J.T. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

111 N.E.3d 1019
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 13, 2018
DocketCourt of Appeals Case 18A-JV-707
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 111 N.E.3d 1019 (J.T. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J.T. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), 111 N.E.3d 1019 (Ind. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

Bradford, Judge.

Case Summary

[1] In July of 2016, fourteen-year-old J.T. stole a vehicle and was subsequently put on probation. In December of 2016, J.T. stole his mother's car and crashed it into a ravine. J.T. was placed on home detention with electronic monitoring. In January of 2017, J.T. violated the terms of home detention by not reporting to school as required. J.T. was placed in problem-solving court and soon violated its conditions. In March of 2017, J.T. removed his electronic monitor and sneaked out to see his girlfriend. Based on these acts, J.T. was adjudged to be a juvenile delinquent for committing what would be Level 6 felony auto theft, Class A misdemeanor conversion, Class A misdemeanor unauthorized absence from home detention, and Level 6 felony escape if committed by an adult.

[2] In March of 2017, J.T. was placed in the Youth Opportunity Center ("the YOC") for residential treatment, where, over the next several months, he had behavioral issues, including some incidents involving violence. J.T. returned to problem-solving court in August of 2017 and committed many violations over the course of the next several months. At some point, the juvenile court ordered J.T.'s father to pay $30 per month as reimbursement for services rendered to J.T., an amount agreed to by J.T.'s father. Finally, in February of 2018, the problem-solving court moved to terminate J.T.'s participation, and the State requested a commitment to the Department of Correction ("the DOC"). J.T.'s counsel indicated that J.T. also wanted a DOC commitment. The juvenile court ordered DOC commitment and, in April of 2018, ordered that J.T.'s mother pay $20 per month against the total of $7463 for services *1021 rendered to J.T. J.T. contends that the juvenile court abused its discretion in ordering his parents to make monthly reimbursement payments and in ordering him committed to the DOC. Because we disagree, we affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

[3] J.T. was born on November 4, 2001, and his divorced parents split custody of him. On July 29, 2016, while staying with his father in Bedford, J.T. and two other juveniles stole a vehicle belonging to Joe Pritchett. A witness reported the stolen vehicle being operated erratically, resulting in the police stopping the vehicle. The vehicle was ultimately returned to Pritchett, and it was reported that $363 worth of items were missing from inside the vehicle.

[4] On August 8, 2016, in cause number 47C01-1608-JD-264 ("Cause No. JD-264"), the State filed a delinquency petition alleging that J.T. committed what would be Level 6 felony auto theft if committed by an adult. At a hearing held on October 31, 2016, J.T. entered an admission to the offense and was adjudicated delinquent. J.T. was released to supervised probation pending the dispositional hearing and went back to live with his father.

[5] On December 25, 2016, J.T. was visiting his mother in Bedford. When J.T.'s mother fell asleep, J.T. took her car keys and drove off in her vehicle, which she had not given him permission to take. Shortly thereafter, the authorities received a call from a male indicating that his vehicle was involved in a "slideout[.]" Tr. Vol. II p. 8. When officers responded to the scene, they encountered J.T. with the stolen vehicle, which he had wrecked by driving into a ravine. J.T. was arrested and detained in the Jackson County Juvenile Detention Center ("the Detention Center"). 1 While detained, on December 31, 2016, J.T. had two disciplinary notices because he spoke with other juveniles and scraped paint from the door to his room in violation of the rules. On January 4, 2017, in cause number 47C01-1612-JD-492 ("Cause No. JD-492"), the State filed a second delinquency petition alleging that J.T. committed what would be Level 6 felony auto theft if committed by an adult. After a hearing, J.T. was released to electronic monitoring and home detention at his father's home.

[6] On January 19, 2017, J.T. left home at 7:22 a.m. but did not report to school as was required by his home-detention agreement. J.T. was unaccounted for until 11:16 a.m. That same day, the State filed a request for J.T. to be taken into custody because he was in violation of his home-detention agreement. On January 27, 2017, in cause number 47C01-1701-JD-58 ("Cause No. JD-58"), the State filed a third delinquency petition alleging that J.T. committed what would be Class A misdemeanor unauthorized absence from home detention if committed by an adult.

[7] On February 2, 2017, J.T. admitted to the allegations in JD-58 and to an amended allegation of conversion in JD-492. On February 6, 2017, J.T. was placed on supervised probation and ordered into problem-solving court. At that time, J.T.'s parents were informed of their responsibility to pay the fees and costs of problem-solving court and indicated that they desired him to be placed there and understood their financial obligations.

[8] On February 7, 2017, J.T. violated the conditions of problem-solving *1022 court by associating with a negative peer group and violating curfew, and he was sanctioned with community service. On February 14, 2017, J.T. violated the conditions of problem-solving court by associating with a negative peer group, violating curfew, and disrespecting his mother, and was sanctioned by being placed on home detention with electronic monitoring. On February 28, 2017, J.T. violated the conditions of problem-solving court by violating home detention, associating with a negative peer group, and being sent home from school, and he was sanctioned with community service.

[9] A 12:30 a.m. on March 7, 2017, J.T. removed his electronic monitor, left his mother's home, and went to the hotel where his girlfriend was living with her family. J.T.'s mother contacted the police and reported him missing from home detention. The police located J.T. hiding in the bushes at 1:30 a.m., and he was taken into custody. J.T. was detained again at the Detention Center.

[10] On March 8, 2017, in cause number 47C01-1703-JD-128 ("Cause No. JD-128"), the State filed a fourth delinquency petition alleging that J.T. committed what would be Level 6 felony escape if committed by an adult. On March 9, 2017, the probation department filed a petition to modify J.T.'s probation in the other three cause numbers based on the most recent offense. That same day, a hearing was held on the petition In Cause No. JD-128, and J.T. admitted to committing the offense of escape and to the allegations in the petition to modify probation. After an advisement on costs and fees and with his mother's approval, J.T. was placed into the YOC for residential treatment.

[11] J.T. progressed through the phases of the YOC program but continued to have problems. On March 23, March 28, and April 30, 2017, J.T. received incident reports for bad behavior in the YOC. On other occasions, J.T. exited the program without permission, stayed up until 4:00 a.m., failed to follow staff directives, instigated incidents, and struggled to control himself. On July 3, 2017, J.T. was physically aggressive with another resident, threw chairs at tables, emptied a shampoo bottle on another resident's bed, tried to rip another resident's clothing, and ran away into an office and had to be restrained.

[12] J.T.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

C A v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2024
H.B. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2020
F.A. v. State of Indiana
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2020
J.F. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2020
C.S. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2019
B.D. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2019
D.W. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2019
G.W. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2019
M.J. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2019
J.R. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2019
E.M. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
Indiana Court of Appeals, 2019
J.T. v. State
116 N.E.3d 459 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2019)
C.M. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
121 N.E.3d 143 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2019)
E.J. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
121 N.E.3d 130 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2019)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
111 N.E.3d 1019, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jt-v-state-of-indiana-mem-dec-indctapp-2018.