Edgar O. v. Superior Court

In Edgar O. v. Superior Court (2000) 84 Cal.App.4th 13, the minors' father was incarcerated awaiting trial for murdering the minors' mother. (Edgar O. v. Superior Court, supra, 84 Cal.App.4th at p. 15.) The trial court had denied him services pursuant to section 361.5, subdivision (e), and on review he contended the statute was inapplicable to a parent incarcerated awaiting trial. (Id. at p. 16.) The court rejected the argument, presuming "that the Legislature deliberately distinguished between 'incarceration,' 'conviction,' and 'sentence'" and concluding that "had the Legislature intended section 361.5, subdivision (e)(1) only to apply to incarcerated parents following their conviction of a crime, it would have so stated." (Id. at p. 18.)