California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from L.A. Cnty. Dep't of Children & Family Servs. v. S.S. (In re P.W.), B247824 (Cal. App. 2014):
In large part, the parents attempt to reargue the facts and focus on evidence favorable to their position. We remind them that when a reviewing court engages in substantial evidence review, it will look to the entire record, and it will not limit its appraisal to isolated bits of evidence selected by the appellants. (Bowers v. Bernards (1984) 150 Cal.App.3d 870, 873-874.) "If . . . substantial evidence be found, it is of no consequence that the trial court believing other evidence, or drawing other reasonable inferences, might have reached a contrary conclusion." (Id. at p. 874.) To the extent the parents tacitly ask us to fill the shoes of the trier of fact, we decline because that is not our role. Simply put, our role is review the record for error. We have therefore bypassed any argument presented by the parents that is akin to a closing argument, and have instead focused on their claims of error.
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