Matter of Anj

521 N.W.2d 889, 1994 WL 521360
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedSeptember 27, 1994
DocketC4-94-691
StatusPublished

This text of 521 N.W.2d 889 (Matter of Anj) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Matter of Anj, 521 N.W.2d 889, 1994 WL 521360 (Mich. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

521 N.W.2d 889 (1994)

In the Matter of the Welfare of A.N.J.

No. C4-94-691.

Court of Appeals of Minnesota.

September 27, 1994.
Review Denied November 29, 1994.

Hubert H. Humphrey, III, Atty. Gen., St. Paul, Michael O. Freeman, Hennepin County Atty., Linda K. Jenny, Asst. County Atty., Minneapolis, for respondent.

William R. Kennedy, Hennepin Co. Public Defender, Peter W. Gorman, Asst. Public Defender, Minneapolis, for appellant.

Considered and decided by FORSBERG, P.J., and NORTON and HARTEN, JJ.

OPINION

NORTON, Judge.

This appeal is from the juvenile court's order referring a 19-year-old individual *890 for prosecution in adult court. Appellant argues that the juvenile court lacked jurisdiction to determine the state's adult reference motion because the state filed the motion after his 19th birthday. He also contends that the evidence and the law do not support the court's reference order. We disagree and affirm.

FACTS

On June 28, 1993, a juvenile female complained to police that while she was taking a shower behind a locked bathroom door in July of 1991, appellant (A.N.J.), who was staying at her home, unlocked the door from the outside, entered the bathroom while naked himself, grabbed her, and forced her to have sexual intercourse with him. On October 23, 1993, the police referred this case to the county attorney's office for prosecution. On January 24, 1994, the county attorney's office filed a petition in juvenile court charging A.N.J. with one count of third degree criminal sexual conduct for engaging "in sexual penetration with another person * * * [when] the actor uses force or coercion to accomplish the penetration." Minn.Stat. § 609.344, subd. 1(c) (1992).

On January 26, 1994, A.N.J. turned 19 years of age. On February 14, 1994, the state filed a motion in juvenile court for adult reference. A.N.J. moved the juvenile court to dismiss the juvenile petition and the state's motion for adult reference on the grounds that the state lacked jurisdiction by virtue of his age. The juvenile court denied appellant's motion to dismiss, held a hearing on the reference matter, and granted the state's motion for adult reference. This appeal followed.

ISSUES

1. Does the juvenile court have jurisdiction to preside over an adult reference proceeding where the state filed a delinquency petition prior to appellant's 19th birthday and filed a motion for adult reference shortly after appellant reached age 19?

2. Do the record and law support the juvenile court's findings and order for adult reference?

ANALYSIS

1. Jurisdiction over Reference Hearing

This court has previously determined that the juvenile court retains jurisdiction after an individual's 19th birthday to "complet[e] an adjudication on the allegations of delinquency" brought prior to an individual becoming 19 years old. In re Welfare of C.A.N., 370 N.W.2d 438, 442-43 (Minn.App.1985). Thus, A.N.J. concedes that the juvenile court has jurisdiction to proceed on the delinquency petition filed prior to his 19th birthday. He contends, however, that the juvenile court does not have jurisdiction to refer him for prosecution in adult court because the state filed its motion for adult reference after his 19th birthday. We disagree.

The statute provides for juvenile court jurisdiction to continue "until the individual becomes 19 years of age." Minn.Stat. § 260.181, subd. 4. (1992). "[J]uvenile court jurisdiction has not been recognized after the time period provided in section 260.181." C.A.N., 370 N.W.2d at 442. Thus, if A.N.J. is not referred to adult court, the juvenile court will only be able to hold a trial and adjudicate him delinquent; the court will not have the power to impose a disposition or any consequences other than to create a court record which "would increase the severity of sentences for future offenses." Id. at 443. Considering the severity of the offense here, and the presumptive prison term which accompanies a conviction for this offense in adult court, a juvenile adjudication here with no treatment or other disposition would amount to little more than a "slap on the wrist." A.N.J.'s argument that he may only be adjudicated delinquent with no dispositional consequence is one more twist to the "home free" arguments which arise when a person exceeds the jurisdictional age specified in the juvenile code. Minnesota appellate courts have repeatedly found that a "home free" claim based upon age alone must fail. See In re Welfare of S.V., 296 N.W.2d 404, 407 (Minn.1980); State v. Dehler, 257 Minn. 549, 555-56, 102 N.W.2d 696, 702 (1960); C.A.N., 370 N.W.2d at 442.

*891 This court has previously addressed a jurisdictional issue similar to the one presented here. See C.A.N., 370 N.W.2d at 440. A.N.J. argues that C.A.N. compels a conclusion that the juvenile court lacked jurisdiction here to preside over his reference hearing and refer him after he turned age 19. We disagree.

Similar to A.N.J., C.A.N. was age 18 when the delinquency petition was filed, and she had turned 19 before the juvenile court referred her to adult court for prosecution. Id. Unlike A.N.J., however, the juvenile court referred C.A.N. without a reference hearing. Id. This court reversed that order in a two-part analysis.

First, the C.A.N. court addressed the issue of whether the juvenile court could refer a juvenile to adult court without a reference hearing once the juvenile reached age 19. Id. at 440. After a detailed review of the various applicable statutes and case law, this court determined that the "least absurd result among several unsatisfactory options" was to provide juvenile court jurisdiction to complete an adjudication that had been commenced prior to the juvenile turning age 19. Id. at 442. Significantly, this court noted that "[i]n appropriate cases, this form of continued jurisdiction would involve a reference hearing and reference to adult court." Id. at 443.

Second, the C.A.N court considered whether there could be a reference hearing on remand. The problem in C.A.N., however, was that a reference hearing had not been scheduled within 30 days after the state initially filed its motion for reference. Id. at 440. Further, the juvenile court had issued its order for reference after the thirty-day period. Id. at 440, 443-44. This court determined that "the statutory condition on time for a hearing is obligatory on its face," and held that there could be no reference hearing in C.A.N. because the thirty-day time had been exceeded and no hearing had been scheduled. Id. at 443 (citing Minn.Stat. § 260.125, subd. 2 (1984)).

Here a reference hearing occurred within 30 days of the filing of the reference motion. Thus, the obstacles to adult reference contained in C.A.N. are not present here and the juvenile court had jurisdiction to refer A.N.J. We are not swayed by A.N.J.'s argument that the filing of the motion for reference after his 19th birthday resulted in the juvenile court losing jurisdiction to refer him.

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Related

Matter of the Welfare of R.D.W.
407 N.W.2d 113 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1987)
State v. Russell
481 N.W.2d 148 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1992)
In Re the Welfare of M.R.G.
432 N.W.2d 771 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1988)
State v. Dehler
102 N.W.2d 696 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1960)
In Re the Welfare of J.L.B.
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Matter of Welfare of Dahl
278 N.W.2d 316 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1979)
In Re Welfare of W. J. R.
264 N.W.2d 391 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1978)
In Re the Welfare of C.A.N.
370 N.W.2d 438 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1985)
In Re the Welfare of S. V.
296 N.W.2d 404 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1980)
In Re the Welfare of K.J.K.
357 N.W.2d 117 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1985)
In re the Welfare of A.N.J.
521 N.W.2d 889 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1994)

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Bluebook (online)
521 N.W.2d 889, 1994 WL 521360, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matter-of-anj-minnctapp-1994.