State v. BB

17 A.3d 30, 300 Conn. 748, 2011 Conn. LEXIS 154
CourtSupreme Court of Connecticut
DecidedMay 10, 2011
Docket18481
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 17 A.3d 30 (State v. BB) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. BB, 17 A.3d 30, 300 Conn. 748, 2011 Conn. LEXIS 154 (Colo. 2011).

Opinion

17 A.3d 30 (2011)
300 Conn. 748

STATE of Connecticut
v.
B.B.[*]

No. 18481.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued October 25, 2010.
Decided May 10, 2011.

*31 Martin Zeldis, public defender, for the appellant (defendant).

James M. Ralls, senior assistant state's attorney, with whom, on the brief, were, Michael Dearington, state's attorney, and Karen Roberg, assistant state's attorney, for the appellee (state).

Marsha L. Levick filed a brief for the Center for Children's Advocacy et al., as amici curiae.

*32 ROGERS, C.J., and NORCOTT, PALMER, ZARELLA, McLACHLAN, EVELEIGH and VERTEFEUILLE, Js.[**]

McLACHLAN, J.

The defendant, B.B., appeals[1] from the decision of the trial court, which granted the state's motion to transfer the defendant's case from the youthful offender docket to the regular criminal docket, pursuant to General Statutes § 54-76c (b)(1).[2] The defendant contends that the trial court improperly granted the state's motion to transfer his case to the regular criminal docket, without first holding a hearing on the motion, in violation of his right to due process under the federal constitution. We conclude that § 54-76c (b) requires a hearing on the adult docket prior to the finalization of the transfer of a case from the youthful offender docket to the regular criminal docket, that this statutory requirement satisfies due process, and that neither § 54-76c (b)(1) nor due process entitles the defendant to a hearing before the court on the youthful offender docket. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The record reveals the following undisputed facts and procedural history. On July 7, 2009, at the age of sixteen, the defendant, B.B., was arrested and charged with one count of possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle in violation of General Statutes § 29-38(a). On July 8, 2009, the defendant was arraigned on the youthful offender docket and the trial court determined that there was probable cause for his arrest.

Subsequently, the state moved to transfer the matter to the regular criminal docket pursuant to § 54-76c (b)(1). The defendant objected to the transfer and argued that due process entitled him to a hearing before his case could be transferred.[3] The trial court granted the *33 state's motion to transfer the defendant's case to the regular criminal docket, concluding that it did not have discretion pursuant to § 54-76c (b)(1), to deny the state's motion to transfer. The court concluded that the statute vested sole discretion with the prosecutor and that the failure to provide for a hearing on the youthful offender docket did not violate due process. This appeal followed.

The defendant claims that the trial court improperly granted the state's motion to transfer because he has a liberty interest in his status as a defendant on the youthful offender docket, and due process therefore entitles him to a hearing prior to transfer of his case to the regular criminal docket.[4] Although we agree with the defendant that he has a liberty interest in his status as a defendant on the youthful offender docket, we conclude that the failure to hold a hearing prior to the transfer did not deprive him of his right to due process. The defendant's due process right is satisfied by the requirement in § 54-76c (b) of a hearing before the court on the regular criminal docket prior to the finalization of the transfer.

The constitutionality of a statute presents a question of law over which our review is plenary. See, e.g., Rodriguez v. Testa, 296 Conn. 1, 7, 993 A.2d 955 (2010); Honulik v. Greenwich, 293 Conn. 641, 668, 980 A.2d 845 (2009) (Katz, J., dissenting). The fourteenth amendment provides in relevant part that "[n]o State shall ... deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law...." U.S. Const., amend. XIV, § 1. In order to prevail on a fourteenth amendment due process claim the defendant must allege: (1) a liberty or property right protected by the fourteenth amendment; and (2) that the deprivation of that interest contravened due process. See Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 332-33, 96 S.Ct. 893, 47 L.Ed.2d 18 (1976); Fleming v. Bridgeport, 284 Conn. 502, 529, 935 A.2d 126 (2007). "Due process analysis begins with the identification of the interests at stake. Liberty interests protected by the [f]ourteenth [a]mendment may arise from two sources—the [d]ue [p]rocess [c]lause itself and the laws of the [s]tates." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Rupar, 293 Conn. 489, 503, 978 A.2d 502 (2009).

Any liberty interest in status as a defendant on the youthful offender docket in this state results only from statutory authority.[5] "Any [special treatment] accorded *34 to a juvenile because of his [or her] age with respect to proceedings relative to a criminal offense results from statutory authority, rather than from any inherent or constitutional right." (Emphasis in original; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Angel C., 245 Conn. 93, 104, 715 A.2d 652 (1998); see also State v. Skakel, 276 Conn. 633, 658, 888 A.2d 985, cert. denied, 549 U.S. 1030, 127 S.Ct. 578, 166 L.Ed.2d 428 (2006) (to extent that defendant possesses liberty interest in juvenile status, "that interest derives from, and is limited by, the statutory provisions governing the transfer, adjudication and commitment of juveniles").

"[O]nce a state provides its citizens with certain statutory rights beyond those secured by the constitution itself, the constitution forbids the state from depriving individuals of those statutory rights without due process of law." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Matos, 240 Conn. 743, 749, 694 A.2d 775 (1997). In light of the significant benefits of adjudication as a juvenile rather than as an adult, we concluded in State v. Fernandes, 300 Conn. 104, 111, 123, 12 A.3d 925 (2011), that juveniles charged with class C and class D felonies have a liberty interest in their juvenile status. As we explained in State v. Fernandes, supra, at 123, 12 A.3d 925, these types of benefits "were the focus of the United States Supreme Court in Kent v. United States, 383 U.S. 541, 86 S.Ct. 1045, 16 L.Ed.2d 84 (1966), which we have interpreted as holding `that if a statute vests a juvenile with the right to juvenile status, then that right constitutes a liberty interest, of which the juvenile may not be deprived without due process; i.e., notice and a hearing.'"

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
17 A.3d 30, 300 Conn. 748, 2011 Conn. LEXIS 154, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bb-conn-2011.