Cartwright v. State

344 N.E.2d 83, 168 Ind. App. 517, 1976 Ind. App. LEXIS 845
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 22, 1976
Docket1-375A56
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 344 N.E.2d 83 (Cartwright v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cartwright v. State, 344 N.E.2d 83, 168 Ind. App. 517, 1976 Ind. App. LEXIS 845 (Ind. Ct. App. 1976).

Opinion

Robertson, C.J.

This is an appeal from two orders of the Henry Circuit Court, sitting as a juvenile court, waiving juvenile jurisdiction over defendants-appellants Atkins and Cartwright to the criminal court on charges of robbery.

The issue upon appeal is whether the orders were supported by sufficient evidence and were set out with the required specificity. Finding that the waiver orders were sufficient, we affirm.

The facts from which this case arose are as follows: On April 22, 1974, Mr. Schofield entered a restroom located near Memorial Park in Henry County and was confronted by Atkins who hit and kicked him to the floor. Cartwright entered the restroom and participated in the incident during which approximately seventy-one dollars ($71.00) and some credit cards were removed from the victim’s wallet. Both .Atkins and Cartwright were apprehended and taken into custody.

Since both Atkins and Cartwright were seventeen (17) years of age at the time of the' offenses, the State filed petitions for delinquency against the defendants charging them *520 with conduct which, if committed by an adult, would constitute the crime of robbery. After preliminary hearings, the juvenile court determined that formal jurisdiction should be acquired. The State later filed a petition to waive juvenile jurisdiction. A hearing was held on the petition and the court found that juvenile jurisdiction should be waived pursuant to statute and that the defendants should be held for trial as adults.

Atkins and Cartwright bring this appeal from the court’s waiver orders.

The Indiana statute providing for waiver of juvenile jurisdiction in effect on the date of the present waiver orders, IC 1971, 31-5-7-14 (Burns Code Ed.) , 1 read in part:

“If a child fifteen (15) years of age or older is charged with an offense which would amount to a crime if committed by an adult, the judge, after full investigation, may waive jurisdiction and order such child held for trial under the regular procedure of the court which would have jurisdiction of such offense if committed by an adult.” (Emphasis supplied.)

While the jurisdiction of the juvenile court is original and exclusive until waived by that court, 2 State ex rel. Hunter v. Juvenile Court of Marion County (1974), 261 Ind. 624, 308 N.E.2d 695, the discretion of the juvenile court with respect to granting petitions for waiver is not absolute. State v. Jump (1974), 160 Ind. App. 1, 309 N.E.2d 148.

The landmark case of Summers v. State (1967), 248 Ind. 551, 230 N.E.2d 320, was the first Indiana case to extensively consider proper waiver procedures, concentrating primarily upon the statutory duty of the juvenile court to conduct a “full investigation” prior to issu *521 ing its waiver order. Our Supreme Court, relying upon Kent v. United States (1966), 383 U.S. 541, 86 S.Ct. 1045, 16 L.Ed. 2d 84, held that the determination of whether to waive juvenile jurisdiction and transfer the child to the regular criminal processes is a critically important proceeding of which the appellate courts must conduct a “meaningful review”. The court stated that review was impossible unless the waiver order contained a statement of the reasons motivating the juvenile court’s decision to waive its otherwise exclusive jurisdiction, for the court on appeal may not assume that there are adequate reasons or assume that a “full investigation” has been made. As stated by the Supreme Court:

“Accordingly we hold here as was held in Kent, supra, ‘that it is incumbent upon the Juvenile Court to accompany its waiver order with a statement of the reasons or considerations therefor’ We, as the reviewing court, hold that the statement while not necessarily including a conventional finding of facts, should be sufficient to demonstrate unequivocally that the strict statutory requirement of a full investigation and hearing has been met and that a conscientious determination of the question of waiver has been made. We require that the reasons for the order should be stated with sufficient specificity to permit a meaningful review.” 248 Ind. at 559-60, 230 N.E.2d at 325.

The court further stated that the reasons for waiver to criminal court must be more than the mere state of mind of the judge. They must be a matter of record after a full hearing. The court must clearly state in the order the reasons for waiver supported by facts in the record.

The Supreme Court indicated several factors which in its opinion could justify waiver:

“. . . we would say that an offense committed by a juvenile may be waived to a criminal court if the offense has specific prosecutive merit in the opinion of the prosecuting attorney; or if it is heinous or of an aggravated character, greater weight being given to offenses against the person than to offenses against property; or even though less serious, if the offense is part of a repetitive pattern of juvenile offenses *522 which would lead to a determination that said juvenile may be beyond rehabilitation under the regular statutory proceedings; or where it is found to be in the best interest of the public welfare and for the protection of the public security generally that said juvenile be required to stand trial as an adult offender.” (Emphasis added.) 248 Ind. at 561, 230 N.E.2d at 325-26.

The Supreme Court did not intend these reasons as the only reasons which might justify waiver, nor did the Court state that the juvenile court must find that all of those factors exist in the case before it.

“We do not necessarily limit the determinative factors to those stated above but we suggest them only as guidelines, any one of which might be determinative of the propriety for waiver in a given case.” 248 Ind. at 561, 230 N.E.2d at 326. See also: State v. Jump (1974), 160 Ind. App. 1, 309 N.E.2d 148.

The court held that the waiver order before it, which merely recited the statutory requirements for waiver, was inadequate. Five years later in Atkins v. State (1972), 259 Ind. 596, 290 N.E.2d 441, the Supreme Court further held that a waiver order which merely recites the Summers standards is insufficient. The central thought of the two cases is clear; a waiver order must clearly state the reasons for the waiver on the facts of the each individual cases.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
344 N.E.2d 83, 168 Ind. App. 517, 1976 Ind. App. LEXIS 845, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cartwright-v-state-indctapp-1976.