In Re the Appeals in Maricopa County Juvenile Actions No. JV119590 & No. JV118201

810 P.2d 589, 167 Ariz. 591, 73 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 17, 1990 Ariz. App. LEXIS 356
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedNovember 6, 1990
Docket1 CA-JUV 90-006, 1 CA-JUV 90-007
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 810 P.2d 589 (In Re the Appeals in Maricopa County Juvenile Actions No. JV119590 & No. JV118201) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re the Appeals in Maricopa County Juvenile Actions No. JV119590 & No. JV118201, 810 P.2d 589, 167 Ariz. 591, 73 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 17, 1990 Ariz. App. LEXIS 356 (Ark. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinions

[592]*592OPINION

TAYLOR, Presiding Judge.

FACTS

These juvenile cases have been consolidated for purposes of this appeal. Both juveniles were arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated and driving with a blood alcohol content in excess of .10 percent, both commonly referred to as DUI. A.R.S. § 28-692. Relying upon Hinson v. Coulter, 150 Ariz. 306, 723 P.2d 655 (1986), the juvenile court judge in each case dismissed the respective charges with prejudice due to the state’s failure to try the juveniles within one hundred fifty days of arrest. The state claims that Hinson ought not apply to juvenile DUI proceedings. We agree.

The procedural facts of each case are set forth separately.

JV 119590

In this case, the juvenile was arrested at the scene of a one-car accident on June 18, 1989. He was referred to the Juvenile Court Probation Department on July 25, 1989, which, on August 7, 1989, recommended court intervention. Formal charges were filed against the juvenile on August 29, 1989, and a DUI petition was filed on October 26, 1989. Without the state’s knowledge, the advisory hearing scheduled for November 17, 1989, was vacated and reset to December 1, 1989. On December 1, 1989, a public defender was appointed to represent the juvenile. Prior to that time, the juvenile was unrepresented by counsel. Trial date of January 25, 1990, was set and a preadjudication conference, set for January 11, 1990, was vacated. Defense counsel filed a motion to dismiss on December 21,1990, for not adjudicating the juvenile within one hundred fifty days of arrest as required by Hinson. The court dismissed the state’s case, ruling that the time limits set by Rule 8, Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure, as interpreted by Hinson, should apply to juvenile DUI cases. We note that one hundred sixty six days elapsed from the date of the arrest to December 1, 1989, the date of the advisory hearing and appointment of counsel. Even excluding the thirteen days due to the diversion process at the juvenile probation department, more than one hundred fifty days had elapsed from the date of arrest.

JV 118201

The juvenile in this case was arrested on May 27, 1989, after being involved in a hit-and-run accident. A DUI petition was filed against the juvenile on August 8, 1989. A pre-adjudication hearing was held on September 22, 1989, one hundred nineteen days after arrest, and his trial was scheduled for November 20, 1989, more than one hundred fifty days after the arrest. It was later continued to January 27, 1990. The juvenile’s defense attorney, who was appointed on July 25, 1989, after the public defender’s office withdrew, never informed the court of the possible Hinson problem.

On October 31, 1989, the juvenile filed a motion to dismiss based on the failure to try him within one hundred fifty days of arrest under Rule 8.2(a) and Hinson. The juvenile court judge dismissed the case with prejudice, citing the juvenile’s right to a speedy trial under the sixth and fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution, and the juvenile’s right to equal protection of the law, indirectly applying Hinson.

WAIVER

We first consider the issue of waiver. The state urges that counsel for the juvenile in JV118201 intentionally waited until one hundred fifty days had passed after arrest and then moved for dismissal under Hinson. The state deems such conduct to waive the motion to dismiss, thus also waiving the right to adjudication within one hundred fifty days of arrest.

A waiver is a voluntary relinquishment of a known right and, without knowledge of a right, there can be no waiver. State v. Davis, 108 Ariz. 335, 337, 498 P.2d 202, 204 (1972).

[593]*593It is difficult to perceive how the juvenile can be charged with waiving a right that had not yet been recognized nor announced. As stated above, the waiver must be of a known right. Whatever merit there may be for the extension of Hinson to juvenile proceedings, until that rule is clearly announced, it strains concepts of fundamental fairness to suggest that the unsophisticated mind of a juvenile should anticipate such a rule.

There is nothing in the record to suggest that the juvenile knew of Rule 8, knew of Hinson, or sought to take advantage of any application of Hinson to his case. Whatever the motives of counsel, the juvenile is not bound by his attorney’s deficient act. State v. Berlat, 146 Ariz. 505, 510, 707 P.2d 303, 308 (1985).

APPLICATION OF RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

The Rules of Criminal Procedure do not apply in juvenile delinquency proceedings. E.g., In the Matter of Maricopa County Juvenile Action No. J-86715, 122 Ariz. 300, 303, 594 P.2d 554, 557 (App.1979); In the Matter of Yavapai County Juvenile Action No. 7707, 25 Ariz.App. 397, 399, 543 P.2d 1154, 1156 (1975). It is true that certain rules have been held to apply to juveniles. However, each of those rules was applied as a shield to give some constitutional protection to the juvenile, i.e., Rule 11 to determine competency, State ex rel. Dandoy v. Superior Court, 127 Ariz. 184, 187-88, 619 P.2d 12, 15-16 (1980); Rule 4 to compel prompt initial appearance, JV-111701 v. Superior Court, 163 Ariz. 147, 150-152, 786 P.2d 998, 1001-3 (App.1989); Rule 17 requiring compliance with standards for accepting admissions of guilt, Juvenile No. J-86715, 122 Ariz. at 302-03, 594 P.2d at 556-57; and Rule 27 and case law pertaining to notice and opportunity to contest modification of terms of probation, In the Matter of Pinal County Juvenile Action No. J-169, 131 Ariz. 187, 189, 639 P.2d 377, 379 (App. 1981).

The application of those rules to juveniles charged with the commission of an offense is premised on concepts of due process, equal protection and fairness and not upon a belief that the rules governing prosecution of adults should apply. The Rules of Criminal Procedure only serve as a familiar vehicle to achieve due process ends. See e.g., State ex rel. Dandoy v. Superior Court, 127 Ariz. at 187, 619 P.2d at 15 (a juvenile must' be accorded due process protections in the adjudication of charges against him). As was emphasized to the juvenile courts of this state in Application of Gault, “[t]he hearing must measure up to the essentials of due process and fair treatment.” 387 U.S. 1, 30, 87 S.Ct. 1428, 1445, 18 L.Ed.2d 527, 548 (1967).

The recognition of these Constitutional guarantees does not justify a conclusion that the Hinson rule applies to juveniles. No basic rights of the juvenile are protected by this extension of Hinson. The absence of Constitutional considerations in deciding Hinson

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Bluebook (online)
810 P.2d 589, 167 Ariz. 591, 73 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 17, 1990 Ariz. App. LEXIS 356, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-appeals-in-maricopa-county-juvenile-actions-no-jv119590-no-arizctapp-1990.