In re Glenn H.

406 A.2d 444, 43 Md. App. 510, 1979 Md. App. LEXIS 399
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedOctober 10, 1979
DocketNo. 95
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 406 A.2d 444 (In re Glenn H.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Glenn H., 406 A.2d 444, 43 Md. App. 510, 1979 Md. App. LEXIS 399 (Md. Ct. App. 1979).

Opinion

Gilbert, C. J.,

delivered the opinion of the Court.

The appellant, Glenn H., a juvenile, committed an act that had he reached age 15 or older would have resulted in a charge of murder. Glenn was adjudged by the Circuit Court for Baltimore County, sitting as a juvenile court (Raine, J.) to be a delinquent. He was committed to the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Services Administration. Glenn was placed in [511]*511Edgemeade of Idaho, a non-public facility providing individual and group therapy. That placement was apparently deemed necessary because of Glenn’s being emotionally disturbed. Approximately one year later, in March 1978, Glenn, for some reason not revealed by the record, was moved to Edgemeade of Maryland. The cost, per annum, of maintaining Glenn at the Edgemeade facility was approximately $20,681.1 Seemingly, without consulting either the Department of Juvenile Services or Judge Raine,1 2 the Baltimore County Department of Education or the State Department of Education3 referred Glenn to the Hannah More Center, Reisterstown, Maryland, on September 1,1978.4 The Center was not informed, at the time Glenn was referred to them, of the nature of offense for which he had been found delinquent.

We infer from the record that certain publicity was generated relative to Glenn’s being able to leave the Hannah More Center on week-ends and to spend them with his family. As a result of that publicity the juvenile court judge wrote to the Center stating:

“It has been brought to my attention as the Juvenile Judge of Baltimore County that the above entitled individual is now located at your Center. The file clearly indicates that the matter was disposed of by Judge John E. Raine, Jr., when he was the Juvenile Judge.
[512]*512I learned that this young man spends his week ends at home without any supervision from your department. Perhaps this may be in order, but on the other hand, the nature of the offense would indicate to me no week ends, or strictly supervised week ends.
However, I will keep an open mind and would be most happy to discuss this matter with you personally at anytime. It is my responsibility as the Juvenile Judge to look into these matters, and, frankly, I am concerned if the above is true. Please advise at your earliest convenience.”

The judge’s letter did several things: 1) It prompted the Center to “reevaluate the appropriateness of Glenn’s placement in ... [the Center’s] program”; 2) Glenn was restricted to the campus and was not allowed to “be involved in home or community activities” pending “final determination in his case”; 3) In the words of the judge “stirred up a hornet’s nest.” Glenn, however, was the only one who was eventually stung.

A court psychiatrist, pursuant to an order of the court, wrote to the judge on December 20, 1978, that:

“1. Glen [s/e] must currently be considered dangerous; it is somewhat problematic whether he is less dangerous than in the past or not. He has continued to have occasional violent outbursts of apparent total loss of control. These seem less frequent than before, and may be less severe and less directed towards persons than previously, but that is not clear. The psychological testing reveals many tendencies suggesting a proneness to violent eruptive behavior.
2. Glen [s/c] appears to be making very significant progress. There appears to be increased self-control, more social appropriateness with enhanced skills and social values which were previously lacking, and somewhat more ability to deal with others and with his own feelings in a verbal fashion. It is clear that [513]*513significant problems remain. To some degree he would seem to have increased emotional strength. To some extent, he may be channeling some of his more violent aggressive feelings into somewhat antisocial behavior rather than into explosions. He seems to continue to use a great deal of avoidance of difficult problems and feelings, partially controlling himself through suppression of feelings. This results in his exploding less frequently, generally behaving more appropriately, but still having a rather unpredictable hair trigger effect. It also paradoxically makes therapy for him much more difficult, the therapy which he would need in order to show improvement in these areas.
4. Glen [sic] would appear to need placement in a residential treatment center. The center should have: (1) Flexibility, with the capacity to provide a secure setting, but also to relax the security as behavior and adjustment warrants it. (2) Concurrently they should have the capacity to deal with disruptive and antisocial behavior if it occurs. (3) An on-grounds school; (4) Individual psychotherapy, within a comprehensive treatment program (i.e., integrated and organized along therapeutic lines.
5. The question of visitation certainly arises. There clearly is a dilemma between (a) the apparent risk to the community on the one hand — Glen’s [sic] violence appears to be unpredictable; however, he apparently has been having some degree of supervised and unsupervised visitation for the past two years without untoward incident, even though not handling himself too well at Hannah More; versus (b) benefits — visitation frequently provides a motivational incentive in the treatment program, helps normalize life somewhat, and helps to maintain very important family ties.
[514]*514While it clearly falls to the Court to decide what degree of calculated risk can be accepted, I would lean towards allowing visits, assuming that they are quite well-supervised, an integrated and well-assessed aspect of the treatment program, with the Court's being closely informed as to the ongoing situation.”

A hearing was set before the juvenile court5 on November 30,1978, for the purpose of having a “Review of Commitment for Placement.” Glenn and his father appeared at the hearing. The juvenile was not represented by an attorney, nor does it appear that he was informed either directly or indirectly through his father of the right to be so represented. Moreover, there is nothing contained in the record from which we can infer a waiver. The appellant’s constitutional,6 statutory,7 and procedural8 right to counsel appears to have been ignored. The hearing was almost monopolized by the judge, the Deputy State’s Attorney, and the Director of the Hannah More Center. Glenn did not speak so much as one word. His father uttered 13 lines out of 15 pages. The substance of the 13 lines was that the “Juvenile Authorities” were advised of Glenn’s transfer to Hannah More.

A second hearing was held on December 21,1978. The cast of characters changed somewhat, but Glenn was still not advised of his right to counsel. This time Glenn's father said only three words in an 18 page transcript, and those words were merely to acknowledge that he understood his son did not want to attend Edgemeade of Maryland.

The judge concluded that the “logical thing would be ... for the convenience of everybody including Glenn and his family,” for the juvenile to be committed to the Maryland Training School. He then so ordered.

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Bluebook (online)
406 A.2d 444, 43 Md. App. 510, 1979 Md. App. LEXIS 399, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-glenn-h-mdctspecapp-1979.