Court Opinion

ID: 9569631
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:15:53.24657+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:03:40.580466
License: Public Domain

PAUL H. ANDERSON, Justice
(concurring specially).
I concur in the opinion of the majority, but write separately to address the Fifth Amendment issue raised by the dissent. The juvenile court’s detailed and extensive findings of fact make clear that the determinative fact in this case was not just D.M.D.’s refusal on the advice of counsel to acknowledge his conduct. The court, when deciding whether to designate this matter as an EJJ prosecution, was concerned about there being sufficient time to treat and monitor D.M.D. before his 19th birthday. In reaching its conclusion, the court found “the opinions of Dr. Bremer and Dr. Reed to be more credible than the *439opinion of Jane Matthews ⅜ * ⅝.” Drs. Bremer and Reed clearly state that their conclusions about thé amount of time necessary to treat and monitor D.M.D. were based on much more than just D.M.D.’s refusal, for legal reasons, to acknowledge his conduct. I conclude that based on the record before us, the Fifth Amendment is not implicated and that the record supports a conclusion that the juvenile court’s decision was not clearly erroneous.