He presented an insanity defense in the criminal proceeding. The jury found Kent guilty of robbery and housebreaking but not guilty by reason of insanity on the rape charge. Sentenced to serve 90 years in prison on the charges as to which he was found guilty, Kent first was sent to a mental hospital for the treatment mandated in the District of Columbia when a defendant is found not guilty by reason of insanity. Time in the mental hospital was to be credited against his prison sentence. It is to petitioner's arguments as to the infirmity of the proceedings by which the Juvenile Court waived its otherwise exclusive jurisdiction that we address our attention.
Petitioner attacks the waiver of jurisdiction on a number of statutory and constitutional grounds.
We agree that the order of the Juvenile Court waiving its jurisdiction and transferring petitioner for trial in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia was invalid. . . . But this latitude is not complete. The statute gives the Juvenile Court a substantial degree of discretion as to the factual considerations to be evaluated, the weight to be given them and the conclusion to be reached. It does not confer upon the Juvenile Court a license for arbitrary procedure. It is inconceivable that a court of justice dealing with adults, with respect to a similar issue, would proceed in this manner.