State v. LA

2010 UT App 356, 245 P.3d 213, 2010 WL 5121076
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedDecember 16, 2010
Docket20090642-CA
StatusPublished

This text of 2010 UT App 356 (State v. LA) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. LA, 2010 UT App 356, 245 P.3d 213, 2010 WL 5121076 (Utah Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

245 P.3d 213 (2010)
2010 UT App 356

STATE of Utah, Appellee,
v.
L.A., Appellant.

No. 20090642-CA.

Court of Appeals of Utah.

December 16, 2010.

*214 Scott L. Wiggins, Salt Lake City, for Appellant.

Kathi Sjoberg and Troy S. Rawlings, Farmington, for Appellee.

Before Judges DAVIS, ORME, and THORNE.

OPINION

THORNE, Judge:

¶ 1 L.A. appeals from the juvenile court's order holding her in contempt of court for failing to deliver her minor son, C.A., to juvenile detention as directed by C.A.'s probation officer. We reverse.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 On April 13, 2009, the juvenile court placed C.A. on probation.[1] The juvenile court entered an order setting forth the terms and conditions of C.A.'s probation, which included provisions directed at C.A.'s parents, L.A. (Mother) and R.A. (Father). The provisions of the order directed at Mother and Father stated,

It is hereby further ordered that as the parent(s) ... of the probationer you will participate fully in the probation program and comply with the following conditions:
1. You will notify the probation department immediately of any violations of the probation order and/or court order.
2. You will attend meetings with the probation department, school officials, mental health providers or others as directed and ensure transportation is provided.
3. You will authorize any reasonable search of your home to ensure the probationer's compliance with the conditions of probation.
4. You will be financially responsible for the probationer's treatment and/or placement, if applicable.
5. You will not modify any conditions of the probation order.

Mother and Father both signed a statement acknowledging that willful failure to comply with the probation program or court orders could result in contempt charges, that they had received a copy of the probation order, and that they understood its terms.

¶ 3 On April 16, three days after the juvenile court entered its order, Probation Officer Kim Brehm obtained a urine sample from C.A. that tested positive for marijuana use. That same day, Brehm contacted Mother, told her about C.A.'s positive urinalysis, and asked Mother to bring C.A. to Brehm's office the next morning at 9:30. Brehm also informed Mother that she intended to obtain a warrant for C.A.'s detention by the time of the morning meeting. During this conversation, Mother apparently disagreed with Brehm's decision and expressed her views not only as to why C.A. tested positive but also on addiction generally.

¶ 4 On the morning of April 17, Mother went to C.A.'s school to pick him up for the meeting with Brehm, but was unable to locate him because he was in a school assembly. Mother called Brehm and left a message that C.A. could not be located. At approximately 11:30 a.m., Brehm tried to contact Mother by phone about the meeting and left a message again mentioning the warrant and stating that C.A. needed to be taken to juvenile detention immediately. About fifteen minutes later, Mother returned Brehm's call and spoke with her, informing her about the school assembly and Mother's inability to locate C.A. Brehm informed Mother that she was leaving the office at noon and that Mother needed to take C.A. to the detention center when he returned home from school because a warrant had been issued. Mother told Brehm that she felt that marijuana was not addictive and that C.A. was being treated unfairly. Brehm reiterated to Mother that C.A. needed to be taken to detention.

¶ 5 On Monday, April 20, Brehm learned that C.A. had not been taken to the detention center during the weekend. She attempted to contact both Mother and Father and eventually spoke with Father later that day. Father *215 denied knowing about the warrant or Brehm's directives to Mother to take C.A. to detention. Brehm then directed Father to take C.A. to detention immediately, but Father stated that C.A. had both a dentist appointment and a court-ordered drug and alcohol evaluation scheduled for the next morning. Brehm told Father to take C.A. to detention immediately despite those appointments.

¶ 6 When C.A. had still not reported to detention on the morning of April 21, Brehm contacted Mother about the situation. Mother informed Brehm that Father had taken C.A. to the drug and alcohol evaluation and denied knowing that Brehm had ordered Father to take C.A. to detention. Brehm again directed Mother to take C.A. to detention and informed Mother that she was seeking contempt charges against both Mother and Father. Later that day, C.A. was finally taken to detention.

¶ 7 Brehm filed affidavits in the juvenile court requesting orders to show cause and contempt findings against Mother and Father. As to Mother, Brehm's affidavit stated,

[Mother] has willfully failed to comply with the conditions of [the probation] order in that on or about April 17th, 2009, probation instructed [Mother] to take [C.A.] immediately to detention when he returned home from school that day which she failed to do. As of April 20th, 2009, at 4:00 [p.m. C.A.] has still not been taken to detention by his mother as requested by probation.

Brehm filed a similar affidavit concerning Father.[2]

¶ 8 The juvenile court held a contempt hearing on July 10, 2009, at which Brehm, Mother, and Father testified. At the conclusion of the hearing, the juvenile court determined that the portion of the probation order applicable to Mother and Father's failure to transport C.A. to detention was the section requiring them to "attend meetings with the probation department, school officials, mental health providers or others as directed and ensure transportation is provided." The juvenile court went on to say that the "[q]uestion is whether the parents were given directives to transport [C.A.] or to attend meetings, and whether they obeyed those orders or not."

¶ 9 With respect to Mother, the juvenile court found that Mother had attempted to take C.A. to the meeting with Brehm on the morning of April 17 but was unable to locate C.A. due to the school assembly. However, regarding Brehm's subsequent requests that Mother take C.A. to detention, the court found that

[M]other knew of the probation officer's directive to take [C.A.] to detention, and that she willfully disobeyed that order.
Her motive for disobeying that was what she expressed to the probation officer. She thought it was unfair, had some beliefs about marijuana not being that serious and some of those things. That was her motive for not obeying what the probation officer had directed.
... What is charged is the failure to obey the probation officer's directive to take [C.A.] to this meeting, which was the meeting to go to detention and for the mother to provide that transportation. She knew that that was the probation department's intent, and she willfully disobeyed that, and had several days to execute it but failed to do so.

The juvenile court found Mother in contempt for failing to obey the probation order, fined her $200, and imposed a suspended seven-day jail sentence. The juvenile court declined to find Father in contempt because Father had only learned of Brehm's detention directive on April 20 and had only delayed taking C.A. to detention because of his belief that C.A.'s court-ordered April 21 drug and alcohol evaluation created conflicting court orders. Mother appeals the juvenile court's order holding her in contempt.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2010 UT App 356, 245 P.3d 213, 2010 WL 5121076, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-la-utahctapp-2010.