Opinion ID: 2208824
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sufficiency of the Reasons for Certification

Text: In a related argument, appellant contends that the trial court improperly focused solely on the seriousness of the crime involved in deciding to certify appellant to be tried as an adult. In support of this argument appellant quotes the juvenile court's statement of reasons for certification, (N.T. 8/5/88 at 11-13, set forth above), and cites Commonwealth v. Greiner, 479 Pa. 364, 388 A.2d 698 (1978). Again, we find no merit in the contention. In Commonwealth v. Greiner, supra , our Supreme Court addressed two critical and inter-related issues: who had the burden of proof and production in juvenile certification hearings, and was the evidence sufficient to support certification of the juvenile to be tried as an adult in that case. Our Supreme Court ruled in Greiner's favor on both issues. In finding that the evidence was insufficient to support certification, our Supreme Court noted that appellant had been a co-conspirator in a botched attempted rape turned aggravated assault, at age 15 with an older brother and an adult. The aggravated assault victim was the father of the intended rape victim, whose bedroom the trio of co-conspirators had broken into in error. Our Supreme Court noted that the victim had fully recovered from his stab wounds (which were not further described), and was silent as to who had actually stabbed the victim. Appellant had no prior record. He was an above average student. He enjoyed a stable home life and had no prior disciplinary problems at home or at school. 388 A.2d at 699, 702. Finally, our Supreme Court emphasized that the county probation officer who interviewed Greiner had repeatedly recommended that Greiner be treated as a juvenile, rather than as an adult. 388 A.2d at 702. It was in this peculiar context that our Supreme Court had held that the seriousness of the offense, alone, could not provide the basis for certification. Subsequently, in Commonwealth v. Moss, supra , our Supreme Court rejected a similar claim that juvenile court had improperly focused solely on the seriousness of the offense. In Moss, our Supreme Court noted that the trial court had considered not only the type of crime involved, but also the juvenile's prior criminal conduct and the inference of criminal sophistication which arose from a review of the facts surrounding the current offenses. 543 A.2d at 516-17. Moss demonstrates that Greiner was not intended to eliminate, or even diminish, the significance of the type of offense or circumstances of the offense in deciding whether certification is appropriate. Greiner, in essence, was merely an abuse of discretion case, where one strong fact in favor of certification was deemed insufficient to outweigh numerous counterveiling facts strongly weighing against certification. In Moss, no such counterveiling factors were present, and so, no gross abuse of discretion was found. 543 A.2d at 516-17. Again, an analogy may be drawn to Devers. In Devers our Supreme Court explained: Today, of course, ordering of pre-sentence reports is the practice everywhere. We are indebted to Martin-Riggins for teaching the judiciary that a convicted defendant cannot be sentenced on the basis of the crime alone and that a full pre-sentence report informs the sentencing procedure. 546 A.2d at 18. It may be observed that the ordering of a juvenile file (the equivalent of a pre-sentence report) is likewise the practice in juvenile certification cases, and that we are likewise indebted to Greiner for teaching that certification may not be based upon the crime alone, but that the entire juvenile file is to inform the juvenile certification determination process. However, to say that a juvenile file or pre-sentence report is to inform a trial court's exercise of its sound discretion, is not to imply that either should blind the court to the significant import of the circumstances of the current offense or offenses. Here, the seriousness of the offense and the callousness of appellant as demonstrated by the manner in which the offense was committed, were unquestionably proper considerations for the juvenile court which strongly favored certification. We note that, the offense in this case is distinguishable from that in Greiner in several respects. The seriousness of the threat of the victim's life in this case was clear in this case, but not in Greiner where our Supreme Court merely noted that the victim had fully recovered from undescribed stab wounds. Here, appellant acted individually and with extreme callousness, rather than as the junior member of a conspiracy led by an adult and an older brother. Indeed, the juvenile in Greiner may or may not have been involved in the actual stabbing of the intended victim's father, making Greiner all the more distinguishable. While not by themselves dispositive, we find no error in the juvenile court's consideration of the callousness of appellant's excessive retaliation for being squirted with water, or in its consideration of how few inches this case had been from automatic certification ( i.e. had the shot killed John Sanders). These were plainly strong factors favoring certification of appellant to be tried as an adult. What dispositively distinguishes this case from Greiner, however, is the presence of additional factors in favor of certification of appellant to be tried as an adult, and the absence of compelling factors against certification. Factors favoring certification included: appellant's outstanding prior arrests for dealing a large quantity of cocaine and for trying with two others to steal a car; his chronic truancy; his poor school performance; and his identified need for a secure, well-structured placement. The factors weighing against certification hardly rose to the compelling level of those cited in Greiner. Appellant had never been committed to a juvenile facility, and so there was no prior failure to rehabilitate. Neither had there been a prior commitment in Moss. Moreover, this factor would seem to involve more the absence of an aggravating factor ( i.e. a failed rehabilitative attempt) than the presence of a mitigating one ( e.g. a demonstration of an actual potential for rehabilitation). Similarly, appellant's alleged lack of school disciplinary problems during a period of chronic truancy is hardly a compelling mitigating circumstance. Indeed, chronic truancy may be considered a serious school disciplinary problem, by itself. Finally, there is appellant's age, fifteen and a half. While an appropriate mitigating consideration, perhaps, it is far from being a compelling mitigating factor considering the strong counterveilling factors supporting certification. In the end, certification depends on a complex balancing of numerous factors, not the least of which is the general demeanor of the juvenile as observed by the juvenile court during the certification hearing, a factor which this Court is ill-equipped to evaluate on appeal. When a juvenile judge is provided with a comprehensive juvenile file and has the benefit of argument from prosecution and defense, both common sense and our Supreme Court's precedent require that we assume the trial court duly considered the evidence and arguments presented. In such cases, our focus on review must be limited to whether the record as a whole reveals an abuse of discretion, rather than upon the technical punctiliousness of the trial court's efforts to weave an adequate web of philosophical speculation and exegetical thought in support of its decision. See Commonwealth v. Devers ; Commonwealth v. Moss ; Commonwealth v. Wade . We find no abuse of discretion here.