California Court of Appeal

The juvenile court's orders exercising jurisdiction over the children without contacting their home state of Mexico as required by the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) is affirmed but remanded for the juvenile court to allow it to contact and provide notice to Mexico authorities, where: 1) the failure to contact Mexican authorities was error, but 2) the court had properly taken emergency jurisdiction over the children because of the ongoing risk to the children after the parents had used the children in their scheme to smuggle heroin across the international border; and thus, 3) the error was harmless.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/10/2014
• Published 03/10/2014

Judges

• HUFFMAN

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel