Case Title: Commonwealth v. Baker

Citation: 

Docket Number: 982102

State: virginia

Court: Virginia Supreme Court

Date: 1999-06-11T00:00:00Z

Document:
Present:  All the Justices 
 
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA 
 
 
 
    PER CURIAM 
v.  Record No. 982102 
June 11, 1999 
 
JERAMIE MICHAEL BAKER 
 
 
FROM THE COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA 
 
 
In this appeal, the Court reviews a judgment of the Court 
of Appeals declaring the transfer of jurisdiction from a 
juvenile and domestic relations district court to a circuit 
court ineffectual and the subsequent convictions void.  Baker v. 
Commonwealth, 28 Va. App. 306, 504 S.E.2d 394 (1998). 
 
Central to the decision below was the interpretation of 
Code § 16.1-263(A), which provides, in part, that after a 
juvenile petition is filed, the court shall direct summonses "to 
the parents" of the juvenile.  Here, even though the juvenile's 
mother received notice, the juvenile's biological father was not 
notified, there was no attempt to give him notice, and the 
circuit court made no certification on the record that the 
identity of the father was not reasonably ascertainable. 
 
Parenthetically, we note the statute has been amended 
effective July 1, 1999 to provide for notice to "at least one 
parent."  Acts 1999, ch. 952. 
 
For the reasons set forth in the opinion of the Court of 
Appeals, we will affirm the court's judgment. 
 
Furthermore, we decline the Attorney General's request that 
we apply this judgment prospectively only; retrospective 
application is mandated by Gogley v. Peyton, 208 Va. 679, 160 
S.E.2d 746 (1968). 
Affirmed. 
 
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