Opinion ID: 1984096
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Subsidiary Findings

Text: The District Court in determining the appropriateness of a bind-over must make subsidiary factual findings pursuant to statute. The court must consider the nature and seriousness of the offense, giving greater weight to offenses against the person, and must find whether the offense was committed in an aggressive, violent, premeditated or willful manner. 15 M.R.S.A. § 3101(4)(D)(1) (1980 & Supp.1994). Luis Rosado hit Donald Farda in the back of the head with a baseball bat hard enough to inflict multiple fractures of his skull. The evidence supports a finding that Rosado's conduct constituted a violent, willful, aggressive act. The District Court in determining the appropriateness of a bind-over for trial as an adult next must consider the defendant's record, his emotional attitude, and his pattern of living. 15 M.R.S.A. § 3101(4)(D)(2) (1980 & Supp.1994). Rosado at the time of the bind-over hearing faced three pending charges in District Court for assault, burglary, and possession of a firearm. As a juvenile, dependent on his mother, he had been involved in street gangs in New York City before moving to Maine and soon after his arrival in Maine became involved with youth gangs implicated in robbing and stabbing incidents. A psychological evaluation described Rosado as suffering from poor social judgment and posing a significant danger to others. The District Court in deciding the appropriateness of a bind-over must determine whether alternatives to trial as an adult would deter future criminal conduct by the juvenile, whether the use of such alternatives would diminish the gravity of the offense, and whether community safety requires committing the juvenile defendant to a facility more secure than juvenile facilities. M.R.S.A. § 3101(4)(D)(3) (1980 & Supp.1994). Pursuant to currently available Maine dispositional alternatives, rehabilitative probation may be imposed upon a convicted juvenile only after a sentence of incarceration in prison as an adult or after a suspended sentence to the youth center. 15 M.R.S.A. § 3314(1)(H) (1980 & Supp.1994). The evidence supports a finding that disposition as a juvenile to the Maine Youth Center, which would have to be suspended in order to effect rehabilitative probation, would diminish the gravity of Rosado's offense, would not deter such conduct in the future, and would compromise public safety. The evidence also supports a finding that incarceration of Rosado as a juvenile, with no probation therefore possible and release at age twenty-one, would allow as little as two years of rehabilitative treatment for a young man evaluated as needing long term help.