Court Opinion

ID: 9558270
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 17:05:43.525915+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:08:37.037205
License: Public Domain

STEWART, Justice
(concurring):
I do not disagree with the majority opinion that the record as a whole supports certification of Nick Alan Clatterbuck to stand trial as an adult.
Nevertheless, I believe that it should be emphasized that juvenile court judges are under a duty to make appropriate findings in certification proceedings. The point is not a mere technicality. As the majority opinion suggest, the findings made by the juvenile court are inadequate. It is the juvenile court, and not this Court, that is primarily charged with making the decision as to whether a juvenile should be certified to stand trial as an adult. Our function should be to determine whether the juvenile court misapplied the law or acted arbitrarily. The decision to certify a juvenile requires the exercise of sound discretion in light of the expertise of a juvenile court judge in dealing with juveniles and in light of the judge’s knowledge of the effectiveness of available remedial programs. Juvenile court judges are far more expert in evaluating the multitude of factors that must be weighed than this Court is. I do not believe that this Court should make its own findings of fact and reach its own decision on the validity of a certification order on the basis of a cold record in an area of the law where we have no particular expertise except in the most rare cases. However, I agree that this is such a case.