In Re Pedro C.

215 Cal. App. 3d 174, 263 Cal. Rptr. 428
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 31, 1989
DocketH005009
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 215 Cal. App. 3d 174 (In Re Pedro C.) 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 Pedro C., 215 Cal. App. 3d 174, 263 Cal. Rptr. 428 (Cal. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

215 Cal.App.3d 174 (1989)
263 Cal. Rptr. 428

In re PEDRO C., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.
THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
PEDRO C., Defendant and Appellant.

Docket No. H005009.

Court of Appeals of California, Sixth District.

October 31, 1989.

*177 COUNSEL

Juliana Drous, for Defendant and Appellant.

John K. Van de Kamp, Attorney General, Richard B. Iglehart, Chief Assistant Attorney General, John H. Sugiyama, Assistant Attorney General, Martin S. Kaye, Dane R. Gillette and Christopher Grove, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

OPINION

ELIA, J.

Appellant Pedro C. appeals a juvenile court order determining that his Penal Code section 245, subdivision (b) violation was included within the terms of Welfare and Institutions Code section 707, subdivision (b).[1] He claims the juvenile court lacked jurisdiction to review a previous, contrary determination by a juvenile court referee, and that the juvenile court's action was barred by double jeopardy and collateral estoppel. We affirm.

On January 27, 1988, a section 602 petition was filed in Santa Clara County alleging that appellant had violated Penal Code section 245, subdivision (b) (two counts) and Vehicle Code section 23103 (one count).[2] At a hearing on April 14, appellant admitted one count of violating Penal Code section 245, subdivision (b); the other two counts were dismissed.

An order transferring proceedings to Santa Cruz County, appellant's legal residence, was filed on April 15. Transfer was accepted on April 19. A supplemental petition alleging that appellant had violated the terms of his *178 Santa Cruz County wardship was filed on April 20. On April 27, appellant admitted the allegations of the supplemental petition. At a dispositional hearing on May 11 before a juvenile court referee, the court committed appellant to the California Youth Authority (CYA). On June 7, CYA apparently wrote to the court requesting that it make a finding pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 1373(c) whether the Penal Code section 245, subdivision (b) offense was one listed in section 707, subdivision (b).[3] CYA correctly pointed out that pursuant to section 1769, if the offense is one listed in section 707, subdivision (b), it would have jurisdiction over appellant until he reaches age 25. If the offense is not listed in that section, however, its jurisdiction over appellant would terminate when he reaches 21.

The juvenile court took up CYA's request at a noticed 15-day review hearing on June 8, 1988 as follows: "THE REFEREE: The Youth Authority wrote to the Court and asked us to specify whether or not the committing offense was a 707(b) offense. I don't think it is. It's a 245(b). ¶ [ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY]: That was Santa Clara's charging. I forget how it's worded. ¶ THE REFEREE: The Petition says: `assault on a peace officer' — `committed an assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer.' ¶ [ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY]: 707(b) includes assault by any means and force likely to produce great bodily injury. ¶ THE REFEREE: But it wasn't alleged. Are we in accord? ¶ [ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY]: I guess. ¶ THE REFEREE: That is what the order is."

On June 24, CYA apparently wrote a second letter to the juvenile court forwarding a 1982 Attorney General's opinion (65 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 359) that all Penal Code section 245 offenses fell within section 707, subdivision (b). This letter was construed as a request for reconsideration of the referee's order.

At a hearing on August 8, 1988, before the juvenile court referee, appellant's attorney questioned whether the referee had jurisdiction to reconsider his prior section 707, subdivision (b) determination, and requested the matter be reset before the presiding juvenile court judge. Although he granted a continuance, the referee refused this request, indicating appellant could request a rehearing.

A subsequent hearing, on September 8, 1988, was heard before a juvenile judge, for reasons that are unexplained in the record. The judge determined *179 that he had authority under section 779 to reconsider the referee's section 707, subdivision (b) determination, and held that the prior determination had been in error. This appeal ensued.

JURISDICTION

(1a) Appellant first argues that the juvenile court had no jurisdiction to reconsider the referee's order because the court's jurisdiction over a minor adjudged a ward of the court terminates when his commitment to CYA goes into effect.

Respondent counters that as a matter of law, appellant's offense "compelled" a section 707, subdivision (b) determination, and that the referee's determination to the contrary was unauthorized and therefore void. We are unpersuaded by this argument.

A determination whether an offense comes within the purview of section 707, subdivision (b) is required by California Rules of Court, former rule 1373(c). (See also Judicial Council of Cal., Ann. Rep. (1984) p. 85; In re Anthony B. (1989) 213 Cal. App.3d 670 [261 Cal. Rptr. 799].) (2) We agree with In re Rodney F. (1988) 203 Cal. App.3d 177, 188 [249 Cal. Rptr. 424] that its omission is a clerical error which a juvenile court is empowered to correct. Appellant cites In re Anthony B., supra, 213 Cal. App.3d 670, which disagrees with this conclusion. In that case, however, a section 707, subdivision (b) determination was made by the juvenile court ex parte three years after the appellant was adjudicated delinquent; the appellate court held this violated appellant's due process rights. (In re Anthony B., supra, 213 Cal. App.3d at p. 673.) Here, in contrast, the correction was made at a noticed hearing, with counsel present, four months after the adjudication. In this factual context, we are not persuaded by Anthony B. that the juvenile court had no power to correct the error.

(1b) Respondent argues, conversely, that the referee's original determination was void because it was incorrect. The jurisdictional issue turns, however, not on whether the referee decided the issue correctly, but on whether the juvenile court had jurisdiction to review the referee's determination.

The juvenile judge stated that his redetermination of the section 707, subdivision (b) issue was being made under the authority of section 779 which states "The Court committing a ward to the Youth Authority may thereafter change, modify or set aside the order of commitment." We have not found, and appellant has not cited, any case prohibiting a juvenile court's reconsideration of a section 707, subdivision (b) determination *180 under the authority of this statute. While section 779 may not be used to vacate a CYA commitment once it has been made (see In re Owen E. (1979) 23 Cal.3d 398, 406 [154 Cal. Rptr. 204, 592 P.2d 720]; In re James A. (1980) 101 Cal. App.3d 332, 338-339 [161 Cal. Rptr. 588]; In re Donald S. (1988) 206 Cal. App.3d 134, 138 [253 Cal. Rptr. 274]), this is not such a case. The juvenile court was not reconsidering the dispositional order — the CYA commitment itself — but only the length of CYA's jurisdiction over appellant. Nothing in this action undermines the CYA commitment, impinges on CYA's authority to determine when, within its jurisdiction, it can release or parole appellant, substitutes the court's judgment for that of CYA (In re James A., supra, 101 Cal. App.3d at p.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
215 Cal. App. 3d 174, 263 Cal. Rptr. 428, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-pedro-c-calctapp-1989.