Weintraub Appeal

71 A.2d 823, 166 Pa. Super. 342, 1950 Pa. Super. LEXIS 369
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 14, 1950
DocketAppeal, No. 37
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 71 A.2d 823 (Weintraub Appeal) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Weintraub Appeal, 71 A.2d 823, 166 Pa. Super. 342, 1950 Pa. Super. LEXIS 369 (Pa. Ct. App. 1950).

Opinion

Opinion by

Rhodes, P. J.,

This is an appeal from an order of the Municipal Court (Juvenile Division) committing the minor to the Pennsylvania Industrial School at White Hill.

The petition charged that he was a juvenile delinquent. As evidence of his delinquency the petition charged him with the destruction of personal property of others, with the possible commission of larceny, and with writing a threatening letter. The minor was born on November 25,1933. Hearings were held before President Judge Boyle of the Municipal Court on September 8, 21, and 23, 1949, and a record made of 444 pages. Upon this record the Judge found that the minor was a delinquent, that he possessed serious abnormal sexual urges, that he is potentially - and sexually dangerous, that, if he is permitted to remain at large, even upon probation, he would likely be a danger and a menace to the community, and that for his own welfare and that of his family and the community at large he should be committed to an institution where he can receive psy[345]*345cliiati-ic treatment. He thereupon made an order of commitment.

As provided by section 15 of the Act of June 2,1933, P. L. 1433,11 PS §257,1 a petition for review and rehearing was filed on behalf of the minor by his mother within twenty-one days after the order of commitment. The petition averred generally that the court erred in its findings of fact and in its conclusions of law, that the order of the court was improvidently and inadvertently made, that the court erred in refusing counsel for the minor the right to further cross-examine the witnesses, and that the commitment was illegal. The Commonwealth filed an answer, and a rehearing was held on October 19, 1949. At that time the testimony taken at the previous hearings on September 8, 21, and 23,1949, was admitted as part of the record on the rehearing. Counsel for the minor was given opportunity to present further testimony and to sustain the averments of his petition. Counsel at the time stated that he did not challenge the find[346]*346ing of the court that the minor ivas a delinquent. His contention was that the rehearing on his petition was de novo and the equivalent of a new trial, and that all the witnesses for the Commonwealth should be recalled to establish again the facts to which they testified in order that he might be able to prove by further cross-examination, in addition to the testimony presented in defense on causation, what caused the minor to commit the acts for which he has been adjudged delinquent. No additional testimony being offered by counsel for the minor, the court refused his request that all the witnesses for the Commonwealth be recalled. After reviewing the record it entered the final order on November 2, 1949, affirming the commitment, from which this appeal has been taken.

The issues presented on this appeal are limited. The court did not classify the minor as a sexual psychopath or as a constitutional psychopathic inferior. The court found him to be a delinquent. Delinquency is admitted, and it is undisputed that he is abnormal sexually and requires treatment. Five psychiatrists testified, and the opinion of another was incorporated in the record. They all agreed that the minor required psychiatric treatment. The three engaged by the minor did not think that he should be placed in an institution. It was their opinion that the minor was not potentially dangerous, and that he could safely be permitted to be at large providing he received proper psychiatric treatment, he being kept under close observation during such time. The other three psychiatrists testified that the minor had a personality defect, that he was potentially dangerous, and that he should be given institutional treatment.

We are asked on this appeal to reverse the order of commitment with a rehearing de novo that there may be further cross-examination of Commonwealth witnesses as to causation. From our examination of the record it [347]*347is clear to us that the judge allowed ample cross-examination on all matters relevant to the issues. The extent of cross-examination is ordinarily a question for determination by the trial judge. His action will not be reversed in the absence of an abuse of discretion. Tolomeo v. Harmony Short Line Motor Transportation Co., 349 Pa. 420, 423, 37 A. 2d 511.

The court below has exclusive jurisdiction in the first instance in all proceedings affecting or concerning delinquent children under eighteen years of age. Act of July 12, 1913, P. L. 711, § 11 (b), and amendments, 17 PS §694; The Juvenile Court Law of June 2,1933, P. L. 1433, §2, 11 PS §244. Section 1 (4) of The Juvenile Court Law, 11 PS §243, defines what constitutes delinquency. Section 8 of the Act of 1933, as amended by Act of June 15, 1939, P. L. 394, §1, 11 PS §250, further provides that after hearing the judge may determine whether the best interests and welfare of a child and the State require the care, guidance, and control of such child, and shall make an order accordingly; and that the court may, inter alia, place the child on probation or commit it to some suitable institution or industrial school. This section clearly implies that there is some discretion to be exercised by the court as to what shall be done with a delinquent child. “If a delinquent is found to be a proper subject for reformation the child remains within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court to be dealt with by it”: Trignani’s Case, 150 Pa. Superior Ct. 491, at page 493, 28 A. 2d 702, at page 703.

An appeal from a final order of a juvenile court is a matter of right to the Superior Court, and shall be “upon the same terms and with the same regulations as are provided by law with respect to appeals from any decree of the orphans’ court.” Section 15 of the Act of 1933, 11 PS §257. This Court shall consider the testimony as a part of the record on appeal from the final order in a proceeding for review and rehearing.

[348]*348Section 22 (b) of the Orphans’ Court Act of June 7, 1917, P. L. 363, 20 PS §2602, provides: “The Supreme and Superior courts of this Commonwealth shall, in all cases of appeal from the definitive sentence or decree of the orphans’ court, hear, try and determine the same as to right and justice may belong, and decree according to the equity thereof; . .

In the exercise of its judicial discretion, the court committed the minor to White Hill where he could receive the psychiatric treatment indicated by all the psychiatrists. See Trignani's Case, supra, 150 Pa. Superior Ct. 491, 494, 28 A. 2d 702. As the court below said: “. . . the dissatisfaction with the court’s action has to do with the court’s disposition of the minor after the delinquency was established.” After referring to section 22 (b) of the Orphans’ Court Act, 20 PS §2602, the Supreme Court, in Garrett’s Estate, 335 Pa. 287, 292, 293, 6 A. 2d 858, 860, said: “When the court has come to a conclusion by the exercise of its discretion, the party complaining of it on appeal has a heavy burden; it is not sufficient to persuade the appellate court that it might have reached a different conclusion if, in the first place, charged with the duty imposed on the court below; it is necessary to go further and show an abuse of the discretionary power.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
71 A.2d 823, 166 Pa. Super. 342, 1950 Pa. Super. LEXIS 369, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/weintraub-appeal-pasuperct-1950.