In the Interest of J.J.

848 A.2d 1014, 2004 Pa. Super. 142, 2004 Pa. Super. LEXIS 715
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 26, 2004
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 848 A.2d 1014 (In the Interest of J.J.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania 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.J., 848 A.2d 1014, 2004 Pa. Super. 142, 2004 Pa. Super. LEXIS 715 (Pa. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION BY STEVENS, J.:

¶ 1 This is an appeal from the Order entered by the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, which extended the duration of a consent decree ordering Appellant J.J., a juvenile, to pay restitution. Herein, J.J. argues that the lower court had no authority under the Juvenile Act1 to order restitution without first adjudicating J.J. delinquent following a hearing. We find that the Act does not prohibit restitution as a term of a consent decree voluntarily entered between a juvenile and the Commonwealth, but we nevertheless vacate and remand for a proper determination of the amount J.J. is able to pay.

¶ 2 The Juvenile Petition charging J.J. with the delinquent acts of aggravated assault, terroristic threats, and disorderly conduct made the following allegations:

According to the information and belief of Officers Baur and Gammiere of the Pittsburgh School Police, said [fifteen year old] child, in Allegheny County, on or about January 11, 2001, attempted to cause or intentionally or knowingly caused serious bodily injury to Security Officer Stephen Shaulis, an employee of Brashear High School, in the performance of duty, by grabbing a pencil and attempting to stab him with it. In addition, said child threatened to commit any crime of violence with intent to terrorize Security Officer Stephen Shaulis by threatening to kill him. Also, said child, with intent to cause substantial harm or serious inconvenience, created a hazardous or physically offensive condition which served no legitimate purpose by resisting being escorted to the security office and repeatedly using profanity. In the same course of events, a teacher, Gabriel Mingrone, while assisting Security Officer Shaulis in restraining and escorting said child to the office, sustained injuries which required medical attention and surgery.

Juvenile Petition dated 1/24/02.

¶ 3 Prior to a delinquency hearing, however, J.J. and the Commonwealth acceded to a consent decree pursuant to 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 6340. The terms of the consent decree were acknowledged by both parties at a March 26, 2002 hearing before the lower court:

COMMONWEALTH: At this point, the Commonwealth has agreed to amend the aggravated assault to a simple assault, and to offer the juvenile a consent decree with a couple of additional conditions. There is a question for [sic] restitution for the teacher Gabriel Mingrone.. .who assisted the security officer who was involved in the altercation with the juvenile.
We would like to request that restitution be left open and have a restitution [1016]*1016hearing scheduled, but depending on the outcome of the consent decree, that if at the expiration of the six months, if the restitution request for some reason has not been resolved.. .that it can be continued for that as necessary for that reason.
THE COURT: Okay.
COMMONWEALTH: Even if there’s been no violations by the juvenile.
COUNSEL FOR J.J.: Your Honor, Stacey Steiner from the Office of the Public Defender on behalf of the juvenile.... [J.J.] has no problem with that, Your Honor....
THE COURT: Did you go over this with your client?
COUNSEL FOR J.J.: Yes.
THE COURT: Does he understood [sic] the terms of this?
COUNSEL FOR J.J.: Yes, Your Hon- or....
THE COURT: Do you understand that the restitution on this is to remain open and it will be extended until restitution is resolved?
J.J.: Yes.

N.T. 3/26/02 at 2-5. On that same date, the parties signed and effected the consent decree. Among the enumerated “Accountability Conditions” of the decree was that J.J. “shall... [fulfill the Court ordered restitution obligation of $ “open” with minimum monthly payments of $_” Directly underneath this condition was the “Special Accountability Condition,” inter alia, that a “restitution hearing [was] to be held in [the] matter.”

¶ 4 At the restitution hearing of May 14, 2002, the parties disputed whether Mr. Mangrone was entitled to restitution when he received five paid sick days from work as a result of his attack-related injuries. Counsel for J.J. acknowledged that restitution for lost work was a term of the consent decree, but her argument was that Mr. Mangrone had not, as it turned out, suffered a loss where he had been able to use five paid sick days for the time off. The lower court disagreed, determining that the loss of the five sick days from Mr. Mangrone’s retirement package was the basis for restitution. Based on Mr. Man-grone’s testimony regarding his compensation, the court set restitution at $1,439.52. J.J.’s ability to pay restitution, though raised in passing by counsel for J.J., was never addressed by the lower court.

¶ 5 The hearing thus ended and the lower court entered its Order of May 14, 2002, ordering J.J. to remain on the consent decree, and to pay restitution to Mr. Mangrone. After the court entered a subsequent order extending the decree and obligation to pay restitution, this timely appeal followed.

¶ 6 J.J. contends that the court was without authority under the Juvenile Act to order restitution without having first adjudicated J.J. delinquent, and argues that the restitution amount was the invalid result of speculation without inquiry into J.J.’s ability to pay.2 To J.J’s first contention, we hold that nothing in the Act excludes the remedy of restitution from the set of appropriate conditions and terms of a consent decree.

¶ 7 A petition alleging that a child is delinquent must be disposed of in accordance with the Juvenile Act. In Interest of Bosket, 404 Pa.Super. 265, 590 A.2d 774, 776 (1991). Dispositions which are not set forth in the Act are beyond the power of [1017]*1017the juvenile court. Id. Under the Act, petitions may be disposed of in three ways: (1) by informal adjustment; (2) by consent decree, or (8) by hearing. Commonwealth v. JHB., 760 A.2d 27 (Pa.Super.2000).

¶ 8 As J.J. correctly notes, where a petition is disposed of by hearing, Section 6352(a)(5) states:

(a) General Rule. — If the child is found to be a delinquent child the court may make any of the following orders of disposition determined to be consistent with the protection of the public interest and best suited to the child’s treatment. ...
(5) Ordering payment by the child of reasonable amounts of money as fines, costs or restitution as deemed appropriate as part of the plan of rehabilitation considering the nature of the acts committed and the earning capacity of the child....

42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6352(a)(5). We disagree, however, with J.J.’s argument that authority to order restitution occurs only in the Section 6352 context.

¶9 First, J.J. mistakenly reads Section 6352 as if it said “only if the child is found to be a delinquent does the Juvenile Act authorize a court to impose restitution.” The plain language of Section 6352 does not so limit the applicability of restitution, but merely permits an order of restitution if a juvenile is first found to be delinquent.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
848 A.2d 1014, 2004 Pa. Super. 142, 2004 Pa. Super. LEXIS 715, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-interest-of-jj-pasuperct-2004.