State v. JES

763 N.W.2d 64, 2009 WL 749577
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedMarch 24, 2009
DocketA08-0668
StatusPublished

This text of 763 N.W.2d 64 (State v. JES) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. JES, 763 N.W.2d 64, 2009 WL 749577 (Mich. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

763 N.W.2d 64 (2009)

STATE of Minnesota, Respondent,
v.
J.E.S., Appellant.

No. A08-0668.

Court of Appeals of Minnesota.

March 24, 2009.

*65 Lori Swanson, Attorney General, St. Paul, MN; and Mike Freeman, Hennepin County Attorney, Michael K. Walz, Assistant County Attorney, Minneapolis, MN, for respondent.

Lawrence Hammerling, Chief Appellate Public Defender, Sara L. Martin, Assistant Public Defender, St. Paul, MN, for appellant.

Considered and decided by ROSS, Presiding Judge; JOHNSON, Judge; and RANDALL, Judge.

OPINION

Randall, Judge.[*]

The juvenile court revoked J.E.S.'s EJJ probation because he possessed a weapon in violation of the terms of his probation. Although the probation proceedings were commenced before J.E.S. turned 21, possession of the weapon was not alleged until after J.E.S. turned 21. The juvenile court incorrectly based revocation of J.E.S.'s probation on J.E.S.'s possession of a weapon. We reverse and remand.

FACTS

In September 2003, 17-year-old J.E.S. was arrested and charged with aiding and *66 abetting aggravated robbery and aiding and abetting attempted aggravated robbery. In February 2004, the juvenile court designated J.E.S. an extended jurisdiction juvenile (EJJ) after he had pleaded guilty to the attempt charge. The juvenile court imposed a sentence of 48 months, which constituted a departure from the presumptive sentence of 24 months. However, the juvenile court stayed the sentence subject to conditions enumerated in his EJJ contract. Those conditions required him to maintain full-time employment, "promptly" report new contacts with law enforcement, and prohibited him from possessing any "assaultive weapon[s]."

Between August 2005 and July 2006, the juvenile court filed three apprehension and detention (A & D) orders alleging that J.E.S. had violated the terms of his EJJ probation. However, none of these A & D orders resulted in revocation of J.E.S.'s probation. On May 22, 2007, the juvenile court issued an A & D order containing allegations that J.E.S. had violated several of the terms of his EJJ probation by being cited for fare evasion, failing to report this citation as well as other contacts with police, and failing to maintain full-time employment. The same day, J.E.S. was arrested on suspicion of criminal sexual conduct in connection with an incident occurring at E.S.'s home on May 18, 2007. According to E.S.'s testimony, J.E.S. attempted to sexually assault her 17-year-old granddaughter while in E.S.'s home. When E.S. physically intervened to protect her granddaughter, J.E.S. pulled out a TASER[1] and "tried to stick" E.S. with it.

Officer James Lopez arrested J.E.S. at the probation office in downtown Minneapolis. In the probation officer's presence, Officer Lopez handcuffed J.E.S. and asked him if he had any weapons. J.E.S. stated that he had a TASER in his pocket, and Officer Lopez seized it.

On May 23, 2007, the day after J.E.S.'s arrest, the juvenile court issued a revised A & D order that included the May 22 arrest for criminal sexual conduct. The revised A & D order did not mention possession of the TASER. On August 13, 2007, J.E.S. turned 21. In October 2007, J.E.S. was acquitted of the criminal-sexual-conduct charges stemming from the alleged assault on E.S.'s granddaughter. His counsel requested that the juvenile court discharge him from the court's extended jurisdiction because he had turned 21, but the court ruled that the May 23, 2007 A & D order "toll[ed] the time period... of his EJJ probation." The court therefore scheduled a review hearing for November 2007. On November 28, 2007, the parties appeared for the scheduled uncontested review hearing. Because the parties did not reach agreement on the matter, the juvenile court scheduled a contested hearing for January 2008. That same day,[2] November 28, the juvenile court filed a notification of violation hearing, in which probation alleged that J.E.S. had possessed a TASER on May 22, 2007, in violation of the terms of his probation. On January 2, 2008, the parties appeared for a contested Morrissey hearing. See State v. Modtland, 695 N.W.2d 602, 605 (Minn.2005) (stating defendants must be afforded procedural due process when courts revoke parole or probation under *67 Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 92 S.Ct. 2593, 33 L.Ed.2d 484 (1972)).

At the hearing, the defense argued that the juvenile court could not rely on the evidence regarding the TASER because it had not been alleged until several months after J.E.S. turned 21. The prosecution argued that the facts leading to the allegation regarding J.E.S.'s possession of the TASER occurred before J.E.S.'s 21st birthday and that the November documentation of the TASER was essentially an "amend[ment]" of the A & D order that had been filed before J.E.S.'s 21st birthday. The juvenile court took the matter under advisement. On January 9, 2008, the juvenile court issued an order revoking J.E.S.'s probation and executing his 48-month sentence. J.E.S. appeals.

ISSUES

I. Did the juvenile court improperly base revocation of J.E.S.'s probation on a violation that was alleged after J.E.S. turned 21?

II. Did the juvenile court abuse its discretion in failing to find mitigating factors?

ANALYSIS

I.

J.E.S. argues that the juvenile court lacked jurisdiction to base revocation of his probation on possession of the TASER because that violation was not alleged until after his 21st birthday. The juvenile court held that it could consider the evidence regarding the TASER under the "relation-back" theory. The juvenile court claimed it had jurisdiction to complete the EJJ probation revocation hearing because it was "commenced" before J.E.S.'s 21st birthday. Thus, the juvenile court ruled it had jurisdiction to revoke probation based on any of the allegations in the November 28 notice even though the hearing was to be held after J.E.S.'s 21st birthday. We disagree. The record is clear that the probation department, despite having notice of the TASER incident on May 22, 2007 (and thus a full three months before J.E.S.'s 21st birthday) did not allege the TASER as a probation violation until November 28, 2007, a full three months after J.E.S. turned 21. It is true, as the juvenile court pointed out, that J.E.S., by having notice of the allegation in November, did have two months to prepare for the contested hearing in January 2008. But we conclude that the November allegation preceding a later January hearing was moot because the juvenile court lost the power to use the TASER incident as a foundation for a probation hearing since the November allegation took place three months after his 21st birthday.

When a statute provides the basis for the juvenile court's jurisdiction over the juvenile, the issue of jurisdiction is a question of law subject to de novo review. State v. Behl, 564 N.W.2d 560, 563 (Minn. 1997). An EJJ prosecution is "a blending of juvenile and adult criminal dispositions that extends jurisdiction over a young person to age twenty-one and permits the court to impose both a juvenile disposition and a criminal sentence." In re Welfare of B.N.S., 647 N.W.2d 40

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Related

Morrissey v. Brewer
408 U.S. 471 (Supreme Court, 1972)
State v. Modtland
695 N.W.2d 602 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2005)
In Re the Welfare of B.N.S.
647 N.W.2d 40 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2002)
State v. Behl
564 N.W.2d 560 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1997)
In Re the Welfare of V.D.M.
623 N.W.2d 277 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2001)
In Re the Welfare of S.J.T.
736 N.W.2d 341 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2007)
State v. Austin
295 N.W.2d 246 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1980)
Erickson v. State
702 N.W.2d 892 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2005)
State v. Osborne
732 N.W.2d 249 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2007)
State v. B.Y.
659 N.W.2d 763 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2003)
State v. J.E.S.
763 N.W.2d 64 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2009)

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Bluebook (online)
763 N.W.2d 64, 2009 WL 749577, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jes-minnctapp-2009.