In re D.W. CA1/1, A162067

D.W., a 15-year-old Benicia High School student, was reported by a teacher as "possibly under the influence." Assistant principal Dwight Rogers escorted him to his office to investigate.
During questioning Rogers observed D.W. shifting his arms as if hiding something; Rogers asked D.W. to cooperate and said he might involve the School Resource Officer if necessary.
D.W. produced a knife from his pants pocket, said he had no drugs, and claimed not to know how the knife got there; Rogers did not physically search or use force.
The Solano County DA filed a petition under Welf. & Inst. Code § 602 charging felony possession of a knife on school grounds (Pen. Code § 626.10). D.W. moved to suppress the knife.
The juvenile court held a combined suppression and jurisdictional hearing, denied suppression, sustained the petition, later reduced the offense to a misdemeanor, and placed D.W. on six months informal probation.
On appeal the court affirmed denial of the suppression motion but conditionally reversed and remanded for the juvenile court to consider deferred entry of judgment because defense counsel never sought that relief and the unitary hearing may have foreclosed the option.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Rogers' interaction/search was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment in a school setting	Teacher's report of possible intoxication and D.W.'s furtive movements gave reasonable suspicion to investigate and obtain contraband	Rogers lacked reasonable suspicion; D.W. was coerced into producing the knife	Interaction/search was reasonable under T.L.O.; denial of suppression affirmed
Whether matter must be remanded to allow consideration of deferred entry of judgment after unitary suppression/jurisdiction hearing	Attorney General concedes defense counsel was ineffective for not requesting deferred entry and agrees conditional remand is appropriate	Defense argues combined hearing and counsel's failure foreclosed seeking deferred entry	Conditional reversal and remand for the juvenile court to evaluate deferred entry; if granted, vacate orders; if denied, reinstate orders

New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325 (1985) (establishes the reasonableness standard for searches of students by school officials)
Vernonia School Dist. 47J v. Acton, 515 U.S. 646 (1995) (recognizes compelling school interest in deterring student drug use and relaxed warrant/probable cause requirements)
In re William G., 40 Cal.3d 550 (1985) (school searches must be reasonably related in scope and not excessively intrusive given the student’s age and infraction)
In re Corey L., 203 Cal.App.3d 1020 (1988) (information from other students or staff can supply reasonable suspicion to investigate/search)
In re A.I., 176 Cal.App.4th 1426 (2009) (minor may pursue deferred entry of judgment even after denial of suppression)
In re Luis B., 142 Cal.App.4th 1117 (2006) (procedure for conditional reversal/remand where deferred entry may be appropriate)
In re Sheena K., 40 Cal.4th 875 (2007) (discusses forfeiture of claims not raised below)