In Re the Appeal in Coconino County Juvenile Action No. J-9896

741 P.2d 1218, 154 Ariz. 240, 1987 Ariz. LEXIS 172
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedJune 11, 1987
DocketCV-86-0530-PR
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 741 P.2d 1218 (In Re the Appeal in Coconino County Juvenile Action No. J-9896) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re the Appeal in Coconino County Juvenile Action No. J-9896, 741 P.2d 1218, 154 Ariz. 240, 1987 Ariz. LEXIS 172 (Ark. 1987).

Opinions

HOLOHAN, Justice.

Appellant was charged in a petition filed in juvenile court with two counts of theft, one count of accomplice to burglary, two counts of accomplice to armed robbery, and one count of armed robbery. The county attorney filed a motion to transfer the charges against appellant to superior, court where appellant would be prosecuted as an adult. The Coconino County Juvenile Court held a hearing on the motion and thereafter ordered the case transferred to superior court. Subsequently, appellant was indicted by the county grand jury but proceedings in the superior court were stayed while appellant appealed the transfer order. The Court of Appeals, 150 Ariz. 435, 724 P.2d 54, reversed and vacated the transfer order. Both the appellant and the State filed petitions for review. We accepted review on the State’s cross-petition for review, and denied review on the appellant’s petition. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Ariz. Const, art. 6, § 5(3) and Ariz.R. PJuv.Ct., Rule 28, 17A A.R.S.

The sole issue to be decided is whether the juvenile court abused its discretion in transferring the charges against appellant to the superior court for prosecution as an adult.

[241]*241FACTS

At the time of the events in question, appellant was a 17-year-old high school student living with her parents in Washington, Missouri. She grew up in a regiment-, ed, protected environment, and attended parochial school for most of her education. She was involved in school and church activities and has had no previous encounters with the juvenile system. Recently, however, appellant had had some conflicts with her parents over her relationship with an older high school student, Steven Brown. Her parents thought Brown was not a good influence on her and moved her to a different school to keep her from seeing him.

The discord at home . intensified until eventually appellant ran away with Brown sometime near the end of July 1985. The two initially traveled in a car that appellant later found out was stolen. They abandoned the car in Oklahoma City and Brown stole a Ford Bronco, which they drove to Flagstaff, arriving on July 29. In Flagstaff, Brown spotted a Chevrolet Corvette parked outside of a residential home. While appellant waited down the street in the Bronco, Brown entered the home and robbed the family at gunpoint of cash and keys to the Corvette. Appellant drove the Bronco a short distance to meet Brown in the Corvette and they transferred their belongings to the Corvette, abandoning the Bronco. Brown then led law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase that ended when the Corvette went off the road into the ditch. When Brown emerged from the car holding a gun to his head and threatening suicide, appellant ran to him and helped convince him to surrender to the officers.

Appellant was charged as a juvenile with two counts of theft (both class three felonies), and two counts of accomplice to burglary, one count of accomplice to armed robbery, and one count of armed robbery (all class two felonies).1 The juvenile court held a transfer hearing on August 21,1985, less than five months before appellant’s eighteenth birthday on January 7, 1986.

At the hearing, the juvenile court heard testimony from five witnesses on the transfer issue: Carmen Reyes, juvenile probation officer; Dr. Eugene Moan, court-appointed psychologist; Dr. Nan Kribs, privately-retained psychologist; appellant’s father; and Mary Reagan, juvenile probation officer. Reyes testified that appellant was not a social danger and was capable of being rehabilitated, partially because appellant had never been involved before in any juvenile proceedings. Reyes’ main concern was that proper rehabilitation facilities were not available in Arizona. Reyes testified that appellant did not need custodial care and therefore, under an interstate compact between Arizona and Missouri, appellant’s rehabilitation program could be administered in Missouri so that appellant could return home. However, Reyes was unfamiliar with any of the treatment alternatives in Missouri. Furthermore, although Reyes felt that substantial progress could be made in the five months before appellant turned 18, he thought it would take more than five months to complete rehabilitation.

The psychologists disagreed with Reyes. They both testified that appellant could be rehabilitated in five months. Dr. Moan testified that appellant’s lack of problems with law enforcement in the past, her above-average school performance, her involvement in church activities, and her supportive family were all factors favoring his conclusion that appellant could be rehabilitated in five months. Dr. Moan also stated that appellant presented no danger to society. Both psychologists recommended that appellant rejoin her family, return to the parochial school she had been attending, and receive extensive family and individual counseling.

Appellant’s father testified that his daughter had not caused problems in the past. He stated that the family would cooperate fully in any rehabilitation measures that were ordered.

[242]*242Juvenile probation officer Mary Reagan’s testimony concerned only transfer procedures used in Arizona under the interstate compact. She testified that the paperwork necessary to transfer a juvenile to another state under the compact generally took two to three months to complete.

Based on this testimony, the Juvenile court made the following findings and conclusions:

1. That the offense charged was committed in a premeditated manner even though the juvenile did not directly commit the offense. She had knowledge of the primary actor’s intent, his capabilities and of his past acts immediately prior to the commission of the crimes in this State. The fact that she tried to dissuade him from committing said crimes is of itself proof that she knew or had reason to believe that the crimes alleged were to be committed and that she should have taken evasive action through the appropriate agencies. The crimes themselves were of the most serious and violent nature and she only passively objected to their commission.
2. The crimes alleged threatened the lives of everyone involved. The juvenile knew of the potential threat involved.
3. That the juvenile appears to be a bright, intelligent person who, but for these events, has been a law abiding citizen. She has spent much of her formative years attending a parochial school. Her parents are interested, concerned parents. However, there appears to be a problem between them that now has to be addressed by counseling.
4. That the mental, physical and emotional condition of the juvenile appears to be fine.
5. That the child has an upstanding record up to the time of her running away.
6. That she has never been charged with a crime prior to this time.
7. That the Juvenile Court does not provide adequate or reasonable rehabilitation services and facilities for the juvenile in this case. The juvenile will be 18 within a short period of time (January 1, 1986) [sic]. She has indirectly participated in several very serious crimes. Perhaps, she was a follower and not the perpetrator. Perhaps, she has pulled the wool over the eyes of everyone with whom she has come in contact. The safe approach for the

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In Re the Appeal in Coconino County Juvenile Action No. J-9896
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Bluebook (online)
741 P.2d 1218, 154 Ariz. 240, 1987 Ariz. LEXIS 172, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-appeal-in-coconino-county-juvenile-action-no-j-9896-ariz-1987.