State v. JH

978 P.2d 1121
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJune 21, 1999
Docket41486-1-I, 41488-7-I, 41638-3-I, 41942-1-I, 41774-6-I, 41695-2-I, 41633-2-I, 42055-1-I, 42253-7-I, 41766-5-I, 41875-1-I, 41991-9-I
StatusPublished
Cited by43 cases

This text of 978 P.2d 1121 (State v. JH) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. JH, 978 P.2d 1121 (Wash. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

978 P.2d 1121 (1999)

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
J.H., Appellant.
State of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Z.B., Appellant.
State of Washington, Respondent,
v.
E.S., Appellant.
State of Washington, Respondent,
v.
D.S., Appellant.
State of Washington, Respondent,
v.
T.M., Appellant.
State of Washington, Respondent,
v.
R.G., Appellant.
State of Washington, Respondent,
v.
A.W., Appellant.
State of Washington, Respondent,
v.
D.S., Appellant.
State of Washington, Respondent,
v.
J.A., Appellant.
State of Washington, Respondent,
v.
G.K., Appellant.
State of Washington, Respondent,
v.
C.M., Appellant.
State of Washington, Respondent,
v.
L.F., Appellant.

Nos. 41486-1-I, 41488-7-I, 41638-3-I, 41942-1-I, 41774-6-I, 41695-2-I, 41633-2-I, 42055-1-I, 42253-7-I, 41766-5-I, 41875-1-I, 41991-9-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

June 21, 1999.

*1123 Mark Fordham, Seattle, Brian O'Brien, Spokane, for Amicus Curiae.

David Koch, Eric Nielsen, Jim Dixon, Nielsen, Broman & Assoc. Pllc.; Catherine Floit; Sheryl McCloud; Susan Craighead, Public Defenders Assoc.; Elise Gautama, Wash. Appellate Project, Seattle, for Appellants.

Brian McDonald, King County Pros. Ofc.; Cheryl Snow, Juvenile Division, Seattle, for Respondent.

*1122 ELLINGTON, J.

In this consolidated appeal, we consider whether the 1997 amendments to the juvenile justice code have made juvenile proceedings so similar to adult criminal proceedings that juvenile offenders are now entitled to a jury trial under either the United States or Washington constitution. Applying Washington case precedent, we find that the amendments do not render juvenile proceedings so much less rehabilitative and more punitive that the right to a jury trial must attach. Some of the juveniles raise additional arguments based on the facts of their particular cases. We find no reversible error with respect to these issues. Accordingly, we affirm in each of the cases.

I. Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments

The federal constitution guarantees an adult criminal defendant the right to an impartial jury in all criminal prosecutions.[1] The Washington constitution contains the same guarantee.[2] Juvenile offender cases, however, are tried without a jury under RCW 13.04.021(2). Because of the differences between the juvenile justice system and the adult criminal system, the denial of a jury trial to juveniles has been repeatedly held constitutional.

In McKeiver v. Pennsylvania, the United States Supreme Court held that "trial by jury in the juvenile court's adjudicative stage is not a constitutional requirement."[3] The plurality in McKeiver also noted the possibility that a jury trial might "remake the juvenile proceeding into a fully adversary process and will put an effective end to what has been the idealistic prospect of an intimate, informal protective proceeding."[4] In In re: Estes v. Hopp, our state court reached the same conclusion.[5] After enactment of the Juvenile Justice Act (JJA), our Supreme Court again held in State v. Lawley there is not a constitutional right to a jury trial under our statutes.[6] The Lawley Court rejected the argument that the JJA represented a shift in focus from rehabilitation to punishment such that juvenile proceedings were so akin to adult criminal prosecutions that a right to jury trial arose. Later, considering amendments to the JJA that increased the emphasis on punishment, our Court again addressed the question in 1987, and held in State v. Schaaf that despite the amendments, juvenile proceedings remained rehabilitative in nature and distinguishable from adult criminal prosecutions, and that the amendments created no right to trial by jury.[7]

After Schaaf was decided, the JJA was again amended to allow a juvenile offender who is determined to be a continuing and serious threat to the safety of others in the institution to be transferred from a juvenile detention facility to the department of corrections.[8] In Monroe v. Soliz, the Court held that the possibility of such a transfer does not transform the juvenile's adjudication *1124 into an adult criminal conviction to which the right to trial by jury attaches.[9] The Court noted that the differences between the adult criminal system and the juvenile justice system have led the Court "to consistently conclude the right to a jury trial does not extend to juveniles adjudicated in juvenile proceedings." The Court emphasized that a criminal conviction carries far more serious ramifications than a juvenile adjudication, regardless of where the juvenile serves his or her time, and, applying the reasoning in Schaaf, concluded the amendment did not create a right to a jury trial.[10]

The distinctions between the adult and juvenile systems that have been found to have constitutional consequence on this question lie in the rehabilitative purposes and lesser penalties of the Juvenile Justice Act, which stand in contrast to the punitive purpose and much more serious penalties of the adult criminal system. Our Supreme Court described the dichotomy thusly:

The purpose of the juvenile justice system is ostensibly to establish a system having primary responsibility for, and responding to, the needs of offenders, as well as to hold juveniles responsible for their offenses. The critical distinction between the two systems lies in the Juvenile Justice Act of 1977's (JJA) policy of responding to the needs of juvenile offenders. We have in the past found such a policy as rehabilitative in nature, whereas the criminal system is punitive. Such differences have led us to consistently conclude the right to a jury trial does not extend to juveniles adjudicated in juvenile proceedings.[11]

II. 1997 Amendments to Juvenile Justice Act

A. Purpose and Intent

We first note that the legislature's statement of intent and purpose[12] changed with enactment of the 1997 amendments only insofar as it increased the emphasis on responding to the needs of juvenile offenders.[13] The legislative intent underlying the juvenile justice system remains the establishment of "a system capable of having primary responsibility for, being accountable for, and responding to the needs of youthful offenders."[14] The JJA is also intended to hold youthful offenders accountable for their offenses, and to require that "communities, families, and the juvenile courts carry out their functions consistent with this intent."[15] To effectuate these policies, the legislature enumerated 11 purposes of the JJA and declared them to be of equal importance:[16]

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Bluebook (online)
978 P.2d 1121, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jh-washctapp-1999.