STEVEN R., Petitioner, v. THE SUPERIOR COURT OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Respondent; THE PEOPLE, Real Party in Interest.
No. C077757
Third Dist.
Oct. 26, 2015
241 Cal. App. 4th 812
November 16, 2015
Paulino G. Duran, Public Defender, Arthur L. Bowie and Patricia Contreras, Assistant Public Defenders, for Petitioner.
No appearance for Respondent.
OPINION
BLEASE, Acting P. J.—This case is about the application of an unambiguous provision of the
Petitioner Steven R., a minor, admitted a concealed weapon allegation (
Section 733, subdivision (c) limits the commitment of a minor to DJF to cases where the minor has been, or is adjudged to be, a ward of the juvenile court pursuant to section 602 and the minor‘s “most recent offense alleged in any petition and admitted or found to be true by the court” is an offense listed in section 707, subdivision (b), or a sex offense listed in
The juvenile court of Sacramento County dismissed Steven‘s most recently sustained San Francisco petition, the concealed weapon offense, which does not qualify for DJF commitment, so as to cause an earlier sustained Sacramento petition, a robbery offense (
Steven filed a petition in this court asking for a writ of mandate directing the trial court to (1) vacate its order granting the motion to dismiss the
Having complied with the Supreme Court‘s order and having considered the parties’ arguments, we shall conclude that the juvenile court exceeded its jurisdiction in dismissing the petition because section 782, which authorizes dismissal of a section 602 petition, specifically states that “[a] judge of the juvenile court in which a petition was filed may dismiss the petition . . . .” Because the petition in question was not filed in Sacramento, the juvenile court was without jurisdiction to dismiss it. Therefore, we shall grant Steven‘s petition and direct issuance of a writ of mandate.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On May 31, 2012, 14-year-old Steven admitted a robbery allegation in a section 602 petition filed in Sacramento County Juvenile Court. The petition was sustained, and Steven was declared a ward of the court, removed from the care of and custody of his mother, and committed to the care and custody of the probation officer for “suitable Level ‘B’ placement at George Junior Republic.”
On July 7, 2014, Steven was released from placement and placed with his maternal grandmother.
On August 14, 2014, a section 602 petition was filed in San Francisco County Juvenile Court, alleging that then 16-year-old Steven (1) carried a concealed firearm, (2) carried a loaded firearm, and (3) possessed a concealable firearm. On August 15, 2014, Steven admitted carrying a concealed firearm in exchange for dismissal of the remaining counts. The matter was then transferred to Sacramento, where Steven resided, for disposition. (
On August 22, 2014, the Sacramento County District Attorney filed a section 777 notice alleging that Steven had violated the conditions of his probation in the Sacramento case by engaging in the same conduct alleged in the San Francisco petition, and on September 3, 2014, moved to dismiss the San Francisco petition pursuant to section 782 so that Steven would be eligible for a DJF commitment based on the prior petition, a 2012 robbery.2
DISCUSSION
Steven contends that the Sacramento court lacked jurisdiction to dismiss the petition because it was filed in San Francisco. According to Steven, “the plain language of section 782 does not allow for the receiving juvenile court in a transfer-in for disposition to dismiss the transferring court‘s petition.” We agree.
At all relevant times herein, former section 782 provided in part: “A judge of the juvenile court in which a petition was filed, at any time before the minor reaches the age of 21 years, may dismiss the petition or may set aside the findings and dismiss the petition if the court finds that the interests of justice and the welfare of the minor require such dismissal, or if it finds that the minor is not in need of treatment or rehabilitation.”3 (Former
“This case poses a straightforward question of statutory interpretation, and we approach it in the familiar framework. Our fundamental task is to determine the Legislature‘s intent and give effect to the law‘s purpose. [Citation.] We begin by examining the statute‘s words ‘because they generally provide the most reliable indicator of legislative intent.’ [Citation.] If the statutory language is clear and unambiguous our inquiry ends.’ [Citation.] However, we ‘will not give statutory language a literal meaning if
Section 782 clearly and unambiguously authorizes “[a] judge of the juvenile court in which a petition was filed” to dismiss the petition provided certain requirements are met. The People do not argue that section 782 is ambiguous. Rather, relying on In re Brandon H. (2002) 99 Cal.App.4th 1153, 1156 [121 Cal.Rptr.2d 530] (Brandon H.), they claim, and the juvenile court found that, once the case was transferred to Sacramento, the Sacramento court obtained jurisdiction over Steven for all purposes, including dismissal of the San Francisco petition. As we shall explain, Brandon H., which did not involve a motion to dismiss pursuant to section 782, is readily distinguishable.
In Brandon H., a minor admitted a residential burglary allegation in a petition filed in San Mateo County Juvenile Court. (Brandon H., supra, 99 Cal.App.4th at p. 1155.) The court then transferred the case to San Francisco County Juvenile Court where the minor lived and had already been declared a ward of the court. (Ibid.) In the San Francisco court, the minor moved to set aside his admission of the burglary in San Mateo, and the San Francisco court refused ” ‘to entertain the motion to withdraw a neighboring county‘s plea.’ ” (Ibid.) Instead, the San Francisco court found the burglary to be a felony and committed the minor to out-of-home placement. (Ibid.) The minor appealed, and the Court of Appeal reversed, holding that the San Francisco court had jurisdiction to hear the minor‘s motion to withdraw his plea. (Id. at pp. 1154–1155.) In reaching its conclusion, the court noted that
We also find it significant that section 750 was enacted before section 782. We are entitled to presume that when the Legislature enacted section 782, it was aware of section 750 and the possibility that a petition filed in one county could be transferred to another, and it nevertheless chose to specify that a section 602 petition could be dismissed only by “[a] judge of the juvenile court in which [the] petition was filed.” (
For all the foregoing reasons, neither section 750 nor Brandon H. support a construction of section 782 that would permit one juvenile court to dismiss a section 602 petition filed in another juvenile court. As discussed, section 782 plainly and unambiguously provides otherwise.
The People assert that interpreting section 782 in accordance with its plain meaning would lead to absurd results. They first assert that “[i]f accepted, petitioner‘s view of section 782 means that no juvenile court has jurisdiction to dismiss a petition following a transfer-in under section 750.” As a preliminary matter, we question the assumption that once a case is transferred pursuant to section 750, it cannot be returned to the transferring court for any
We need not decide whether a case, once transferred under section 750, can be returned to the transferring court for purposes of obtaining a dismissal under section 782, because even assuming that it cannot, construing section 782 in accordance with its plain meaning will not lead to absurd consequences.
As the People correctly observe, one of the grounds for dismissing a section 602 petition under section 782 is where the court finds the minor “is not in need of treatment or rehabilitation.” (
As our Supreme Court recently stated in construing section 733, subdivision (c), “To justify departing from a literal reading of a clearly worded statute, the results produced must be so unreasonable the Legislature could not have intended them.” (D.B., supra, 58 Cal.4th at p. 948.)
As detailed above, we presume that the Legislature was aware of section 750 and the possibility that a petition filed in one court could be transferred to another court when it enacted section 782 and provided that “[a] judge of the juvenile court in which a petition was filed . . . may dismiss the petition . . . .” (Former
The People also assert that construing section 782 in accordance with its plain meaning would create a perverse incentive for a delinquent minor to commit his or her most recent crime in another jurisdiction where officials may not be aware that the minor was on probation for a DJF-eligible offense. This assertion borders on the absurd. Applied here, it would mean that Steven chose to carry a concealed weapon in San Francisco, as opposed to Sacramento, because in the event he was caught, officials in San Francisco might not be aware he was on probation for a DJF-eligible offense in Sacramento and thus would mistakenly file a section 602 petition instead of a notice of probation violation, which he would then admit to avoid being committed to DJF as a result of a prior offense. We reject the People‘s assertion that a delinquent minor would be motivated in this manner.
DISPOSITION
The writ of mandate is granted. Let a peremptory writ of mandate issue, directing respondent superior court to (1) vacate its order dismissing the petition filed on August 14, 2014, and (2) dismiss the August 22, 2014 notice of violation of probation. The stay which was issued by the Supreme Court pending a decision of this court is by virtue of our decision functus officio and is dissolved by operation of law.
Nicholson, J., and Murray, J., concurred.