STATE EX REL. JUV. DEPT. v. Reed

863 P.2d 1291, 124 Or. App. 495
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedNovember 17, 1993
DocketJUV 8970227 CA A77228
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 863 P.2d 1291 (STATE EX REL. JUV. DEPT. v. Reed) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
STATE EX REL. JUV. DEPT. v. Reed, 863 P.2d 1291, 124 Or. App. 495 (Or. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

863 P.2d 1291 (1993)
124 Or. App. 495

In the Matter of Robert Dale Reed, a Child.
STATE EX REL. JUVENILE DEPARTMENT OF MARION COUNTY, Respondent,
v.
Robert Dale REED, Appellant.

JUV 8970227; CA A77228.

Court of Appeals of Oregon.

Argued and Submitted April 16, 1993.
Decided November 17, 1993.
Reconsideration Denied January 19, 1994.

Mark Sabitt, Eugene, argued the cause for appellant. With him on the brief was Horton, Koenig & Barnes.

Youlee Y. You, Asst. Atty. Gen., argued the cause for respondent. With her on the brief were Theodore R. Kulongoski, Atty. Gen., and Virginia L. Linder, Sol. Gen.

*1292 Before ROSSMAN, P.J., and De MUNIZ and LEESON, JJ.

ROSSMAN, Presiding Judge.

Child appeals the juvenile court's order remanding him to the circuit court for prosecution as an adult. On de novo review, we affirm.

On August 12, 1992, the state filed an amended petition in juvenile court alleging that child, then 17, committed acts which, if committed by an adult, would constitute one count of intentional murder, two counts of felony murder, and one count each of first degree robbery and first degree burglary.

The allegations arose out of an incident that occurred sometime between July 15 and August 12, 1992. After attending a drive-in movie, child and a group of six youths encountered the victim, a complete stranger, at a convenience store in northeast Salem. The victim, who was visibly intoxicated, invited the youths to his apartment to join a party that he claimed was already in progress. They accepted the invitation and followed the victim to his apartment. Although it was immediately apparent that there was no party, they nevertheless went inside.

Once inside, one of the youths, Workman, began playing "mind games" with the victim. He asked the victim, who was sitting on a couch in the front room, what he would do if he found out that Workman was a homosexual. The victim responded by producing a folding knife with a three-inch blade, holding it in front of his own face and saying that he would have to ask Workman to leave. Workman walked into the kitchen, grabbed a butcher's knife, went back into the front room and said to the victim, "That's not a knife, this is a knife." He then put the knife on the floor and told the victim that he would give him until the count of three to do the same with his knife. On the count of one or two, Workman kicked the victim in the face,[1] knocking his glasses off, causing the knife to fly out of his hand[2] and sending him off the couch and onto the floor. As the victim attempted to stand, child grabbed a frying pan, swung it with both hands "like a [baseball] bat" and hit the victim in the back of the head with such force that the handle broke off. The youths then ran from the apartment. Workman took a VCR machine as he left. Some cigarettes and alcohol were taken by other youths. Child did not personally remove any items from the apartment.

As they were leaving the apartment, some of the youths claimed to have seen the victim on his knees, still alive. Other reports indicate that the victim never regained consciousness after being struck with the frying pan. One of the youths stated that, following the blow to the head with the frying pan, the victim fell to the floor and curled up in the fetal position. The victim's decomposed body was discovered in the fetal position.

The state moved to remand child to adult criminal court. After a hearing, the juvenile court granted the motion. Child appeals, arguing that the record does not support the remand order.

Under ORS 419.476(1)(a), the juvenile court is vested with exclusive original jurisdiction over all cases involving a person who is under 18 years of age and

"who has committed an act which is a violation, or which if done by an adult would constitute a violation, of a law or ordinance of the United States or a state, county or city[.]"

A person within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court under ORS 419.476(1)(a) may be remanded, or transferred, to adult criminal court for prosecution as an adult if the person was 15 years or older when he or she allegedly committed the offense and the offense is of a serious nature. See *1293 ORS 419.533(1)(a), (b).[3] ORS 419.533(1)(d) sets out the factors used to decide whether remand is appropriate.[4] It is the state's burden to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that remand would best serve the interests of both the juvenile and society. ORS 419.533(1)(d); State ex rel. Juv. Dept. v. George, 124 Or.App. 257, 862 P.2d 531 (1993); State ex rel. Juv. Dept. v. Geigle, 120 Or.App. 120, 123, 852 P.2d 225 (1993).

As a preliminary matter, child asserts that the trial court's findings are inadequate under ORS 419.533(2), because they simply recite the statutory language contained in ORS 419.533(1)(c), (d).[5] ORS *1294 419.533(2) requires the juvenile court to "make a specific, detailed, written finding of fact" to support an order of remand. In State ex rel. Juv. Dept. v. Cole, 280 Or. 173, 177, 570 P.2d 365 (1977), the Supreme Court recognized that the purpose of the statutory requirement is to ensure "that the judges actually consider the criteria which the legislature has laid down for [the transfer of juveniles to adult court.]" Here, the written remand order does more than merely restate the statutory language. See n. 5, supra. It demonstrates that the juvenile court fully considered the relevant criteria in determining whether remand was appropriate.

Applying the criteria in ORS 419.533(1)(d), we first consider child's amenability to treatment given the resources available to the juvenile and adult court systems.[6] Both child's probation officer and a court-appointed psychologist who examined child agreed that child is capable of reform. At the remand hearing, the psychologist testified that the Secure Intensive Treatment Program (SITP)[7] at MacLaren School for Boys would provide child with the best opportunity for rehabilitation and that if child did participate in that program he could be rehabilitated by the time he reached the age of 21. He also acknowledged that the SITP would be available to child whether he remained in the juvenile system or was remanded to adult court.

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863 P.2d 1291, 124 Or. App. 495, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-juv-dept-v-reed-orctapp-1993.