the right to Wende review applies to a civil proceeding where a child is declared a dependent child and is removed from the home subject to a reunification plan. In this context, the rationale of In re Brian B., supra, is not persuasive. The court there found a “legislative recognition of the strong fundamental rights involved when the People [sic] separate a child from his parents” from the fact that the Legislature granted appointed counsel to parents in dependency proceedings under
(3) In California, indigent parents in dependency and termination of parental rights proceedings have long had a statutory right to court-appointed counsel, at public expense, in the trial courts and on appeal. (
We note that Courts of Appeal have arrived at differing conclusions on the issue of Wende review. The Fourth District, Division Three has issued an opinion holding that appellate courts are under neither a constitutional nor a judicial mandate to apply Wende procedures to other than criminal cases, and policy questions do not require appellate courts to do so in an appeal from a judgment terminating parental rights. (In re Kayla G. (1995) 40 Cal.App.4th 878, 886 [47 Cal.Rptr.2d 86] (opn. by Rylaarsdam, J., with separate conc. and dis. opn. by Crosby, J.).) The same day a different panel of the same division issued an opinion holding that the Court of Appeal must conduct a Wende review to assure itself that the indigent parent received effective assistance of counsel and to determine whether there is, in fact, an arguable issue. (In re Andrew B. (1995) 40 Cal.App.4th 825, 861 [47 Cal.Rptr.2d 604] (opn. by Crosby, J., with separate conc. and dis. opn. by Sills, P.J.).)
A month before, Division One of the same district held that the right to counsel in dependency cases was not required under the federal Constitution. It further examined the dependency law and found that there was not any other basis for the Wende review. (In re Angelica V. (1995) 39 Cal.App.4th 1007, 1014 [46 Cal.Rptr.2d 295] (opn. by Froehlich, J.), review den. Jan. 18, 1996.)
The issue of whether or not to conduct Wende review in dependency cases is now before the Supreme Court in In re Sade C.* (Cal.App.). We find the logic of In re Angelica V., supra, 39 Cal.App.4th 1007 and In re Kayla G., supra, 40 Cal.App.4th 878 persuasive and we adopt the reasoning therein because the issue is one of public interest, and add only one additional reason for our decision.
The laws governing dependency establish an ongoing process to assure, wherever possible, reunification of the family and the return of the child to the custodial parent(s). The first appealable order in the dependency process is the dispositional order. (In re Sheila B. (1993) 19 Cal.App.4th 187, 196 [23 Cal.Rptr.2d 482].) The dispositional orders are the “judgment” specified in
(1b) The inappropriateness of a Wende review in a dependency proceeding is further evidenced by the procedural history of this case. At this point
In this case, appellant is represented by counsel. We have reviewed appellant‘s Wende brief which sets forth the statement of the case and facts with reference to the record. We respectfully decline the invitation to conduct a Wende review herein.
The appeal from the dispositional order is dismissed.
Anderson, P.J., and Poche, J., concurred.