In Re Pinnell
In Re Pinnell
Opinion of the Court
This is an application by John Harold Pinnell for a writ of supersedeas pending the determination of an appeal taken by him to this court from an order of the superior court of Fresno County denying his petition for letters of guardianship of the person and estate of his minor daughter, Mildred Bernice Pinnell, a child of the age of three and one-half years.
At the time of the initiation of the guardianship proceeding, on June 8, 1920, the child was in the care and custody of her mother, Erma May Pinnell, the wife of the petitioner, who was living at the home of her father in Fresno, the husband and wife having been living separate and apart for some time. On the institution by petitioner of the proceeding for letters of guardianship, he obtained from the superior court, upon an affidavit to the effect that the welfare of the child would be imperiled if she were allowed to remain in the custody of the mother and that the mother would take the child from the state unless restrained from so doing, an ex parte order under section 1747 of the Code of Civil Procedure, directing the sheriff to take possession of the child and *272 deliver her to Ella M. Towle, assistant probation officer, who should have and retain the custody “until the final hearing of the petition for letters of guardianship.” Under this order the child was taken from the mother and delivered to the assistant probation officer, who has ever since retained her in her custody. The application for letters was opposed by the mother, and the matter was heard by the superior court in July, 1920. The court on August 7, 1920, gave its judgment denying the application of the father for letters of guardianship, and further decreeing that both petitioner and the mother are fit and proper persons to have the custody of the child, that neither has any right superior to the other in regard to such care and custody, and that it would be for the best interests of the minor child in respect to her temporal, mental, and moral welfare that she be placed and remain in the custody of her mother. By the judgment the custody of the child was awarded to the mother, when she should have filed an undertaking with two sureties in the sum of one thousand dollars, conditioned that she would not take the child from the state. Included in the judgment was an order vacating and setting aside the order of June 8th, relative to the temporary custody of the child, and providing that upon the filing of the decree and the giving and approval of the undertaking, the assistant probation officer shall surrender the custody of the child to the mother. The undertaking was given and approved. The petitioner at once appealed to this court from the whole of said judgment. The whole object of this application for supersedeas is to prevent the redelivery of the child to the mother pending the determination of the appeal, and in so far as any substantial material showing is concerned, the application is based solely on the theory that the appeal stays the effect of the order of the superior court vacating and setting aside the order of June 8, 1920, for temporary custody and restoring the custody of the child to the mother from whom it was taken at the commencement of the proceeding.
We are not called upon here to question the power of the superior court to make appropriate provision for the temporary custody of a minor pending an appeal, where upon the hearing it concludes that the welfare of the child will be imperiled if it be allowed to be in the custody from which it was taken. As the welfare of the child is the paramount consideration under such circumstances as. we have here, there can be no doubt that some lawful method could be found to prevent even a temporary custody imperiling such welfare. But we have no such question here. In this case the superior court, after a full hearing, has determined that the welfare of the child will be promoted, rather than imperiled, by her restoration to the custody from which she was taken under the provisional order, and therefore has vacated such provisional order for temporary custody pendente lite. That its order in this behalf is final and not reviewable on appeal we have no doubt.
The order heretofore made granting a stay pending determination of this application is vacated, and the application for a writ of supersedeas is denied.
Olney, J., Lawlor, J., Wilbur, J., Lennon, J., and Sloane, J., concurred.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In Re Guardianship of the Person and Estate of Mildred Bernice Pinnell, a Minor.
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published