Opinion ID: 1254950
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Referral to Youth Authority

Text: (2a) Defendant contends that the trial court erred in failing to refer him to the YA for an evaluation pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 707.2. Defendant asserts that despite his statutory ineligibility for YA commitment because of his plea to aggravated kidnaping, a YA evaluation was nevertheless required by the plain language of section 707.2, which states in pertinent part: No minor who was under the age of 18 years when he committed any criminal offense and who has been found not a fit and proper subject to be dealt with under the juvenile court law shall be sentenced to the state prison unless he has first been remanded to the custody of the Youth Authority for evaluation and report pursuant to this section.... [4] Defendant argues that such an evaluation would have been particularly useful in this case by enabling the court to exercise its discretion more intelligently and might have persuaded it to strike the allegations that rendered him ineligible for YA. We have never decided whether section 707.2 requires a YA evaluation even when the minor appears to be ineligible for YA placement. (See People v. Black (1982) 32 Cal.3d 1, 10, fn. 7 [184 Cal. Rptr. 454, 648 P.2d 104]; In re Jeanice D. (1980) 28 Cal.3d 210, 214 [168 Cal. Rptr. 455, 617 P.2d 1087].) Although some Courts of Appeal have held that despite such ineligibility, a trial court may refer the minor for evaluation and report ( People v. Grisso (1980) 104 Cal. App.3d 380, 386 [163 Cal. Rptr. 547]; People v. Garcia (1981) 115 Cal. App.3d 85, 109 [171 Cal. Rptr. 169]), none has held that it must do so. (3) Both the language and the history of the statute, however, indicate that it should be interpreted to require a referral even when the minor seems to be ineligible for YA commitment. Welfare and Institutions Code section 707.2, as enacted in 1975, provided for referral to YA for evaluation and report only for those persons eligible for commitment to Youth Authority. [5] When section 707.2 was amended in 1976 (Stats. 1976, ch. 1069, § 1, p. 4808), that condition was removed. This change virtually compels a finding of legislative intent to require a YA evaluation even when the minor is presently ineligible for commitment. Given the trial court's power under section 1385  see our discussion in part V.C., below  such an evaluation would not be futile. It would also be useful to a court in determining whether to exercise the discretion granted it under a 1983 amendment to Welfare and Institutions Code section 1731.5, subdivision (c), to order that a youthful offender be housed at YA even though he has been committed to the Department of Corrections. (2b) We conclude that Welfare and Institutions Code section 707.2 required the trial court to refer defendant to YA for evaluation and that its error in failing to do so requires reversal. Although, as previously noted, the court had a number of other reports and evaluations before it at the time of sentencing  some of which were favorable, some not  most were not directed at the precise issue of whether defendant should have been committed to YA instead of state prison. A positive YA report might well have tipped the scales in defendant's favor. As a more beneficial result appears reasonably possible upon resentencing after a YA evaluation and report and our clarification of the scope of the court's powers under section 1385, we need not decide whether the error in sentencing defendant without a YA evaluation was reversible per se. (Cf. People v. Rojas (1962) 57 Cal.2d 676, 682-683 [21 Cal. Rptr. 564, 371 P.2d 300].)