Opinion ID: 891659
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Juvenile Offender Categories

Text: {¶ 10} We explained in State v. Muniz, 2003-NMSC-021, ¶ 6, 134 N.M. 152, 74 P.3d 86, that our Delinquency Act, NMSA 1978, §§ 32A-2-1 to -32.1 (1993, as amended through 2009), establishes three classes of juvenile offenders: serious youthful offenders, youthful offenders, and delinquent offenders. See § 32A-2-3(C), (H) and (J). A child's placement in one of those three categories determines (1) which rules of procedure apply at trial, and (2) the potential post-adjudication consequences the child will face if the State proves its case. {11} The procedural and post-adjudication requirements pertaining to serious youthful offenders and delinquent offenders are relatively straightforward. On the one hand, the serious-youthful-offender category is limited to juveniles between the ages of 15 and 18 who are charged with first-degree murder. Section 32A-2-3(H). Once charged with first-degree murder, a serious youthful offender is no longer a juvenile within the meaning of the Delinquency Act, and therefore is no longer entitled to its protections. Id. As a result, serious youthful offenders are subject to the Rules of Criminal Procedure for the District Courts applicable to adults and are automatically sentenced as adults if convicted. See id.; Rule 10-101(A)(2)(a) NMRA. {12} A delinquent offender, on the other hand, is a child under the age of 18 who is determined to have committed a delinquent actan act that, if committed by an adult, would be a crime less serious than first-degree murder or one of the enumerated offenses of a youthful offender. Compare § 32A-2-3(A) (listing various delinquent acts, including certain traffic offenses, alcohol or drug-related offenses, and property-related offenses) with § 32A-2-3(J) (listing youthful offender offenses, including second-degree murder, kidnaping, criminal sexual penetration, and abuse of a child that results in great bodily harm or death). Delinquent offenders are subject to the Children's Court Rules and can only be sentenced as juveniles. See Rule 10-101(A)(1). {13} The requirements for youthful offenders, by contrast, are more complicated. Youthful offenders are delinquent children who potentially face either juvenile or adult sanctions, depending on the outcome of a special proceeding after adjudication known as an amenability hearing. A youthful offender is a child between the ages of 14 and 18 who is either (1) adjudicated guilty of any of a series of listed offenses which have less serious consequences than first-degree murder, including child abuse resulting in great bodily harm or death, or (2) adjudicated of any felony offense after having been adjudicated of three separate felony offenses in the preceding three years. See § 32A-2-3(J). The youthful offender category also includes children who are 14 years old and adjudicated of first-degree murder. Id. {14} Like serious youthful offenders, alleged youthful offenders may be subject to the Rules of Criminal Procedure for the District Courts, see Rule 10-101(A)(2)(b), and may be sentenced as adults, see § 32A-2-20. However, unlike a serious youthful offender, an alleged youthful offender is not automatically treated as an adult. To treat a child as a youthful offendersubject the child to adult sanctionsthe State must comply with certain procedural requirements of the Delinquency Act and the Children's Court Rules. See § 32A-2-20 (providing that before the court can impose adult sanctions, the State must give notice of its intent to invoke an adult sentence, and that within 10 days of giving notice of its intent to invoke an adult sentence, the State shall hold a preliminary hearing or a grand jury proceeding to determine if there is probable cause to support the allegations against the child); see also Rule 10-213 NMRA (providing that the State may give notice to invoke an adult sentence within 10 days after the filing of the petition and that the court may, for good cause shown, permit the State to file its notice of intent at any time before the commencement of the adjudicatory proceeding, and that within 15 days of the State's notice of intent to seek adult sanctions, the court will hold a preliminary inquiry, unless the case has been presented to a grand jury or the child has waived his right to same). {15} Most significantly, before the trial court may sentence an adjudicated youthful offender as an adult, the court must make two findings: (1) the child is not amenable to treatment or rehabilitation, and (2) the child is not eligible for commitment to an institution for the developmentally disabled or mentally disordered. See § 32A-2-20(B). The court must make these findings after considering evidence related to the youthful offender's history, the nature of the crime, and the child's potential threat to the public. See § 32A-2-20(C).