In re Rayshawn P.
Tamara A. Steckler, The Legal Aid Society, New York City (Claire V. Merkine of counsel), for appellant.
Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York City (Norman Corenthal and Kristin M. Helmers of counsel), for presentment agency.
OPINION OF THE COURT
FRIEDMAN, J.
This appeal presents for resolution two questions left open by the Court of Appeals’ decision in Matter of Jazmín A. (15 NY3d 439, 443 n [2010]): “whether a properly made motion under
By a final order of disposition entered April 7, 2011 (the 2010 case), Family Court, Bronx County, adjudicated appellant Rayshawn P. a juvenile delinquent, placed him on probation for 18 months, and ordered him to perform 50 hours of community service. The adjudication was based on appellant‘s admission that, on October 27, 2010, he had committed an act that, if committed by an adult, would constitute grand larceny in the fourth degree.1 Thereafter, on June 29, 2011, appellant was arrested for resisting arrest after he was apprehended for allegedly punching someone in the face.
On June 30, 2011, upon the application of the detention center holding appellant based on his arrest the previous day, Family Court conducted a pre-petition hearing pursuant to
At the conclusion of the hearing, the court determined that it had jurisdiction over the matter arising from the June 29 arrest. However, the court did not grant the pre-petition detention
The case file contains two written orders of the Family Court bearing the date of June 30, 2011, both under the docket number of the 2010 сase, which, as noted, had already been finally adjudicated. One is an order to show cause, which, “[u]pon the Court‘s own motion pursuant to
“(1) why the Court should not make a determination that there has been a substantial change of circumstances since the entry of the order of disposition, in that respondent‘s arrest for the commission of one or more acts of juvenile delinquency on 6/30/11, constitutes a violation of the order which placed him under probation supervisiоn in this case; (2) why the Court should not enter an order in accordance with
Family Court Act § 355.1 (1) (b) vacating, modifying or terminating the order of disposition based upon such substantial change of circumstances; and (3) why the Court should not enter such interim orders as may be necessary to protect the best interests of the respondent and the safety of the community.”3
The other Family Court order dated June 30, 2011 that is found in the case file is denominated an “Order Dirеcting Detention” (the remand order). Although, as of June 30, 2011, no new delinquency petition (
On July 1, 2011, the presentment agency filed a new petition, under a new docket number (the 2011 case), based on appellant‘s arrest of June 29. On the same day, the presentment agency and counsel for appellant (furnished by the Legal Aid Society) appeared before Family Court; appellant himself was not produced in court that day. The petition in the 2011 case alleged that appellant committed acts that, if committed by an adult, would constitute the crimes of second-degree obstruction of governmental administration, resisting arrest and attempted third-degree assault. In the attached supporting deposition, a police lieutenant stated that, on June 29, he attempted to arrest appellant after observing him run after another person and punch him in the face. When the lieutenant attempted to arrest appellant, the latter began kicking his legs and flailing his arms, and sought to avoid bеing handcuffed.
Because appellant was not present in court at the July 1 hearing, the presentment agency asked to adjourn the matter to July 5, 2011, for arraignment on the petition in the 2011 case. The presentment agency noted that it was the agency‘s “understanding” that, on June 30, 2011, the court had “remanded the respondent on [the court‘s] own motion based on
Appellant‘s counsel objected that, under
Appellant‘s counsel replied that a pre-petitiоn hearing could not serve as the basis for adjudicating a VOP and that the June 30 pre-petition hearing was based on hearsay without any eyewitnesses (see
On July 5, 2011, appellant was arraigned on the petition in the 2011 case, and the agency asked that he be remanded under that docket. The Family Court judge who had presided over the prior proceedings (Alpert, J.) was on vacation, and the judge
On July 18, 2011, after Judge Alpert‘s return, the presentment agency asked the court to remand appellant on the 2011 case. The court granted the application, due to negative reports from the program that appellant had been ordered to attend. Both the 2010 case and the 2011 case were adjourned one day for fact-finding.
On July 19, 2011, appellant entered an admission to having engaged in acts on June 29, 2011, that, if committed by an adult, would constitute the crime of obstructing gоvernmental administration in the second degree. The presentment agency asked the court to waive its motion under
On September 27, 2011, Family Court conducted a hearing to dispose of the 2011 case and to determine the
Discussion
Appellant now appeals from the remand order of June 30, 2011, and from the modification order of September 27, 2011. In essence, appellant argues (1) that a motion to modify a final disposition under
The September 27, 2011 Modification Order
When appellant‘s arrest of June 29, 2011 was brought to Family Court‘s attention at the pre-petition hearing held on June 30, the court responded by initiating a motion, pursuant to
At the outset, the presentment agency argues that we need not consider whether Family Court may use a
Turning to the question of Family Court‘s authority to proceed under
By proceeding against appellant by way of a motion to modify the dispositional order based on “a substantial change of circumstances” under
Family Court‘s decision to proceed against appellant under
In sum, Family Court was not authorized to initiate a motion under
The June 30, 2011 Remand Order
The remand order of June 30, 2011, pursuant to which appellant was placed in detention pending determination of Family Court‘s
In reviewing the modification order, we have already determined that Family Court was without authority to address appellant‘s alleged VOP by initiating a
In Matter of Jazmin A. (15 NY3d 439 [2010]), the Court of Appeals held that a juvenile may be remanded to detention only at “specific junctures in a delinquency proceeding” spelled out in the Family Court Act (id. at 444).13 Thus, in Jazmin A., Family Court was held to lack authority to order the detention of the respondent probationer when she appeared in court for a monitoring heаring, before any VOP petition had been filed. As the Court of Appeals explained: “Because the Legislature did not . . . empower Family Court to order detention of a juvenile probationer before the filing of a VOP petition, we are unwilling to imply such authority in the absence of a statutory peg” (id.). The Court of Appeals further noted that Family Court‘s “continuing jurisdiction [over a juvenile probationer] does not vest [the court] with the power to take actions not authorized by article 3 [of the Family Court Act]” (id.).
Although the question of “whether detention would be authоrized pending resolution of [a
Accordingly, the order of Family Court, Bronx County (Allen Alpert, J.), entered on or about June 30, 2011, which remanded appellant to detention in the custody of the Administration for Children‘s Services of the City of New York, and the order, same court and Judge, entered on or about September 27, 2011, which modified an order of disposition dated April 7, 2011, to the extent of imposing upon appellant a term of 24 months of enhanced supervision probation, with the term of such probation set to expire on September 26, 2013, should be reversed, on the law, without costs, and the orders vacated.
TOM, J.P., ACOSTA and FREEDMAN, JJ., concur.
Order, Family Court, Bronx County, entered on or about June 30, 2011, and order, same court, entered on or about September 27, 2011, reversed, on the law, without costs, and the orders vacated.