In re B.D.S.D.

289 S.W.3d 889
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 18, 2009
DocketNo. 14-07-01079-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 289 S.W.3d 889 (In re B.D.S.D.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re B.D.S.D., 289 S.W.3d 889 (Tex. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

OPINION

KEM THOMPSON FROST, Justice.

Appellant was adjudicated as a juvenile for engaging in delinquent conduct by committing the offense of prostitution. In two issues, she challenges the adjudication of the offense, arguing (1) her right to due process was violated when the State failed to investigate whether she was "caused by any means to commit prostitution"; and (2) as a result of the State's failure to conduct such an investigation, adjudication of the offense "offends public policy notions that child victims of sexual exploitation must be protected." We affirm.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Appellant, a sixteen-year-old girl, was alleged to have engaged in delinquent conduct by committing the offense of prostitution. At an adjudication hearing, the trial court reviewed a signed stipulation of evidence, in which appellant judicially confessed that she had knowingly agreed to engage in sexual conduct, namely sexual intercourse, for a fee. With an agreed recommendation from the State, appellant asked the trial court to accept the stipulation. The trial court made an affirmative finding that appellant had engaged in delinquent conduct by committing the offense of prostitution, that she was in need of rehabilitation, and that a disposition was required.

[892]*892The State next offered, without objection, a juvenile probation report, outlining appellant's personal information and delinquent conduct. The report indicated that appellant had run away from her mother's home several months before the incident resulting in the charged offense and, at the time, lived with an adult male whose name appellant chose not to disclose. At the adjudication hearing, appellant stated that, after she ran away from home, she lived with two friends, an adult male and an adult female. Appellant stated that neither of these adults knew that she was engaging in prostitution. Appellant claimed that she does not take drugs but that she engages in prostitution for the money "to buy things" that she wants. The trial court accepted the State's recommendation and ordered appellant, among other things, to complete one year of probation and fifteen hours of community service. The trial court ordered that appellant be placed in the custody of the Chief Juvenile Probation Officer.

Appellant filed a motion for new trial. In the motion, she asserted that evidence was raised at the adjudication hearing that would make appellant immune from prose-ecution under sections 43.05 and 48.06 of the Texas Penal Code, and therefore, the trial court's adjudication denied her due process and led to an absurd result. The trial court denied appellant's motion and granted her permission to appeal.

II. ISSUES AND ANALYSIS

Appellant does not dispute that she engaged in an act that constitutes the offense of prostitution. Rather, appellant argues that the Texas legislature's 1973 adoption of the Penal Code, as applied to juveniles in the Family Code,1 evinces that the legislature "could not have intended prosecuting a child for prostitution" 2 when, under section 22.021 of the Texas Penal Code, a child cannot consent to sexual conduct with an adult and, under sections 43.05 and 43.06 of the Texas Penal Code, "a person under 17 caused by any means to commit prostitution is immune from prosecution." Appellant presents the following two appellate issues and asks this court to reverse and remand the case "for disposition on an appropriate basis":

1. Whether adjudication for engaging in delinquent conduct violated appellant's right to due process when the State did not investigate whether she was caused by any means to commit prostitution.
2. Whether adjudication for engaging in delinquent conduct "offends public policy notions that child victims of sexual exploitation must be protected" when the State did not investigate whether she was caused by any means to commit prostitution.

We review issues of statutory construction de novo. See Subaru of Am., Inc. v. David McDavid Nissan, Inc., 84 S.W.3d 212, 222 (Tex.2002);, In re Smith, 260 [893]*893S.W.3d 568, 572 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2008, orig. proceeding). In construing a statute, our objective is to determine and give effect to the legislative intent of the provision. See Nat'l Liab. & Fire Ins. Co. v. Allen, 15 S.W.3d 525, 527 (Tex.2000). If possible, we must ascertain that intent from the language the legislature used in the statute and not look to extraneous matters for an intent the statute does not state. Id. If the meaning of the statutory language is unambiguous, we adopt the interpretation supported by the plain meaning of the provision's words. St. Luke's Episcopal Hosp. v. Agbor, 952 S.W.2d 503, 505 (Tex.1997); In re Smith, 260 S.W.3d at 572. We must not engage in forced or strained construction; instead, we must yield to the plain sense of the words the legislature chose. Id.

III. ANALYSIS

Appellant complains that she was denied due process of law and that notions of public policy were offended when she was adjudicated for engaging in delinquent conduct without a State investigation into whether she was caused by any means to commit the offense of prostitution. She argues that the Texas legislature did not intend for children to be prosecuted for prostitution and refers this court to see-tions 22.021, 43.05, and 48.06 of the Texas Penal Code as evidence of the legislature's intent.3

Adjudication of a Juvenile who Engaged in Delinquent Conduct by Committing the Offense of Prostitution under Section 43.02 of the Texas Penal Code

Under the Texas Family Code, juvenile justice courts have jurisdiction over all cases involving delinquent conduct by a person who was a child at the time the person engaged in the conduct. TEx. Fam. Cops Ann. § 51.04(a) (Vernon 2008). A "child" is a person who is ten years of age or older and under seventeen years of age. Id. § 51.02(2) (Vernon 2009). Delinquent conduct is defined, among other things, as "conduct, other than a traffic offense, that violates a penal law of this state or of the United States punishable by imprisonment or by confinement in jail." Id. § 51.03(a)(1) (Vernon 2008).

A child may be found to have engaged in delinquent conduct only after an adjudication hearing. Id. § 54.08 (Vernon 2009). Upon finding that a child has engaged in delinquent conduct, a trial court may conduct a disposition hearing. See id. § 54.03(h). Disposition is akin to sentencing and " 'is used to honor the non-criminal character of the [juvenile] proceedings." In re K.T., 107 S.W.3d 65, 67 (Tex.App.San Antonio 2003, no pet.) (quoting In re C.S., 804 A.2d 307, 309 n. 2 (D.C.2002)). An order of adjudication or disposition of a child generally does not constitute a criminal conviction. See Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 51.13(a) (Vernon 2009).

Under section 48.02 of the Texas Penal Code,4

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289 S.W.3d 889, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-bdsd-texapp-2009.