Robert S. v. Superior Court

9 Cal. App. 4th 1417, 12 Cal. Rptr. 2d 489
California Court of Appeal·Decided September 29, 1992·No. A055771·Published·Cited by 15 cases

Opinion

9 Cal.App.4th 1417 (1992)
12 Cal. Rptr.2d 489

ROBERT S., Petitioner,
v.
THE SUPERIOR COURT OF SONOMA COUNTY, Respondent; THE PEOPLE, Real Party in Interest.

Docket No. A055771.

Court of Appeals of California, First District, Division One.

September 29, 1992.

*1418 COUNSEL

Patrick Sun for Petitioner.

*1419 Wilbur F. Littlefield, Public Defender, Albert J. Menaster and Sue Robin Pollock, Deputy Public Defenders, as Amici Curiae on behalf of Petitioner.

Daniel E. Lungren, Attorney General, George Williamson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Ronald A. Bass, Assistant Attorney General, Laurence K. Sullivan and David D. Salmon, Deputy Attorneys General, for Real Party in Interest.

OPINION

DOSSEE, J. —

SUMMARY AND ISSUES

By petition for extraordinary writ, Robert S. challenges an order entered in his pending juvenile court delinquency proceeding[1] which requires him to provide certain discovery to the prosecutor. As will be seen, we uphold the discovery order and deny the peremptory writ.

In the pending delinquency proceeding, the minor is alleged to have committed murder (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)), and assault with a deadly weapon (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(1)). Enhancements are pleaded as well pursuant to Penal Code sections 12022, subdivision (d) (personal use of a knife), 12022.7 (great bodily injury), 1192.7, subdivision (c)(8) (serious felony) and 186.22, subdivision (b)(1) (criminal street gang related). The crimes occurred January 1, 1991, when the minor was 14 years old.

Following the prosecutor's discovery motion and briefing and argument by the parties, respondent juvenile court ordered the People and the minor to provide one another with the names and addresses of witnesses to be called at trial, relevant written or recorded statements of those witnesses, reports of experts to be called at trial, results of physical and mental examinations to be used at trial, and real evidence to be offered at trial. Respondent relied on its discretionary authority (Joe Z. v. Superior Court (1970) 3 Cal.3d 797, 801-802 [91 Cal. Rptr. 594, 478 P.2d 26] (Joe Z.)) "to permit, upon a proper showing, discovery between the parties." (Id. at p. 801.)

The minor petitioned this court, challenging the order to the extent that it required him to provide discovery to the prosecution. We summarily denied *1420 the petition; the minor sought review in the California Supreme Court and requested a stay of his then-pending jurisdictional hearing. Our high court granted review and retransferred the matter to us with directions that we issue our alternative writ. (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 1087, 1104, 1105.)[2] We complied and granted the pending stay request.

The People contend that the order of the juvenile court is justified because the discovery provisions of Proposition 115 (Cal. Const., art. I, § 30, subd. (c) and Pen. Code, § 1054 et seq.) were intended to be and are applicable to delinquency proceedings. Alternatively, it is argued that the law governing discovery in adult cases may apply at the discretion of the juvenile court.

The minor responds that the discovery provisions of Proposition 115 are inapplicable to juvenile delinquency proceedings and that in any case, they are unworkable in the time frames mandated in such cases.

Assuming the inapplicability of Proposition 115's discovery provisions, the minor claims that the challenged order necessarily violates his state constitutional privilege against self-incrimination (Cal. Const., art. I, § 15) as interpreted by the California Supreme Court in In re Misener (1985) 38 Cal.3d 543 [213 Cal. Rptr. 569, 698 P.2d 637] (Misener), People v. Collie (1981) 30 Cal.3d 43 [177 Cal. Rptr. 458, 634 P.2d 534, 23 A.L.R.4th 776] (Collie), and their predecessors, beginning with Prudhomme v. Superior Court (1970) 2 Cal.3d 320 [85 Cal. Rptr. 129, 466 P.2d 673] (Prudhomme). And, relying on Wardius v. Oregon (1973) 412 U.S. 470 [37 L.Ed.2d 82, 93 S.Ct. 2208], he objects that the order is forbidden by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[3] He maintains as well that the order violates the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution and the attorney work product rule. Last, he argues that the California Rules of Court govern discovery in delinquency proceedings and that the challenged order conflicts with those rules.

DISCUSSION

As the People concede, the discovery provisions of Proposition 115, expressly apply only to "criminal cases" (Cal. Const., art. I, § 30, subd. (c); Pen. Code, § 1054.5, subd. (a)), and use terms inapplicable to delinquency *1421 proceedings. (E.g., "defendant," "prosecuting attorney," and "jury." (Pen. Code, §§ 1054.1, 1054.2, 1054.5 and 1054.6).) (1) It is axiomatic that "[w]ords used in a ... constitutional provision should be given the meaning they bear in ordinary use. [Citations.] If the language is clear and unambiguous there is no need for construction, nor is it necessary to resort to indicia of the intent of ... the voters.... [Citations.]" (Lungren v. Deukmejian (1988) 45 Cal.3d 727, 735 [248 Cal. Rptr. 115, 755 P.2d 299].)

(2) Moreover, the electorate is deemed to have been aware of existing laws and judicial constructions at the time an initiative is enacted. (People v. Weidert (1985) 39 Cal.3d 836, 844 [218 Cal. Rptr. 57, 705 P.2d 380].) In People v. Weidert, supra, our high court was confronted with a question analogous to that before us — whether an initiative amending the state's death penalty statute was applicable to juvenile court proceedings despite its exclusive reference to "criminal" proceedings. The high court's answer to that question was identical to the conclusion we reach today. Holding the amendment inapplicable to juvenile proceedings, the court explained that "[f]or over 20 years, California law has provided that `[a]n order adjudging a minor to be a ward of the juvenile court shall not be deemed a conviction of a crime for any purpose, nor shall a proceeding in the juvenile court be deemed a criminal proceeding.' (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 203, italics added.) The plain fact is that the electorate, deemed aware of section 203, enacted a provision which contains no language applicable to juvenile proceedings.

"The 1976 reenactment of Welfare and Institutions Code section 203 ... also supports our conclusion. That reenactment came after a number of court decisions accorded juveniles many of the protections available to adult defendants. Further, many other statutory provisions giving minors the same rights as adults were passed at the time of the reenactment. This reaffirmation of the distinction between juvenile and criminal proceedings shows the clear intent of the Legislature....

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