State v. MLC

933 P.2d 380, 1997 WL 76042
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 25, 1997
Docket960016
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 933 P.2d 380 (State v. MLC) 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 v. MLC, 933 P.2d 380, 1997 WL 76042 (Utah 1997).

Opinion

933 P.2d 380 (1997)

STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee,
v.
M.L.C., a person under 18 years of age, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 960016.

Supreme Court of Utah.

February 25, 1997.

*381 Jan Graham, Atty. Gen., Christine Soltis, Marian Decker, Asst. Attys. Gen., Salt Lake City, and Charles D. Behrens, Jr., Patricia S. Cassell, West Valley, for plaintiff and appellee.

Mark R. Moffat, Robert K. Heineman, Salt Lake City, for defendant and appellant.

RUSSON, Justice:

M.L.C., a minor, appeals from an order of the third district juvenile court denying him bail from the time he was charged with aggravated robbery by criminal information in juvenile court until he was bound over to district court to be tried as an adult pursuant to the Serious Youth Offender Act. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

In October 1995, when he was sixteen years of age, M.L.C. was charged by criminal information in the third district juvenile court with aggravated robbery, a first degree felony in violation of section 76-6-302 of the Utah Code, and a firearm sentencing enhancement pursuant to section 76-3-203 of the Utah Code. This information was filed in accordance with the Serious Youth Offender Act, Utah Code Ann. § 78-3a-25.1 (Supp. 1995),[1] which required a determination by the juvenile court as to whether M.L.C. should be bound over to district court to be tried as an adult pursuant to the criminal information or whether he should remain in juvenile court and the criminal information be treated as though it were a juvenile petition.

Prior to the determination hearing, M.L.C. moved the juvenile court to set bail. The juvenile court denied the motion on the basis of sections 78-3a-30(10) and 78-3a-25.1 of the Utah Code. Section 78-3a-30(10) provides that provisions of the law relating to bail are generally not applicable to children under eighteen years of age.[2] Section 78-3a-25.1 provides that juveniles charged in juvenile court with certain aggravated offenses may be bound over to the district court to be tried and sentenced as adults and that, once bound over, such juveniles have the same right to bail as do adult defendants.

Subsequently, the juvenile court conducted the determination hearing. This hearing was required to determine whether there was probable cause to believe that M.L.C. had committed the alleged aggravated robbery and, if so, whether certain conditions existed that would nevertheless require the matter to remain in juvenile court as provided by section 78-3a-25.1(3) of the Utah Code. The juvenile court determined that M.L.C., indeed, should be bound over to district court to be tried as an adult and set bail at $20,000.[3] Thereafter, M.L.C. appealed the juvenile *382 court's initial order denying bail pending the bindover determination.[4]

M.L.C. argues on appeal that he was entitled to bail immediately upon the filing of a criminal information in juvenile court under the serious youth offender statute, even though the juvenile court had not yet determined, pursuant to the statute, whether he would be bound over to district court to be tried as an adult or remain in juvenile court and have the information treated as a juvenile petition. He argues that at the time of the filing of the criminal information in juvenile court, he was a "person charged with a crime" and, thus, entitled to the right to bail guaranteed by article I, section 8 of the Utah Constitution, which provides, with certain enumerated exceptions, "All persons charged with a crime shall be bailable...." M.L.C. also argues that the denial of bail prior to a determination of his status violates the unnecessary rigor clause of article I, section 9 of the Utah Constitution, as well as the Excessive Bail Clause of the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution. In addition, M.L.C. argues that the denial of bail violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and the uniform operation of laws clause of article I, section 24 of the Utah Constitution inasmuch as juveniles and adults charged with the same crimes are treated disparately.

The State responds that serious youth offenders are not entitled to bail unless and until the juvenile court determines that bindover to adult district court is appropriate. Until bindover, the State argues, the juvenile does not have the status of a criminal defendant and, thus, does not have a federal or state constitutional right to bail. Additionally, the State argues that denying bail to charged serious youth offenders prior to bindover does not implicate the uniform operation of laws clause of the Utah Constitution or the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution inasmuch as there is no basis for treating adult and juvenile offenders as similarly situated groups and, moreover, all juveniles, including serious youth offenders, are denied preadjudication bail eligibility.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Whether sections 78-3a-25.1(5) and 78-3a-30(10) violate the bail provisions of the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution and article I, sections 8 and 9 of the Utah Constitution are questions of law, which this court reviews for correctness. State v. Mohi, 901 P.2d 991, 995 (Utah 1995). Likewise, whether such statutory provisions violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and the uniform operation of laws clause of article I, section 24 of the Utah Constitution are questions of law, which we review for correctness. Id. Doubts regarding the constitutionality of a statute should be resolved in favor of its constitutionality. Id.

ANALYSIS

M.L.C.'s appeal became technically moot once he was bound over to the district court and immediately became eligible for bail. While we typically refrain from adjudicating moot questions, we recognize an exception to this rule where the "alleged wrong is `capable of repetition yet evading review.'" In re Giles, 657 P.2d 285, 286 (1982) (quoting Southern Pac. Terminal Co. v. Interstate Commerce Comm'n, 219 U.S. 498, 515, 31 S.Ct. 279, 283, 55 L.Ed. 310 (1911)). Section 78-3a-25.1 provides that persons charged under the statute will either be bound over to district court where the statute explicitly states that they will be eligible for bail, Utah Code Ann. § 78-3a-25.1(5), or be retained in juvenile court as if charged by petition. Utah Code Ann. § 78-3a-25.1(3)(d), (4). A challenge to the denial of bail prior to bindover, as in the instant case, is likely to be mooted by either of these statutory procedures. Thus, the issues presented by this appeal are likely to evade review in the future. Accordingly, we proceed to address the issues presented.

*383 Article I, section 8 of the Utah Constitution provides that "[a]ll persons charged with a crime shall be bailable," with certain enumerated exceptions not at issue here.[5]

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Bluebook (online)
933 P.2d 380, 1997 WL 76042, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mlc-utah-1997.