Minor v. Commonwealth

548 S.E.2d 262, 36 Va. App. 75, 2001 Va. App. LEXIS 487
CourtCourt of Appeals of Virginia
DecidedJuly 3, 2001
DocketRecord No. 1996-00-2
StatusPublished

This text of 548 S.E.2d 262 (Minor v. Commonwealth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Minor v. Commonwealth, 548 S.E.2d 262, 36 Va. App. 75, 2001 Va. App. LEXIS 487 (Va. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

FRANK, Judge.

Carlos Demetrius Minor (appellant) was convicted, in a bench trial, of possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute, in violation of Code § 18.2-248. On appeal, he contends his conviction is void under Baker v. Commonwealth, 28 Va.App. 306, 504 S.E.2d 394 (1998), aff'd, 258 Va. 1, 516 S.E.2d 219 (1999) (per curiam), because the juvenile and domestic relations district court failed to give his mother and father proper notice of the juvenile court proceedings. We agree and reverse the conviction.

I. BACKGROUND

On April 3, 1996, the Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court issued a petition charging appellant with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Appellant, who was born on March 21, 1979, was seventeen years old at the time of the offense. The petition listed appellant’s father’s address as “North Carolina” and indicated that appellant’s mother was incarcerated in the Virginia Department of Corrections. The petition also listed appellant’s grandmother, Barbara Alston, as his legal guardian.

On May 9, 1996, appellant, his attorney and his grandmother were present for the transfer hearing.1 The transfer order [78]*78indicated that neither parent was present, and there was no documentation that either parent’s location was unascertainable.2 However, the order noted that appellant’s grandmother was present for the transfer hearing.

On June 26, 1996, appellant, his attorney, his grandmother, and the prosecutor appeared in the circuit court, and appellant entered a plea of guilty. The court accepted the plea and, in accordance with the plea agreement, directed that appellant be evaluated for the Shock Incarceration Program.

On August 9, 1996, the trial court suspended imposition of sentence against appellant on the condition that he enter and successfully complete the Shock Incarceration Program. Later, appellant violated the terms of the suspended sentence and, ultimately, the entire suspended sentence was revoked.

On April 26, 2000, appellant, by counsel, filed a motion to vacate his conviction. The motion asserted that his August 9, 1996 conviction was void because his mother and father were not given notice of the transfer hearing and there was no indication in the record that the location or identity of his mother or father was not reasonably ascertainable.

The trial court heard the motion to vacate on June 5, 2000. Appellant testified that he was seventeen years old at the time of the offense and that to his knowledge, his mother and his father were not notified of or present at the juvenile proceeding or the transfer hearing. Appellant testified he had not seen his mother or father in the past four years but he talked by telephone to his mother, who was in the Goochland Penitentiary. Appellant admitted that his grandmother was his legal guardian at the time of the juvenile proceedings.

Appellant’s mother, Monica Bryant, testified that she did not have notice of the original proceedings and she was not present at any of the hearings. She testified that she was in the Goochland Penitentiary at the time of the juvenile proceedings. She further testified that appellant’s grandmother was his legal guardian at the time of the juvenile proceedings.

[79]*79On July 24, 2000, the trial court issued an opinion denying appellant’s motion to vacate. The court found appellant’s grandmother had legal custody at the time of the offense and, although his grandmother had not been given written notice of the transfer hearing, she was present at the transfer hearing and the subsequent trial. The court concluded that because appellant’s grandmother was his legal guardian at the time of the offense and she was present at the transfer hearing on May 9, 1996, the requirements of Code § 16.1-263 were satisfied.

II. ANALYSIS

Appellant, relying on Baker, 28 Va.App. 306, 504 S.E.2d 394, contends the trial court lacked jurisdiction to convict him because he was a juvenile at the time of the offense and the record failed to establish that his biological parents were served with summonses as required by Code § 16.1-263.

Former Code § 16.1-263(A) required that, “after a petition has been filed,” the juvenile court “shall direct the issuance of summonses, one directed to the juvenile ... and another to the parents, guardian, legal custodian or other person standing in loco parentis.... Where the custodian is summoned and such person is not the parent of the juvenile in question, the parent shall also be served with a summons. The court may direct that other proper or necessary parties to the proceedings be notified of the pendency of the case, the charge and the time and place for the hearing.”

We have previously held “the provisions of Code §§ 16.1-263 and 16.1-264, ‘relating to procedures for instituting proceedings against juveniles, are mandatory and jurisdictional,’ and the failure to ‘strictly follow these notice procedures denies a juvenile defendant ‘a substantive right and the constitutional guarantee of due process.’ ” Baker, 28 Va.App. at 310, 504 S.E.2d at 396 (quoting Karim v. Commonwealth, 22 Va.App. 767, 779, 473 S.E.2d 103, 108-09 (1996) (en banc)). Thus, a default in the requisite “notice of the initiation of [80]*80juvenile proceedings” renders “the transfer of jurisdiction” “ineffectual and the subsequent convictions .. void.” Id. at 315, 504 S.E.2d at 399.

The Commonwealth concedes that neither parent was notified of the original juvenile proceedings or appeared at any stage of that proceeding. However, the Commonwealth contends that the presence of the grandmother as appellant’s “legal guardian” satisfied the notice requirements of Code § 16.1-263.

The Commonwealth maintains that the grandmother, not the parents, was the only person with any custody interest in appellant, citing Thomas v. Garraghty, 258 Va. 530, 522 S.E.2d 865 (1999), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 1106, 120 S.Ct. 864, 145 L.Ed.2d 714 (2000). However, this reference ignores the substantial difference between custody and adoption.

In Thomas, Thomas was adopted by his maternal grandparents with the consent of both natural parents. Id. at 533, 522 S.E.2d at 867. Prior to his commission of the offenses, Thomas’ adoptive parents died. Id. at 534, 522 S.E.2d at 867. He lived with his aunt and uncle at the time of the offenses. Id. At the time of the offenses, no legal guardian or custodian had been appointed by a court. Id. The uncle and aunt, persons standing “ ‘in loco parentis,’ ” were notified of the juvenile proceedings under Code § 16.1-263(A). Id. at 535, 522 S.E.2d at 868. Thomas contended his natural father should have been given notice and the failure to do so rendered his capital murder conviction void under Baker. Id. at 532, 522 S.E.2d at 866.

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Thomas v. Garraghty
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Southerly v. Commonwealth
536 S.E.2d 452 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 2000)
Baker v. Commonwealth
504 S.E.2d 394 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 1998)
Karim v. Commonwealth
473 S.E.2d 103 (Court of Appeals of Virginia, 1996)
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192 S.E.2d 775 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1972)
Peyton v. King
169 S.E.2d 569 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1969)
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Langhorne v. Commonwealth
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Bluebook (online)
548 S.E.2d 262, 36 Va. App. 75, 2001 Va. App. LEXIS 487, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/minor-v-commonwealth-vactapp-2001.