A Minor Boy v. State

537 P.2d 477, 91 Nev. 456, 1975 Nev. LEXIS 671
Nevada Supreme Court·Decided July 11, 1975·No. 8128·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinions

[458]*458OPINION

By the Court,

Mowbray, J.:

This is an appeal from a juvenile commitment order of the Fourth Judicial District Court in and for Elko County, Nevada.

[459]*4591. On October 1, 1974, the Chief of Police of Wells, Nevada, C. E. Rutherford, and Sergeant Ron Cerveri went to Wells High School to investigate prior reports from at least one student that a minor whom we shall refer to as Alan, and several other high school students, had been possessing, smoking, and selling marijuana on the school grounds. By agreement between school authorities and Chief Rutherford, the school’s band room was made available for questioning those students who had been reported. Eight students, including Alan, were called from their classes by the principal and directed to the band room. At the time the students were taken into the band room, the principal instructed his secretary to telephone their parents and request them to come to the school. Alan’s mother was notified via a message left at her place of employment.

Sergeant Cerveri, an officer familiar with the appearance and odor of marijuana, was in the band room prior to the entry of the students. He testified that he could smell nothing prior to the students’ appearances, but after their arrival he did detect the odor of marijuana; but he was unable to determine its source.

Chief Rutherford advised the students of their constitutional rights by reading from a Miranda warning card. He asked each student if he understood the warning, and then told them he was investigating the group for possession of marijuana. He stated that he intended to search each student if they and their parents permitted him to do so. Alan approached Sergeant Cerveri and asked if he could go to the rest room. Cer-veri testified that he detected an odor emanating from Alan which he thought was marijuana. He asked Alan to remove the contents of his pockets. Alan removed a Marlboro cigarette package from his left shirt pocket, a leather pouch from his right pants pocket, and several miscellaneous items on his person, placing the items on a stool. Sergeant Cerveri testified that he looked into the leather pouch and the cigarette pack in Alan’s presence. Cerveri thus saw the actual marijuana substance, and he stated that he placed Alan under arrest, then permitted Alan to go to the rest room while he accompanied him. Afterward, Cerveri took Alan into a room adjoining the band room, where Alan was again placed under arrest by the Chief, and the Miranda warning was again read to him. His mother was also present. The Chief asked Alan’s mother if he could question him; she agreed. Alan was asked if he smoked marijuana, and he replied that he smoked about 2 or 3 joints a day. An agreement to produce was signed at that [460]*460time by Alan and his mother, and he was released to her custody.

A petition was filed on November 3, 1974, charging Alan with possession of a controlled substance, and a summons was issued and sent to Alan and his mother. Alan appeared with counsel in juvenile court on November 19, 1974. He denied the charge. A hearing date was set for January 13, 1975, but the hearing was continued at Alan’s request. Motions to suppress and dismiss were denied on February 7, 1975. The district judge, sitting as juvenile court judge, heard the petition on its merits on February 27, 1975, and Alan was found guilty of committing the delinquent act. He had been on formal probation, which was revoked, and he was committed to the Nevada Youth Training Center.

2. Alan’s first assignment of error is that the juvenile court erred in denying his motion to dismiss the petition. We do not agree. The motion to dismiss was predicated upon the ground that the juvenile court failed to comply with the mandates of the Juvenile Court Act in that: (1) Alan’s mother was not immediately notified after Alan was taken into custody, as required by NRS 62.170(1 j;1 (2) the petition was not filed within 10 days, as required by NRS 62.128(4);2 and (3) there was a failure to comply with the intake and notice of rights provisions of NRS 62.193(2).3

[461]*461A reading of the transcript of the proceedings below shows that the maximum amount of time that could have elapsed from the time that Alan could be deemed to have been in custody until his mother was notified was approximately one hour. All reasonable efforts were made to contact the parents of the involved minors, including Alan’s mother, almost immediately from the time the police authorities arrived at the school. There is no evidence of any intentional delay in contacting Alan’s mother. Under the facts presented, the mandates of NRS 62.170(1) were satisfied.

We interpret “detention” or “shelter care” as used in NRS 62.128(4) as referring to a physical form of restraint. The purpose of the statute is to insure prompt filing of the petition, so that the minor is not unreasonably physically detained. In this case, Alan was immediately returned to the custody of his mother. When a minor is so released, he is no longer in “detention” or “shelter care” within the meaning of NRS 62.128(4). The mandates of the statute were not offended.

NRS 62.193(2) states in part that the parties shall be advised of their rights under the law “in their first appearance at intake and before the court.” In this case, after the petition was filed on November 19, 1974, Alan appeared before Juvenile Court Judge Joseph O. McDaniel, with his counsel, was advised of his rights, and denied the allegations in the petition. Additionally, Alan was advised of his rights in the summons that was sent to him on November 5, 1974. Chief Rutherford also advised Alan twice at the high school in accordance with the Miranda warnings. Alan complains that the statute was violated in that he appeared before the juvenile court judge without first appearing before a probation officer. We see no merit to this argument. Apparently Alan anchors his argument on the wording of the statute that a juvenile must be advised of his rights in his first appearance “at intake.” Alan was released at the school to his mother. There were no “intake” proceedings. He was fully advised of his rights. We see no violation of the statute.

3. Alan contends that it was error not to grant his motion [462]*462to suppress the marijuana because it was the result of an illegal search and seizure.

In this case, since no search warrant was obtained, the burden is on the State to demonstrate that the warrantless search was constitutionally permissible.

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A Minor Boy v. State, 537 P.2d 477, 91 Nev. 456, 1975 Nev. LEXIS 671 (Neb. 1975).

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