J.N. v. Superior Court of Orange Cnty.

233 Cal. Rptr. 3d 220, 23 Cal. App. 5th 706
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedMay 22, 2018
DocketG055499
StatusPublished
Cited by56 cases

This text of 233 Cal. Rptr. 3d 220 (J.N. v. Superior Court of Orange Cnty.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J.N. v. Superior Court of Orange Cnty., 233 Cal. Rptr. 3d 220, 23 Cal. App. 5th 706 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

O'LEARY, P.J.

*710INTRODUCTION

Petitioner, J.N., who was 17 years old at the time of the alleged offenses, was charged with felonies in the superior *224court.1 After the passage of Proposition 57, the Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016, the superior court suspended criminal proceedings and certified J.N. to the juvenile court to determine whether he should be treated in the juvenile court system or prosecuted as an adult. ( Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 604 [certification process], 707, subd. (a)(2) [juvenile court to decide whether minor should be tried as adult or juvenile]; all further statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code unless otherwise indicated.) The juvenile court determined J.N. was not suitable for treatment in the juvenile court. J.N. filed a petition for a writ of mandate/prohibition, arguing the court abused its discretion in applying section 707.

In making its decision whether the minor should be tried as an adult, the court must consider five statutory factors (§ 707, subd. (a)(2) ). Relevant here are two factors, the circumstances and gravity of the charged offense, and whether the minor can be rehabilitated prior to the expiration of the juvenile court's jurisdiction. We find the juvenile court's determination J.N. was not suitable for treatment in the juvenile court was not supported by substantial evidence and was, therefore, an abuse of discretion.2 The petition is granted.

PROPOSITION 57 & SECTION 707

In 2000, the electorate passed Proposition 21, making changes in the way juveniles are charged with serious offenses. Prosecutors were given the authority to "direct file" a felony complaint in adult court, eliminating the juvenile court's ability to determine at an early stage of the proceedings whether the juvenile should be treated in the juvenile court system or transferred to adult court. (§ 707, former subd. (d), as amended by initiative measure (Prop. 21, § 26, approved by voters. Primary Elec. (Mar. 7, 2000), eff. Mar. 8, 2000, repealed by Prop. 57, § 4.2, as approved by voters, Gen. Elec. (Nov. 8, 2016), eff. Nov. 9, 2016).) The voters apparently rethought their votes on Proposition 21 and passed Proposition 57 at the November 8, 2016, general *711election. ( People v. Cervantes (2017) 9 Cal.App.5th 569, 596, 215 Cal.Rptr.3d 174 ( Cervantes ) ["Proposition 57 was designed to undo Proposition 21"], rev. granted May 17, 2017, S241323.) Proposition 57's amendments to section 707 went into effect the next day. ( People v. Superior Court (Walker ) (2017) 12 Cal.App.5th 687, 691, 220 Cal.Rptr.3d 1, disapproved on other grounds in People v. Superior Court (Lara ) 4 Cal.5th 299, 314, 228 Cal.Rptr.3d 394, 410 P.3d 22.)

Proposition 57 terminated the prosecutor's ability to file a criminal complaint against a juvenile in the criminal court without first obtaining authority from a juvenile court judge to treat the juvenile as an adult. "Proposition 57 effectively guarantees a juvenile accused felon a right to a fitness hearing before he or she may be sent to the criminal division for prosecution as an adult." ( Cervantes , supra , 9 Cal.App.5th at p. 597, 215 Cal.Rptr.3d 174.)

When a minor has been charged in the juvenile court with any felony allegedly committed when he or she was 16 years of age or older, the prosecutor "may make a motion to transfer the minor from juvenile court to a court of criminal jurisdiction." (§ 707, subd. (a)(1).) Upon the making of such a motion, the juvenile court must *225order the probation department to prepare "a report on the behavioral patterns and social history of the minor." (Ibid .) At the hearing on the prosecution's motion, the court considers the probation report and evidence submitted by the minor. (§ 707, subd. (a)(2).) In deciding whether to treat the minor in the juvenile court system or transfer the matter to the criminal court, the court must consider five factors listed in section 707, subdivision (a)(2). (Ibid .) Those factors are the minor's degree of criminal sophistication, whether the minor can be rehabilitated in the time before the juvenile court would lose jurisdiction over the minor, the minor's prior history of delinquency, the success of prior attempts by the juvenile court to rehabilitate the minor, and the circumstances and gravity of the charged offense. (§ 707, subd. (a)(2)(A)(i)-(E)(i).) Contrary to former subdivision (c) of section 707, which made a minor presumptively unsuitable for treatment under the juvenile court system if charged with an offense listed in subdivision (b) of section 707 (§ 707, former subd. (c); repealed by Prop. 57, § 4.2, eff. Nov. 9, 2016), the new law contains no such restriction. "If the court orders a transfer of jurisdiction, the court shall recite the basis for its decision in an order entered upon the minutes." (§ 707, subd. (a)(2).)

FACTS OF THE ALLEGED OFFENSE

J.N. is charged with a murder, but the evidence presented at the hearing in juvenile court established he did not kill anyone. The murder was committed while J.N. and two other minors, including the killer, were tagging (making graffiti) in a rival gang's claimed territory. The killing occurred when the *712three minors were surprised by an adult rival gang member. The rival approached S.C., who pulled out a gun to scare the man. Undeterred, the man grabbed the gun in S.C.'s hand and a struggle ensued. Shots were fired as they wrestled over the gun. J.N. and the other minor stood frozen3 nearby.

PROCEDURAL FACTS

On February 26, 2016, the prosecutor filed a felony complaint charging J.N. with crimes alleged to have occurred on September 7, 2014. He was charged with one count each of murder ( Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a) ), vandalism for the benefit of a criminal street gang ( Pen. Code, §§ 186.22, subd. (d), 594, subds. (a), (b)(2)(A) ), and active participation in a criminal street gang ( Pen. Code, § 186.22, subd. (a) ). The complaint further alleged the murder and vandalism were committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang ( Pen.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
233 Cal. Rptr. 3d 220, 23 Cal. App. 5th 706, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jn-v-superior-court-of-orange-cnty-calctapp5d-2018.