In the Interest of J.C.M.

135 So. 3d 210, 2014 WL 1026205, 2014 Miss. App. LEXIS 140
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 18, 2014
DocketNo. 2012-CA-01830-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 135 So. 3d 210 (In the Interest of J.C.M.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In the Interest of J.C.M., 135 So. 3d 210, 2014 WL 1026205, 2014 Miss. App. LEXIS 140 (Mich. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

IRVING, P.J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. On October 30, 2012, the Pearl Municipal Youth Court adjudicated J.C.M.1 a delinquent child and ordered that he serve ninety days in the Rankin County Juvenile Detention Center with supervised probation thereafter. Feeling aggrieved, J.C.M. appeals and argues that the youth court erred by not providing specific findings of fact pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 43 — 21—605(l)(k) (Supp. 2013) and by imposing an unreasonable and inappropriate disposition.

¶ 2. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 3. On August 20, 2012, twelve-year-old J.C.M. touched a female classmate’s breast during a physical education (P.E.) class at Pearl Junior High School in Pearl, Mississippi. The female classmate, B.G., reported J.C.M. to school authorities. J.C.M. was immediately suspended, taken to and detained at the Rankin County Juvenile Detention Center, and charged with disorderly conduct. He was released to his parents and placed on house arrest on August 22, 2012.

¶ 4. On October 30, 2012, the youth court held an adjudicatory hearing. During the hearing, the victim, the victim’s friend, and two of J.C.M.’s friends testified to their recollection of the events of August 20, 2012. B.G. testified that on August 20, 2012, she and her friend, B.S., were walking along the track in front of J.C.M. and his group of friends during P.E. class. B.G. stopped walking because her ankles started hurting, causing B.S., J.C.M., and his friends to walk ahead of her. According to B.G., J.C.M. approached her and introduced himself. While B.G. was talking to J.C.M., an unknown student brushed by B.G. Feeling that the student had gotten too close to her, B.G. commented that the student had gotten “too close to [her] breast[.]” When J.C.M. asked her what she said, she responded:

I was, like, nothing. He was, like, what did you say? Did you just say that you just got pushed in your breast, and I was, like, yeah. And then — and I said I don’t let anybody get close to me or nothing or let anybody touch me or look or anything, and he just started staring at me.... And then — and then he said the “D” word and said those things are huge and then he grabbed me after he was staring at me.

B.G. stated that she did not think J.C.M. touched her by accident and that she was offended by J.C.M. touching her in that manner. After J.C.M. touched her breast, B.G. punched J.C.M. and later told her teacher about the incident.

¶ 5. B.S. testified that when B.G.’s ankle started hurting, she walked ahead of B.G. to talk with another group of friends. When she finished talking with her friends, she turned around and went back to walk with B.G. When she got back to where B.G. was on the track, B.G. was talking with J.C.M. B.G. “told [J.C.M.] that, you know, that he can’t touch them, can’t, you know, look, and then that’s when it happened.” She was sure that she saw J.C.M. grab B.G.’s breast, and she saw B.G. hit J.C.M. in response.

[212]*212¶ 6. J.G., a Mend of J.C.M.’s, testified that he was on the track during the day of the incident. He stated that he saw J.C.M. “touch” B.G. on her breast, and that he did not think that it was an accident. J.G. stated that he did not hear any conversation between B.G. and J.C.M. before J.C.M. touched B.G.’s breast.

¶ 7. J.H., a friend of J.C.M.’s, also testified at the adjudicatory hearing. J.H. stated that J.C.M. “came over and talked about how he hit [B.G.] in the breast and she was mad.” J.H. testified that J.C.M. was not the kind of person that would walk around hitting people. However, he did believe that J.C.M. hit B.G., just not on her breast.

¶8. J.C.M. testified that he did not touch B.G. on her breast. He stated that he was walking the track alone when B.G. approached him and asked him his name. According to J.C.M., B.G. hit him in the stomach and he “pushed her on her shoulder.”

¶ 9. The youth court adjudicated J.C.M. a delinquent child. The court stated that J.C.M. showed “absolutely no remorse” and that the court took J.C.M.’s lack of remorse into account when determining the disposition. The court ordered that J.C.M. spend ninety days in the detention center and be placed on supervised probation once released from the detention center, stating that the length of J.C.M.’s probation “depends on how he behaves.” J.C.M.’s attorney filed an emergency motion, requesting that J.C.M. be released from detention and placed with his parents. The youth court held a hearing on the motion and heard additional testimony from J.C.M., his parents, his middle-school principal, and his pastor. After the hearing, although still harboring some lingering doubts as to J.C.M.’s “rehabilitation and the safety of the community[,] particularly for the safety of [J.C.M.’s] victim and those witnesses that testified against [him],” the court ordered that J.C.M. be released from detention. J.C.M.’s remaining detention time was

suspended subject to (a) compliance with the terms of probation; (b) compliance with the terms of house arrest until released from house arrest by this Court; (c) successful completion of outpatient treatment; and (d) compliance with no contact, directly or indirectly, by the child or his parents with the victim and all witnesses (other than [J.C.M.’s] father and [J.C.M.’s] pastor) that testified at the adjudieat[ory] hearing.

¶ 10. As a separate issue, the City of Pearl, through its counsel, filed a motion to strike J.C.M.’s brief, alleging that the brief is highly disrespectful to and contemptuous of the youth court. See M.R.A.P. 28(1). The City additionally alleges that J.C.M.’s appeal is frivolous and requests that this Court assess damages to J.C.M.’s parents and his counsel as a result. See M.R.A.P. 38.

¶ 11. Additional facts, as necessary, will be related during our analysis and discussion of the issues.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

I. Sanctions

¶ 12. The City requests that this Court strike J.C.M.’s brief pursuant to Rule 28(Z) of the Mississippi Rules of Appellate Procedure. Rule 28(1) provides that “[a]ny brief containing language showing disrespect or contempt for the trial court will be stricken from the files, and the appropriate appellate court will take such further action as it may deem proper.” The City also requests that this Court assess damages to J.C.M.’s parents and J.C.M.’s attorney for filing a frivolous appeal pursuant to Rule 38 of the Missis[213]*213sippi Rules of Appellate Procedure. When determining if an appeal is frivolous, the inquiry is an objective one that turns on “whether a reasonable person would have any hope for success.” Harris v. Harris, 988 So.2d 376, 380 (¶ 16) (Miss.2008).

¶ 13. We decline both of the City’s requests, as J.C.M.’s brief is not contemptuous or disrespectful, and J.C.M.’s appeal is not frivolous. J.C.M.’s counsel has not cast her appellate arguments in a way to suggest any disrespect for the youth court. It is clear from the arguments, however, that counsel believes that J.C.M.’s punishment was unjustifiably harsh. Additionally, in light of the youth court’s failure to give a definite term for J.C.M.’s probation, we cannot say that J.C.M.’s appeal is frivolous. Therefore, sanctions against J.C.M.’s counsel and his parents are inappropriate.

II. Specific Findings of Fact

¶ 14.

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135 So. 3d 210, 2014 WL 1026205, 2014 Miss. App. LEXIS 140, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-interest-of-jcm-missctapp-2014.