Delinquency Case Law

In re Robert H. (March 21, 2002) 96 Cal.App.4th 1317 [117 Cal.Rptr.2d 899]. Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 7.

The juvenile court adjudged a child a ward of the court for illegally possessing a firearm (Pen. Code, § 12021(a)(1). The original petition alleged that the child violated Penal Code section 245(a)(2) (assault with a firearm), but the child admitted to the lesser offense after a case settlement.

A child exchanged words with a young adult at a convenience store, and this led them to "take it outside." The young adult threw a punch at the child, and the child ran across the street. As the young adult followed him across the street, the child fired three or four times at the young adult with a handgun. Then the child continued to run, and he was stopped by a nearby police officer. After careful deliberation over disposition, the juvenile court ordered that the child be sent to a camp-community placement.
The child appealed, contending that the juvenile court had erred by (1) ordering camp community placement over home probation, (2) ordering conditions of supervision for drug and alcohol testing, and (3) failing to make the formal finding required by Welfare and Institutions Code section 726.

The Court of Appeal reversed the juvenile court's orders insofar as the latter had failed to make reasonable orders under Welfare and Institutions Code section 730, and failed to make a Welfare and Institutions Code section 726 finding. The other juvenile court orders were affirmed. Regarding the disposition, the child argued that the court had improperly considered the facts of the assault and not the lesser charge. The appellate court noted that the juvenile court had properly considered the facts that the child had shot at another person without justification. The juvenile court had considered all relevant information, such as the probation's officer's recommendations and the psychologist's evaluation, in determining that the gravity of the offense dictated the camp order. The appellate court rejected the child's argument that the juvenile court had based its decision on the gravity of the offense alone and that it had not taken into consideration that his parents provided a good home for him. The juvenile court had properly exercised its discretion in ordering the child to camp-community placement.

The juvenile court in this case had not imposed any conditions of supervision along with its camp-community placement order, although the imposition of supervision conditions appeared in the minute order. The appellate court remanded the matter for the juvenile court to make reasonable orders limiting the child's conduct while he was in the camp-community placement program. The juvenile court should consider any of the child's objections. The juvenile court had also failed to make the Welfare and Institutions Code section 726 finding. The appellate court ordered the juvenile court to make its section 726 finding.