State in Interest of Clatterbuck

700 P.2d 1076, 1985 Utah LEXIS 806
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedApril 18, 1985
Docket19937
StatusPublished
Cited by41 cases

This text of 700 P.2d 1076 (State in Interest of Clatterbuck) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State in Interest of Clatterbuck, 700 P.2d 1076, 1985 Utah LEXIS 806 (Utah 1985).

Opinions

ZIMMERMAN, Justice:

This is an appeal by defendant Nick Alan Clatterbuck seeking reversal of a Third District Juvenile Court order entered on April 23,1984, certifying that he be tried as an adult pursuant to section 78-3a-25 of the Code. U.C.A., 1953, § 78-3a-25 (Supp. 1983). Defendant contends that the certification statute deprives him of due process of law, that the juvenile court’s findings and order do not comply with the statutory requirements of section 78-3a-25, and that his right to equal protection of the laws has been violated by the policies of the juvenile court or the Division of Youth Corrections. After reviewing the record, we find the defendant’s contentions to be without merit and affirm the certification order.

Defendant, 15 years old at the time of his arrest, is charged with two counts of criminal homicide, murder in the first degree, for the shooting deaths on February 28, 1984, of a Utah County couple in whose home he had been placed for foster care. On April 23, 1984, a hearing was held in the district juvenile court for Utah County to determine whether defendant should be tried as an adult. The hearing included testimony from ten witnesses. At its conclusion, the judge announced his findings from the bench and certified defendant to the district court for trial as an adult. He then prepared a written document entitled [1079]*1079“Findings and Order.” The findings con-clusorily stated that the nature of defendant’s crimes established that he was not amenable to treatment in the juvenile system and that certification of defendant as an adult would better serve both society’s and defendant’s interests.

Defendant mounts several challenges to the certification. He first claims that the pertinent statute, section 78-3a-25 of the Code, is facially unconstitutional because it is silent on two critical aspects of the certification proceeding: first, the statute fails to articulate the substantive standard that must be satisfied in order to certify the juvenile’s case to district court; and second, the statute fails to set forth the burden of proof that must be met by the State to establish that certification is appropriate. Defendant argues that as a result of these defects the statute vests virtually unfettered discretion regarding certification in the juvenile court judge. Because the juvenile system affords defendants certain advantages over the adult criminal system, a statute permitting arbitrary deprivation of those advantages, argues defendant, deprives juvenile defendants of due process of law under both the United States Constitution amend. XIV and the Utah Constitution art. I, § 7. See Kent v. United, States, 383 U.S. 541, 552-57, 86 S.Ct. 1045, 1052-55, 16 L.Ed.2d 84 (1966).

We agree that whether a juvenile is to be transferred to the adult system is a “ ‘critically important’ question” and that a juvenile must be afforded apprbpriate procedural protections when that determination is made. See Kent v. United States, 383 U.S. at 553, 86 S.Ct. at 1053; cf State in re Schreuder, Utah, 649 P.2d 19, 23 (1982). However, after considering defendant's contentions, we find that he was afforded those protections.

Section 78-3a-25 empowers the juvenile court to certify for trial as an adult a person 14 years of age or older who commits an act which would be a felony if committed by an adult, but only “if the court after full investigation and a hearing finds that it would be contrary to the best

interests of the child or of the public [for the juvenile court] to retain jurisdiction....” U.C.A., 1953, § 78-3a-25(l) (Supp.1983). Contrary to defendant’s first contention, the statute explicitly provides a substantive standard for certification: the juvenile court must find that continued retention of jurisdiction would be “contrary to the best interests of the child or of the public.” This language adequately spells out the parameters within which the juvenile court must exercise its discretion and does not deny defendant due process. See State in re Schreuder, 649 P-.2d at 25. We have previously upheld the constitutionality of this standard in the face of a similar due process challenge and see no reason to depart from that decision. State in re Salas, Utah, 520 P.2d 874, 876 (1974).

Defendant’s second due process contention, that the statute does not specify the burden of proof that the State must meet to justify certification, is technically correct. Due process considerations require that a juvenile judge not be free to use any standard he may choose in deciding to certify a defendant. See, e.g., In re Maricopa County Juvenile Action No. J-8^984, App., 138 Ariz. 305, 674 P.2d 859, 865-66 (1983). However, the absence of a standard regarding the burden of proof in section 78-3a-25 is not fatal to the statute’s constitutionality. The Board of Juvenile Court Judges has adopted a rule of procedure that provides:

The standard of proof required in all proceedings before Court under Section 55-10-77, subsection (1), UCA 1953 as amended (relating to the violation of a law) [currently found in section 78-3a-16(1) ] shall be beyond a reasonable doubt. In all other cases the standard of proof required for adjudication shall be clear and convincing evidence.

Utah Juv.Ct.R.Pro. 21 (1976) (emphasis added). Without deciding what the minimum permissible standard of proof might be, we hold that section 78-3a-25 fully satisfies the due process requirements of our state constitution, Utah Const, art. I, § 7, and any federal due process require[1080]*1080ments when proceedings are conducted pursuant to a clear and convincing evidence standard. See generally, In re Seven Minors, Nev., 664 P.2d 947, 953 (1983); but see In re Maricopa County Juvenile Action No. J-84984, 674 P.2d at 859. So long as section 78-3a-25 is administered in conjunction with Rule 21, it is constitutional as applied.

In the case before us, the juvenile court did not expressly state the standard of proof that the State must meet in order to justify its certification order. Plainly, in view of the statute’s silence on this matter, the court ought to have stated it, and we commend such a step to the juvenile courts for the future. However, the court’s failure to take this step does not require reversal for several reasons. First, in this case, defendant does not contend that the juvenile court disregarded Rule 21’s requirement that certifications be based only on clear and convincing evidence. Second, defendant’s counsel conceded at oral argument that there was ample evidence in the record to support a finding by clear and convincing evidence that certification was proper. In essence, we have no grounds for doubting the appropriateness of the juvenile court’s action in this case. Therefore, we find that under the statute as applied, defendant’s due process rights have not been violated because of a lack of standards.

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Bluebook (online)
700 P.2d 1076, 1985 Utah LEXIS 806, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-in-interest-of-clatterbuck-utah-1985.