Opinion ID: 2538536
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Requirement of a Hearing

Text: The record shows that Kavajecz himself requested the waiver to district court and that he desired to forego the hearing and findings of fact required by I.C. § 20-508, apparently to save the court time and to ensure his ability to have a trial by jury, a right not afforded in cases brought under the JCA. Kavajecz did not challenge the waiver prior to trial in the district court (and indeed stipulated to the waiver) and raises the issue for the first time on appeal. This Court has held in State v. Burnight, 132 Idaho 654, 978 P.2d 214 (1999), and in State v. Harwood, 98 Idaho 793, 572 P.2d 1228 (1977), that a juvenile defendant who fails to challenge a district court's jurisdiction over him prior to trial waives this right on appeal. We find these cases applicable here. Because Kavajecz did not object to the district court's jurisdiction prior to entering a plea or proceeding to trial, he waived such a right and the issue cannot be raised here. [1]