IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA Conservatorship of the Person of O.B. T.B. et al., as Coconservators, etc., Petitioners and Respondents, v. O.B., Objector and Appellant. S254938 Second Appellate District, Division Six B290805 Santa Barbara County Superior Court 17PR00325 July 27, 2020 Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye authored the opinion of the Court, in which Justices Chin, Corrigan, Liu, Cuéllar, Kruger and Groban concurred. CONSERVATORSHIP OF O.B. S254938 Opinion of the Court by Cantil-Sakauye, C. J. Measured by the certainty each demands, the standard of proof known as clear and convincing evidence — which requires proof making the existence of a fact highly probable — falls between the “more likely than not” standard commonly referred to as a preponderance of the evidence and the more rigorous standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. We granted review in this case to clarify how an appellate court is to review the sufficiency of the evidence associated with a finding made by the trier of fact pursuant to the clear and convincing standard. The issue arises here after the probate court appointed limited coconservators for O.B., a young woman with autism. In challenging this order, O.B. argues that the proof before the probate court did not clearly and convincingly establish that a limited conservatorship was warranted. (See Prob. Code, § 1801, subd. (e) [“The standard of proof for the appointment of a conservator pursuant to this section shall be clear and convincing evidence”].) There is a split of opinion over how an appellate court should address a claim of insufficient evidence such as the one advanced here. One approach accounts for the fact that the clear and convincing standard of proof requires greater certainty than the preponderance standard does. Courts adopting this view inquire whether the record developed before the trial court contains substantial evidence allowing a reasonable factfinder 1 CONSERVATORSHIP OF O.B. Opinion of the Court by Cantil-Sakauye, C. J. to make the challenged finding with the confidence required by the clear and convincing standard. (E.g., T.J. v. Superior Court (2018) 21 Cal.App.5th 1229, 1239-1240 (T.J.).) Another position maintains that the clear and convincing standard of proof has no bearing on appellate review for sufficiency of the evidence. (E.g., In re Marriage of Murray (2002) 101 Cal.App.4th 581, 604.) From this perspective, a court reviewing a finding requiring clear and convincing proof surveys the record for substantial evidence, without also considering whether this evidence reasonably could have yielded a finding made with the specific degree of certainty required by the clear and convincing standard. We conclude that appellate review of the sufficiency of the evidence in support of a finding requiring clear and convincing proof must account for the level of confidence this standard demands. In a matter such as the one before us, when reviewing a finding that a fact has been proved by clear and convincing evidence, the question before the appellate court is whether the record as a whole contains substantial evidence from which a reasonable factfinder could have found it ...
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