Opinion ID: 1148653
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Consideration of Propriety of Order of Certification on its Merit

Text: Defendant contends that reference in the juvenile probation officer's report to information supplied by the juvenile probation office in San Francisco improperly presented to the juvenile court referee highly prejudicial and inflammatory hearsay information which had no factual support. He further contends that, without a statement by the referee indicating the reasons for finding him unfit for treatment, it is impossible to determine whether this allegedly improper evidence constituted the basis for the certification order. Under section 707 a finding that a minor is not a fit and proper subject to be retained in juvenile court facilities must be supported by substantial evidence that the minor would not be amenable to the care, treatment and training program available in such facilities. Whether the youth committed the act alleged in the petition is not the issue in such a determination; the sole question is whether he would be amenable to treatment in the event that he is ultimately adjudged a ward of the court. (See U.S. Dept. of Health, Ed. and Welf., Standards for Specialized Courts Dealing with Children, p. 54.) In order to facilitate the juvenile court's evaluation, section 707 requires the court [to] cause the probation officer to investigate and submit a report on the behavioral patterns of the person being considered for unfitness. We have previously noted that ... the standards for determining a minor's fitness for treatment as a juvenile lack explicit definition ... [although] it is clear from the statute that the court must go beyond the circumstances surrounding the offense itself.... The court may consider a minor's past record of delinquency ... and must take into account his behavior pattern as described in the probation officer's report. ( Jimmy H. v. Superior Court, supra, 3 Cal.3d 709, 714.) (10) Other factors which may be considered by the juvenile court in the exercise of its discretion include the nature of the crime allegedly committed; the circumstances and details surrounding its commission; the minor's behavioral pattern including any past record of delinquency; expert testimony on the minor's amenability to treatment and whether rehabilitation might require treatment beyond the time during which he may be under the control of the court; as well as contrary opinion testimony on these factors. ( Id., at pp. 715-716.) [15] It is clear that the very nature of the fitness hearing precludes imposition of strict evidentiary standards. As the issue therein is not whether the minor committed a specified act, but rather whether he is amenable to the care, treatment and training program available through juvenile court facilities, it is manifest that a finding of fitness or unfitness is largely a subjective determination based on hearsay and opinion evidence. Indeed, the probation officer's report on behavioral patterns must consist mainly of statements based on the observations of others and is clearly hearsay whether handed to the judge in writing or delivered orally by the probation officer. (See National Council on Crime and Delinquency, Procedure and Evidence in Juvenile Court, p. 57.) Thus it has been said that [t]here appear to be no limitations upon the evidence that the court may consider at the remand or referral hearing, other than the basic tests of relevancy and materiality to the issue presented. The requirement that the court must read and consider the probation officer's report on behavioral patterns introduces a wide assortment of hearsay, opinion evidence, evidence of prior offenses, school reports, and other miscellaneous information. Once the remand or referral decision is made, if the court is retaining the case, then the rules of evidence normally controlling in a jurisdiction hearing and a disposition hearing would be applicable. (Thompson, Cal. Juvenile Court Deskbook, § 10:7, pp. 153-154, italics in original.) (11) It cannot be denied that the process of certifying a juvenile for criminal proceedings is a critically important action affecting vitally important rights of the juvenile. ( Kent v. United States (1966) 383 U.S. 541, 556 [16 L.Ed.2d 84, 94, 86 S.Ct. 1045].) The effect of the certification is to deny the juvenile the protection, guidance, and anonymity of the juvenile court, substituting therefor the exposure and possible criminal sanctions imposed by prosecution as an adult. (12) The certification process must thus be attended by minimum requirements of due process and fair treatment as dictated by the Fourteenth Amendment. ( Kent v. United States, supra, 383 U.S. 541, 560-562 [16 L.Ed.2d 84, 96-98].) But the receipt of hearsay evidence in this context does not exceed the bounds of due process and fair treatment so required. In determining whether the essentials of due process and fair treatment [are] provided..., it is important to keep in mind the exact nature of a juvenile court transfer hearing. Such a hearing does not result in a determination of delinquency ...; does not result in a determination of guilt as may a criminal trial; and does not directly result in confinement or other punishment as may both a delinquency hearing and a criminal proceeding. (13) In short, the transfer hearing is not an adversary proceeding. Rather, the sole purpose of the transfer hearing ... is to determine `whether the best interest of the child and of society would be served by the retention of the juvenile court authority over him or whether the juvenile, under all the circumstances, should be transferred to be tried as an adult.' [Citation.] We believe that this purpose may best be effectuated by the sound exercise of the juvenile court judge's discretion at an informal hearing, limited of course by the general requirements of due process and fair treatment, but not governed by the strict rules of procedure and evidence applicable at either a criminal trial or at a juvenile court delinquency hearing. [¶] If the proceedings under consideration were an adjudicatory hearing which could result in a determination that the defendant was guilty of a crime or was a delinquent, we would face a different issue. We are here concerned with a transfer hearing, which has for its only purpose the determination of whether the interests of the juvenile and of society will be best served by use of one of two possible forums  the juvenile court or the superior court  which will then hold the adjudicatory hearing. ( State v. Piche (1968) 74 Wn.2d 9, 14 [442 P.2d 632]; see also Clemons v. State (Ind. App. 1974) 317 N.E.2d 859, 863-867; State v. Carmichael (1973) 35 Ohio St.2d 1 [64 Ohio Ops.2d 1, 298 N.E.2d 568].) [16] (14) We do not, by our holding herein, sanction unbridled judicial discretion to receive and consider any evidence presented within a probation officer's report on a juvenile's behavioral pattern. There are the initial limitations as to materiality and relevance. Additionally, as we have held with respect to presentence probation reports, fundamental fairness demands that such reports be founded on accurate and reliable information. Thus, evidence of police contacts not leading to arrest or conviction may not be included in the report without supporting information. ( People v. Peterson (1973) 9 Cal.3d 717, 727 [108 Cal. Rptr. 835, 511 P.2d 1187]; People v. Calloway (1974) 37 Cal. App.3d 905, 908-909 [112 Cal. Rptr. 745].) [17] Turning to the facts of the instant case we note that in addition to those allegations contained in the section 602 petition, the juvenile court was presented with a written statement which described a specific incident causing juvenile court proceedings to be initiated against defendant in San Francisco. As advised by Calloway, the report clearly specified the disposition of those proceedings. The statement further alleged that defendant was suspected of involvement in two [C]hinese gang homicides during the few months he was in San Francisco. But the report then candidly admitted that [u]nfortunately, none of [defendant's] suspected criminal activity could be sustained in Court.... Additionally, the statement made allegations which tended to establish defendant's association with known Chinese youth gang members. In a section of the report entitled Interested Parties the Los Angeles County juvenile probation officer reiterated the information supplied by the San Francisco agency and added a further fact that a known associate of defendant had been positively identified as one of the murderers involved in the homicides in which defendant was suspected of participating. It also noted that a Los Angeles police officer familiar with defendant and his activities stated that he was suspected of involvement in another shooting prior to the instant offenses and that four handguns and three shotguns were found in defendant's residence at the time of his arrest. (15) In view of the manner in which the information presented to the juvenile court is supported, and bearing in mind that the underlying purpose of the hearing was not to determine defendant's guilt or innocence of involvement in the alleged offenses, we cannot conclude that he was denied a fundamentally fair fitness hearing. The reporting agencies represented only that defendant was merely suspected of involvement in other offenses. Moreover, the San Francisco report candidly advised the juvenile court that available evidence of involvement would not sustain a criminal conviction. Defendant's possible involvement in other offenses is relevant information to be considered by the juvenile court in making a fitness determination as it directly relates to several of the pertinent criteria. Such information as to suspected involvement in other offenses must, to the extent possible, be supported with factual information, and allegations with little support should be accorded little weight. Unlike the situation in Calloway where a court could be misled by inclusion of mere police contacts in a report purportedly detailing past convictions, the information presented herein could not have so misled the juvenile court. [18] We thus conclude that information concerning defendant's suspected involvement in other offenses was properly considered by the juvenile court in making its fitness determination. Such information was inflammatory and prejudicial only to the extent that virtually all evidence tending to establish nonamenability to treatment might be so considered, and it cannot be concluded that the juvenile court abused its discretion in receiving and considering the evidence. Defendant finally contends that we must set aside the certification order and reverse the judgment solely because the juvenile court improperly failed to state on the record the reasons supporting the determination of unfitness. We decline to do so for the reasons which follow. In Kent v. United States, supra, 383 U.S. 541, the Supreme Court held, inter alia, that in a District of Columbia proceeding, generally equivalent to our section 707 hearing, a statement of reasons for denial of juvenile court reformative treatment is indispensable to a due process review thereof. Such a statement of reasons was deemed necessary to enable meaningful appellate review and also to insure that the jurisdictional question would receive the careful consideration of the juvenile court in the first instance. ( Id., at p. 561 [16 L.Ed.2d at p. 97].) Although the disposition in Kent was heavily grounded on applicable District of Columbia statutory juvenile court procedures and upon a policy memorandum promulgated by the judge of the juvenile court which set forth the criteria to govern disposition of waiver requests, it has since been recognized that the decision has an equally strong constitutional basis. (See In re Gault (1967) 387 U.S. 1, 30-31 [18 L.Ed.2d 527, 547-548, 87 S.Ct. 1428]; Powell v. Hocker (9th Cir.1971) 453 F.2d 652, 654, fn. 4 and cases cited therein; In re Sturm (1974) 11 Cal.3d 258, 269, fn. 13 [113 Cal. Rptr. 361, 521 P.2d 97].) The requirement of a statement of reasons for finding a minor unfit for treatment as a juvenile has previously been directly applied to a section 707 hearing. (See Juan T. v. Superior Court, supra, 49 Cal. App.3d 207, 211 [cited with approval in In re Podesto (1976) 15 Cal.3d 921, 937 (127 Cal. Rptr. 97, 544 P.2d 1297)]; People v. Browning, supra, 45 Cal. App.3d 125, 137-138.) Our Legislature has recognized the need for such a statement as the revised section 707 provides, inter alia: A determination that the minor is not a fit and proper subject to be dealt with under the juvenile court law may be based on any one or a combination of the factors set forth above, which shall be recited in the order of unfitness. (Stats. 1975, ch. 1266, § 4, effective Jan. 1, 1976.) (16) While it is unnecessary that this statement be formal or that it include conventional findings of fact ( Kent v. United States, supra, 383 U.S. 541, 561 [16 L.Ed.2d 84, 97]; Juan T. v. Superior Court, supra, 49 Cal. App.3d 207, 210), we believe the mere recitation of the ultimate fact, that the court finds the minor not amenable to treatment through juvenile court facilities, is insufficient to satisfy the requirement that the finding be supported by a statement of reasons. As noted previously, the juvenile court herein stated merely: The court finds the minor unfit; certifies this minor to adult court. (17) Nonetheless, the oversight by the referee is not itself sufficient to require that we set aside the order. Unlike Juan T., supra, 49 Cal. App.3d 207, wherein the reviewing court was presented on petition for a writ of mandate with a record containing a list of previous police contacts by the juvenile which in some instances were totally devoid of dispositional information, we are here presented with a proper evidentiary record. A further crucial distinction is the fact that in Juan T. the probation officer recommended a finding of fitness whereas in the instant case the officer unequivocally recommended a finding of unfitness. Thus in Juan T. the appellate court was unable to determine whether the juvenile court randomly leaped from evidence to conclusion ( id., at p. 209, fn. 2) perhaps regarding improper evidence and positively disregarding the probation officer's recommendation. In the present case defendant had the benefit of a hearing, he was represented by counsel who had the opportunity to argue against the probation officer's recommendation, and he was not prejudiced by an improper evidentiary record. Thus, although the failure to make a statement of reasons for denying juvenile court retention was an error of constitutional dimensions, we conclude that in light of the overwhelming evidence supporting the probation officer's recommendation and the finding of the juvenile court referee, the failure to make such a statement was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. ( Chapman v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 18 [17 L.Ed.2d 705, 87 S.Ct. 824, 24 A.L.R.3d 1065].)