Opinion ID: 763084
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Juvenile Record

Text: 13 Anthony Y. next contends the district court erred in considering unadjudicated conduct under the third factor, the extent and nature of the juvenile's delinquency record. Anthony Y.'s juvenile delinquency record consisted of three adjudicated offenses: stealing a bicycle, carrying a sharpened screwdriver on school grounds, and creating a public nuisance by running around an apartment building using a can of hair spray as a torch. The district court looked at numerous other incidents of misbehavior in weighing the third factor, noting in its discussion of Anthony Y.'s record that he frequently got into fights, abused drugs, and missed school. Rec., vol. I, doc. 85 at 10. The court found in addition that Anthony destroyed neighborhood property, physically assaulted his counselor, fought with another teenager a day or two after committing the murders, and violated several rules while being detained on the instant charges. 14 Two circuits have addressed the meaning of a juvenile's prior delinquency record in section 5032. In Wilson, 149 F.3d 610, the Seventh Circuit concluded the phrase encompasses both arrests and convictions, 3 but it did not permit the government to offer evidence to prove the conduct underlying arrests that did not result in a conviction. Id. at 613. The Eighth Circuit adopted a narrower definition in United States v. Juvenile LWO, 160 F.3d 1179 (8th Cir.1998), holding that under section 5032 a juvenile's delinquency record covers only prior convictions. Id. at 1183. 15 We need not decide whether to follow the Seventh or Eighth Circuit or the district court's broader approach. Even if we limited Anthony Y.'s prior delinquency to the three adjudicated offenses, the additional conduct considered by the district court was relevant to several of the other statutory factors, like the age and social background of the juvenile, the juvenile's present intellectual development and psychological maturity, or the nature of past treatment efforts and the juvenile's response to such efforts. See Juvenile LWO, 160 F.3d at 1183. [T]he plain language of those terms is broad enough to authorize the admission of evidence regarding almost any action, criminal or otherwise, the juvenile has taken, as long as it is relevant. Id. For example, Anthony Y.'s assault of his counselor evidences his response to past treatment efforts. His violence towards others, substance abuse, and conduct while in custody for this offense reflect his level of psychological maturity. His truancy relates to his present intellectual development as well as his response to past treatment efforts, since he signed contracts with the Navajo family court and his parents in which he agreed to attend school. Because the district court may balance each factor as it deems appropriate, Leon, D.M., 132 F.3d at 589, and because it only considered information relevant to the six statutory factors, we hold the district court did not err in considering unadjudicated conduct to evaluate whether to transfer Anthony Y. to adult status.