In Re SJC

304 S.W.3d 563, 2010 WL 23658
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 6, 2010
Docket08-08-00284-CV
StatusPublished

This text of 304 S.W.3d 563 (In Re SJC) 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 SJC, 304 S.W.3d 563, 2010 WL 23658 (Tex. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

304 S.W.3d 563 (2010)

In the Matter of S.J.C., A Juvenile.

No. 08-08-00284-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, El Paso.

January 6, 2010.

*564 M. Clara Hernandez, El Paso County Public Defender, El Paso, TX, for Appellant.

Jo Anne Bernal, County Attorney, El Paso, TX, for Appellee.

Before McCLURE, J., RIVERA, J., and LARSEN, J. (Assigned).

OPINION

SUSAN LARSEN, Justice (former).

In this juvenile proceeding, the child's mother appeals a finding that she contributed to her son's delinquency, urging that *565 the evidence was insufficient to support that conclusion. The State initially responded on the merits. In a supplemental brief, the State now urges that this issue is moot, as the juvenile has completed his term of probation. Finding that the issue falls within the collateral consequences exception to the mootness doctrine, we address the merits of the appeal. We conclude that the evidence is legally insufficient to support the challenged finding, and we therefore reverse the judgment as to that finding only.

FACTS

S.J.C. was charged by petition with engaging in delinquent conduct in the form of marking with indelible marker on a bathroom sink, mirrors and tile walls in violation of Tex. Pen.Code Ann. § 28.08. An attorney was appointed to represent the child, and with his attorney's concurrence the child agreed to a hearing before the juvenile court referee without a jury. The child pleaded true to committing the offense of graffiti misdemeanor both in open court and by written waiver, stipulation and admission.

In her predisposition report, juvenile probation officer Dora Rodarte noted that the child's mother was a substitute teacher for El Paso I.S.D., and the father had not been in contact with the child for many years. The mother has no criminal history. She attended a PEACE meeting on August, 11, 2008. The child participated in school band and swim team and attended church with his mother on Wednesdays and Sundays. He had no curfew because he rarely went out, but when he did his mother would drive him to and from the event. It was the probation officer's opinion that the mother had not contributed to the child's delinquent behavior, as the mother made sure the juvenile was involved in positive activities and maintained contact with school officials. The officer noted that the delinquent behavior was attributable to negative associations and peer pressure.

A disposition hearing was held on August 27, 2008, before juvenile court referee Richard Ainsa. The predisposition report was entered in evidence at the hearing. Officer Rodarte testified that she believed that the child was in need of rehabilitation, and recommended that he be placed on supervised probation with a 5 p.m. curfew until he turned 18, with a review hearing in four months. Rodarte testified that the child had committed the graffiti offense because he wanted to be accepted into the "Crazy Azz Tagging Crew" (which she noted was not a gang). At home, the child's mother reported no problems with the child other than some "talking back" the year before, which was no longer a problem. The child complied with his mother's rules and did chores such as pulling weeds, cleaning his room and throwing but trash. Sometimes he would question these rules, but he did comply. Officer Rodarte further stated that the mother was able to provide proper control and supervision. She did not believe that the mother had contributed to the delinquency.

Officer Rodarte further testified that, in a conversation before the hearing, she had recommended to the mother that she be evaluated at El Paso MHMR, and the mother responded that if she was going to go then the child had to go too. Ms. Rodarte asked if there were any problems, to which the mother replied, "Well, I'm the mother and there are a lot of problems." Upon hearing that statement, the mother (in the courtroom but not on the witness stand) stated, "No, I didn't say that." The referee admonished her not to speak out of turn. Later in Rodarte's testimony, she explained her reason for recommending that the mother attend counseling:

*566 The reason for this was that during the interview, the juvenile was fine, we talked, he was very open. However, when I spoke to the mother, when I interviewed her, she seemed to be — I was a little concerned that maybe she was a little depressed. She was crying a lot about what had happened, stated that why were we opening up the case again, that we were going to break up her family. I told her to calm down and that everything would be okay because [the juvenile] appeared fine.
I was a little concerned also when I went to the home because it is a three bedroom home, two bath, however, they only use one of the bedrooms because the home has a lot of things, you know, stacks of books, clothes. She did indicate that she was trying to have a garage sale.

The juvenile's mother also testified at the disposition hearing. She explained that the child had a hard time in 2007 when they had moved to Nevada for a year. She also discussed her depression — as a teacher she is required to issue referrals on kids, and it was hard for her to accept that her own son was in trouble at school. She did not understand that the process would require her to come to court, and she had never been involved in anything like this before. The referee reassured her, saying, "Well, you didn't do this. You didn't do it so you shouldn't be upset about it." Upon questioning, she stated that she was willing to see a counselor. In the judgment of probation, the court placed the juvenile on probation and also found that the child's mother, by willful act or omission, had contributed to, caused, or encouraged the child's delinquent conduct, and ordered her to participate in the juvenile's rehabilitation.

Some time after the hearing, but still on the same day, the case went back on the record because the mother and juvenile had refused to sign a copy of the referee's recommendations after having been ordered to do so. The juvenile had been returned to school by this time, but the mother was present[1] and the referee told her: "[Y]ou're going to have to sign it [the recommendations] or you're going to go to the county jail." The following exchange then occurred:

The Mother: Sir, I'm not refusing to sign it. What you — hopefully it was recorded in the hearing this morning. You had mentioned that I was not — I had not contributed to his delinquency. What you said and what she has written in the papers are not in agreement. Her paper reads that I have. So, therefore, for that reason, I —
The Court: I didn't comment on the record.
The Mother: I have asked her to go ahead and have you fix that.
The Court: No, because I didn't —.
The Mother: What you said —
The Court: Ms. Valdez, I didn't make that finding on the record, and whatever is in my Order —
The Mother: You mentioned it. Was it — was it recorded earlier?
The Court: Do you remember anything about me mentioning that?
Officer Rodarte: I don't know if you said it, Your Honor. I did say that we had not found that.
The Court: It was your recommendation.
Officer Rodarte: Right.
The Court: That's not my finding.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
304 S.W.3d 563, 2010 WL 23658, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-sjc-texapp-2010.