Opinion ID: 2604008
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: basic fairness

Text: The conclusion here reached is consistent with considerations of fair play. Assume that a juvenile is brought before a referee for an adjudicative hearing. Should the juvenile testify? If the juvenile does not testify, he may be found to have committed the offense. If he does testify, and a rehearing is granted, as in this case, he has revealed his defense strategy; a revelation that may well be used against him in a subsequent trial before a judge. Consider a further problem. Should the juvenile in a referee hearing call all defense witnesses? If the juvenile does call all his witnesses and a rehearing is granted, then the people are prepared to meet the full defense before the judge. If the juvenile holds back, is found to have committed the offense, and the judge does not grant a rehearing, then the juvenile has lost the chance to present that portion of the defense. At the very least, the juvenile reveals the thrust of his defense at the referee hearing. It has been asserted that the referee system actually permits prosecutorial discovery, which is not otherwise available under normal discovery procedures. There are no specific statutory discovery provisions provided for the juvenile court. In this sense, a referee hearing may be to the People what a preliminary hearing is to the defense in criminal court. Although the new juvenile court rules do provide discovery procedures which attempt to reflect statutory and judicially developed rules of criminal discovery in the adult court, prosecutorial discovery is limited in the juvenile court in the same way it is limited in adult court. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 1341.) Lastly, it seems apparent that the more trials for the same offense, the greater the likelihood that a conviction of an innocent accused will be achieved. For all these reasons, I concur that the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy is here violated, a conclusion consistent with considerations of basic fairness. The writ of prohibition should be issued.