ROBERT NELSON, JR. v. WARDEN OF THE KEEN MOUNTAIN CORRECTIONAL CENTER
Record No. 002301
Supreme Court of Virginia
September 14, 2001
CHIEF JUSTICE HARRY L. CARRICO
Present: All the Justices
This case involves a “Baker claim,” i.e., one arising from this Court‘s decision in Commonwealth v. Baker, 258 Va. 1, 516 S.E.2d 219 (1999) (per curiam), aff‘g Baker v. Commonwealth, 28 Va. App. 306, 504 S.E.2d 394 (1998) (failure to notify juvenile‘s parents of proceedings in juvenile court renders void subsequent criminal convictions in circuit court).1 The present claim is asserted in an original petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed in this Court by Robert Nelson, Jr. (Nelson), against the Warden of the Keen Mountain Correctional Center (the Warden).
According to the allegations of the petition, Nelson was arrested in January 1985 at the age of seventeen for two counts of armed robbery, two counts of abduction, one count of receiving stolen property, and one count of sexual assault. He was “arraigned” in the Juvenile and Domestic
Nelson alleges in his habeas petition that his father was not notified of the initiation of the proceedings in juvenile court or of the transfer hearing.2 Nelson alleges that the juvenile court‘s failure to notify his father of the proceedings rendered his convictions in the circuit court unlawful and void.3
In David Moore, we applied Baker II and held that, because of the failure to notify the defendant‘s father of the initiation of juvenile court proceedings, “the juvenile court . . . never acquired the authority to exercise its jurisdiction to conduct the transfer hearing that resulted in the transfer of Moore‘s case to the circuit court. Accordingly, the circuit court never acquired the authority to exercise its jurisdiction to try Moore for the criminal
Nelson argues that his case “falls squarely within the rule enunciated by this Court” in Baker II and David Moore, that his convictions, therefore, are void, and that habeas corpus is a proper method of redress. Nelson argues further that, because his convictions are void, they are subject to attack “at any time, in any way, by anybody, whether the attack be direct or collateral,” and, accordingly, his petition for a writ of habeas corpus is not barred by the statute of limitations contained in
For his part, the Warden contends that Nelson‘s petition for a writ of habeas corpus is barred by the
The Warden‘s argument implicates, of course, the principles of stare decisis. In Selected Risks Ins. Co. v. Dean, 233 Va. 260, 355 S.E.2d 579 (1987), we stated as follows:
In Virginia, the doctrine of stare decisis is more than a mere cliche. That doctrine plays a significant role in the orderly administration of justice by assuring consistent, predictable, and balanced application of legal principles. And when a court of last resort has established a precedent, after full deliberation upon the issue by the court, the precedent will not be treated lightly or ignored, in the absence of flagrant error or mistake.
Id. at 265, 355 S.E.2d at 581. “Our strong adherence to the doctrine of stare decisis does not, however, compel us to perpetuate what we believe to be an incorrect application of the law.” Nunnally v. Artis, 254 Va. 247, 253, 492 S.E.2d 126, 129 (1997).
In David Moore, this Court undertook to explain its decision in Baker II. David Moore, 259 Va. at 434, 527
We said that “[s]ubject matter jurisdiction is granted by constitution or statute,” that “[i]t cannot be waived,” that “any judgment rendered without it is void ab initio,” and that “lack of subject matter jurisdiction ‘may be raised at any time, in any manner, before any court, or by the court itself.‘” Id. (quoting Humphreys v. Commonwealth, 186 Va. 765, 772, 43 S.E.2d 890, 893 (1947)). We made plain, however, that the lack of subject matter jurisdiction was not at issue in David Moore. Rather, we said that the issue was “the unique statutory framework whereby a juvenile court and in turn a circuit court acquire the authority to exercise their subject matter
After noting the Court‘s emphasis on the distinction between subject matter jurisdiction and the authority to exercise that jurisdiction, the Court‘s next step should have been to demonstrate the difference resulting from the distinction. Yet, we made a distinction without a difference for, with our very next step, we elevated the failure of a court to comply with the requirements for exercising its authority to the same level of gravity as a lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
We stated that “‘[a] court‘s authority to exercise its subject matter jurisdiction over a case may be restricted by a failure to comply with statutory requirements that are mandatory in nature and, thus, are prerequisite to a court‘s lawful exercise of that jurisdiction.‘” Id. at 437, 527 S.E.2d at 409 (quoting Dennis Moore v. Commonwealth, 259 Va. 405, 409, 527 S.E.2d 415, 417 (2000)).5 In other words, we made the statutory
We are of opinion David Moore is flawed by our failure to recognize that, in the legal and factual framework in which the decision was made, a different outcome should have resulted from the distinction we drew between subject matter jurisdiction and the authority to exercise that jurisdiction. Analysis of the framework begins with our decision in Peyton v. French, 207 Va. 73, 147 S.E.2d 739 (1966), cited in both Baker I and David Moore.
In Peyton v. French, the juvenile court “certified” a sixteen-year-old juvenile to the circuit court for trial on larceny and breaking and entering charges. Neither of the juvenile‘s parents was present, they had not received any notice to appear, and a guardian ad litem was not appointed
As Justice Kinser‘s dissent in David Moore aptly points out, while we did not specify in Peyton v. French and its progeny that we were considering subject matter jurisdictional defects, the question of the juvenile court‘s subject matter jurisdiction was implicated because we allowed the defendants in those cases to mount collateral attacks upon their convictions. David Moore, 259 Va. at 444, 527 S.E.2d at 413. And as the dissent further notes, there were two statutory provisions in effect at the time the Peyton v. French line of cases was decided that rendered the defects jurisdictional rather than procedural. Id. at 445, 527 S.E.2d at 413-14.
However, beginning in 1968, the General Assembly made a series of dramatic changes in the jurisdictional aspect of the notice requirements of the juvenile statutes. That year, the General Assembly deleted from former
Furthermore, subsequent decisions of this Court substantially impacted the jurisdictional aspect of the notice requirements of the juvenile statutes. In 1976, prompted in large part by the enactment of
In Jamborsky v. Baskins, 247 Va. 506, 442 S.E.2d 636 (1994), the circuit court failed to comply with the then current juvenile transfer statute, which provided that the circuit court shall, within twenty-one days after receipt of the case from juvenile court, conduct an examination to determine if there had been compliance with the statute.
Under the doctrine of stare decisis, we are not obliged to uphold a decision that is itself at odds with precedent previously established by this Court “after full
David Moore is at odds with Turner, Jamborsky, and Morrison, precedents previously established by this Court after full deliberation upon the issues and never overruled. It fails to give proper effect to the interposition of legislative power, exemplified by the substantial statutory changes evincing legislative intent to make the notice provisions of the juvenile statutes procedural and not jurisdictional. And it certainly has produced confusion among the bench and bar of this Commonwealth.
We indicated supra that we thought a different outcome should have resulted in David Moore from the distinction we drew between subject matter jurisdiction and the authority to exercise that jurisdiction. In our opinion, the different outcome should have consisted of a finding that
Baker, however, should not suffer the same fate. The voiding of Baker‘s convictions was predictable. In this context, a matter is void either because it has been null from the beginning (void ab initio) or because it is declared null although seemingly valid until that point in time (voidable). See Black‘s Law Dictionary 1568 (7th ed. 1999). Neither the Court of Appeals nor this Court classified Baker‘s convictions as void ab initio, and they were not void ab initio because David Moore makes clear that both the juvenile court and the circuit court in Baker possessed subject matter jurisdiction. David Moore, 259 Va. at 437-38, 527 S.E.2d at 409. But when the Court of Appeals determined that Baker‘s father was not given the notice required by the version of
In contrast, Nelson did not preserve the error in the juvenile court‘s failure to give his father notice and did not raise the issue until he filed his petition for a writ of habeas corpus in this Court. Because Nelson‘s convictions were merely voidable, his failure to raise the issue in a timely manner constitutes a waiver of the error and results in the dismissal of his petition. In light of this disposition, we do not reach any of the other issues in the case.
Petition dismissed.
JUSTICE KOONTZ, with whom JUSTICE HASSELL and JUSTICE KEENAN join, dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. Today, although expressly acknowledging “‘[o]ur strong adherence to the doctrine of stare decisis,‘” a new majority of this Court overrules our prior decision in David Moore v. Commonwealth, 259 Va. 431, 527 S.E.2d 406 (2000), after concluding that decision is “flawed by our failure to recognize that, in the legal and factual framework in which the decision was made, a different outcome should have resulted from the distinction we drew between subject matter jurisdiction and the authority to exercise that jurisdiction.” The new majority
In my view, David Moore was correctly decided and is entirely consistent with established precedent of this Court. Beyond question it was decided after full deliberation upon the issue presented. However, I do not dissent here merely to defend our decision in David Moore. I do so also because the new majority in this case necessarily labors to obtain a desired “outcome,” and in that process brings into question whether this Court consistently heeds its pronouncement that “the doctrine of stare decisis is more than a mere cliche.” Selected Risks Ins. Co. v. Dean, 233 Va. 260, 265, 355 S.E.2d 579, 581
With regard to our decision in David Moore, and the precedent upon which it relies, the failure of the juvenile court to give parental notification of the initiation of proceedings against a juvenile alleged to have committed a criminal offense, as required by the then applicable provisions of
In this context, it has long been understood and accepted that a juvenile, even one alleged to have committed a serious crime, is to be treated differently from an adult when the juvenile‘s conduct brings him within the purview of the juvenile court system. One difference is that a child is entitled to the guidance of his parents or guardian at a juvenile court proceeding. Undoubtedly, the most significant proceeding in a juvenile court is when a juvenile is transferred to a circuit court to be tried as an adult. See Kent v. United States, 383 U.S. 541, 553 (1966). Thus, in French, where, among other things, the juvenile court failed to give the required parental notice of the initiation of the proceedings in that court, we noted that the juvenile court had exclusive original jurisdiction over the offense alleged to have been committed by the juvenile. We also observed that “the clear purpose and intent of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Law cannot be achieved if it is not mandatory that the proceedings set forth in [the several
Relying, in part, upon our decision in French, the Court of Appeals in Baker I held that “[b]ecause the notice of the initiation of juvenile court proceedings was not properly served [on the juvenile‘s biological father as required by the then applicable version of
Contrary to the position now taken by the majority in the present case, there is no suggestion in French, Baker I, or Baker II that our use of the term “void” was intended to mean “voidable.” Remarkably, the majority finds its only support in Black‘s Law Dictionary 1568 (7th ed. 1999) to reason that by not characterizing a void judgment as “void ab initio” such a judgment is merely voidable “because it is declared null although seemingly valid until that point in time.” I am unaware that the appellate courts of this Commonwealth are so imprecise when concluding that a particular judgment is either “void” or “voidable.” See, e.g., Roach v. Director, Dep‘t of Corrections, 258 Va. 537, 547, 522 S.E.2d 869, 873 (1999); Pigg v. Commonwealth, 17 Va. App. 756, 760, 441 S.E.2d 216, 219 (1994) (en banc).
Moreover, the view now taken by the majority with regard to Baker I and Baker II, that because the juvenile there preserved the error of the failure of the juvenile court to give the required parental notice “the Court of Appeals was bound to declare void what theretofore had been merely voidable,” is at best circular reasoning. In reality, the majority equates the preservation of the error with an analysis of the character of the error. However, if the error causes a judgment to be void, that is, a nullity, the failure to preserve that error in the trial court or upon appeal does not and cannot cause the judgment to be merely voidable. Rather, the void judgment may be challenged “at any time, in any manner, before any court, or by the court itself.” Humphreys v. Commonwealth, 186 Va. 765, 772, 43 S.E.2d 890, 893 (1947). And so it was in Baker II that after careful consideration we specifically declined the Attorney General‘s request that we apply our judgment in that case prospectively only and held that retrospective application was mandated. 258 Va. at 2, 516 S.E.2d at 219.
The significance of these statutory enactments then becomes readily apparent in the context of what the majority appropriately labels a “Baker claim.” In short, with regard to offenses committed by a juvenile prior to July 1, 1996, the failure of the juvenile court to give the statutorily mandated parental notification of the initiation of proceedings in that court is a defect in the proceedings such that the circuit court has no jurisdiction over the juvenile‘s case and the circuit court‘s judgment of conviction is void and not merely voidable. As such, the judgment is subject to successful attack by a subsequent petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Nelson‘s claims fall well within this analysis and the applicable timeframe.
Finally, the majority‘s acknowledgment of our adherence to the doctrine of stare decisis in the present case rings hollow in light of our prior considerations of the issue addressed. After this Court issued its per curiam opinion in Baker II, the Commonwealth filed a petition to reconsider. The Commonwealth stated in its petition to reconsider:
Within a matter of days, if not hours, of this Court‘s decision [in Baker], Virginia prisoners seized upon the Court‘s citation of Gogley [v. Peyton, 208 Va. 679, 160 S.E.2d 746 (1968)] in support of the proposition that a so-called “Baker” error raises a matter of “subject matter” jurisdiction that may be raised at any time, regardless of whether the alleged lack of notice to a biological parent had been raised at trial and on direct appeal . . . .
It is a matter of utmost importance to the Commonwealth, therefore, that the Court grant rehearing in order to thoroughly and carefully consider, and expressly decide, whether a so-called “Baker” error raises an issue of “subject matter” jurisdiction that may be raised at any time and never may be waived, or whether it merely raises a matter of “notice” jurisdiction, unlike “subject matter” jurisdiction, [which] is an issue that must be raised at trial and preserved for direct appeal.
The Court declined the Commonwealth‘s invitation because the Court was of the view that a circuit court cannot acquire subject matter jurisdiction over a juvenile‘s case if the juvenile court failed to give the statutorily required parental notification of the initiation of proceedings in the juvenile court.
I also observe that the majority fails to mention or discuss this Court‘s decision in Jackson v. Warden, 259 Va. 566, 529 S.E.2d 587 (2000), which should be controlling in this case. Chauncey Jacob Jackson, who had been convicted and sentenced to death, Jackson v. Commonwealth, 255 Va. 675, 499 S.E.2d 538 (1998), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1067 (1999), filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus styled Chauncey Jacob Jackson, Petitioner v. John B. Taylor,
In response, the Commonwealth stated in its motion to dismiss:
In an attempt to circumvent his default/waiver of his [Baker claim], Jackson asserts that a “Baker” error is a subject matter jurisdiction that absolutely voids his conviction and that can be raised at any time. The error identified in Baker v. Commonwealth, 28 Va. App. 306, 504 S.E.2d 394 (1998), affirmed, 258 Va. 1, 516 S.E.2d 219 (1999) and alleged by Jackson, however, is not the type of “subject matter” jurisdiction defect that may be raised at any time. It is, rather, a mere defect in “notice” jurisdiction which, as with any jurisdictional defect other than one of subject matter jurisdiction, “will be considered waived unless raised in pleadings filed with the trial court and properly preserved on appeal.”
The Commonwealth essentially relied upon the same argument and cases in its motion to dismiss in Jackson v. Warden that it relied upon in Baker II and in the present proceeding. A panel of this Court denied Jackson‘s petition for habeas corpus. Jackson filed a petition for rehearing that was considered by the full Court. Jackson reasserted his jurisdictional arguments in his petition for a rehearing.
On consideration of the petition of petitioner to set aside the judgment rendered herein on the 18th day of November, 1999 and grant a rehearing thereof, it is ordered that the said judgment dismissing the petition be reversed and set aside and a rehearing is granted.
On consideration of the pleadings filed in this case, the Court is of opinion that the Circuit Court of the City of Norfolk never acquired jurisdiction to try the petitioner for capital murder and five companion felonies. David Moore v. Commonwealth, 259 Va. 431, 527 S.E.2d 406 (2000). Accordingly, a writ of habeas corpus is awarded the petitioner and petitioner‘s convictions for capital murder, attempted robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and receipt of stolen property are vacated. This matter is remanded to the Circuit Court of the City of Norfolk for a new trial if the Commonwealth be so advised.
Jackson v. Warden, 259 Va. at 566-67, 529 S.E.2d at 587 (emphasis added).
It is abundantly clear from the record in Jackson v. Warden that this Court unanimously and expressly rejected the arguments that the Commonwealth again advances today
Thus, I fail to understand how the majority, which participated and voted in Jackson v. Warden, can somehow conclude that David Moore is at odds with precedent previously established by this Court after full deliberation upon the issue. The majority simply ignores the record and our published decision in Jackson v. Warden as if that case does not exist. This Court did not err in Baker II, David Moore, and Jackson v. Warden. Rather, the majority has abandoned the consistent and longstanding juvenile court jurisprudence of this Court, dating back to the French decision, to reach a different outcome, abruptly discarding the principle of stare decisis.