In re L.H. CA1/4

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 2, 2016
DocketA144397
StatusUnpublished

This text of In re L.H. CA1/4 (In re L.H. CA1/4) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re L.H. CA1/4, (Cal. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

Filed 3/2/16 In re L.H. CA1/4 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FOUR

In re L.H., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A144397 v. L.H., (Alameda County Super. Ct. No. SJ14023222) Defendant and Appellant.

INTRODUCTION L.H., a juvenile adjudicated a ward under Welfare and Institutions Code1 section 602, appeals from the disposition order on grounds that (1) the condition of probation requiring him to disclose passwords to his electronic devices was not related to his past or future criminality and violates the rule of People v. Lent (1975) 15 Cal.3d 481 (Lent), infringes on privacy and expression and is unconstitutionally overbroad, and poses a risk of illegal eavesdropping under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (Pen. Code, § 630 et seq.) ; (2) probation conditions requiring him to “be of good citizenship and good conduct” and “be of good behavior and perform well” at school and on the job are vague and overbroad ; and (3) the court erred by setting a maximum term of confinement because L.H. was not removed from parental custody.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.

1 At the outset we confront an issue that has recently divided our colleagues in this District, namely whether a condition of juvenile probation requiring a delinquent minor to “submit to . . . a search of [his] . . . electronics including passwords, day or night at the request of a Probation Officer or peace officer” is a valid condition of probation. After reviewing five recently published cases, all of which found the probation condition invalid as written, we agree with our colleagues that the condition cannot stand as imposed. We conclude that the probation condition here is invalid under the first and second prongs of Lent, supra, 15 Cal.3d 48. We do not deem it necessary to proceed to the third prong of Lent or to address the question of overbreadth. All of the cases we shall discuss have invalidated an identical search clause on one or the other of those grounds. At least on this record, the condition is not justified as imposed and must be narrowed if any type of electronic search condition is to be imposed. We therefore remand for further development of the record and a narrowing modification, if the court chooses to reimpose an electronic search condition. Turning to the remaining issues, we find the claim under the California Invasion of Privacy Act was forfeited by failure to raise it in the court below. We hold the language “be of good citizenship and good conduct” and “be of good behavior and perform well” on the job is unconstitutionally vague and must be stricken. We find clerical error in the inclusion of a maximum term of confinement in the jurisdiction/disposition minute order and conclude that sentence must be stricken from the February 9, 2015 minute order. In all other respects we affirm the disposition order. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On May 6, 2014, L.H., then age 15, was observed by a police officer as he approached a residential address in Alameda, retrieved a package from the front porch that had been delivered by United Parcel Service, and ran away with the package. Upon being detained by the officer, L.H. admitted he had taken the package. The officer searched the minor’s backpack and found a bottle of vodka with a Safeway security tab still affixed. L.H. admitted he had taken the bottle from Safeway. Both the package and the bottle of vodka were returned to their owners.

2 On July 9, 2014, the district attorney filed a section 602 petition alleging that L.H. committed two misdemeanors of concealing stolen property (Pen. Code, § 496) and petty theft (Pen. Code, § 484). The juvenile court was initially hesitant to grant L.H. informal probation due to his poor grades. Although he had been disciplined at school on occasion for being under the influence of marijuana, he was not perceived to have a “large problem” with marijuana. On October 14, 2014, in part because he had made a “significant improvement in his academics,” the court placed L.H. on informal probation under section 654.2 without making a wardship finding. By December 15, 2014, however, the court noted there were again some “grade problems.” The judge again admonished L.H., “I’m going to require all passing classes before I grant 654.2.” On January 22, 2015, the juvenile court set aside informal probation in response to a progress report showing that L.H. had violated curfew and recently used marijuana. On February 9, 2015, the court denied the minor’s motion for reinstatement of informal probation. L.H. admitted the petty theft allegation in exchange for a negotiated dismissal of the receiving count “with facts and restitution open.” Before the court accepted the minor’s admission, his own counsel advised him that the “maximum possible consequence for this admission is up to six months in a locked facility.” In accordance with the negotiated disposition, the district attorney dismissed count one. The court then adjudged L.H. a ward of the court under section 602. L.H. waived time and referral for a social study, preferring to be placed on formal probation the same day. The court ordered L.H.’s care, custody, control, and conduct to be under the supervision of the probation officer and placed him in his mother’s home with numerous conditions of probation. Among the probation conditions was the following: “You must submit to . . . a search of your person, any containers you may have or own, your vehicle, residence, electronics including passwords, day or night at the request of a Probation Officer or peace officer.” Counsel for L.H. objected in court and in a written memorandum to the search condition insofar as it included “electronics including passwords” on grounds it did not have “anything to do with the events here, nothing in the reports the Court has

3 received including informal probation in [the minor]’s case.” Trial counsel cited Lent, supra, 15 Cal.3d 481, but did not argue the condition was unconstitutionally overbroad, as does counsel on appeal. Responding to the objection, the court made clear its reason for imposing the condition applied to all minors with drug issues: “With regards to the Search Clause, it’s very clear that minors use the Internet to obtain drugs, and they also use the Internet to brag and post photos and statements about themselves using drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia. It’s the only way we can properly monitor our minors with drug issues.” The court therefore refused to remove the challenged language from the search condition. This timely appeal followed. DISCUSSION

I. The Electronic Search Condition L.H. challenges the electronic search clause on three grounds: (1) it is not related to his past or future criminality and therefore violates the rule of Lent, supra, 15 Cal.3d at page 486, (2) it infringes on constitutional rights of privacy and expression and is unconstitutionally overbroad, and (3) it poses a risk of illegal eavesdropping under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (Pen. Code, § 630 et seq.).2 A. The State of the Law in this District with Respect to the Electronic Search Condition This district has recently been called upon to resolve a number of appeals raising the same issue raised by L.H.. Five published opinions in the last few months have considered an identical or nearly identical electronic search condition:3 In re Mark C.

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Bluebook (online)
In re L.H. CA1/4, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-lh-ca14-calctapp-2016.